5wide

What position did Jermaine Brown play for the Fairdale teams?

^It's certainly one of the better ones I've seen the Bobcats line up.

8/22 - Mercer County (@ Campbellsville) 8/28 - @ Sheldon Clark 9/2 - Prestonsburg (Honey Bowl) 9/11 - Perry Central 9/18 - @ Lexington Christian 9/25 - Johnson Central 10/2 - Hazard 10/9 - @ Estill Co.* 10/16 - Powell Co.* 10/23 - @ Magoffin Co.* 10/30 - Open 11/6 - 12/4 = Playoffs *District Games I'm wondering if the Perry Central game isn't supposed to be on 9/4 instead of 9/2. It seems weird to have a game on Wednesday night, but who knows. I don't know what these teams are expected to have in 2009, but it looks like a pretty solid schedule based on what they've done in previous years. Didn't Mercer County win a state championship fairly recently? What is the outlook for them? Sheldon Clark is usually pretty competitive. Ditto for P'burg. Johnson Central has been very strong for the last several years, including a 26-14 win over Breathitt County in last year's Honey Bowl. LCA and Hazard have split in the state semis the last two years. Overall, it looks like Holcomb has tried to get a schedule that will test his team and have them ready for the playoffs. I like the competition on the schedule and I like the way it's laid out. All the district games, which are the only ones that really matter concerning playoff seeding, are at the end when the team should be playing its best. And, they scheduled the bye week after the season, before the playoffs, so the team will have some time to get healthy before the playoffs. I feel pretty good about the Bobcats chances in 2009 and hope to see them in the state finals again. If they're willing to bust their tails, I think they have great shot to make it back and win. If they think because they return a lot from a state runner-up team that it will be easy, then they'll be sorely disappointed.

Not being sarcastic...just a little joke.

Well, for goodness sake, don't tell them.

You are Eta. :notworthy: Isn't that what you're fishing for? :sssh:

No pre-season NIT? :lol:

Trading 2's for 3's would leave Holmes on the short end of the stick. Mason County was better.

Well sure anything can happen...if we want to play that game. But, looking at it in an analytical way, I think Mason County was better and would consistently beat Holmes if they played multiple games. Could Holmes beat them? Sure. Just like Elliott County or Central could have beat Holmes on the right day or if they played enough.

Will Calipari offer any of the Holmes players? Sounds like he should just suit them up in Wildcat blue to me and forget about Meeks, PP, John Wall, et al.

Holmes would have had no answer for Chris Lofton. CL just needed a centimeter of space to get his shot off and Rupp only seemed to make him better. The 2009 Bulldogs couldn't have won vs. Mason County.

He didn't last time, but it wasn't as noticeable until the second year without Chapman. They should be alright for the 2009 campaign. I expect them to be a frontrunner from the east. I also expect Belfry and a few others to be in the mix.

You really narrowed it down there. Aren't there always coaching changes in pretty much every region?

I won't argue that. And, as some have suggested, they could have done a better job of developing the bench. During 30 point blowouts, I think it would be beneficial to let the subs get some experience rather than driving on cruise control. JMO

If you want to criticize them for not looking ahead and trying to adjust a little during the season, fine. But, to suggest a team completely change the style they've played for 4 years for one game, against a team like Holmes, and expect good results is naive. It is what it is. They lost to the best team in the state. Again, is it necessary to make more out of this? To lay blame somewhere because the inferior team lost? Elliott County had a great high school basketball team. They just ran into one that was better. Anyway, I'm done with this debate. I'm not sure how many times I've said that I think it's dumb for a team to play one way for 4 years and then be expected to change in the state semis. But, there's certainly no point in saying it again. Whether you agree or not, I can live with it.

:thumb: Not arguing the point you make as much as I'm arguing the idea that a team can play one way for 4 years and then change it for one game and expect to play better. It's possible I suppose, but very unlikely.

Lafayette was before my time, but since I've been old enough to really understand basketball, Fairdale is easily the best team, IMO. I've never seen a team that could even come close to matching the trio of Turner, Brown and Morris at the high school level.

Maybe Holmes was just simply better than those teams. A team like Elliott County has played that style of ball for 4 straight seasons. "Uninformed" is thinking they could have completely changed their style after 4 years and won a state semi-final game. As I said earlier when this idea was brought up...you may be right in saying Elliott County can't beat Holmes in a running game, but I guarantee you they can't beat them any other way. The fact was, Holmes was just better. It's nobody's fault, so why do we always try to make it sound like it is?

Fairdale with Carlos Turner, Maurice Morris and Jermaine Brown. Easily the best high school team I've ever witnessed. Turner was an absolute stud...a 6'5 point guard. He should have played at a major D-I school. I'm confident that team could have handled any I've ever seen.

^Still forget we're in a six class system from time to time...

Well, they lost their defensive coordinator, John Paul Chapman, when he opted to accept the head coaching position at Pike County Central. In the past, when he's there and when he isn't, there is a noticeable difference in the Bobcats defensive performance. However, the first time around, the year following his departure the defense wasn't drastically different. So, that's the question for Bobcat fans, IMO. How much will the loss of Chapman affect the team and the defense in particular? Otherwise, this team returns a lot of firepower and young talent from a group that finished as runner-up in Class 2A last season. They should be a title contender and a favorite to return to the carpet based on what they return.

:clap: I just seemed to remember seeing a couple of highlights where he threw a couple down. I wouldn't remember so much, but I had them pegged as a team that relied on fundamentals and shooting with little athleticism. Then I see Mattingly at 6'5 slamming it home.

:thumb: Great player. Justice shot 56.3% from the field this season (48.5% from long range). I think he can finish. You can't cherry pick one game with a low percentage and make that the rule. By all accounts, his performance vs. Elliott County was very good. A bad shooting percentage doesn't automatically mean a bad game. Not to mention, when you're forced to jack up a lot of threes playing catch-up, it's most likely not going to be your best shooting game percentage-wise. For the tourney, he played all 64 minutes... FG: 15-43 (34.9%) 3Pt: 5-16 (31.3%) FT: 12-16 (75.0%) 47 Pts 11 Reb 5 Assists (2 Turnovers) 3 Steals So what if he had a couple of poor shooting games? The kid's a player.

I heard they were pretty incredible to watch. A friend of mine said when teams tried to press them they'd shoot layups and the ball would never touch the court. Whether he was exaggerating or not, the point was well taken. They beat the press the way you're supposed to, by passing the ball...but, not only beat it, they attacked it. I really wish I could have seen that team. That's the only year I regret not going to the state tourny. Plus, Mattingly was quite an athlete. He threw down a few dunks during that run, right?

My favorite team to watch was E'town with Barbour. He took over the Sweet 16 and carried them to a title with Saturday wins over Russellville and LexCath. I think he scored 42 in the morning and 31 in the evening. Of course, I haven't been to the Sweet 16 that much. From talking to people who go a lot, three teams seemed to garner the most praise... 1. Breckinridge County - From what I've heard about that team, if I could go back in team and watch one Sweet 16, that's the one I'd want to see. 2. Lafayette - Their last title team...a friend of mine said they were quick as lightning and absolutely refused to be defeated when they were playing. 3. Scott County - The year Rick Jones played so great and beat LexCath with the buzzer beater.