thegame523

Good stuff. How is Eastern going to be this year. I figure Henley will have the ready to make a sweet 16 run but they are in such a tough area to get out of. Are they in 6 or 7 ? Both tough but with Trinity and Ballard it is brutal.

From what I have heard about Coach L., I feel like you are very correct !!!! LOL.

I saw this on twitter the other day and can't help but think it will make it more difficult for Scott County to continue their level of excellence. I have seen this type of thing happen here in Fl. a few times and it took several years for the home/main/first school to recover and get back to where they were, and some of them still haven't.

I was thinking Eastern would be a legitimate 3rd place possibility too. Seems I read when Henley took over that he really liked his younger group who should be getting to varsity upper level by now.

It depends on what you are calling lesser talented players. Yes they had good players, but they were playing against teams that had great players and they were defeating them by being very disciplined. Of course they didn't have bad players and had a few that were going on to play college basketball, BUT they didn't have any high level D-1 players the years I watched them. So in saying that they were definitely lesser talented compared to their competition. I wouldn't say they had any HIGHLY talented players, just solid.

I understand what you are saying, but in California they have a shot clock and actually the most disciplined high school team I have ever watched and I have watched games from probably 25 states and teams from 35 states (De La Salle coached by Frank Allocco) is from Ca. where they have a shot clock. They run a princeton type of offense to perfection and are outstanding defensively holding teams to less than 40 ppg WITH a shot clock, so I don't think a shot clock will necessarily take away from that.

I wonder where he went here in Florida. Not many jobs were still open, and very few in Fl does the basketball coach get the AD job. That is normally a job on its on or the football coach gets it regardless. Our fb coach is AD and this was his 1st year as a head coach ever at any school. If someone knows the name of the school please post, Thanks in advance.

I certainly understand and that would be a tremendous accomplishment and something that this team is certainly capable of. Wish there was a way they could do both. I wish the COP & KOB were at different times so that I someday could possibly attend the KOB like I do the COP.

Yes they are both GREAT tournaments. Getting an invitation to the COP is harder for Trinity than the KOB and that is saying absolutely nothing negative about the KOB I assure you. Trinity has a very good program that from time to time will be good enough to go to Ft Myers, but they will have good enough teams other years to be invited to the KOB, but not quite good enough to be invited to COP. The last time they went to FM they ended up with a state title. National ranking or not I am quite sure they'll take a repeat of that. Please know too that I reiterate I am taking nothing from the KOB. I would love to ever have a team good enough to play in the KOB. Again looking forward to watching them play!!!

Same here and I actually have been fortunate enough to win several here in Florida, but I wish more high school players felt this way. Seems to me in Kentucky that feeling still rings true and strong. Not so sure in other states unfortunately.

For several years this tourney was on ESPN or one of their networks but hasn't been for at least the past 2 years unfortunately. Not sure why it isn't on some network or at least online as I have had that discussion with one of the persons who runs it, but they don't seem overly interested in worrying about it, mainly I guess because they sell out each and every night and are normally looked at as the best high school Christmas tourney in the country overall. From what I have seen it would be hard to argue that point, but I would still like to see it on TV or at least online somewhere.

Actually they had 11 state champions including the participants in the Sunshine Series games (teams involved playing only 1 game from Fl.&various southern states normally) so it was more like 11 of 24 teams that won state titles. That being said the state titles being won by most are at the highest level or largest class in their particular state and therefore the most difficult to attain. I try to go down each year (8 hour drive) as the teams are phenomenal for the hs level. I also use it as a learning tool to see how various coaches coach their teams at such a high level (some are outstanding and some not so much just talented). I look forward to seeing how Trinity does this coming year as they are always fun to watch and I always learn something watching Coach Szabo's teams.

Jordan Tribble from Florida. He actually played with Chris Walker who is with UF while in Florida. He transferred into their (Holmes County) from somewhere else (possibly Georgia not sure) so that could be who they are talking about. The other person mentioned here many times is Raekwon Long from Charlotte. Tribble improved greatly while at Scott County, but isn't the type of player a coach would seek out over several states to "RECRUIT". I think Coach Hicks' program and Scott County sells itself. There is a school in Florida that has one of the best coaches in the state and is one of the best programs in the state that gets transfers regularly, but they don't recruit them and they turn down many many more than they get for academic reasons. Coach & school/program sells itself which I think happens at places like Scott County.

I would tend to agree. I would think it is his job as long as he wants it to be.

Not referring to any particular jobs in Ky, but I do know of many times an assistant was hired in a fairly big time situation and had no experience at any level and didn't last long at all. I have seen it happen from the juco level down to the high school level. This is most certainly not the case here as we all know how qualified Coach L is and how much he deserves this.

I figured it was going to be him all along obviously, but when they hadn't yet posted the job that pretty much always lets you know someone on the inside is getting it. At least this time it is someone who will most definitely do a great job and deserved it if he wanted it. Holmes will continue to be outstanding w/him in charge.

Job hasn't been posted yet at the county level. Would make one think this late in the game someone from within is who they have in mind and rightfully so in Coach L. On another note I would think the Holmes job would be one quite a few head coaches would jump ship for at even this late date as it seems to me from the FAR outside looking in it is a top tier job in Kentucky. What jobs are better outside of a few in Louisville & Lexington and the Scott County job. Not saying there aren't any, I am actually asking as I study Ky hs b-ball pretty darn close but don't know the absolute ins and outs of each job. Holmes seems to have talent most years and the payscale in Covington and coaching supplement is pretty good, so if you have good support from the administration and fans it seems like a very good one. Enlighten me if I am wrong. Thanks!

Glad to see Tony back on the sidelines as a head coach. That is where he belongs for sure. He will do a great job just as he always has.

I hope this is true, that would be great. Let us know for sure once it is confirmed if true. Tony belongs on someone's sideline. He does a great job.

I hope that is true, and personally hope Tony gets it, not only because he is a friend of mine, but having watched many of his teams play here in Florida when he coached here, I can tell you he can flat out coach!

That will help them more with a national ranking than the KOB. Nothing against the KOB by any means, but normally the COP has at least 6 of the top 10 teams in the country and a 3-1 showing or sometimes even a 2-2 showing can help your ranking, depending on who your losses are to and how competitive you were in those losses.

I not only look at the polls but also study the top teams/coaches from each state and attend the City of Palms Tourney (normally the top rated tourney in the country) each year. I think a top 50 ranking in some of the national polls pre-season is a legit possibility, and like I said depending on their schedule & depending on the outcome of that schedule will decide whether they move up to top 25 or higher status. I don't think top 25 is super likely much less top 10, but if they play in some big time tourneys and shootouts and come out w/only 1 or 2 losses then who knows. How high did Ballard start out or get last year in some polls last year?

I tend to think they'll at least be nationally ranked in some of the polls. Especially those that have a top 50 & probably even in the top 25 of most polls. I don't think they'll be top 10 at least to begin with. All of that depends on their strength of schedule, tourneys they play in, invitationals etc...If they have a strong schedule and are successful at most of those then they could realistically move into the top 10. Will be interesting for sure. Hope they play somewhere I can either go see them (City of Palms) or that shows their games online. Always enjoy watching Szabo's teams play.

So true what you just said. I don't Coach in Ky but in Fl but I only have 1 player playing on an AAU team so playing at least some games is essential for us to see where we are. We will end up having 20 practices and 22 games with the majority of the games coming at team camps over 2 & 3 back to back day periods. I used to play many more games but I don't think these days much over 20 is beneficial. Great question though.

Tony also coached at MC as well but then again that can be said for quite a few the past few years. Had a very good record there the 1 year he was coach and turned Frankfort around while there.