JohnsonQ

Nobody's teams are better prepared. If you look at strength of schedule, I think Simon Kenton had the best regular season in the 8th.

Coach Holland's style of play is very deliberate. His teams spread the floor and slow down the game. I do not enjoy his style, but I must admit his teams are very successful. Is the coaches job to entertain the fans or give his team a chance to win? I would rather my team win than entertain.

I dont see where classes fix the problem. Before redistricting, you got more quality teams. The 8th would have sent Bullitt east or Scott county. That would have opened up Madison central and prp. Dixie would have been a good representative of the 9th, if Pike stays. Those teams would have made this a more competitive tourney.

I like Scott Countys experience. I like them to make it to the finals.

Oldham was very tentative in the region. I like Bowling Green to advance.

Got us hooked and left us hanging!

I'm not against either of these coaches, but from the outside looking in, it looks like both coaches have had some success. Kinmon won coach of the year twice. He took a team to the regional finals. He must have done something right to accomplish that. Maybe scheduling was not his strength. It appears to me Coach Hicks has had a strategy in rekindling the Grant program. It appeared to me that last year he tried to instill a never quit attitude, develop a faster pace game, and develop individual offensive skills. Their defense became very aggressive. This year, he controlled the ball and got more shots for his scorers. He improved their defense and made them the strongest rebounding short team in the region. He also scheduled appropriately for a young team. They needed time to learn and grow. I think there is reason to praise both coaches.

Coach Steiner had a great gameplan vs Gallatin. Gallatin beat them by 20 early in the year. Is Jones an idiot because his team was bad for 3 quarters? High school kids get rattled, it is not always the coaches fault.

I'm not questioning anyone's effort or talent. Gallatin has a nice team and played hard, but they fell behind by double digits in the first quarter and rarely cut it to single digits. Owen was the better team tonight.

Williams is 6'7 vs Brown 6' Shelton is 6' 4 vs Z Brown 6' Osborne 6'3 vs Mogan 5 10 Ball 6'1 vs Ingram 5 '8 Ripey 5 11 vs Davis 5 8 Gallatin couldn't get a rebound. Owen shot until they made it.

Domination. Gallatin was never in this one. Owen will make some noise in the region.

For the football/basketball debate, football gets there 20 weeks as the prime sport and no interruptions. Basketball starts without there full team for potentially 6 weeks of their season, basically their entire preseason. Waiting for your football players for another week and hoping one of your basketball players doesn't get hurt in a 50 point blow out is my issue with the current playoff format. Also, attendance is very poor in these blowout games. They are not money making games.

Carr and Hunt both had quality years. Sampson from SK, Stone brothers from Collins, Gibson from Carroll, Haysley from South Oldham, Alexander from Trimble, etc. There are always quality players that get left off.

Whether you like him or not, he is a heck of a coach. A well deserved honor for him and his program.

What is tacky about wearing your championship shirt? They do this at every level of sports. However, the potential exists to have some very expensive rags if the wrong team wins.

I believe it is smallest 125 in the state that accept the offer to play, ie., if Covington Latin does not enter they ask the next school in line. I also believe the contracts are for 2 years, bards town may be out next year.

The last time I remember Owen beating Gallatin in the all a was 8 years ago at Trimble. It was very similar, Owen missed and got a put back to win by 1 at the buzzer.

I havent seen anything that makes me think they are better than Oldham.

Different strokes for different folks, I would not be happy if I had been practicing since October 15 and putting in time in the summer and then somebody gets to play when he starts practicing when the games begin, Trame must be a heck of a salesman!!

29th district 1. Collins they will win their district, runner up is hard to predict 30th district Favored - Oldham Co, runner up should be North Oldham, South Oldham could upset either of the two - a very competitive district, 31st District- Favored - Owen County, runner up likely Gallatin but wouldn't be surprised if Henry upset either team 32nd District- Toss up between Walton Verona and Simon Kenton, they will represent this district, I like WV to win the district Collins is the most likely to win their district and be assured a good draw, although I'm not sure there will be a good draw this year. There will be 7 teams capable of winning in the region tournament. I think it is very wide open with Collins my pick.

I think injuries are a concern. My team was one of the teams that got beat by a very lopsided score. If one team is 70 points better than the other team, the one on one matchups on the field are pretty lopsided. My concern is always physically getting hurt moreso than emotionally getting hurt. In other sports, i.e., basketball or baseball, the chances of getting hurt are less than in football. Injuries can be used as an argument to keep the playoffs as is as well. Some teams may have an injured player during the season, who gets healthy by the end of the year and now their team is a totally different team. There was nothing good about our playoff experience. By the way, the khsaa is conducting a survey about the playoffs, I believe our school voted for a bye for the 1 seed with the 2 and 3 playing in the playoffs. 4 seed would be dropped with an opportunity to play a game that week against another non qualifying team. You still get to practice, you are competitive, you have a chance to end the seaon on a positive note.

The Foree kid from Eminence is a nice talent. 6'2 and a heck of an athlete. Dixie was a developing guard last year. I don't know much about them, but they beat Trimble and Carroll last year and basically have everyone back. Grant should beat them but it will not be an easy win. I love the Gibson kid from Carroll. 6'3 has some range, leaps well. They have pieces to the puzzle, but the earlier poster is correct, guard play is a weakness. I think Grant will win some games. There schedule is not aimed at making them ready to win the region, it is aimed at gaining confidence by winning some games against smaller schools. The only danger in that strategy is if you schedule soft and still don't win it really hurts your program. The A schools are all very competitive. There is not a huge gap like there was 20 years ago.

Grant will be an underdog to many of these A schools. Gallatin, Owen, WV will all be favored to beat the braves. They will have their hands full with Carroll and Eminence as well, as both of these teams will have quality big men and Grant has none. It could be a long year on the ridge.

I think there is a large pool of good players in the 8th. In no particular order. 1. Rowan NO 2. Levitch NO 3. Smith Oldham 4. Wesley Oldham 5. Sampson SK 6. Chambers SK 7. McNeil WV 8. Hargett WV 9. Kinmon WV 10. Williams Owen 11. Osborne owen 12. Gibson Carroll 13. Foree Eminence 14. Alexander Trimble 15. Morgan Gallatin 16. Davis Gallatin 17. Dunbar Spencer 18. Dez ? Collins. I liked a couple of players from Collins, but I don't remember their names. I'm sure Anderson, Grant, Williamstown, South Oldham and Shelby have worthy players as well, but I can't think of any specific names.

Earlier there was some question as to the top players in the region. I think there are 20 players capable of being an all region type player this year in the 8th. 1. Rowan