Stripes3

Yes, indeed. It was a start. Quite a few 15's, 16s, and 17's have yet to get rolling. We have some tourneys in the coming months that will hopefully have a bigger draw. This was a YBOA event and not AAU which draws more teams at the higher level. From talking to people at this past event, a lot of the top sophs and juniors-to-be are playing up with other teams and forcing some programs to delay getting into tourneys.

East Kentucky Lightning won the YBOA Sup Reg Quailifier for the 15 under division. This was not an AAU event, the comp level was decent. We are still hoping for some of the top teams in the KY area to get started with their seasons. This was a decent start. ShooterX3, your reply is just what was expected.

The split verifies what I was stating in terms of "top-heavy" talent for each team. Both teams have some players that are par talent for this level of play and in order to keep the top talent happy and keep their minutes in games up, they have to have par talent willing to accept their roles. splitting in to two teams, this can happen. If you took the top 5 on each team and put them together on ONE team, then some of the better players would be regulated to role players, and some just would not settle for low playing minutes and being a role player.

Van Hoose played in the Adidas Super 64 last season in Vegas with the DS Allstars and had a good outing. Sports Mojo...not saying that your statement is correct in regards to Van Hoose and Barker not being very good, but every AAU team needs some role players. Most AAU teams at the elite level are extremely top heavy due to the fact playing time is limited. Those programs have to have solid bench minutes, but most cases the bench or role players are not outstanding in talent, just willing to accept their roles.

Not the case. Just do not care for overly biased opinions. They are good players. The state has a bright future with the classes of 2008, 2009, and from the tourneys I have seen thus far, the 2010 too.

Thats not what I am implying. Thats what others on the board are implying.

I would think Penick makes the team. I also think the coach will select players that match a style suited for the strategy he has to attempt at upsetting Indiana. I do not know the coaches style of offense, slow or up-tempo, but whatever it is, it will have a bearing on who is selected. They may try a 4 guard offense, or they may try a physical line-up. Does any one know this coaches coaching style?

And so does hundreds of other kids in the Class of 2009. By saying that, you are implying that other more talented freshman kids do not play the game with heart and guts and play the game the way it should be played. That is just not true. I see it every weekend during AAU. They are good players without question. They will have solid high school careers at Elliott County, but the FACT IS, they would not have had the same opportunity to play varsity at better regions or schools this early. Elliot County lacked talent with them coming in and the 16th is one of the 3 worst regions.

Beatles' song "Eleanor Rigsby" in her class.. "All the lonely people, where do they come from?" Were the Beatles referring to the fans of the 16th region???

Throw in some Ohio Teams: Cincy Tigers D-1 Greyhounds More Kentucky Teams: Team Loyalty Louisville Legends E. Kentucky Lightning Quin Chapel Capital City Kentucky Prep Stars

Originally Posted by Cubster I hope the level of play is a little higher next season in the 16th. What? The 16th Region needs to raise the level of play? No way! The 16th was loaded. It was the only region in the state where a decent freshman team could make it all the way to the regional finals. The "level of play" has to go up. It cannot go any lower.

I agree with most of what you stated. There will be some KY frosh playing nationally and playing up and will well. I agree that the players you are speaking of would struggle playing up on a national level. I do not condemn you for talking outside of the 16th, heck, you should receive a medal.

That was one of the points I was trying to make. Most of the posters on here just do not seem to get outside of the 16th too often. I see tons of talent in Columbus, Cincy, Indy, and more. People say UK should recruit this kid, UL needs this one, or UC cant pass on so and so, but the truth of the matter is, we are behind. You have some top notch freshman in other regions that compete and develop against greater talent. They will be playing 16s and 17s. Some will do great and some will do just average. But doing average in the 17s against top comp is better than doing above-average against kids the same age or even less in the Faulkners case.

That will suffice. Not knocking those two at all. Just trying to keep it real where your not knocking down other players to build up others. I really do enjoy watching the games in the 16th region and I do enjoy watching the AAU tourneys as well. What I do not enjoy is hearing basketball insiders ask why a certain kid was built up so much by area folks only to have people expectations too high so that when they see them they say "I don't see what all the fuss is about. Not as good as advertised." Sometimes over doing it can hurt in the long run.

Hyping kids over other talented kids is not "appreciation". There is a limit. And to say they play with passion and heart, is to say that others in their class do not. This is far from the truth. This board has pretty much become a 16th Region Community board. There are 15 other regions out there.

I can tell you at most tourneys they do not check ages. At state tourneys such AAU at KBA in Lexington, they do a decent job. My point is, if the 16th is as we hyped it to be and these players are all MVP's of the 16th region, WHY NOT play them in the 16's and even 17's? I do know that some of the top frosh and soph will be playing in our bigger tourneys for 16's and 17's this year. It appears the Faulkners are playing down a level and not up based on their actual age.

They are holdbacks correct, meaning they should be juniors-to-be but were held back a grade?

I will look this team at some of the tourneys in Cincy. I do know from hearing from some of the AAU coaches some of the state's best soph and jr's to be are playing up one or two spots. The 15's may not be as competitive as it would have been if these players bump up one or two levels. Still looking for a solid year.

What age group are they playing in? 15 under or 16 and under? Have the Faulkners grown 2 inches since the 16th region tourney this past month?

Excellent idea about looking forward to AAU and I am looking forward to seeing some these players back in town. I did have a great discussion with some colleagues of mine in Lexington. We just need to face the facts, the 16th is way down. It did not matter that Ferguson got MVP, NO ONE TAKES IT SERIOUSLY ANYWAYS. As many folks have stated, only in the 16th region can freshman get a chance to play. No way does a 6'0" or 6'1" forward freshman play in towns like Lexington. In any case, Kentucky talent is down overall big time. No real major recruits. Walt Allen, a very likeable guy, does not make any all-state teams here in Ohio. That's not being biased, that is being factual. You have to take what is being said about the 16th with a grain-of-salt, afterall, the rest of the Kentucky is.

The award will come down to the following players, Dunaway, Slaughter, Crutcher, and Buckner. Stuart Miller, Mr. Basketball, that's funny. Good one.

Apollo won! They played the game and won. At the end of regulation, they had more points and get to score more points tomorrow. Whether its 60 points or 5 points, as long as Apollo had more points when the final horn sounded, that all THEY cared about. If they ran up and down the court and lost, that will never be remembered. If they play like they did today and should win the tourney, that will be REMEMBERED for a long long time. Much longer than some of these bogus posts. Fact is, there is no shot clock, and Apollo played by the rules and won. And what about the Grave County kids. That was the greatest display of unselfishness I have seen or heard in a while. Imagine, only 3 kids made the stat lines in terms of shot attempts and points, but there were always 5 on the court playing their hearts out on defense which will not be celebrated in the newspapers tomorrow but the points by the 3 kids will be. As far as I am concerned, the age of being a true competitor, an unselfish teammate, and playing team basketball has made its appearance again with these kids at Apollo and Graves County.

Can you imagine an all Louisville finals?

Just wanting a score is all.

Is the game cancelled?