Armchair Coach

Yes.And just for clarification NCC beat Bellevue earlier in the year by 50 (87-37).

Very impressive in Richmond.

Jones is definitely a good shooter.I also classify him as a scorer-meaning he can score a much without getting a number of "clean" looks.

You are right!And several of these are underclassmen.

Bair is tough but Jackson and Euton make them go.This may sound funny but IMO Euton is the best but Jackson is the most valuable -due to the position he plays.Who would be the PG if Jackson wasn't there?RH would suffer tremendously without Euton but without Jackson RH would win very few games.

Event what are you talking about?Your post makes little if any sense.I was complimenting both players-Please reread the post and see for yourself.

I'll agree.There is no other player in the region that means as much to his team as Owens does to the Lions.

I'll agree and I'm sure Blake feels the same way.But that in no way diminishes what he does.I would also say that he is one of the smartest(Basketball and academics) players in the region-but that is for another thread.

There is usually a difference between being a good shooter, having a good FG% and being a good scorer.I have found that for the most part FT% is a better barometer of shooting skill than FG%.For example in the most recent statistics for the Independent most people would probably agree that the top 10 FT shooters are better overall shooters than the top 10 in FG%.There are notable exceptions the most noteworthy being Vanhoose and Daniel.Neither is shooting a particular high FG or FT%.However most people realize that the makeup of their teams dictate that that they take shots that others may not even think about.Owens of Boyd also would also fit this mold. It would be interesting to take the top "shooters" from each team in the area and have some sort of 3 pt. shooting contest.

Great situation for Russell.There is no way that Ironton will be able to duplicate their effort from Wednesday night.The Tigers will still be "riding high" and most people realize the best time to play a team is right after a big victory.Plus Russell has been playing well lately.Remember the state runner up Tigers only beat Russell by one last and that was at Ironton.

Actually Ashland did seek out a game with Rose Hill in the late 80s or early 90s.It was the first or second year of the Steve Hall era.He personally told me that he wanted Rose Hill and Elliott(apparently they were not very good at that time)as his first two games.He felt that would give him two "sure" victories.

Details?

Agreed.Any word on the 62nd draw?

What kind of defense did both teams play?Did East lead the entire game?

I don't think beating West by 8 mandates a trip to Rupp.

I agree with you regarding Barker.He handles the ball great,plays good defense and always gives full effort. Haney had a great game for Morgan.He is often overlooked because of McCowan.MC played great defense especially the first half.

Fairview scoring-Barker 21(all second half),Black 19,Holbrook 14,Bayless 12(Most in first quarter),Hutchinson 8(all second half),Stewart 6 and Gehringer 2.Elliott deserved the victory.They played harder and hit clutch free throws(15-18) in the 4th quarter.Elliott is very tough especially at home.Should be a good game between them and Ashland next week.

Pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Boyd Co.They are rated higher than Fairview,defeated them earlier and are playing on their home floor(which is an extra bonus since it wasn't expected).No excuse for losing.

Wireman:1)Will you be at the Fairview-Elliott game on Monday? 2)What is your prediction? 3)What kind of crowd(size,demeanor) do you expect?

Thanks-Ill be coming down.Since you guys are familiar with the 9th region I Would like to hear your picks.

Are the Finals at Newport High on Saturday night?If so how much does that gym hold and what kind of crowd is expected?

cshs81 to answer post #15 first-You are correct .If you have a great 3 pt. shooter you may record a couple of "easy" assists. Now about the "last pass assist rule"-I have heard of that in hockey but not in basketball.I am also aware of 2 assists being awarded for one putout in baseball but I was not aware of that being the case in basketball.

To me an assist is any pass which contributes directly to a basket.There is a misconception involving dribbles.Many believe that if a dribble is involved no assist should be credited-this is incorrect.Use this example-your big man grabs a def. reb. and throws a perfect outlet to the a guard streaking down the court.The guard catches the ball in full stride 15 feet from the bucket without a def. man in sight and takes a dribble and lays it in-that is an assist.However let us assume the streaking guard misses the shot and puts his own rebound in-that is not an assist even though I understand people have been credited with one.Also no assist can be given to someone who makes both free throws after a great pass is made to set up the free throws.By the same token if a pass is made to a shooter who head/jab fakes several times and then makes a basket an assist is not necessarily in order.If one looks over the history of how assists are credited I'm sure that you will see that the definition has became more "liberal" over the years.For instance I believe Larry Conley let UK in assists for three consecutive years in the mid-60s and never avg. more than 3.3 per yr. and one year was below 3.0.Just as most career and individual rebound records were set 40-50 years at many schools most assist records have happened in the last 10-15 years.

Shooter I agree to a point.But when you have 2 of the top 5 players in the region and your 3 region victories are Lewis (way Down this year),West Carter(Obviously drained from the efforts of the previous 2 nights) and an average Fleming team then something is wrong somewhere.Ashland lost in the region to Russell-I'll give you that one since VanHoose is ranked; lost to Boyd Co which has Owens and lost to Fairview which has no players ranked.Fairview also defeated Russell earlier this year(BTW Russell is only 3-5 inside the region).Morgan,Fairview and Elliott are all quality teams with no player rankings.VanHoose,Thomas,McDavid and Owens are all great players and deserve their rankings but I believe a team is much better off with balance.Does anyone on Russell,Ashland or Boyd avg. double figures other than those 4 that have been mentioned?

It is interesting to note that the three teams(Russell 9-8,Boyd Co. 11-7 and Ashland 6-11) represented by the 4 mentioned players have only a combined 26-26 record.And the team that has two individuals mentioned(Ashland )has the poorest record.