Greene County Coach

I would agree with about everything stated about Linton. Individuals looking to score... not enough guys willing to do the little things. The new faces are still trying to figure out where they fit. Some of the returning guys are looking to carry a team, which seems to just slow the process down. We get glimpses of how some guys could fill a role... then things get bogged down. Post play is only an option when Kip has a favorable matchup on the block. He doesn't get as many of those since a big man is usually guarding him without the Robbins twins around. Frady is good in the post(even though I don't know that he has ever received a post entry pass), but has some limits on defense. Those limits could have played a role in him not playing against TH North. Clearly... they have zone busters. This team might think to last years senior class. Sammy and Silas Robbins both could have scored 15-20 ppg if the offense ran through them. Slover... he could have scored 20 a game on his quickness and ability to finish around the basket. Tucker Hayes is one of the most gifted shooters to come through Linton... on other teams... he scores 25+ ppg. All sacrificed a little for the good of the team. I can't count how many times I've seen Frady alone on the block... Hart or Cook open on the perimeter with no pass to the open guy. Hart is also under utilized as a slashing scorer, which is his greatest asset. Some teams have a defender to lock up Hale... I've not seen too many with 2nd guy as athletic as little Joey. Same could be said for D-Rob and Pyne. Instead we shoot a lot of one on one contested 3 pointers. With all that said... Coach Hart usually starts whipping them into shape after Christmas. If guys buy in... this team could make another trip to Indy. If not, we might have a guy or two break some individual records... maybe even win a sectional... I just don't see them beating really good teams. Isn't it sort of comical to hear Linton fans(myself included) complain about things when they have a varsity bench and JV team full of guys that would get varsity minutes elsewhere.

Playmaking is definitely a concern. I wonder if our lack of size will play a role as well. Frady has been a pleasant surprise at this point in the year, but he has defensive limitations. Tall athletic players worry me. Barr-Reeve will be an interesting game. Last year... we just shot the lights out in the second half. Everyone was driving and kicking to open guys... and they were making shots. We still have that ability... we just haven't done it for long stretches. Then again... we hadn't really done that until BR last year. Rankings are what they are... not much use until early January. I would like to watch the Brown kid as well. I've watched some youtube stuff and read a little bit about him. I saw he was averaging 35 ppg and 12 apg earlier this month. Crazy numbers.

I'm still not completely sold on Bloomfield. First, I watched Edgewood this summer without their 2 best players... not very good. I also heard some rumors about at least one of those stud players getting into some trouble that could amount to a suspension. I never had that confirmed. It also didn't hurt to have a head coach with in depth knowledge of Edgewood. I think Bloomfield will be solid... probably win another sectional... compete for a Regional. Are they a top 5 team... maybe... tough to say this early. Linton is really good at times... sort of selfishly mediocre at times. When you have a guy that could 30 and a guy capable of 20 on any given night on a team with a lot of guys who could score double figures... who takes lead on distributing the ball... So far... nobody. Slover's defense and clutch plays are hard enough to replace (although I think Pyne and especially Robertson have not done a bad job). It is Slover's willingness to be a playmaker that is really missed. It is at all levels... loads of scorers from Freshman-Varsity... at times it is a lot of one v. one or worse one v. 4 or 5. With that said... there were a lot of big questions last year as well. By the first week of January last year, I think people started to see the team really gel as a unit. These guys have time to get in tournament form. Too many good players that haven't quite figured out how to hit on all cylinders for a whole game isn't a bad problem to have this early in the year.

This weekend helped clarify a few things. Linton- Handled Clay City and Vincennes Lincoln. I wouldn't say either game saw the Miners hitting on all cylinders. There were times the offense was to one dimensional, which bogged things down. I'm still not sure the holdovers from last year are completely comfortable with the new faces. Once that happens... this team could be really good. Different than last year, but fully capable of making a long postseason run. 20 wins and a deep tournament run is a real possibility. North Daviess- Tough to gauge a team that is 0-4. They are losing to good teams, but the loss to Perry Central sort of made me wonder... then again PC had some good teams a few years back. Bloomfield- Beat Shakamak... who knows if that is a good win. The Lakers are really young. If Royal is allowed to score 20-30 a night.. they will be tough. That looked to be a common thing in the summer. Summer ball isn't regular season ball. White River Valley- Barely beat North Central and barely scored against South Knox. I wonder who they have that can carry the scoring load consistently. Roller coaster is a good description. I still wonder what this team would be if Clayton Hoover would have stayed with basketball. He scored well for a freshman... as a senior he should have been a consistent 15-20 ppg guy. North Central- 2-1 with a close loss to WRV. They look like a middle of the pack team. I watched some of their JV guys... Linton's JV handled them easily. Then again, Linton's JV would be toward the top of the SWIAC standings if they were playing varsity. Shakamak- Rough weekend, but they are young. I'm guessing they will have games where the look good... others when they struggle. Gilbert may be their only consistent scorer. Next year they will get a really good 8th grader to help in the scoring department. They have to get more out of the 2 sophomores that have some height. 6'5" and 6'3" is nice... but after that it is a bunch guys under 6'0" Clay City- I like the way they play. They play with a lot of heart. I'm just not sure they have the players to beat some of these teams. They have a feeder program problem. Outside of a couple classes... there isn't a pipeline of players. Eastern- Loss to NC... beat Brown County... who knows where this team belongs. I'm guessing near the bottom. I think Hudson will right the ship, but it may take a while. That feeder program is not good. I hope people understand that.

Interesting question. Fulk vs. E. Slover B. Jackson vs. T. Hayes D. Fougerousse vs. L. Hale J. Bohnert vs. K. Fougerousse A. Karazsia vs. S. Robbins Bench... Neither team dug too deep into their bench. Silas Robbins would be a nice body to help with AK. Pyne made a lot of big plays down the stretch. I don't remember the 12-13 team's subs. Eaton? Riddell? Was their another guard? Matchups would be key... Hayes likely guards Fulk. I think that plays in favor of the 2019 group. Jackson guards Hale since he was their lockdown defender. With a bum ankle, I think Jackson could handle him. Slover likely guards Dess. I'm not sure how that works. Dess was very good at using his size as a ballhandler, but I'm not sure Dess had someone guard him as quick a tenacious as Evan. Obviously, Dess has a size advantage on the block. J-Bone vs. Kip is an interesting matchup. I think Kip is more skilled on the perimeter, but Bohnert would be athletic enough to defend him all over. Would Kip be able to handle Bohnert on the block... similar size and athletic ability, but he is at least an inch or two shorter. Plus, people don't realize the mental game J-Bone could play on a kid. I think Kip likely would smile and move on, but I've seen a lot of good players on a football field and basketball court get out of the game with the mental warfare implemented by Bohnert. AK would be unstoppable on the block, but Sammy's shooting could pull him far enough from the rim to negate his dominance on defense. Ultimately, I think the defensive short comings of Fulk and even Dess would hurt the 2013 team. As good of a kid as Fulk was, who could he guard? If Fulk guards Slover, then Dess has to guard Tucker, Lincoln, or Kip. Dess wasn't a big fan of defense. With that said... Dess was equally successful at getting into a player's head... maybe he evens the field by getting into someone's head. Then again, the 2013 team... probably play zone.

1: Linton- Linton should be the cream of the crop. They had a nice win at Paoli in their opening weekend. They didn't even play that well to start the game. There will be some struggles trying to replace the size of the Robbins twins, the scoring of Tucker Hayes, and the sheer grit and determination that Evan Slover brought to each contest (not to mention he was a dominant defender). Some of those were noticeable early on against Paoli. Lincoln Hale and Josh Pyne ran the point with mixed results. Neither looked natural there, although Hale looked better as the game progressed. Pyne never got into a groove offensively, but he provides some of the same things Slover provided on the defensive end. Caleb Frady played solid minutes as their biggest body. He is a skilled big man with sneaky athleticism. He is still just a month or two away from being cleared from knee surgery. If he could get to be a guy that can provide 20 minutes a night that will be big later on. He did that Saturday and he made a difference. Kip Fougerousse was his usual self. The addition of a post up game late last year made him really tough to guard 1 on 1 in the post. Put a big on him... he will move out to the 3 point line and rain jump shots. Devyn Robertson and Brady Smith were used primarily as defenders as the game went on, but both made contributions. Young Joey Hart started as a freshman and seemed to rise to the level as the game progressed. He will be fun to watch. Drew Cook probably hit 7-8 threes between his JV and Varsity minutes. I think he had 3 big 3 pointers in the varsity contest after not making an appearance until the 2nd quarter. The 2 freshman scored between 15-20 points combined. Lincoln Hale also seemed to recognize how the puzzle pieces fit as the game went along. He is clearly the top dog, but he recognized how others took the pressure off him as the game progressed. I'm sure that is a progression he has to make looking toward his collegiate aspirations, but he was set up a lot last year. My guess is he plays more and more of the point over his last two seasons. The bench was loaded with athletes that would start or play significant minutes at other schools... almost too much talent. Same could be said for the JV... They have guys who would fight for varsity spots elsewhere. 2-4- North Daviess- I'm not as familiar with who North Daviess lost, but Mullins and Townsend in a backcourt could fun to watch. Townsend can be a streaky shooter, but Mullins is good at setting the table. I'll be interested to see what parts they have back. I would put them slightly ahead of Bloomfield, Shakamak, and WRV for now. 2-4. Bloomfield- As Royal and the Sophomore class goes... so goes the Cardinals. Graf should have played more as a freshman, but he will likely be Bloomfield second option. He is a decent athlete and crafty around the basket. Someone gushed over Bloomfield at the Linton Shootout this summer... I wasn't nearly as impressed. Good, but I'm not sure Royal is a 25 ppg scorer. He looked like that guy this summer, but it will be a bit tougher when teams start to scheme against him. Plus, summer games are quite a bit faster than some season games. 2-4. WRV- There are some things to like. Denham should be solid. Ellett looked to plateau last year, but hopefully he worked on expanding his game. He is load down low when he wants to be, but I didn't see the fire he played with in JH and as a freshman. If that guy returns, he scores 10-20 a game a tears down 10+ rebounds a night. I really like the way Records plays, but he struggles getting free at his size. Crites had a good summer in the few games I was able to see. There are pieces, but it will be interesting to see if they can beat ND or Bloomfield. 5... as high as 3. Shakamak- Good sophomore class will lead the way. I'm guessing they will have some growing pains. I'm not sure what they have in the junior and senior classes. They have 1 freshman who will be a good baseball player. but I'll be interested to see if he plays varsity basketball. 6. Clay City- I liked the way they played last year... A solid freshman class could provide a player or two. Their feeder program has been so bad for so long... it is tough to believe they are much better than 6th... maybe even lower. 7. Eastern- I don't really know what Coach Hudson is walking into. The feeder program has been weak. The Rippy kid will be a big body in the middle. Could be a tough year for Hudson. ??. North Central- I don't really know where to put NC. I could see them anywhere from 3rd or 4th to dead last. Edmondson can coach... and he always seemed to get a key transfer or two while at Clay City. NC is even closer to Terre Haute. A couple big bodies in the lower grades and a couple athletes make this team an unknown.

Congrats to Linton Miners on their sectional title... on to Paoli. Congrats to the Bloomfield Cardinals on their title as well. Hopefully, both will represent the conference and the county well.

North Daviess 8th grade coaches and players deserve a lot of credit. They scouted Linton multiple times and knew how/where to expose their weaknesses on offense and defense. The players executed a great gameplan. Most Linton 8th grade parents would tell you we were not playing great team basketball as the season wound down. Too many 3 pointers... lazy defense... lack of substitutions (Linton goes 11 deep with kids who can contribute).... too much one on one... lack of passing to open teammates... the list can go on and on. It was hard not to notice, but somehow it was discounted because we have some prolific scorers that masked the other problems. It was painfully noticeable in every close game the Miners played. The week before Linton nearly lost to a TH North team that they had beat by 15+ the day before... they went down to the wire with a Sullivan team that they beat by 30 during the season. We even had a close game with Clay City that Saturday morning (Won that by 25 or 30 earlier in the year). North Daviess was the only team good enough to expose them. It didn't help that Linton had one of their top 3 scorers at about 75%. He was the one kid the Cougars couldn't guard in the 1st game. Even at 100%, I think Linton loses by 10. Sort of sad... it should have been a barn burner. The Miners never quite figured out how to play as a team. Not easy for a coach to factor in 2 new players (leading scorers on their previous teams)and play 11 kids who could all contribute. As much as it pains me to say it... the better team won. ND was unselfish on offense and tough on defense. Linton still has far more talent top to bottom.

Linton's 8th grade team played well for about a half against North Daviess. Neither team shot well. Linton had a lot of turnovers in the second half. I'm not sure the Miners really utilized their biggest advantage over the Cougars. The Miners go about 11 deep. In a game of that magnitude they probably go 8 or 9 deep. Linton and North Daviess both played basically 5-6 guys. It was evident on the defensive end for the Miners... and probably contributed to some lazy offense as well. If I'm a ND coach, I'm preaching about how effective their defense was in the 2nd half... and how they are unlikely to shoot that poorly again. Especially since the Miner defense seemed to lag a little in the 2nd half. Linton's 7th grade play their tails off... they just need some physical maturity and a lot of time in a gym. They are 5-8, but could very easily have 8-9 wins. The class in general just doesn't have a lot of athletes who have matured. Seems to be the status quo among most of the teams I have seen. It seems every 7th grade team is low on athletes.