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SWIAC 2019-20


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SWIAC Predictions for this season.

1. Linton- with Kip and Lincoln returning from last years starting lineup and the addition of some really soild players the Miners should make it through the conference schedule without suffering a lose. Look for Josh Pyne to make a big impact especially on the defensive side of the court.  Devon Robertson is good scorer and an above average athlete that should be in the lineup this year.  Linton looks deep with lots of young talent especially in the Freshman class.

2. North Davies They got some talent in Townsend and they also have some good freshman coming up

3.  WRV-  WRV looks to be getting better with some younger talent

4. Shakamak- The Lakers might surpise some teams this year

5. Bloomfield - Doesnt look like Bloomfield has any foreign exchange students this year, so that means a down year for the Cards.

6.  Clay City

7. Eastern

8. North Central

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  • 3 weeks later...

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.

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9 hours ago, Greene County Coach said:

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.

Last year's Miner team was really deep.  I'm wondering if they have enough this year to fill the holes left by graduation.  It would say a lot for the program if they could make it to state again this year.  They are off to a good start with the Paoli road win.  Coach Hart seems to get 110% from his players.  Should be another great year for Miner Nation.

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Id say that Linton is just as deep a team as they were last year,  that doesnt mean that they will make a repeat appearance in the state finals,  sometimes those long tournament runs are a combination of being a great team and a little bit of luck. But Id love to go back to Indy in late March.   

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2 hours ago, jshuttlesworth said:

Id say that Linton is just as deep a team as they were last year,  that doesnt mean that they will make a repeat appearance in the state finals,  sometimes those long tournament runs are a combination of being a great team and a little bit of luck. But Id love to go back to Indy in late March.   

As I said, Coach Hart seems to get 110% out of his players.  I was wondering how last year's state runner up would do against the 2012 - 2013 state runner up team.   As far as stats go, both teams were pretty close in scoring average and defensive average.

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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.  

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30 minutes ago, Greene County Coach said:

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.  

Thanks for the assessment, Greene County Coach!  I was thinking the 2018-2019 team might have been a bit quicker than the 2012 - 2013 team was.  A.K. and Dess were a load because of their size.  It was a shame the year they went to the final was against a VERY talented Bowman Academy.  They hung tough with them for about 3 and a half quarters.  Any other year and they may have won it all.  I think the Bowman team had two D-1 recruits on it.  At least that was what I was told.  This should be another good year for the Miner round ballers.  Believe it or not, I always look to the Barr Reeve game as a barometer for how they are doing.  Barr Reeve is a power in 1A basketball.  Beat them, and you are having a good season (or so it would seem).

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Interesting  SWAIC matchups this weekend

Shakamak hosts Bloomfield- I like Bloomfield in this one by 8.  

Linton at Clay City- Linton by 40 plus.

WRV hosts South Knox- South Knox by 10

 

Brown County at Eastern Greene- I dont see Eastern winning this game, but just looking at Brown County's schedule it looks like they have a very WEAK schedule for a 3A school.  

Edited by jshuttlesworth
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10 hours ago, jshuttlesworth said:

Interesting  SWAIC matchups this weekend

Shakamak hosts Bloomfield- I like Bloomfield in this one by 8.  

Linton at Clay City- Linton by 40 plus.

WRV hosts South Knox- South Knox by 10

 

Brown County at Eastern Greene- I dont see Eastern winning this game, but just looking at Brown County's schedule it looks like they have a very WEAK schedule for a 3A school.  

Maybe it's time for an eye exam because Eastern won, 42 - 36.

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3 hours ago, jshuttlesworth said:

I stand corrected.  It would be great to see a resurgence of basketball at Eastern Greene.  

Hey, for what it's worth,  I didn't think Eastern would win either.  LOL  I saw that Linton won big and see they are favored over V. Lincoln tonight by 15.  And I agree with your comment about Eastern (resurgence).  

Edited by itiswhatitis
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Linton by far is the strongest team in the SWIAC but it is going to take some time to get this team to gel.  Lot's of potential and new faces to add to the mix.  Several of those getting their first significant varsity action.  I would say we will have a good feel for how they stack up statewide by mid January.  #1 Rating is nice, but we all know preseason rankings are based on last year.  They will definitely be a threat to continue their 20 win season streak.  With Bloomfield I just don't see what some of the others see in them.  Royal is a nice player and Graf is playing well, but they lost a lot of leadership and they aren't very deep.  JB will do a good job with them and put them in position to win in games so it will be interesting to see how they progress. I do think they are the second best team in the conference, but unless they play Brett Ball and take the air out of it, they can't keep up with Linton.   WRV is like a rollercoaster right now and hard to get a handle on.  They have some talent but they are up and down right now.  I suppose we will find out if they are for real or not on the 21st when they play Bloomfield.   The two teams that I can't figure out yet are North Daviess (0-4) and N.Central (2-1).  I guess we will know a little more this weekend after they play each other, but I expected ND to be at least 2-2 to start this season.  At N. Central,  after going 5-21 last year they start off 2-1.  Vance is a good coach, but I didn't think their 8th grade was that strong last season, so did they get any move ins or have they improved that much in the offseason?   Vance will make them competitive but I am surprised at their start.    Clay City is a scrappy bunch and will win some games. They didn't back down from Linton the other night, they just didn't have the firepower, but they are a competitive group.  It will be interesting to see how Coach Hudson does with the once strong Eastern program.  It will take some time there to rebuild it.  Shakamak is a young team with not a lot of bigs. They are quick and have outside shooting. They are going to have to push pace and score in transition to have a good year, but they will surprise some people I think. 

I am going to go with;

1. Linton (undefeated)

2. Bloomfield

3. North Daviess

4. Clay City

5. WRV

6. North Central

7.Shakamak

8. Eastern

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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.

 

 

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2 hours ago, itiswhatitis said:

The Miners are ranked #1 this week in the 2A poll.  They now have a bigger target on their backs.  I see that Barr Reeve is #2 in the 1A poll.  Should make their January 4th meeting all the more interesting if they are both #1 in their respective polls by then.

And we are playing the game in America again this year!😁

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After this weekend, Bloomfield may be a little better than previously thought.  A nice win vs Edgewood and four in double figures vs Clay City means the young guys are stepping up.  Before the OV game I thought Linton would run away with it, but the OV zone created some issues.  It was nice to see them adjust, but there are still too many times that the inexperience shows. It is going to take some time and they still need to find a 3rd consistent double figure scorer to add to Hale and Fougerousse.  I hope I am wrong but I don't see any way that Linton stays within 15 points of Barr Reeve on the 4th.  BR is really good and experienced and if the Hopf family wins an injunction in their lawsuit this week and he is immediately eligible I don't see it being that close.  That is not a knock on Linton.  That is an acknowledgement on how good BR is.  Overall, the conference isn't super strong, with a 12-12 record overall (8 wins between Bloomfield and Linton)  but there should be some very competitive games between the other 6 schools as I think they are all pretty evenly matched.

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On ‎12‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 7:42 PM, Pops said:

After this weekend, Bloomfield may be a little better than previously thought.  A nice win vs Edgewood and four in double figures vs Clay City means the young guys are stepping up.  Before the OV game I thought Linton would run away with it, but the OV zone created some issues.  It was nice to see them adjust, but there are still too many times that the inexperience shows. It is going to take some time and they still need to find a 3rd consistent double figure scorer to add to Hale and Fougerousse.  I hope I am wrong but I don't see any way that Linton stays within 15 points of Barr Reeve on the 4th.  BR is really good and experienced and if the Hopf family wins an injunction in their lawsuit this week and he is immediately eligible I don't see it being that close.  That is not a knock on Linton.  That is an acknowledgement on how good BR is.  Overall, the conference isn't super strong, with a 12-12 record overall (8 wins between Bloomfield and Linton)  but there should be some very competitive games between the other 6 schools as I think they are all pretty evenly matched.

Bloomfield is ranked #3 this week in the 1A poll right behind #2 Barr Reeve so the voters must think they are good.  I would think everyone hopes you are wrong about Barr Reeve being 15 points better than Linton.  BR is good every year.  All they have is basketball so all of their focus and energy is put into that program.  it's a big deal to people down there. 

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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.

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3 hours ago, itiswhatitis said:

Bloomfield is ranked #3 this week in the 1A poll right behind #2 Barr Reeve so the voters must think they are good.  I would think everyone hopes you are wrong about Barr Reeve being 15 points better than Linton.  BR is good every year.  All they have is basketball so all of their focus and energy is put into that program.  it's a big deal to people down there. 

Bloomfield and Linton are ranked where they are because of last years finish and teams losing in front of them.  Neither have lost and neither have played anyone yet.  They are both top 10 but not legit 1 and 3.  I hope I am wrong about the 15 points but this is an exceptional BR team.  Defensively they are much better than last year.   

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2 hours ago, Greene County Coach said:

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.

I think Bloomfield and Linton win their sectionals rather easily this year.  The things you bring up regarding ball distribution is what I believe will be their Achilles heel this year. Slover was invaluable that way and unless someone really steps up I think they will have issues with teams like BR and some of the better teams in the WV Classic.  No doubt Linton can score points in bunches but can they win a game in the 40's and 50's where you have to value the ball and play possession basketball?  They haven't had to yet but I would say we will find out in the next 2-3 weeks.  I don't see a true leader on this team yet either.  Slover was that last year, but Lincoln and Kip really didn't have to be that.  More reps and games will help with all of that.   

Speaking of Holiday basektball,  I would like to get down and see if Luke Brown at Blackford is the real deal and how they match up with some of the teams at that tournament.  Lots of good basketball in our area the next several weeks!

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1 hour ago, Pops said:

I think Bloomfield and Linton win their sectionals rather easily this year.  The things you bring up regarding ball distribution is what I believe will be their Achilles heel this year. Slover was invaluable that way and unless someone really steps up I think they will have issues with teams like BR and some of the better teams in the WV Classic.  No doubt Linton can score points in bunches but can they win a game in the 40's and 50's where you have to value the ball and play possession basketball?  They haven't had to yet but I would say we will find out in the next 2-3 weeks.  I don't see a true leader on this team yet either.  Slover was that last year, but Lincoln and Kip really didn't have to be that.  More reps and games will help with all of that.   

Speaking of Holiday basektball,  I would like to get down and see if Luke Brown at Blackford is the real deal and how they match up with some of the teams at that tournament.  Lots of good basketball in our area the next several weeks!

Linton will probably be the pre-tourney favorite to win the Wabash Valley Classic this year.  Seems like most other teams are down.   They will be the favorite to win the Greene County tournament.  it's that one in between those 2 that is bothersome: the Southridge tournament.  That is when they play Barr Reeve.  I am expecting 30 points will win the Barr Reeve game.  Barr Reeve is also ranked highly from last year's success.  Granted they aren't giving up to many points per game, but they haven't played any good teams yet either.  Bloomfield is playing Bloomington South on the 3rd of January.  Linton is playing Barr Reeve on the 4th and Bloomfield is playing Bloomington South on the 17th of January.  All 3 games worth the price of admission.  Bloomfield and Barr Reeve play each other but not until the end of February.

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I would say that a lot of questions will be answered over the next 3 weeks.  It will be interesting to see how some of the younger players respond on some big stages and atmospheres.  Lot of coaches trying to figure out rotations with new faces.  No better way to find out than to pay the games.  

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CORRECTION:  Meant to say that Bloomfield plays Linton on the 17th not Bloomington South.  And you are correct Pops, the next few weeks will tell us a lot about who is who.  Barr Reeve and Bloomfield will be good tests for Linton.  No matter what happens, at least they won't have to see them in the state tournament. 

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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.

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