RunninRebels

Who looked good?  Can we get a Bluedove All-Tournament team?

Temple put him back in to spread the floor and help ice the game.  It's not as if they stayed in the full court run and jump.  Furthermore, you can't blame the kid for wanting to dunk on a breakaway.  How about you question the kid who pushed him in the back?  I understand and somewhat commend the toughness of not wanting to get dunked on, but in a twenty point game you don't risk injuring someone.  

I can't put out a list of twenty five, but I can throw out a 1st team, 2nd team, 3rd team scenario.  I'll do it with five on a team the way it should be done, rather than an all-district team of 30 guys.

1st Team SETX:
PG Earl Bray, Port Arthur Memorial
SG Brennan Doty, PNG
SF Chris Cunningham, Nederland
PF DC Stallworth, Silsbee
C Kelvin Smith, Nederland

Everyone in this group is not necessarily in position, but I think these are the best five in the area.

Second Team:
PG Garrett Gustaffson, HJ
SG David Green, Ozen
SF Hunter Gonzales, LCM
PF Shawn Prudhomme, HJ
C Dionte Forney, Nederland

Third Team:
PG Kelton Gaines, Silsbee
SG #2 Livingston.  I want to say Jacory Thomas, but that could be way off.
SF Kristin Smith, Central
PF Prentice Lane, Silsbee
C Jeffrey Ieans, Ozen

There should probably be one or two from West Brook on this list and maybe another from PA, but I just haven't seen much 5A basketball this season.  Sorry in advance.  A few guys are a bit out of position, but I tried to take what I thought were the best five and put them together and then do the same with the second and third teams.  HJ guys, I know you will say Prudhomme will be higher, but I don't think he's there yet.  With that said, everyone ahead of him is a senior.  Flame away!

I might would take Lamar PA over Lamar, too.  Put it this way, Lamar would not have won the last YMCA league this summer.  Granted, J'Covan and several ex-college players were in that league, but that is how weak they are for a Division 1 team.  Anthony Miles is probably the best player on that squad and he wasn't even rated by rivals.  Charlie Harper was a two star recruit.  Yates matches up just fine and if you don't believe me, go watch them play.  Wait til they get to about the third round of playoffs when they catch someone with a pulse, but it's worth the drive to Houston.  I'm not gonna bother wasting the gas driving to Montagne again this year... 

I've seen both teams, several times, and I'm telling you it would be a good game.  You can say, "Well a college team will always beat a high school team," but that's simply not true.  Would Lamar kill to sign Joseph Young, Brandon Peters, and Darius Gardner?  You better believe it.  I think they'd probably take Alex Davis and Marshall Lange, too.  In my opinion that is five that could be on the LU roster and those first three would be an upgrade to Lamar's backcourt.

Now, you say that Yates couldn't score in the half court against Lamar's size.  That doesn't matter because Yates doesn't often score in a half court set anyways.  Oh, Lamar's size will score inside?  Hope those big guys are fast getting back because Yates is gonna be flying back up the court.  And who says college guards can't be pressed?  Nolan Richardson was pretty successful with it and Mike Anderson at Missouri has won by applying pressure. 

You can call me an idiot or delusional or whatever you like, but I've watched both these teams and a whole hell of a lot of basketball.  Yates might not win this one, but it would be a game.  No doubt in my mind.

Basketball is not football.  This is not a game that is completely dependent on physical development, hence freshman like Derek Rose and John Wall can come into college and dominate immediately.  Obviously Lamar would have a HUGE size advantage, but the question is could they take advantage of it?  I'd like to think a whole team of D1 guards could break the Yates pressure, but as much as I hate to say it, Lamar is barely D1.  We're not talking Big XII quality here.  How many of those Yates kids would Lamar give a scholly to?  I know the top three without a doubt.  Four?  Five?  I definitely think they could hang.  Maybe win.

Generally, college guards pick apart the kind of full court pressure that Yates applies.  With that said I'm not sure I wouldn't take Jack Yates' top three guards of LU's top three guards.  And it's not like Lamar would really make them pay inside...

Bluedove is right, though.  The area is VERY down on talent compared to recent years and even more so compared to past years.  Look at the D1 talent in PA from 98-00 and the talent the first four or so years at Ozen.  There were like 10 D1's in just those two groups.  I understand that talent moves in cycles, but we're just in a down period right now.  No shame in that.

[quote name="BLUEDOVE3" post="732534" timestamp="1261147142"]
[quote author=CATMAN link=topic=63926.msg732406#msg732406 date=1261105846]
[quote author=LAZEEK link=topic=63926.msg732263#msg732263 date=1261084886]
[quote author=BLUEDOVE3 link=topic=63926.msg732252#msg732252 date=1261082437]
This should be renamed to: "Top Players In Southeast Texas." Because some of these kids you named aren't even close to some of the kids 90 miles west of here.
[/quote]

Who cares about Houston???  You are a HF guy......so quit living through H Town!!! :D :D :D
[/quote] WOW
[/quote]C'mon Cat, you know we could take that PG from litty bitty West Lake Austin and he would outshine most of the players in this area.
[/quote]

To be honest, I would take DeCarlos Frank over Cody Doolin from Austin Westlake.  But in general you are right.  Houston has more good players than Southeast Texas.  Imagine that.  They have way more people over there.

Who knows who's gonna win.  If Franks ever comes back for Ozen, they have to be the favorite.  After that it's wiiiiiiide open.

Besides a couple of drives in 4th quarter garbage time, I didn't see Forney score on anything but putbacks.  I thought the Smith kid looked much better than Dionte.

I think it's Nederland-Milburn, Vidor-WOS, Ozen-?, Galveston Ball-PNG, with Sabine getting the bye and playing the Nederland-Milburn winner.  Not sure if that is exactly right, but I know it looked to lead to Ozen-Ball in one semifinal and Nederland winning the other one.  I would expect Ball to play (and beat) Nederland in the final.  That Pettway kid they have can really play.

Sorry...not trying to be confrontational.  It's been a long week and it's only Thursday.

I hope you aren't insinuating that my opinion is less valuable because I've only made six posts.  Generally I am content to sit back and read other's opinion, whether they are valid or not, but occasionally I'll get involved.  If you'd like I can fax you over my basketball resume so you can check out my credentials.

ps.  I can't imagine what my boss' reaction would be if I spent enough of my work time to have thousands of posts. 

First off, J'Covan is a tricky one to analyze, but I have several observations.  I understand where one would think he plays no D and is a shoot first player, but I have to respectfully disagree.  There were times at Kelly, Memorial, and on the AAU circuit where he would get upset and just shut down.  In the past year and a half I've seen the young man mature a good bit and I'd like to think (and hope) he's outgrown this.  Also, if you were to watch him in a men's league where his team is up thirty he doesn't play a lot of defense.  No one does.  But if you can catch him in a competitive game against actual competition you will see a completely different person.  He has the ability to be a LOCKDOWN defender and, in addition to a great stroke, is an excellent passer.  This is one of those kids who sees the game two or three steps ahead of everyone else.  Again, I understand where the doubts come from, but if Coach Barnes can keep his head on straight this kid will be an impact player.  

ps.  I've heard nothing but excitement about him from Austin.  

"heck some other poster just said he's back in Pt. Arthur now.  No way he's enrolled in Summer II classes and hanging out in PA."

He may be home a day here or a day there, but he's not in Port Arthur.  The kid is in Austin and will play for UT next year.

He's in Austin.

I think the whole district will be taking a step backwards.  Livingston loses pretty much everything, Ozen loses almost everything especially with Franks gone (from what I hear), PN-G loses Weathersby, Central loses Gulley, and Nederland is losing FOUR starters.  LCM is the only team in my opinion that should be significantly better.

Who's gonna win the district?  In the past the road to the title went through Lincoln, but now it goes through Beaumont Ozen and until someone knocks them off, that's just how it is.  I will agree the Dionte Forney can play, but I don't even remember this Smith kid.  Nothing against him, I just don't remember ever noticing him play.  Also, I feel that Nederland's guard play will be a bit of a weak point.  That will hurt against the teams that play pressure defense.

I think it will be Ozen and Central at 1-2 and then Nederland, LCM, and PNG battling out for the other two spots.  I guess we'll see.