Pumper

Just realized that this is the Jeff Keener I knew from way back.  He was 2 years behind me in high school at Dulles in Sugar Land.  He was a decent player, and I had no idea that he coached over at HF.  Wish I had known, I would have looked him up.  He is at Friendswood now, and apparently was very successful for 5 or 6 years at Hitchcock. Sounds like he has had a pretty nice coaching career.

State tournament in the Drum in Austin back in the early 80's.  LaBradford Smith, a sophomore at the time, jumped over a kid and dunked on him.  Bay City was playing LaMesa in the semi-finals.  Little guard from LaMesa tried to take a charge and LaBradford jumped over him and jammed it.  Crowd went nuts.  If I remember correctly, LaBradford did not miss a shot that game.  Went something like 12-12 from the field and 5-5 from the line for 29 points.  Not bad for a sophomore. Of course went on to Louisville and the NBA...

H-J clearly one of the best; Nederland because of English (don't know much good or bad about the rest of his staff); Silsbee staff is clearly very good (had to do it without Travis for a lot of last season) WestBrook - no comment...

3 on 3 half court is great training for basketball.  Nowhere to hide.  You have to play defense, you have to move on offense, no snow-birding, etc.  Pass and cut, pass and pick away, help defense, on the ball defense, ---pretty much everything you need.   I believe in doing the ball-handling drills and everything, but kids really need to play pick-up ball more, and 3 on 3 is a good way to do it. Having said all that, kids today for the most part are way too soft.  Could go on and on about it, but it's too much coaching and coddling, and not enough pick-up ball where you learn by doing.

BMRM, when were you in Stafford?  I lived in Missouri City from 77 - 85 and went to Dulles in Sugar Land.  At the time, Willowridge was a football power with Thurman Thomas. If you remember them being a basketball power, then you are probably much younger than me (maybe the TJ Ford era?). Just curious

Wanna bet?  May lose to Silsbee, but not Cleveland

FT shooting is repetition and confidence.  You ever notice that some kids who get fouled (often point guards) seem that they can't wait to get to the line to shoot when they are fouled?  They know they are going to make them, and then they usually do.  Shooting 50 a day and charting them is good for kids.  Charting them makes the kid accountable and they will want to improve over time.  I have helped a number of kids over the years on free throws.  It can be like a golf swing with too many things to think about.  The key is the release.  Do the same thing every time, eyes on the target, and follow through (not sort of follow through, but really follow through and hold your release).  If a kid will practice that way they will improve.  It just ain't that tough.  Don't you think if a kid shoots 50 a day and charts them, then they will go to the line in a game with more confidence at crunch time?  It really is pretty simple if they are willing to do the work.  And it's better not to give them 50 things to think about (bend your knees, elbow in, deep breath, finish on your toes, don't fall back, etc, etc.).  All those things are good, but eyes on the target (focus) and the right release will take care of most of it, along with the repetition of doing it the same way EVERY time in practice and in a game. Now, off my soap box....

From what I have seen of him, he will get a chance to play at the next level.  Any scholarship opportunity is a great thing for a kid.  He'll just need to find the best opportunity for him.  I've seen lots of kids accept a scholarship at the highest level that they are offered, and then end up very unhappy due to lack of PT.  Combo of coach, school, location and lots of other things play into it. Remember that every kid you see playing who received a scholarship was the man (or one of the top 2) at his high school.  They are used to being the man and all that it implies.  Then they go to school and usually sit for at least a year before ever seeing the court.  It's not an easy adjustment, and many don't make it past that.  It's important to make the right choice for the right reasons.  Hope this young man gets good advice from his family/coaches, etc. Wish him the best.  Only the cream of the crop even have the opportunity...

I was at the game Friday night, and what an awesome environment and atmosphere for a H.S. game.  It was a very good game, and the better team that night won the game.  My assessment is the HJ's starting five may be slightly better than Silsbee's.  However, Silsbee had the best player in the game (Stallworth) and had a much better and deeper bench.  If they were playing tomorrow, I would say that Silsbee would be favored, but not by a lot.  Two good teams deserving of their rankings and fan support, playing a great rivalry game, and knowing that they will meet at least one more time and maybe twice.  Can't find a negative in there unless it's some trash on a message board by a few.  Most recognize it for what it is and they love the great competition.  That's what it's all about! By the way, Dogs sounds like somebody who just strongly dislikes HJ for whatever reason.  I can tell you that Brian English respects HJ a lot and it wouldn't surprise me if he even pulls for them when Nederland is not playing them.  Sort of a mutual respect thing. Brian is the type of guy who rarely says anything negative about anybody or anything.  Great guy building a program the right way.  Just like Sutherland at HJ and Williams at Silsbee.  Just my two cents...

Sutherland, English, Joubert, T. Williams for sure. Sutherland has over an 80% winning percentage for his career, state titles, etc. - just incredible. English build Nederland from the bottom and is building a program, from LD on up.  He'll be consistently good there, and he had to fight "the powers that be" in Nederland at first to get it going. Joubert and T.Williams have been consistently good for a while now. Nice thing about all 4 of these guys is that they are good people and they try to teach their kids the right way to play and to act.  I'd be proud for my sons to play for any of these guys.  There may be others worthy of consideration, but these 4 are good coaches and good people that you like to see succeeding.

  yeah! yeah! yeah! They win ONLY ONE State title and you giving them props like that :P :D [/quote] No doubt there are better "programs" or better runs, but that team that year was nasty.  During that time frame in Houston, everybody thought Yates was the program, but that Madison team was awesome.  Most of their games looked like a dunk contest and were over by halftime.

I will say this about the size thing.  The best 5A team I ever saw was the 1985 Houston Madison team.  40-0 and state champs.  No player over 6'6", but deep and loaded.  Most players between 6'1" and 6'5".  8 kids off that team got scholarships (Tech, Baylor, Houston, TSU, Central Florida, various smaller schools & jucos).  I think their closest game that year was 11 points, but their avg. margin was about 25 or so.

I have noticed the lack of size in general in this area, and I don't understand it.  I can see how the 3A and smaller levels have less size, with posts in the 6'3" range or so, but the 4A & 5A teams should have posts in the 6'6" or taller range.  It should just be a number of students thing. I played at a big 5A school in Sugar Land (a long time ago because I'm old), but our starting line up was 6'11", 6'6", 6'3", 6'1" & 5'10".  Most teams we played had at least one post over 6'6", and usually 2 that size. In recent years, West Brook has been relatively small and not that good.  Why is that in a school of about 2500 students?  Emphasis on other sports?  Coaching?  or what?  I'm asking because I honestly don't know.  My kids are still in middle school.

Great kid.  I coached his little brother (who can hoop by the way) a couple of years ago.  Nico would often be at practice to watch his brother and would come shoot with him and the other kids after practice.  Just a nice kid all the way around.  Horrible that he died so young.