Ghost Writer

I've been going to the state basketball tournament since 1972. 50 straight years of attending. I have seen my fair share of quality games and teams. Many times at the state tournament I witnessed very good teams tire out in the 2nd half due to the other team's relentless pressure. It happens. Sometimes you can see it happening based on the first half of play.
I believe Silsbee was the better overall team (depth, coaching) in this match up. But to completely dismiss the fact that Washington only plays 6 players and coming off a tough game with LBJ less than 20 hours prior, they had to face a Silsbee team that was deeper and kept up the pressure, would be showing lack of knowledge of the game.

Silsbee is loaded with atheletes on the regular. The fact they have not won championships in football is not because the district pours more into basketball than football. To the contrary, the basketball program has not only won championships, but won period for a long time in spite of. It was only when Silsbee got an Administration that afforded the basketball program some of the same amenities as football,(ie: basketball class and the ability to go play outside the immediate area to name a couple), that Silsbee got over the hump championship wise. Football has had those amenities and more. Monetarily, there is no comparison between the two when it comes to outlay. Comparing this athletic  program to to others in the area (WOS, Newton, etc) is really comparing communities. The Silsbee community values all their sports not just one or two. Bigger, stronger, faster works well for football, but basketball requires a level of skill that can only be attained through skill development. When bigger, stronger faster meets skilled in basketball, skilled at that game usually wins out at a more consistent rate. I will end with this, Silsbee is unlike anywhere else in this area. They don't take down the basketball goals or prevent basketball practices from happening or even games from taking place until football season ends. Why? because there are other students that are trying to be the best they can at their sport and are not afraid to go play schools while under manned. Before someone asks, yes I KNOW these things first hand.    

Houston and Dallas are able to get away with recruiting because they are their own DEC (District Executive Committees). the entire 4a district in HISD and DISD work for the same AD respectively. What coach is gonna report kids transferring for athletic purposes within their district with the threat of losing their job  hanging over their head because the district is loading up their "showcase school" ? Also, just like basketball kids are steered to Yates in this way, football kids are steered to a certain school(s) as well. That's why small towns can fair well against most of the other Houston schools and not these. As stated before, if these schools have this unfair advantage then they should either be in 5 or 6a or in their own league. And yes, there are exceptions when talking about small towns competing. However, in most instances, small towns cannot compete on a consistent basis.  

Houston and Dallas are able to get away with recruiting because they are their own DEC (District Executive Committees). the entire 4a district in HISD and DISD work for the same AD respectively. What coach is gonna report kids transferring for athletic purposes within their district with the threat of losing their job  hanging over their head because the district is loading up their "showcase school" ? Also, just like basketball kids are steered to Yates in this way, football kids are steered to a certain school(s) as well. That's why small towns can fair well against most of the other Houston schools and not these. As stated before, if these schools have this unfair advantage then they should either be in 5 or 6a or in their own league. And yes, there are exceptions when talking about small towns competing. However, in most instances, small towns cannot compete on a consistent basis.  

Houston and Dallas are able to get away with recruiting because they are their own DEC (District Executive Committees). the entire 4a district in HISD and DISD work for the same AD respectively. What coach is gonna report kids transferring for athletic purposes within their district with the threat of losing their job  hanging over their head because the district is loading up their "showcase school" ? Also, just like basketball kids are steered to Yates in this way, football kids are steered to a certain school(s) as well. That's why small towns can fair well against most of the other Houston schools and not these. As stated before, if these schools have this unfair advantage then they should either be in 5 or 6a or in their own league. And yes, there are exceptions when talking about small towns competing. However, in most instances, small towns cannot compete on a consistent basis.  

Hard to come up with top 5 when I can think of 3 names that should be there before some of these:
David Brown
Michael Dabney
James Simmons
And there are others....   

East Chambers @ 7pm

Was told WOS only has 5 players. Silsbee still has their 6. Playing with 6 is tough but Playing with 5, next to impossible because of injury, foul trouble,etc.

Concordia played a VERY competitive schedule.  Silsbee would definitely be an underdog against them if they played now.  Badsanta is right - Concordia may be the best shooting team in the state.  
Silsbee would also be an underdog to Houston Christian this year.  But who cares - just beat the team across from you and bring home the hardware!   The only teams that matter if they will beat are still playing in the Class 4A tournament. 

Unfortunately, like with many things in life, perception can become reality.  Personally, I have seen other schools (even within the district) whose players play way more dirty than Silsbee.  In fact, in the games I've seen, Silsbee has played good, aggressive defense (which I love to see) but has otherwise conducted themselves appropriately.  I can't say the same with every school in the district.  However, deservedly or not, Silsbee has gotten the reputation that doesn't jive with my personal observations.  And obviously I haven't seen a tenth of the games AAW has.  But when you have that rep, and then you have an incident like what happened, you sometimes faced heightened consequences.  My hope is that Tigers take heed to the warning and show exemplary behavior in the coming season(s).  Because they have a chance to do more special things and will be fun to watch on their quest.

I agree with respecting him for not pointing out other programs. but don't point out your own in a public forum either. Everyone else handles theirs in house, why not do the same.