FriendswoodFan

Congratulations to BB and her girls. Who do you all play in the playoffs, and where?

I am always intirgued when people post on a public chat board like this, and are surprised that their comments elicit replies. Again, I am rooting for the Kelly girls -- heck their coach is a former, much beloved, assistant at FHS. I read, and still read, your original post as noting that Kelly tends not to play as well as they expect when they play on a small field, and you even said that everyone thought that Kelly "played badly" against Temple on the small field. That probably is not so much as making excuses, as it is telling it like it is. Oddly, however, when I pointed out that the results you described suggest that Kelly "does not play well on a smaller field," I am accused of "bashing" the team. That's hypocritical (not by you but by those who accuse me of bashing). I must say that I disagree with you about the expectations of Kelly. From everything I have read about them, from what I know about their coach, and from some of their results (for instance, a sound thrashing of Foster HS), I think they can and should do well on smaller fields. It means playing at a slightly faster tempo than they are accustomed to, but a team that dominated a very good Foster squad can do that. As to whether you should expect the Lady Mustangs to return to Round Rock for the State Championships for a 3rd straight year, I hope so. The entire team (except for 1 starter) returns, and they have been playing very well so far including a 3-0 win over Seven Lakes (the returning regional finalist), wins over several strong 5A teams, and wins over Brenham and Foster.

WestEnd, yes the field size can and does impact a team's play; especially if they are accustomed to and more comfortable playing on a large field. I have not seen Kelly's girls play. However, since Shark tells me that the Kelly girls play a possession type game, but they have trouble on smalle,r tighter fields, I would bet that the center mids tend to receive and dribble into space before passing. On a small field, the space is less, and the angles are easier to cover. The solution is less dribbling, more movement off the ball, and quicker passing.

You're wrong as usual WestEnd. It's not bashing. I dislike and challenge (and, yes, please look at my past posts) when people either unabashedly brag without having any basis for doing so or make excuses for losses. Not that they can't do it, but I think people who do it should expect to get challenged. I happen to hope that the Kelly girls go all the way. However, when Watash suggested that 2 of Kelly's losses and one of their ties was due to the size of the field, or when Shark once suggested that travel weariness was the reason that his boys lost a game, I thought that was nonsense, and I challenged them on it. And, I don't give my beloved Mustangs a pass either. The Football team grossly underperformed this year. The Lady Mustang VB team was great, but when they got beat in the State Finals, I didn't blame the lights, the floors, the hotel food, or anything else. They went, they played, and they lost to a better team. Same thing with the Lady Mustang soccer team's trips to the State Tournament the last 2 years. Heck, BB can tell you that McKinney North was far and away a better and more skilled team than FHS was in 2006. Last year, it was much closer, but The Colony was the better team. This year, we will see.

Actually, assuming that the Kelly girls play the way you describe, the smaller field does not mean that the open spaces are gone, it just means that they are not as large. What you call the "athletic but unskilled" opponents are able to "keep pressure on" in such a situation only if the Kelly girls are unable to pass, receive and pass again quickly enough to overcome the shorter distances that those opponents need to travel. That is my point. A smaller field puts a premium on true ball skills, and teams that are unable to play a very quick posession type of game are frustrated by smaller fields and sometimes lose games to teams that they think are not as good. Those teams also tend to play through and over balls against tougher teams; which is also harder on a smaller field.

I do not know about it being a coincidence, but what it tells me is that Kelly does not play well on a smaller field? That suggests that they rely on their speed and through/over balls to generate scoring chances, but are probably not as much of a posession/skill team as you seem to think. A small field puts a premium on a passing and possession skills.

If you go to the Friday Night Madness website, you can see some of their game results. Loss to CC King, loss to Midway, tie vs. LC, win over Oak Ridge, win over Kelly. They seem to be a decent 5A team.

The Kelly tourney results are more what I would have expected. I have to believe that the loss to Duchesne was an upset; notwithstanding WestEnd's efforts to suggest otherwise.

Okay Westend, you win. On second thought, I am not at all surprised that Kelly lost to a horrible team like Duchesne. Now I see that they were lucky to be as close as they were. Does that work for you?

For those teams that will play vs. Richmond Foster, I am anxious to here what you think of their "tactics" on the field. Hopefully, you will have refs who are not afraid to pull out their cards. I've seen Foster play twice this year, and they had 3 cards in each game, and I heard about one game in which they had 5 cards.

I thought they would be better because I had been reading what others had written on here about the Kelly girls team being pretty good this year, and stacking up well against public school teams. And, because I watched the Duchesne girls team play several games against public school teams last weekend, and they were terrible. So, putting those two things together, I thought that a reportedly pretty good Kelly team would beat a Duchesne team that is not good. I thought maybe a bunch of kids were missing or something. That's all.

I am a bit surprised because I thought Kelly would be better than this. We watched Duchesne play at the Brenham tournament last weekend against the public school teams, and they were overwhelmed.

Boys or girls?

To Shark -- you should join the organization and try to get more inclusive rankings done. To Watash, yes they have strong club programs in the Wichita Falls area. The Rider boys won the State Championship last year, and the Rider girls lost to eventual State Champion The Colony last year in the semifinals of the State Tournament. From what I saw, I thought my Lady Mustangs (who lost 1-0 to the Colony in the State Final) were a better squad, but I won't quibble right now (and, I may be prejudiced!).

Go to the TASCO website, and click on the current newsletter. You will find boys and girls 5A and 4A rankings for both the state and each of the four regions.

Hey, PNG is ranked #8 in the TASCO Region III rankings. Are you all surprised? Did you expect more? Less?

Lefty: I was there, and it was quite impressive!! Two things I noticed. First, the other new "transfer" -- the one from Baytown I think -- seems to be the new best player on the team (at least in that game); which is saying something. She brings a toughness that used to be lacking. Second, Samuels must really be a great coach because Dickinson played like a team -- not like the old days that I recall when Hypolite and Williams took turns trying to go one on one. Frankly, from what I saw, I'm not so sure that Friendswood would have beaten them even if all of the "real" basketball players were still playing at FHS. But, it certainly would have been a heck of a game.

By all accounts, Burdick was considered a really good coach, and a great person, during her time at Friendswood. You are in good hands with her at the helm. However, if memory serves me, I think she was the JV/assistant varsity coach who took over as head coach at the State tournament because the varsity coach was in the hospital.

I think that I have a pretty good sense of how the Kelly folks (and others) think the Kelly boys would stack up against the better public school teams in the GT and in Region 3, but how do you think the girls rate vs. teams like PNG and Nederland, and then against teams like Friendswood, 7Lakes, Whitehouse, etc.

I think what DME means is that Nederland used to be a favorite (or one of them) to win the region, not just the district, and I certainly suspect that they began each year really believing that they had a chance to win it all. I'm not so sure that has been the case for a few years.

I know that there is the girl who transferred from LaMarque to play on the Dickinson team, but who else is new this year? And, besides, aren't Hypolite and Williams the stars of the team. They both were definitely were on the Dickinson school and AAU teams that all of the FHS girls who no longer play basketball used to throttle on a routine basis.

Only in your dreams can the Kelly 11 best the FHS Mustangs! Maybe we'll see you at Brenham next year. In the mantime, good luck!

No, what I did was point out that Sharkie was making excuses by blaming the end of "the streak" on travel taking its toll; rather than admitting that they got beat by what was, on that night, a better team (as evidenced by, if nothing else, the overwhelming shot differenetial). Then, Sharkie and his accolytes took turns trying to attack me, I defended my position, the Nederland coach periodically tried to (mildly) defend a fellow coach and to defuse the situation with witty attempts at humor and honest opinion, and finally Sharkie embarassed himself (in my opinion) with his silly late night rant. To Sharkie, I am, thankfully, very secure about my athletic past, both in high school and college, but obviously you are not. That's a shame, but it does help explain why you are the way you are. And to the Nederland coach, you have to earn the moniker; although the BM crack got you pretty close. And, I challenge you to point out what was not logical about my posts -- that hurts. ;D

Once again I rest my case. Shark you are truly an embarassment to your profession, your school, your team and yourself. I actually feel sorry for you now; but mostly for your players.

I don't mind the bragging bullet head; and I wish Kelly all the succes in the world. As I've said already, it's the excuses for losing that I dislike! And, with all due respect, if you don't like the responses that your get when you post on a public forum, here's an idea -- don't post (that is especially so if you use a stupid little tag line on your posts).