Hunter92

11 hours ago, About a week ago said:

After Bi-District what're everyone's thoughts?

I think Buna and Kountze better step it up big time if they want to go much further. Those two games were way to close for bi-district games against low-seeded teams. I am also more worried about Buna getting past LaMarque in round 3 (if they make it that far). Kirbyville gave Buna and Kountze fits in district, and LaMarque absolutely destroyed them. But its the playoffs, so you never know.

4 minutes ago, aTmfan06 said:

The defense is is a shell of what it used to be. No offense to this years team at all. I can remember when we won state in 07 vs Shallowater the local newspaper interviewed a player from shallowater and he said how Kountze played basketball isn't basketball lol

Those are the teams I think of when I think of Kountze basketball, 06'-10'. Roman Walker, Devin Bray, Domingo... all those guys. It felt like we were playing a friggin college team when we played them. They literally beat us by as much as 60 pts some games lol. It was downright sad. 

I loved watching them play EC with Vance McDonald and Tramain Thomas. It felt like you weren't even watching high school basketball when they played. 

6 minutes ago, KHSAlum400 said:

Yes, in 2000. I have the DVD of that game and still watch it (and get mad) from time to time. Lol. Kountze played Gainesville again in '02 also. 

Did Kountze play the same style back then as they have been playing in the  Joubert era? Fast full-court pressure, force a ton of turnovers and make it rain from the 3 line?

32 minutes ago, KHSAlum400 said:

Haha. Try playing against him.

He was a smaller guy wasn't he? Under 6 ft?

10 minutes ago, KHSAlum400 said:

Yes, they were very good. Had the tall Marks kid, with Michael McCain and a few others. We split in district and then Kountze won the tiebreaker in Silsbee. In the Regional Final Buna had a double-digit halftime lead and we came back and won it on a 3-pointer at the buzzer 

4 minutes ago, DC10 said:

Michael McMahon

I was fortunate enough to get to see all 4 of those games that year and they were all very entertaining.

I've heard Michael McMahon was friggin bad to the bone. And I played against the 7 ft. Marks guy in an alumni game a few years ago. That's the biggest human I have ever stood beside. 

4 minutes ago, KHSAlum400 said:

Were you around for the 2000 Regional Final game with Kountze and Buna? 

Naw that was a little bit before my time, but i've heard alot about those days. I came through Buna in 06'-10', and we SUCKED during that period. But that is when Whitmire came on as an assistant and he would always talk about the early 2000's when Buna was still good and he was coming into high school. From what I have heard those were the days of some good Kountze vs. Buna basketball.

6 minutes ago, KHSAlum400 said:

I remember that game. Buna and Kountze fans were looking for a Game 4 in the Regional tournament but Buna got upset by Newton. 

Yeah it sucked pretty bad as a Buna fan. Most of the town had that team picked to be the first state tourney team from Buna since the 60's. They had everything you could want in a small school basketball team; size, several skilled players, a true big man with a soft touch and low post skill, years of chemistry from playing with each other, and a deep bench. It just goes to show that anything can happen in the playoffs, and some things just aint meant to be. 

Watch out for Newton, they can sneak up and bite you. I don't know anything about them this year, but 2 years ago they eliminated a really good Buna team in the 2nd round in a game they really should not have won. Buna was the better team in just about every category other than athleticism, but Newton got HOT from the 3 pt. line and Buna failed to adjust properly on defense. Newton ended up winning in OT. They were very athletic and played decent team defense, but they really didn't do anything special on offense other than have the best 3 pt. shooting performance I have ever seen in my life, at any level, and I'm not exaggerating. It felt like they literally shot over 75% from the 3 line. I think they hit over 15 3's if I remember correctly..... Which was even more unbelievable because they were one of the worst shooting teams in warmups that I had seen that year........ Anyway, that is old news but it's all I know about Newton lol. 

Hmm..... Using the Buna vs. Kirbyville scores and the LaMarque vs. Kirbyville score, it doesn't look too good for Buna in round 3.......

Kirbyville played Buna and Kountze relatively close in district. I know its all about matchups, but..........

Oh absolutely. I only left EC out because they were not a part of the original discussion. I think these 3 teams are gonna beat the crap out of each other for many years to come. There will probably be some years where all 3 of them make the top 25 state rankings in the same season.

As far as Kountze going downhill, I will believe it when I see it. As far as talent, physical size, and bench depth, I will say that these recent Kountze teams look nothing like the teams I played against 6-8 years ago. Those teams had big kids, several talented playmakers, and a very deep bench. However, these smaller, less skilled Kountze teams of the past couple years have been experiencing the same level of success as those teams from several years back. And I credit that to their coaching and their playing style. I'm sure people from Kountze will disagree, but the fact is that they don't need a ton of talent or size to win with their playing style. They just need a handful of athletes that will run the floor, cause chaos and create turnovers, make the easy baskets, and hit a few 3's. 

I have always said that the 2 keys to beating/competing with Kountze is protecting the basketball and defending the 3-ball. Any decent team that can do those 2 things can compete with Kountze. The problem is that 90% of teams can't handle that fast, in-your-face full court pressure and they turn the ball over like crazy. And that is why Kountze has maintained success through this dip in talent and size. 

Both coaches are great. Joubert's record the last 10+ years speaks for itself. You can't be a legit state tourney contender every single year for over a decade without great coaching. The last couple years he has had to deal with a severe depth issue and even a lack of physical size compared to the kountze teams from several years back. Nevertheless they went to state 2 years ago and nearly returned last year. Nobody should question this man.

Whitmire inherented a CRAPPY program when he was only 24 or 25 yrs old. We had some 4 & 5 win seasons right before he took over, so it was bad. It took a few years but he has turned it around and made Buna a well respected program again. 2 years ago he broke a 12 or 13 year playoff drought, then last year led the team 3 rounds deep after losing 4 starters and 2 key bench players from the year before. He is still very young and still learning and will only get better. 

I expect to see some GREAT basketball between these two teams for years to come if these two coaches stay put. Gone are the days of Kountze running away with the district title year after year. 

5 minutes ago, TopDawG52 said:

I think it will be like after 07 State championship team A couple of down years and then a state champion contender will emerge 

The 08'-10' Kountze teams beat us (Buna) by 40-60 points every time we played them during that span of "down years" LOL. Those were some dark days for Buna basketball....

4 minutes ago, TopDawG52 said:

Kountze will be fine. It will be a down year for Kountze standards. a 20 win season and 2 or 3 rounds deep in the playoffs is what the lions should accomplish next season.  (As long as everybody plays)

That's more along the lines of what I was thinking..... Like I said before, they always reload somehow. I'm sure their ride will come to an end some day, and that may be sometime within the next 4 yrs or it may not be for another 20 yrs, idk. But like I said, I'll have to see it to believe it.

6 minutes ago, MOSSHILL said:

Have you seen Kountze junior high and JV programs? They are going away and going away fast. They have two underclassmen on the varsity but those two are not capable enough of carrying that JV team, anywhere. It's been a long 20 year or so run, but it's finally come to an end.

Buna, EC, Hardin will be tough going forward. You only had 1 senior on that Hardin team and they were loaded with freshmen and soph.

I have not seen Kountze's underclassmen programs, but I have heard that the future is not bright for Kountze basketball. I guess it is just hard to imagine. I'm not saying that Kountze won't go downhill as expected, I'm just saying that I will believe it when it actually happens. They somehow seem to always find a way to reload, just like Newton in football. 

Buna and EC will be fun to watch for sure though. Don't know much about Hardin.....

EC is the more complete team and should come away with a hard fought win tonight. However, Buna definitely has what it takes to come up with the upset, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they go home with the W tonight. 

As for the future, Buna is here to stay. Kudos to Whitmire for        resurrecting that program from utter shame just a few years ago. They have 2 freshmen playing major minutes (one of which is arguably their best player), and they will return most of the team, including most of the starters next season (only losing 3 seniors I believe). They also have some good talent at the junior high and freshmen levels that will be moving up over the next couple years. 

I believe 23 3A will be the premier basketball district in the state for years to come, with Buna, EC and Kountze battling it out every year. As I said, Buna is here to stay, and we all know that Kountze and EC aren't going away either.

I predict Buna to win the district outright and make a strong push for the state tourney next season.