The Dragon

4 hours ago, Charles in Charge said:

She meant starting.... now.  Raiders will be just fine now that Millican is getting back into form.  

You've lost your dang mind.  Their coach has no clue what he's doing and the kids look confused as hell.  The Millican boy shot some of the worst shots I've ever seen and the coach says nothing.

3 hours ago, The Natural said:

I don’t think Tarkington beats them if he’s there, looking on maxpreps Lumberton handed them a 20 point lost in a tourney like 9 days ago

I heard from someone who has a son on the team that the kids think the assistant coaches do better than the head coach.  At first I thought these kids just don't want to be coached hard, but then I remembered we've heard this story out of Lumberton before.

Same parent told me that the head coach has a bunch of user names on some message board and posts about himself.  I said no way on that one!

Mitchell loses four starters and wins the district last year.  He loses a division one player and immediately blasts a team that is in the playoffs every year.  When Green, Boutte, or Sigler retires, those schools need to call this cat.  He just gets it done.  Silsbee better watch out for Lumberton.

On 10/27/2021 at 10:28 PM, Cardinal 1 said:

They play 2-3 Tournaments this year which will include a lot of playoff teams from last year and the muscled up kid is just one of 4 that can hoop. If you're referring to the forward from last year that averaged a double double, yes he's very nice, but will not be their best player and leading scorer this year. That's what's scary and will catch folks off guard. Their best player was ruled ineligible last in an attempt to get him to move out the district, but he stayed. 

I am talking about your son.  He is a good player and is strong!

Crosby and United will be fun to watch.  Still take United, but Crosby is a real good team.  Silsbee vs Lumberton will be a good rematch for two teams who split last year.  

21 hours ago, Cardinal 1 said:

If you don't think having all returning core starters from the past two years and backups, plus adding a 6'4" top 40 player that can play and guard the 1-5, wouldn't place them in the top ten by end of December then you don't know basketball my friend 🤣.  They will literally be able to score at all 5 positions, plus a player that can't be guarded unless you double team him which leaves you playing 4 on 3 versus three 1st team all district players one being all region. Trust me, they will be top 10 by end of December. 

To go from unranked to top 10 before district is going to take beating some big names.  Who does HF play that could propel them up the list?  I know you guys played Coach Brian English and the Runnin' Bulldogs early last year and didn't quite pull off the upset.  I like the Longhorns this year, but I don't think they're better than Nederland or a top 10 4A team.  That one muscled up kid that can play inside and out is nice though.

On 8/3/2021 at 7:54 AM, Cardinal 1 said:

*Based on past awards, stats, or area/state rankings

BU: Arceneaux, Yates, Treyln, Dotson, #22, Mickles

WB: Dews

HJ: Sears, Brown( will be solid for them this year)

Silsbee: Miller, Harris

LCM: Ben Elliott (most underrated SF in the area)

HF: Dorsey, Coleman, Denton, Ardoin

Huffman: Soileau 

WOS and BC have returning all district players but I don't know their names. 

Those Fannett kids should have a good year.  They have four really good players who have been through some adversity.

On 8/30/2021 at 4:07 PM, Jack of All Trades said:

@Cardinal 1 I feel my Mustangs will have a good team hopefully building off last year. Curious to see what our new coach is going to do with these boys.  As far as LCM I thought last year was the most talent I've seen there in a long while and they missed the playoffs again.  I know injuries hurt them but Doucette is not an easy piece to replace.  Don't know much about HJ but it seems like there always winning 20 or more games.  I really feel with Warlow 6'3 Guard, Pappillion 6'7 Big that looked dominate in summer league, Darren Anderson and the twins we're going to be salty.  Also our JV was solid last year and it started 4 freshman cooper, robinson, holifield and Brown.  I like my Stangs to make some noise because most of these boys are in the gym right now.  

 

Also our Coach Castillo has a ring and with that experience that may put these boys over the top

I don't know how WOS only won ten games last year.  Offensive player of the year, two 6'7 bigs, athletes everywhere, and a college commit (Jack's nephew wink wink) should get no worse than second in a weak district.  The only time I saw them "dominate" in the summer they lost to Orangefield and the summer coach was trying to fight people.  Is it time to shift allegiance to HJ maybe?  I do think Chris Castille will right the ship and have them in the top two.

1 hour ago, bullets13 said:

I don’t disagree with the fact that this year was the year that they had a shot at state.  Silsbee and Yates were both way down, and it was probably the most talented team he’s had at HJ.  Had they made it through that first game and got some guys healthy, and through the suspension of their best player, they had a chance to make a deep run.  But as for the three rounds deep comment, until this year there was exactly one local team with the talent to make it past the third round since 2015, and it wasn’t HJ.  I don’t care how good of a coach someone is, they’re not taking a couple of D3 guys and a bunch of roll players and beating teams from houston full of 6’5” to 6’9” guys with D1 talent (or Silsbee with its three D1 players).    There comes a point where coaching ability can’t make up a gap in talent and athleticism.  I remember going and watching HJ play Houston Sterling in the 2nd round in 2015.  HJ had a good team that year, but Sterling had 9 guys on their roster over 6’2, and had four starters between 6’4” and 6’7”.  HJ played a fantastic game and lost by 11.  Sterling made it to the state finals.  Those are the kinds of teams HJ has consistently faced in the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.  Coach K isn’t winning those matchups.  Look what happened with lumberton this year.  Had a D1 player and some other solid guys around him and got ran out of the gym by Huffman because they just couldn’t compete with the talent.  Or is the Huffman coach just that much better?  And this year’s huffman team would’ve gotten run out of the gym by the Yates and Silsbee teams from a few years ago that Davis couldn’t get past.  

I'd say Lumberton was far more talented than Huffman.  A bunch of 6'4 plus kids led by a Lamar signee and they got absolutely run out of the gym by a Huffman club who only played basically five kids and were led by a 5'9 D3 kid.  I'd say that is coaching, but lots of people were outcoached by Huffman this year.

2 hours ago, AggiesAreWe said:

No Joe Sigler???

Any list of top area coaches that doesn't include Sigler is bogus.

Massive oversight on my part!  Sigler is easily a top tier guy and Joubert has to be in that second group.  So the list gets stronger...

4 hours ago, whsalum said:

Clay has consistently won 25 games while playing a tough schedule. He lost one game to a great Tiger team when Cartwright hit a 3 at the buzzer. He lost another to the same  Tiger club at HJ by 3. If you charted the talent of each club these games probably shouldn’t be close. Give the guy his due. He’s successful year in and year out. 

Texas football fans thought Mack Brown was underachieving too.  How did that work out for them?  Clay does a fantastic job at HJ.  Imagine how they'd have done had Parquet and the 6'10 kid stayed over there?  I'd say they've lost more in transfers than they've gained.

On 7/23/2021 at 1:07 PM, lsutigers20230 said:

Good question but they have made the playoffs the last 3 years and a total of 4 times in school History that’s impressive. 

I feel like making the playoffs four times ever is the opposite of impressive.  How long has Mitchell been there?  What is his overall record?  Where are the big, marquee wins?  I think he's a good coach, but I just don't see him as a top 10 guy in the area.  Maybe that is more of a reflection on how many good coaches there are.

1st Tier:  David Green, Todd Sutherland, Andre Boutte

2nd Tier:  Brian English, Scott Barrett, Kevin Foster

3rd Tier:  Clay Davis, Travis Williams, Chris Pennington, Brian Whitmire, DJ Wilson

On 7/23/2021 at 10:40 AM, Indians4life said:

Joubert program struggled the last couple of year not having the athletes he normally has, I think Davis took over a great program and can we really say the program is better now since Sutherland left?? I don’t think so but some might think so…I think Jeffcoat (LCM) and McDonald from ofield does a good job. I think Mitchell is the the best up and coming coach in the area with what he’s done at Lumberton is pretty impressive. I like Kevin Foster at Big Sandy he’s done really well

If you want to be on the best coaches list then you need to have a lot of wins year in and year out.  The scorecard of a good coach is literally wins and losses or win percentage.  Good coaches find ways to get the job done no matter the talent level.  Or they work their way into a position with better pieces, but there are no excuses and you can't knock someone for having talented players.  Comes down to getting wins.

You cannot bash Duane Joubert for having a couple of out of character rough seasons and then praise Josh Mitchell for having a couple outlier strong seasons.  That's a double standard.  I also don't think you can be an "up and comer" if you've been a head coach for over a decade.  Lastly, a top coach in the area should be confident enough in himself and his program not to fish for compliments.  Andre Boutte and Todd Sutherland are probably not too concerned with internet rankings.

On 7/18/2021 at 5:46 AM, Kountzer said:

YUP and every time he does that earl the pearl curve around 360 dribble move he is carrying the ball.  He should play D2 or D3 cause at D1 on up to the NBA they are gonna sit and wait on that right hand.

You really think Division 2 and 3 coaches aren't smart enough to tell their players to shade to the kid's only hand?  Seriously, him being a functional basketball player is an amazing feat.

People these days want to have life handed to them on a silver platter.  Nobody wants to take the time to build a program and develop it.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  Not really the message to send to kids.

You seem very well informed on that district, friend.  I must give you your dues, though, as this is a much better write up than anything you see in the local papers.

24 minutes ago, lsutigers20230 said:

Lumberton will have 6ft4,6ft5,6ft3 starting and 6ft6 coming off the bench, they have 3 starters back i’m sure Coach Mitchell will put a descent product out there. Also, Lumberton is in the Kountze summer league they have looked descent. LCM will have a really good PG and Elliot is a dang good player. 

Most expect the Raiders to be in descent after losing the great Brock McClure.  Any other D1 stars coming down the pipe?

Earlier I had it Silsbee, Lumberton, WO-S, Orangefield.  I have had a conversation with a prominent and much accomplished select coach out of Bridge City and I'm going to revise my picks.  He says that WO-S is getting a major upgrade in coaching so I'll bump them up.  Then he said that Lumberton has looked really bad in their summer league so I'll bump them down.  He also said that Bridge City has some really good young shooters returning and was beating some of these teams this summer so I'll slide them into the playoffs.  District prediction below.

1.  SIlsbee

2.  WO-S

3.  Orangefield

4.  Bridge City

5.  Vidor

6.  Lumberton

7.  LCM

On 6/26/2021 at 2:56 PM, Indians4life said:

Yeah and got ran out I think at slocum when he was girls head coach,  Evadale in a bind 

I guess not everyone can pull for a perennial powerhouse like Lumbe....oh I mean PNG.  Evadale will be just fine.

5A United, Crosby, Port Arthur, Nederland

4A Huffman, H-J, H-F, Splendora

4A Silsbee.............................Lumberton, WO-S, Orangefield

3A Buna, East Chambers, Kountze, Anahuac

On 6/25/2021 at 9:50 PM, Trufan said:

It’s past time to address the elephant in the room. It’s time for the athletic director at WOS to step down. The athletic program is struggling. Not from lack of athletes but lack of consistent coaching. There is a TOXIC atmosphere that pushes good coaches away. We are short coaches at  the varsity, junior varsity, freshman, 8 grade and 7th grade. This is true for boys and girls sports. Player numbers are dwindling. This is a sign of poor management and would not be tolerated anywhere else. 

Every basketball coach that has stayed at WO-S for longer than fifteen minutes has been successful.  McCarter went to state, Wilkins went to regional tournament, and Hancock was successful too.  All under basically the same regime as the last couple of coaches.  They also all coached football, unlike the last coach and the new coach.  Every school has issues and problems to work through.  The best coaches figure out ways to resolve those problems instead of bouncing.

Congrats and good luck to the new coach.  Can we stop calling each other racist now?

There is some smoke about the Crosby star moving to GCM too.  That would be a big move.

On 5/30/2021 at 11:24 AM, AggiesAreWe said:

WO-S didn't give Huffman a game better than Silsbee did in that regional final game.

I stand corrected.  10-16 with those athletes isn't really that great now that I think about it, but I do like Wilson.  WOS needs a coach who will come in and teach those guys to be under control along with really athletic.  Any applicants?  Josh Mitchell would be a good fit.  Does WOS pay enough to pull him from the dynasty he's built in Lumberton?

No offense to Wilson and his "uncle", but Paul Sims is possibly the best assistant in SETX.  This is a huge loss for the Hawks and coaching in the area.

I saw PNG beat the state championship contender HF team in a spring tournament.  It looked like all the superstars were in attendance so I guess PNG must be pretty good this year.