JackFan

How can you say DISD hasn't been to the state tournament at the 3A level the last few years? 2011 - A. Maceo Smith (kinda DISD) 2010 - Madison 2009 - Madison 2006 - Roosevelt They may not have always won when they've got there, but they've made it.

It's also difficult to compare defenses today to those 10, 15, or 20 years ago too.  With 7-on-7 becoming such a big deal offenses are getting more time to improve the passing game and the spread has changed high school offenses.  The number of snaps taken in a high school game have increased dramatically in the last 15 years.  Similar to the NFL, rule changes have also favored the offensive side of the ball. 

Nothing is wrong at Jasper.  Everybody talks about the championship pedigree at Carthage but they started 0-2 before finishing 9-3 that first season (2007) and there were some bumps in the road along the way.  The staff knows what they're doing and Jasper will be playing at a high level when the playoffs start.

He certainly hasn't lost any athleticism, but his skills haven't improved much either - and this is still a game of skill.

Carthage - and I probably won't get my guys for a long time again this year.

[quote name="no-look" post="660516" timestamp="1254365657"] Before the last realignment there were only three schools in 3A that didn't play fb....I think it is seven now. Not sure why.......there are lots of schools in 1A and 2A that dont play fb......but all schools play basketball......I thought we were in Texas... ;D [/quote] Those new schools are Austin Vandergrift, Leander Rouse, Boerne, and North Forney.  These 4 schools will be playing varsity football after the 2010 realignment.  Two schools - Hudson and Central - will not be playing football anytime soon and SA Hawkins just moved up from 2A.

7 out of 12 play football, and 4 starters.

A little north in 3A Region III, but the Rusk Eagles will have 4 starters coming back and have a chance to make a run.

Thanks for the kind words. We did lose some close district games, but that's the nature of the beast. We were young, and hopefully we learned come valuable lessons this past season. I know that I learned some. We're certainly hoping that the freshman develops, and we could potentially have two really good years here. The only problem is that word potential.

A team will go the direction that the coach chooses to take it. They won't be bad shooters because the coach didn't know how to shoot. They won't be great passers because the coach knew how to pass. The majority of my basketball players spend very little time in the gym with supervised instruction. The ones that do are not athletic and have to rely on fundamentals to be competitive. At a program with 35 kids (9-12), only 7 do not play football. That means that 80% of my basketball players spend the fall on the football field, the winter in the gym, and the spring doing a universal off-season and working football drills and techniques at least two days a week. During the summer, there is a weight program and 7-on-7. If kids do play basketball, they can't do it under a HS coach's supervision. My players will actually work basketball skills 3 days a week for roughly 2 months of the year. Some have mention about coaching styles and how it affects the team. I would love to have fundamental players that can run an intricate offense, play great half-court defense, and shoot from anywhere on the floor. But because of those factors mentioned above, our offense is based on attacking the rim or shooting the 3-point shot. Our players don't shoot enough to consistently knock down a midrange jumpshot. In our entire program, I only have 3 that I would trust to shoot a midrange jumper. We press because we need to create as many easy scoring opportunities as possible. If you lined us up against another team and made us shoot jump shots, we would lose. Same thing for free throws. We press and trap in the half-court to create easy scoring opportunities. If I ever get a job at another place that is more basketball friendly, I'll adapt to give those kids the best opportunity to win. And about Ponder, they're not just a bunch of 5'10 stiffs that aren't athletic. They've got some size (two 6'5 posts, and some 6'1 and 6'2 guards) and are athletic. They win because they can play a different style based on what hurts their opponent. Against Santa Rosa in the semifinals, they controlled the tempo and ran them out of the gym. Against New Waverly, they controlled the tempo by making it a half-court game.

Rusk and Central will be tough as well. Rusk wasn't nearly as bad as their 0-14 district record last year indicated. That sounds stupid, but it's true. They had issues throughout the entire athletic department once the AD knew he was going to be reassigned. Discipline will be much improved this year. Central is still tough at home. True - the talent may be down, but a lot of good teams have lost to a less talented Central team in Pollok.

May want to add Hudson, Central, and Huntington. I'd pick Hudson to win 18-3A this season.

Bullard has not won a championship in basketball, but in 2005-2006 they were the #1 ranked team heading into the playoffs and lost to Dallas Roosevelt 58-41 in the regional finals. Their all-state PG Brody Greene severely sprained his ankle in the regional semifinal against Princeton, and he couldn't play against Roosevelt. Bullard was very good that year and would have had an excellent chance of winning the whole thing if not for that injury.

Well, it was strange last year that a team that goes 2-5 on the road in district with some really bad losses can go 6-1 at home against the same teams.

Coach Enloe is at Chireno now.