Tarkington 51 Hamshire-Fannett 80/FINAL

[AggiesAreWe]

19-4A

Tonight, 7pm

[Mamba]

HF 54

Tarkington 36

3rd qtr 3:23

[Mamba]

HF 69

Tarkington 41

end of 3rd

[Mamba]

HF 80

Tarkington 51

Final

[PrairieMan]

Absolutely horrible game for Tarkington, #21 PG had 35 points of teams 51 with not much help tonight. Total lack of hustle and physicality. 

[Old Ape]

Ain’t playing 3a basketball no more!! 

[PrairieMan]

48 minutes ago, Old Ape said:

Ain’t playing 3a basketball no more!! 

Thanks for the solid input. FYI this extremely small 4a team finished 3rd in district last year and lost in the playoffs to the state runner ups. If you have any actual valid input, I’m willing to talk basketball all day with you. 

[No-look1]

12 hours ago, Mamba said:

HF 80

Tarkington 51

Final

This score margin is somewhat surprising. 

[PrairieMan]

18 minutes ago, No-look1 said:

This score margin is somewhat surprising. 

Unfortunately, if you’ve watched Tarkington basketball, it isn’t. We are the tale of two teams. The best example I can give you is we’ve beaten Onalaska this year by 9 and then they beat us 30+. #21 Ellington is avg 30 pts a game this year and he’s giving you every ounce of effort he has night in and night out. Don’t get me wrong he has good days and bad days shooting like anyone else but he’s always showing up (as mentioned previously he scored 35 last night). Unfortunately the cast around him is full of kids that until this year have never started a varsity game in their life. Those kids struggle at times and when they do, they tend to fall a part mentally. So when you have that kind of volatility it quickly becomes easy to see how they can compete with pretty much anyone on a given night or absolutely fall apart and get the doors blown off by an overall mediocre team. 
 

A couple other factors included that HF shot the 3 ball better than any other night I’ve watched them play and Tarkington might have went 3-20 if that. Also, the first half was a 6 point game, the refs the second half lost their mind. They went from calling really a pretty decent game to completely one sided which doesn’t make up all the points we lost by, by no means but another factor. Then trying harder to come from behind once down 15 just forces the issue for those guys with lack of experience. 

[Mamba]

I was at the game — #21 was clearly their best player, but he was also the reason they struggled. He took almost every shot and never looked to involve his teammates. You can’t win big when one guy dominates the ball for 32 minutes.

I get the point about inexperience, but that’s not really what I saw. Plenty of teams start new varsity players and still function because the ball moves, guys touch it, and everyone stays engaged.

When one player takes every shot, the rest of the team naturally checks out — that’s not a ‘cast’ problem, that’s a style‑of‑play problem. Confidence comes from involvement. If teammates never get real opportunities, of course they’ll look shaky.

As for the officiating, it was fine. I’m not sure what fouls people expected, but it was pretty even on both sides. Tarkington’s #33 was warned multiple times for talking and eventually got hit with a tech. That’s on him, not the refs.

[AggiesAreWe]

11 minutes ago, Mamba said:

I was at the game — #21 was clearly their best player, but he was also the reason they struggled. He took almost every shot and never looked to involve his teammates. You can’t win big when one guy dominates the ball for 32 minutes.

I get the point about inexperience, but that’s not really what I saw. Plenty of teams start new varsity players and still function because the ball moves, guys touch it, and everyone stays engaged.

When one player takes every shot, the rest of the team naturally checks out — that’s not a ‘cast’ problem, that’s a style‑of‑play problem. Confidence comes from involvement. If teammates never get real opportunities, of course they’ll look shaky.

As for the officiating, it was fine. I’m not sure what fouls people expected, but it was pretty even on both sides. Tarkington’s #33 was warned multiple times for talking and eventually got hit with a tech. That’s on him, not the refs.

I have to agree with this assessment.

From the few games I have seen Tarkington play, it has been all about #21. Each and every possession goes thru him 85-90% of the time.

Got to get more players involved.

[PrairieMan]

1 hour ago, Mamba said:

I was at the game — #21 was clearly their best player, but he was also the reason they struggled. He took almost every shot and never looked to involve his teammates. You can’t win big when one guy dominates the ball for 32 minutes.

I get the point about inexperience, but that’s not really what I saw. Plenty of teams start new varsity players and still function because the ball moves, guys touch it, and everyone stays engaged.

When one player takes every shot, the rest of the team naturally checks out — that’s not a ‘cast’ problem, that’s a style‑of‑play problem. Confidence comes from involvement. If teammates never get real opportunities, of course they’ll look shaky.

As for the officiating, it was fine. I’m not sure what fouls people expected, but it was pretty even on both sides. Tarkington’s #33 was warned multiple times for talking and eventually got hit with a tech. That’s on him, not the refs.

Actually 33 did not get the tech. #2 got the tech for saying “good call” to the ref while the bigger kid from HF screamed “what the ****” to the ref right in front the stands with his arms out, and nothing. 
 

We can agree to disagree on the reffing, nobody ever agrees on the calls. But here’s what I’ll say more games than not, just like last night. Nobody can stay in front of #21 without grabbing and shoving and last night was another example of that. If you like we can review as much game footage as you like. Before every in bounds #2 would have his arms completely wrapped around his waste right in front of the ref. 
 

As far as your and AAWs assessment, you should both probably watch more games to fully make that determination. The only way his teammates “want” to be involved in the offense is if he drives and kicks to them. Otherwise nobody else wants to handle the ball. So does the ball go through him a lot, 100% and for the most part his teammates appreciate it. You should see the ball handling when he comes out. Regarding shooting, he’s a 35/50/87% (3/2/ft) shooter, the rest of the team is about 20/40/55% soooo with both of your expert who should take more shots and handle the ball then? 

[PrairieMan]

1 hour ago, AggiesAreWe said:

I have to agree with this assessment.

From the few games I have seen Tarkington play, it has been all about #21. Each and every possession goes thru him 85-90% of the time.

Got to get more players involved.

Interested in the games you’ve seen? He’s the PG, what position does the ball normally go through in your offense?

[AggiesAreWe]

2 hours ago, PrairieMan said:

Interested in the games you’ve seen? He’s the PG, what position does the ball normally go through in your offense?

Most PG's don't take over 60% of the shots. That's what I meant by "going thru".

My and Mamba's point is when they face good teams who are able to control #21, then Tarkington is pretty much dead in the water and no one should be surprised when they lose games to good teams.

Maybe I wasn't all that wrong when picking what teams were going to make the playoffs out of this district.😉

We will see.

[Mamba]

I’m guessing #21 is your son based on how strongly you’re defending him — and that’s totally fine. Nobody said he was a bad player. The point is, it’s tough to win big when one guy dominates the ball.

I actually know the kid well — he played for my guy this summer. So this isn’t shade, it’s just basketball. Talent needs structure, and winning takes more than one

[PrairieMan]

3 hours ago, AggiesAreWe said:

Most PG's don't take over 60% of the shots. That's what I meant by "going thru".

My and Mamba's point is when they face good teams who are able to control #21, then Tarkington is pretty much dead in the water and no one should be surprised when they lose games to good teams.

Maybe I wasn't all that wrong when picking what teams were going to make the playoffs out of this district.😉

We will see.

Gotcha! Love that you’re excited about the thought of Tarkington not making the playoffs. You’ve only been wrong every year about it.  I’m guessing the hate is  because of the BTA that they put on your favorite school… like when he “took over” and scored 40 on them. Keep hating brother! 🤘🏼🤘🏼

[PrairieMan]

36 minutes ago, Mamba said:

I’m guessing #21 is your son based on how strongly you’re defending him — and that’s totally fine. Nobody said he was a bad player. The point is, it’s tough to win big when one guy dominates the ball.

I actually know the kid well — he played for my guy this summer. So this isn’t shade, it’s just basketball. Talent needs structure, and winning takes more than one

Well if you know him like you say you do and he played for your boy then you know how much he is perfectly happy with taking on whatever role that is necessary to win. Unfortunately that role at Tarkington is the one where most kids prefer to stand and watch him and just shoot a three if he creates it for them. You say you were there. How many times did you see other kids handle the ball 1v1 and do something with it. I mean not absolutely panic and turn it over? How many shots did you see the other kids create on their own? They shot 25% on the night, he shot 50%. How many times when HF threw a triple team at him did you see other kids run up to take the ball and relieve pressure? 

[AggiesAreWe]

16 minutes ago, PrairieMan said:

Gotcha! Love that you’re excited about the thought of Tarkington not making the playoffs. You’ve only been wrong every year about it.  I’m guessing the hate is  because of the BTA that they put on your favorite school… like when he “took over” and scored 40 on them. Keep hating brother! 🤘🏼🤘🏼

I am not that emotional about it. (evidently you are) No hate here. Just call it like I see it.

Several teams have put a beat down on my Tigers this year. Not surprised of that fact considering how down they are this year. 

I don't make assessments based on my home town team losing a game. I think I am a little more credible than that.

[Mamba]

33 minutes ago, PrairieMan said:

Well if you know him like you say you do and he played for your boy then you know how much he is perfectly happy with taking on whatever role that is necessary to win. Unfortunately that role at Tarkington is the one where most kids prefer to stand and watch him and just shoot a three if he creates it for them. You say you were there. How many times did you see other kids handle the ball 1v1 and do something with it. I mean not absolutely panic and turn it over? How many shots did you see the other kids create on their own? They shot 25% on the night, he shot 50%. How many times when HF threw a triple team at him did you see other kids run up to take the ball and relieve pressure? 

Never mind. You’re so caught up in your emotions that you can’t even recognize when someone is giving your son his props. Instead of accepting that, you turn every comment into a back-and-forth, like a tennis match, just to keep driving your point home.

And trust me — we understand the point. He’s great. He has no flaws. Everything that goes wrong is the team’s fault. If it weren’t for him, they’d be completely lost. Message received. Repeatedly.

What could have been a simple acknowledgment has turned into a lecture, and honestly, it’s exhausting. Not everything needs to be defended, corrected, or escalated just to prove superiority.

That said, I genuinely hope he and his team have a great season. No sarcasm there. God bless, and good night.

[PrairieMan]

33 minutes ago, Mamba said:

Never mind. You’re so caught up in your emotions that you can’t even recognize when someone is giving your son his props. Instead of accepting that, you turn every comment into a back-and-forth, like a tennis match, just to keep driving your point home.

And trust me — we understand the point. He’s great. He has no flaws. Everything that goes wrong is the team’s fault. If it weren’t for him, they’d be completely lost. Message received. Repeatedly.

What could have been a simple acknowledgment has turned into a lecture, and honestly, it’s exhausting. Not everything needs to be defended, corrected, or escalated just to prove superiority.

That said, I genuinely hope he and his team have a great season. No sarcasm there. God bless, and good night.

I was actually enjoying the conversation. I was genuinely asking you if you saw other kids on that team that were going to make an impact to the game or that looked like they were willing to help. By no means is the kid perfect, trust me he has plenty of downfalls. Let’s just say he got an absolute earful last night about turnovers and taking some bad shots.  
 

If I came off as trying to say he was great, that was never my intention. As a matter of fact throughout my conversation I’ve said he’s always going to be the player he is and unfortunately the supporting cast struggles at times. Did I take offense to you saying he was the problem, sure! I was merely giving the reason I felt that you were wrong about that. Not because he’s great or he thinks he’s great or I think he’s great but because his teammates are not very skilled or not confident in themselves. Then that leaves him to take the pressure on his shoulders. Sometimes it works out for us and sometimes it doesn’t. Trust me he loves it when somebody else wants to bring the ball down or is willing to help run the offense. Heck talk to Ware or whoever your friend there is and you’ll find out quick, he loved having chase bring up the ball, they had to force him at times to bring it up. During the school season, Just once he’d love to stand in the corner and catch and shoot a shot but as you can tell, It doesn’t happen often. As HF coach is screaming “he doesn’t get it back” after everytime he passes it. 
 

Sorry if I came off, as that guy. Didn’t mean for it to be that way. Just having basketball conversation.

[PrairieMan]

1 hour ago, AggiesAreWe said:

I am not that emotional about it. (evidently you are) No hate here. Just call it like I see it.

Several teams have put a beat down on my Tigers this year. Not surprised of that fact considering how down they are this year. 

I don't make assessments based on my home town team losing a game. I think I am a little more credible than that.

Haha, this makes me laugh AAW. Just about a year ago I remember having a conversation about a silsbee player not being much of a factor and you got awful emotional about it. In fact I believe you said Wheatley was going to lose to Silsbee even after me telling you and all the other faithful that Sanders was the best basketball player I watched all year and he wasn’t going to let that team lose to them. 
 

All good don’t want anyone to say anything they can’t take back. Good luck to your teams except when they play the horns. 

[AggiesAreWe]

24 minutes ago, PrairieMan said:

Haha, this makes me laugh AAW. Just about a year ago I remember having a conversation about a silsbee player not being much of a factor and you got awful emotional about it. In fact I believe you said Wheatley was going to lose to Silsbee even after me telling you and all the other faithful that Sanders was the best basketball player I watched all year and he wasn’t going to let that team lose to them. 
 

All good don’t want anyone to say anything they can’t take back. Good luck to your teams except when they play the horns. 

I honestly don't remember any conversation with you about a Silsbee player.

I make predictions all the time. I get way more right than I do wrong. (check the football pickems this year). I don't lament on when I get some wrong but it seems you are always wanting to point those out to me. (never hear from you when I am right)

I understand your emotional responses. It's your team. I get it.

I think you have missed the point. All that's being said is nobody should be surprised when Tarkington loses to good teams. The makeup of their team limits them against good teams. The fact that #21 has to do so much is actually a detriment to the team when playing quality opponents. Tarkington really has no choice. That's all that's being said.

It's why I think they will miss the playoffs. I just don't see them beating Livingston, HJ, HF and Huffman because of their limitations. Limitations that you have commented on in this thread.

But keep on pointing out my misses if that makes you feel important.