District 5 Early Previews for this year

[ctindian00]

Oh, and uh...Township is returning 5 seniors and 3 juniors who had solid playing time last year

[whozisgonnab]

Well, ctindian fella and browns3, take my advice and play the game on the floor,on the boards and as a team. Last year is GONE, DONE, hopefully captured on pics somewhere. It's about 6 wks or so until any games start and it sounds like its gonna be a good season. What'll the postings bring then?

[whozisgonnab]

Oh, and btw...you may refer to me as "The Wise One" from this point on.

whozisgonnab...aka "The Wise One" . I like it!

Wise man never play leapfrog with unicorn.

[ctindian00]

hey there "The Wise One"....just like my name says...i graduated in 2000

[pittbball43]

Actually, I was at the first Conemagh Township and Shade game and Kevin Byer did play and they held him to single digit scoring. And losing Byer will hurt them because everyone was focused on Byer and he made plays and got other people some open shots...not everyone is going to be keying on Byer the whole time so it is going to make a difference.

[ctindian00]

You are right...they wont have Byer to key in on, which will make it much more difficult for defenders becuase with byer gone they will spread their attack and key in on opponents weaknesses and not their players

[red4life]

Well first off, Shade's got to be the clear cut favorite. They only lost Mitch Edwards and that kid who came off the bench and only shot three's and tried to pass like Jason Kidd. Kaminsky, Barnes, Berkey, and Kudasik are all back. And they are all deadly from behind the arc.

I think Shanksville's getting underestimated a little bit as well. They returned some good players.

And, as for Petrilla, you are very mistaken. He was definitely not a freshman last year, considering he's a senior this year.

I don't know how you can take Jones, Duray, and Pahel over Barnes, Kaminsky, Berkey, and Kudasik.

[ctindian00]

I wasn't trying to put down anybody's team or anything...and like I said before, I'm don't know a lot about Shanksville

You know, maybe I did rank township too high on my list, but I don't think it's a fair assumption to say that just because Kevin Byer graduated that Township won't be at the top of the pack this year.

People said Township would suck when Paul Byer, somerset county's all time scoring leader left, but they didn't; people said they would suck when Andy Byer left, but they didn't; so now people are saying they will suck because Kevin Byer left, but I'm not buying that and i can guarantee you that neither are the coaches from Shade, Shanksville, North Star or any other D5 powerhouse. Because unlike players, they have an objective view of the game and they know that strong coaching and a team with good chemistry can make or break a championship level team and not necessarily a single MVP caliber player.

I'll make some comparison and please don't harp on the fact they are not high school basketball but, for example:

When David Robinson retired, everybody said that they Spurs would suck. But Tim Duncan evolved into the new leader and got great support from a team who had worked together for a few years. Last, when Tim Duncan went down with an injury for over a month, everyone said to count the spurs out of the playoffs. What happened? The key players on that team who had worked together stepped in because in basketball, one player does not make a team.

I know it's early in the season, but Stephon Marbury has always been a top scorer for the NY Knicks...but he was also selfish and had a me-first shoot-first attitude. Coach D'antoni benched him and right away everyone could see that this team would be just fine, if not better.

Tyler Hansbrough, the marquee player of UNC, is expected to miss some weeks due to stress fracture...will the Tar Heels suddenly be weak in his absence? NO!

The Pittsburgh Steelers (I know, different sport) lost a string of good players over the last few year (Plaxico Burress, Jerome Bettis, Antwaan Randle El, Joey Porter, Alan Faneca, and the list goes on.) Heck, they even lost a hall of fame level coach. But a new coach stepped in and every year the Steelers compete. So this year everyone said that the Steelers would be terrible and finished 3rd or 4th in their division, miss the playoffs by far because they lost Alan Faneca and have a tough schedule. But the Steelers are 5-2 and their 2 losses came by less than a score to two of the best teams in the best division in the league.

So please, don't try to sell this crap that just because a team loses one of its top scorers or suddenly becomes weak in one area due to that loss, that suddenly they will no longer be a force to be reckoned with. 'Cause trust me, no-one's buying it.

[bball22]

Isn't Travis Eisentrout Somerset County's all time leading scorer? Not Paul Byer? I might be wrong here.

[whozisgonnab]

Well, as Kent Hendershot (know where he coaches?) "“They are legitimate. It's definitely a challenge, but one we are looking forward to and accepting. We want to prove we can play at that level.”

This quote refers to a team that's improving their on court skills and also has a coach who is working to sustain, maintain and elevate their confidence. The unknown to you is the teamwork and respect that the starters have for each other, their bench, as well as their coaches (and AD). These are the tangibles that aren't being put out there.

Anyway, you get my vote for MOST INTENSE and punctuation(ally) correct posting--but remember, its high school ball.