Observations

[wickedcrossover]

I've been following postings on Bleachercoaches for awhile. I find them to be enlightening, and entertaining. I could no longer avoid the temptation to join the fun. I will begin by listing a few of my observations.
COACHING: Isn't it odd how Dave Roman gets a free ride for it being his first year and Cristafulli is given no slack whatsoever even though it is his first year also. Dave will turn J-town around eventually. Mike's task is going to be a lot more difficult because of the talent pool. I saw a few of Westmont's games. That team was not blessed with the greatest amount of talent but they always played hard. A couple bounces and/or calls going Westmont's way and they could have had maybe 3-4 more wins.
SUPER SOPHOMORES??: That post seemed to be made to play-up one or the other originally mentioned. As far as who was better? Not even debatable. The kid from FH was the real deal. Looking at Maxpreps, he had an all around game in most statistics. The one I thought was the most impressive was the number of times the kid got to the foul line - 126 times! - just compare that to other players in the area and it can give some insight to the type of ballplayer he is. I also like the soph from Richland - real heady player that moves well without the ball and puts himself in good position. Who will be better? Depends on which one can execute within the framework of what the coach is trying to accomplish. It isn't always just about scoring.
RECRUITING: I find it amusing how parachoial schools are accused of recruiting, but I never see a name of any player or proof that a player was recruited and his education paid for. List the names so that the player, parent, coach or friend can either confirm, repute or explain why they chose a private school. I know of parents who sent their kids to parochial schools and not once was sports the reason. Also, if McCort recruits, they are doing a lousy job of it and maybe should focus on the parochial grade school league. They've lost some good ones: K. Hoffman, Balog, Stephenson, Rizzo, Szczur. As a matter of fact, they could have had this team: K. Hoffman...P. O'connor...J. Balog...J. Stephenson...M. Varga...with other strong back ups. No matter I do understand certain advantages that the private schools have. However, there is tuition and travel issues. I wish they would have recruited my kids and paid for a first class education. Oh yea, if parents and players want to reduce the number of recruiting accusations on bleachercoaches, then instead of denying or defending, simply list all the true reasons why parents would send their kids to a private school. After awhile the naysayers will realize that they are inadvertantly being parochial school promoters.
JORDAN MILLER: Excellent ballplayer, could play small D-1. UPJ is a great option though. Good solid education, nice school setting, good basketball program, timing could be such that he could be a four year starter. Education, experience and PT = GOOD STUFF

[vman]

good stuff crossovr....but can you go to your left?

[Sleepy Floyd]

Roman doesn't need a free pass, he has District 6-AAA gold around his neck!

[vman]

OMOS 8th graders could be competitive in the D6 AAA bracket!!

[lakersfan24]

AAA isn't really that bad, the problem is the teams who come in as #1 and #2 seeds out of the LH end up getting ripped by the 3s, 4s, and 5s like Somerset and Johnstown. I still say had FH been allowed to go in they would've upsetted Central in the first round because the level of play in the LH is differen't.

[wickedcrossover]

Vman, left ? right ? I didn't know there was a difference. The question should be: Do I have a weak?

All fun aside, Vman's point should be well taken by all the young ballers who read this. For every dribbling drill, layup drill or inside drill that you do with your strong hand you need to do it with your weak also. Every coach will tell you that they can never get enough players who can handle the ball with exceptional skill - I'm not talking average - WORK on your ballhandling!! Work on it at full speed. Crossovers, between the legs, stop & goes, behind the back, spins, step-backs, on side crossovers. BOTH HANDS! Did anyone ever see the point guard from state college play - he's a great example of being able to handle the ball at full speed. Most of you kids don't have his speed but you need to learn to handle the ball at YOUR full speed.

[vman]

We may need a separate thread for crossovr on instruction for grade school/hi school hoopers......more good stuff (I'd throw in keeping head up @ all times during all those ball handling drills!)

[El-Moldo]

...I'd like to get back to crossover's "recruiting" section of his original post for a minute. He states that parent's should just state the benefits of sending their kids to a parochial and it will end all arguments. Well, this may help their arguments, but why do they transfer their kids to parochial schools after 9 or 10 years of public school, after essentially completing their "more formative" years in the public system. Don't you think they would have started their kids in the parochial system much earlier in order to receive the "whole" benefit of a private education?
...Here's my thought. Parent's, if they are really interested in their children, can control most aspects of their kids lives. Whether or not they attend a public school or private school, parent's can control their children's discipline as they grow up. Parent's can influence their children's academics to a great extent from the time they are born. Parent's can greatly affect a child's religious upbringing even if they don't attend a parochial school. But you know what, one thing parent's CAN'T control is their children's athletic future. They can't control who their local coaches are. They can't control who their children's teammates are. So once their kids get into high school, they begin to "look around" in order to help their kids out athletically. So what do they do? They transfer their children to better athletic situations, under the guise of discipine, academics and religion, all the things that they could have influenced in the first place. It sure will make their kid a better player if they play WITH better players, right. So this is why the PIAA doesn't want kids transferring for athletics. Too bad this is overlooked. As crossover has said, athletics is just a "side benefit" of transferring to a parochial school "late" in one's school career. Just a "side benefit".

[Sleepy Floyd]

vman, maybe your Crushers should play "Up" then if AAA is so easy.

[philip's dad]

I can relate one fact of the recruiting. I know for a fact that a girl from Saxton was contacted by Bishop Guilfoyle during the late 80's. The family didn't initiate the contact someone representing the school caontacted them. I don't know who this person was or if they worked at the school or if they were just was an alumni or what, but it happened!!