Clintwood Greenwave basketball

**cvcgrad** · January 12th, 2006, 06:06 PM

Some users on this forum, myself included, have commented about the problems surrounding the Clintwood boys basketball team. I've often referred to them as the "multiple personality" team of the LPD because they really look like a totally different team from game to game.

As long as I've been watching basketball, I don't think I've ever been as undecided about any team. I honestly don't know what - if anything - could be done to turn this team around. I think right now their record is something like 3-9 or 3-10 overall. Looking at the JV team, I can't really say that the prospects for the next couple of years looks any better.

In any season, you expect that every team will improve in some way from game to game. I'm not really sure you could say this about the Clintwood team since they seem to take one step forward only to turn around and take two steps back.

I guess with success or failure comes the level of fan support you are going to get. In this case, the Clintwood team has very little fan support if any outside of family, friends, and some faithful few.

So you've got a team that's very inconsistent from game to game. You've got little or no fan support. You are the third head coach in three years and your two assistant coaches were the head coaches in the past two years.

So, what would you do if you were coaching the Clintwood team, besides resigning?

**greencrest1272** · January 12th, 2006, 06:13 PM

You are exactly right with everything you said. Clintwood really needs some form of AAU program or something to get kids in the gym. Its kind of a mixed blessing that we have all the boys in the weight room for football during the winter months. I really cant blame them because football was always number 1 to me as well. In the Hamilton and Green days, we had tremendous athletes who could make the switch from football to basketball without blinking an eye. Unfortunately we dont seem to have those types of athletes lately. We have had quality coaches, I dont know why some of them chose to step down. That is part of our problem but definately not the only problem.

**cvcgrad** · January 12th, 2006, 06:22 PM

Maybe I'm reading the situation wrong, but the biggest problem seems to be lack of interest in a basketball program.

Obviously not every athlete is going to be good in multiple sports. But, I look at some of the kids who played football like Cumbo, Dotson, and Miles and think, "these guys ought to be pretty good basketball players too." Even from their cross country program, it seems like there ought to be some talent who could make the transition to basketball.

I think in one tournament game, I saw only eight players dressed for the game. The three players on the bench were all freshmen.

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr />
You are exactly right with everything you said. Clintwood really needs some form of AAU program or something to get kids in the gym. Its kind of a mixed blessing that we have all the boys in the weight room for football during the winter months. I really cant blame them because football was always number 1 to me as well. In the Hamilton and Green days, we had tremendous athletes who could make the switch from football to basketball without blinking an eye. Unfortunately we dont seem to have those types of athletes lately. We have had quality coaches, I dont know why some of them chose to step down. That is part of our problem but definately not the only problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

**imported_burrhead** · January 12th, 2006, 06:49 PM

Basketball as a whole in the LPD is just so boring---girls and boys. The other night when Powell Valley girls beat Wise, there was nothing much said. The interest is just not there. The coaches need to be more community friendly and get people involved. This is high school by the way, but the kids don't seem to be having much fun. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

**cvcgrad** · January 12th, 2006, 07:28 PM

The LPD is definitely not as strong as other districts in basketball. But, I've seen some competitive games.

Lack of fan support seems to be a greater problem for Clintwood than other teams in the LPD. Pound has a similar record as Clintwood but has more fan support. They also have had more success getting players to transition from football to basketball.

Fan support really starts within the school though. If you have a student body who comes to the games, you'll get more interest from your community.

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr />
Basketball as a whole in the LPD is just so boring---girls and boys. The other night when Powell Valley girls beat Wise, there was nothing much said. The interest is just not there. The coaches need to be more community friendly and get people involved. This is high school by the way, but the kids don't seem to be having much fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

**greencrest1272** · January 12th, 2006, 07:09 PM

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr />
Maybe I'm reading the situation wrong, but the biggest problem seems to be lack of interest in a basketball program.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats probably the #1 hurdle.

**lpdfan05** · January 12th, 2006, 10:41 PM

dude come on cumbo hes just a straight out football player and thats its

**cvcgrad** · January 12th, 2006, 10:56 PM

Hmmm... I wouldn't necessarily dismiss him as just a football player.

I honestly have no idea what other athletic skills he has. But, he is a big, strong kid who seems to be well conditioned. In some ways, he reminds me of some of the guys on the Grundy team.

Nothing wrong with being a big, strong kid. I don't want to mention names, but there's another LPD player who is playing on a very good team. In the games I've seen him play, he's good for one thing only - being a strong physical presence on the inside and bringing down rebounds. As soon as he rebounds, he passes the ball and he's done until the next rebound. That's his role and he does it well. Nothing wrong with that.

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr />
dude come on cumbo hes just a straight out football player and thats its

[/ QUOTE ]

**R0cketer** · January 13th, 2006, 12:06 AM

I'll post on this, with the knowledge that I'm biased, but my honest opinion is right now there is an overall lack of pure basketball talent, not just at Clintwood but in the LPD as a whole.

I think most of the teams play hard, truthfully this Clintwood team for the most part, plays defense harder than about any team I can remember, but they seem to be inconsistent as can be on the offensive end of the floor.

The coaching situation, which could be a negative, is anything but, as the former coaches really accept their roles as assistants, both seem a lot happier in that role, and I think Mills is comfortable in his role and they work well together. Being close to the situation, I can tell you that more than 1 person was concerned that there could be tendancies for the others to step over the line but I don't think it has been that way at all.

Now, as I've ranted about before, and I'm sure others will tell you, if you used to want to play basketball, you could find a game anytime, anyday, everyday, be it at school in the mornings before school, on the outdoor courts nearly any day, and when it got cold, there was a fair amount of people who would find access to a gym. It's not like that anymore, and to me thats why you see a lot less quality in the LPD. You have people, athletes on the court, but even as crappy as some of the playground games could be, there was just a comfort level of playing more ball.

As for the Wave team, I think they are on the right track, it just depends if they can get there or not by the end of the team, and that is up to the players. Granted, there isn't a super-strength on the team, there isn't huge size, there isn't great athletes, there isn't big time scorers, there is however a tremendous amount of heart there. It's a lot going to be on some accepting there roles and learning to jell as a unit. Back when Hamilton and Green was there, you had other players who knew what there role was on the team, not only accepted it, but excelled in it. Not to single someone out, but you had a player like Linkous who played hard defense, worked hard for boards, scored some baskets, mostly on rebounds, worked hard on offense even when he wasn't getting the ball, scored 2-10 points on most nights and at least in his effort, was completely comfortable doing his part. He never seemed to try to force the game, he could step up if he had to, and was comfortable in that. You look at the Pound team around the same time, you had Moore who was your scorer, but who could do anything, you had the legendary Nola who was the mad bomber who did his role but when it was in the flow of the game could drop 3-4 baskets in a row on you and make you change your entire scheme, you had others in there who knew what there roles were and they realized 8 boards was worth 10 points, 8 assists was worth 15+ points, hard defense and shutting someone else down, or trying to was worth 12-14 points that they never had in the newspaper.

For the record, I totally agree though about the crowd noise and support.

Hopefully, things will improve. It's a very young team and lots of them haven't won a lot and right now, learning to win, learning how to play a full game is something they have to do.

Anyhow just my views [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

**imported_burrhead** · January 12th, 2006, 06:51 PM

The boy's program is in very good hands. Vanover and Greear know basketball, and Coach Mills is a number 1 person who also knows the game. I know him and Vanover have been a positive influence on my daughter!!!