My Top 15...(entire list)

1. Kent Goodman, Twin Valley

What I Like - very solid in every aspect, nice shooter, best passer in the region IMO, plays with a confidence like none other, not afraid to put it up from the volleyball line on most courts and most of the time it's a back-breaker that kills teams...he also has a knack for getting his hands on balls to create turnovers, average ball handling, and very good defensive awareness away from the ball, also very heady and almost never makes a dumb play or tries to do too much

What I Don't Like - athleticism...he doesn't have the athleticism to take too many people off the dribble, he can slice zones apart, but to stop him youre gonna have to have a "no help" defender on him and play him straight up

2. Matthew Baldwin, Twin Valley

What I Like - big boy (6'6) but he has soft hands, understands how to use a defender to get position on the inside...cleans up a lot of junk around the boards, nice turnaround...good defender for TV in their zone defense, discourages anything inside...surprisingly good passer too

What I Don't Like - a lot of question whether he can defend someone away from the bucket, if he were to play in a man-to-man system people could cut TV to death or pull Baldwin away from the bucket...he also doesn't respond well to a defender pushing him out of position on the inside, a lot of times he just takes it and tries to play 6-8 ft away from the goal, which isn't his game

3. Mark Dockery, Twin Springs

What I Like - good shooter, very good offensively, handles the ball well, athletic, handles the ball decent...takes it strong to the bucket, he can play in transition or in a half court game, very versatile and causes match-up problems

What I Don't Like - seems to be lacking on the defensive end, he has the ability and athleticism to lock someone down, it seems like he just doesn't for whatever reason

4. Jamie Hackney, Gate City

What I Like - very athletic, rises above the defense to get a shot off, he gets better all the time defensively and he is very dangerous in transition, has the ability to defend someone like Baldwin, while at the same time he can defend a guard or a small forward...he creates a lot of mis-matches against a man-to-man becuase he can post people who try to stick a guard on him, and he can take big man off the dribble

What I Don't Like - could be better with the ball in his hands, he could be very effective in a press offense if he could bring the ball up against a big man, sometimes takes questionable shots at questionable times

5. Andrew Adkins, Coeburn

What I Like - solid fundamentally, passing and ball handling are both solid...shoots better than average, pretty athletic, coaches son, so he knows the game well

What I Don't Like - mainly what i dont like are all things that will be corrected with experience...feeling runs, playing with a swagger, take control defensively, he has to let the offensive player know that he will dictate what he does...could do a better job of getting hands on loose balls, cause turnovers...stuff like that, that will come with experience

6. Josh Kilgore, Gate City

What I Like - very athletic, strong, leaper who knows how to use his body and skills to get to the bucket...can take about anyone off the dribble...will lock you up defensively, can guard anyone in the region...also one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, but that's just an aside

What I Don't like - jump shot...that's been a problem for him...if he could get a jumper to get defenders to play him honest then he could set up the drive better, he has gotten much better with it, but it still could improve

7. Adam Hood, Rye Cove

What I Like - good shooter, ball handler, passer (pretty high up in the assists category if im not mistaken) does everything solid...basically the same game as Adkins from Coeburn, but Adkins is more sound fundamentally and more fliud

What I Don't Like - like i said above, he could be more fundamentally sound and while he has a lot of assists there are also still a bit too many turnovers but he has cut that down some this year, like Adkins, he could take control of his man on defense if he would work at it

8. K.T. VanDyke, Twin Valley

What I Like - exceptional ball-handler, exceptional shooter as well, great form and is clutch in big situations, can blow a game apart with his three ball and the best thing he does is he feels run and knows when to use the three ball

What I Don't Like - he hasn't really shown much aggressiveness on offense, but then again, he hasn't really had to with 3 other 1,000 pt scorers on the team, with that said, he will get his 1,000 later in the year...but for his ball handling abilities he hasn't realy attacked the bucket well..also some weaknesses on the defensive end

9. Drew Justice, Castlewood

What I Like - athletic, runs the floor well, good shooter who can take over a game, a little above average defensively but could do better away from the ball

What I Don't Like - seems like he plays in slow motion with no sense of urgency, not aggressive defensively and doesn't make too many plays besides an occasional block...needs to use his body better when he's on the inside to get some buckets

10. Kevin Viers, Haysi

What I Like - really good shooter, and pretty good ball handler, pretty fair defensively and pretty solid all the way around

What I Don't Like - it's probably a Haysi problem more than anything but "live by the three, die by the three" he hasn't shown much ability to take his man to the hole, and he stands and watches too much on offense

11. Ryan Jones, Haysi

What I Like - great shooter, very good complement to Viers, solid fundamentally, agressive offensively, very experienced and plays like he knows the game well, plays well in the clutch

What I Don't Like - if he could take the same aggressiveness and apply it to the defensive end he'd be an exceptional player, seems like he is saving his energy for the offensive end, not really an "in your face" type of player

12. Jeremiah Lester, Twin Valley

What I Like - fearless on the offensive end, great passer, not afraid to take the big shot or take a huge shot to break a team's back...1,000 pt scorer so you know he has done something right on the offensive end at least...he's strong and can muscle up especially well with other 4's since Baldwin is man'ing the middle for TV

What I Don't Like - sometimes that same fearlessness gets him into some trouble and he'll take questionable shots and force things at times...not very athletic and can't cover much court

13. Lorenzo Miles, J.I. Burton

What I Like - speed, speed and athleticism...he's pretty fast too...he gets a lot of points by being a lot quicker than everyone else and uses this well on the offensive end

What I Don't Like - i don't like that he is just that, an athlete, not really solid fundamentally and lacking very much on the defensive end when with his athleticism and speed if he had the "know-how" and the will to play the right defense he could lock down just about anyone, but it remains that he doesn't and that along with the fact that he doesn't play well with the ball out of his hands is why he is ranked so low

14. Logan Shortridge, Twin Valley

What I Like - great passer and above average ball handler, plays the best D of the twin valley bunch and uses his body well in traffic, knows how to get a man up in the air and then use his body to still get the shot off, can make a big shot in a run

What I Don't Like - tries to do way too much a lot of times, making full court passes that 40% of the time gets intercepted, and he plays like he is mechanical without any fluidity to his game

15. Logan Ball, Honaker

What I Like - he can get inside and score a little bit and is a pretty decent shooter, but his best attribute is his rebounding, he has turned in a couple double-doubles this year and boxes out well and then uses his athleticism to go up and get it

What I Don't Like - plays too "nice" won't mix it up very much and gets pushed away from the bucket too easy, not aggressive in scoring and isn't very good in transition


some Honorable Mention:
Keith Warner, Twin Springs
Tyler Parks, Gate City
Evan Bolling, J.J. Kelly

Nice. Your break down of each player is awesome.

In my opinion you have Jones from Haysi rated a little too high and Viers rated a little too low. Probably because you are judging based on the TV game alone...or at least thats what I assume. Viers goes to the hole very well...Haysi needs to utilize more pick and rolls and they Kevin needs to be willing to take over games.

Not only that, but TV's good, the best in the region--given. But there are individual players on other teams that are better than some guys in their starting 5. If we go by your list, NO ONE in the entire region should get within 40 of these guys, having 5 out of the top 15 in the region. 1 or 2 of them gotta drop down out of that top 15 just to be fair. Also IMO, Viers & Hood should be 7 & 8, and Van [censored] & Justice should be 9 & 10. Just a lil jumble there in the middle.

Brian Pate is good but i think that Josh Plamer is not bad his self good defensively offensively he is also good. Justin Qualls he is also a good player from pv! I am not just saying this because i am from pv but when you don't have coaching your players don't look as good as they should, they don't even have and offense "that's what the players tell me" come on IMO i think them 2 will at least make all district

Yeah if Baldwin is the 2nd best player around then you have to consider it a weak year in the region...the kid is 6'7 and playes like he's 5'10. Go hard or go home.

Lol it censored the d_ke part of Vandyke

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don't have coaching your players don't look as good as they should

[/ QUOTE ] [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]This is what happened to me! I didn't have coaching and I looked awful when I was in school and trying to play ball, [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] but then again I don't look as good as I should most of the time in life. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

well that is just what they tell me

Just trying to lighten [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] the day a lil before naptime. See ya guys.

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Lol it censored the d_ke part of Vandyke

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I didn't see that! Good eye BGJ...LOL

[censored]...hehehe

I guess it runs it through the profanity filter after you actually post it, not while you're previewing it.

well i agree on the part that Baldwin gets pushed out of the paint too easily, but in talking to his sister, some D1 programs are taking a look at him...now of course, im not gonna tell anyone they cant play D1, but he is probably D2 at best, but it does kinda let you know that he has some untapped potential

anyways, not everyone is gonna agree on every spot, thats what this is for

i dont see how or why you would bring josh palmer up on here....i didnt see much from him at all.....he doesnt play physical and he didnt seem to get after the ball much....and to say your not just saying that because you go to pv??haha ok sure......

I'm not going to say he can't at that level either but if he was 6'3 nobody would be dialing his number.

I wasnt as impressed with hackney. he might have a bad game when i saw him . i just dont see him as top 5. maybe around 9 or 10.

Patrick Fisher is by far the best player on the Castlewood team. I don't see him on your list.

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Patrick Fisher is by far the best player on the Castlewood team. I don't see him on your list.

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I think Justice a little better overall for CW. Fisher is very good, but I think he is a close 2nd to Justice.

This is a great thread, BUT im not so sure that gcd22 has seen alot of these teams play. Lets talk about Dockery and Hood for just a moment, If you put either, on a very stong TV team it takes away the BOX 1 deffence that most teams play against Dockery and Hood. In my opion Dockery and Hood are the two best players in the Big "D", and that if you put these two players on the same team they would beat TV hands down.Lets just look at the stats when they come out in the paper and we will see who is leading in points, assist and rebounds. I can almost asure you that Dockery or Hood are in the top 3 in all of them, and most of this comes against a box 1 deffence. I will have to diss-agree with 1 in stipes, I think that Pat Fisher is a better all around ballplayer than Justice. But this is just my opion.

ive seen all of these teams play that i mentioned except rye cove and ive seen enough of adam hood and talked to 1instripes about him

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I think that Pat Fisher is a better all around ballplayer than Justice. But this is just my opion.

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I am not in huge disagreement with that. I just think Justice gets a little more done mainly on the defensive end than what Fisher does. Offensively, I might give a slight edge to Fisher, but mainly because of his ball handling. I do think Fisher has a better head on his shoulders than Justice. Adam really got into Drew's head in their first matchup.

Great post there GC22 you might have missed your calling as a talent scout.You can make a case on who is a better player from one through ten and several players would move up or down depending on what games a person watched.The # of points a player scores is not always the determing factor on how good the player may be.Some of the players listed play very little defense but are excellent offensive players.There are also instances where some players may play on a team that requires them to shoot 15-20 times per game and others may only have a need for 5-10 depending on the system they play in.I have not saw all of the players listed but Hood-Dockery are the best two offensive players I have watched and Kilgore is the best defensive.The best all around player is probably Goodman because he does so many things well on a very talented team.

thanks! maybe it can be my calling afterall [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

So what you are saying is that your poll is hear-say? Stripes where would you put Adam and Mark at on your top 15?

I really couldn't say that I would be an accurate judge. Since I don't call basketball, and my work schedule during December doesn't let me out of the office much, I normally only see Cumberland games, mainly CW, TS, and RC.

I would have them at the top, but I really could not fairly judge them against Goodman, Baldwin, Adkins, Hackney, and others on the list. That is what sort of got this started, by PMing gcdev on his thoughts about it.

Have you seen most of these kids play? If so, how would you possibly rank them? I like how gcdev done this, and if I had more first hand knowledge of watching the others play, I would be glad to show my list.

I agree fully with you! I have not watched a few of the teams play, but I have watched GC play and I think that a couple of his pick's are funny! I will not say which ones because I do not beleave it is right to get on here and say negitive things about high school kids. But I will say one thing if GC22 wants to see some real b-ball he should come to the "COVE" when TS comes to town.

Well there is a difference in saying bad stuff about a high school kid and talking about what they need to improve, kind of the difference in being able to be adult about things and not.


Example

You have a quarterback who throws a good deep pass, is fairly mobile, doesn't get rid of the ball quickly though.

You should be able to say he's a good quarterback needs to work on his underneath throws some and his pocket presence is sometimes lacking and you're not downing him.

You come on and say he can only throws bombs, gets the crap knocked out of him cuz he's too dumb to feel pressure, you are downing him.

It really is a thin line but most people know the difference, but you'll always have some who have jealousy issues be it with a player or a team and wouldn't sooner down someone than anything.

To put it a bit more blunt, open discussion about strengths/weaknesses are an opinion. Just saying someone sucks, not so much.

I agree everyone has the right to each's on opion, just as In my opion as a grown man not to get on here and say negitive things about high school kids work very hard for.

Well I don't know about that. RC and TS play some good ball, especially with their top two players, but I am sure GC must be playing pretty well. I have seen most of their players play growing up, and they should be pretty special in their own right.

That's not what I am saying, Im just saying when is that last time that you saw a gym rocking like TS the other night. Im not saying anything about the kids from GC.

Oh ok. Yes, it was a great atmosphere, and I had invited gcdev to come. He had a prior engagement in TV, which any male can respect! [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] (That boys whooped!!) [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I hope the next one is just as good, and has the same outcome.

Ha Ha, I can understand that! We have all been there at one time or another.

hearsay? huh? did you even read the posts

the only one i HAVENT been to see this year is hood form the cove and i saw him over the summer...ive seen the TS kids, your point? Dockery is the only one deserving of making the list and Warner deserved honorable mention

btw, just for reference what experience do you have playing basketball

I'd say gcdevil's list is pretty darn accurate, opinions will vary of course...especially when someone from the Big Red Army registers on the LPD forum and comes out, guns a blazin' on how great his Titans are! [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

I think thats a great post. . .
I appreciated the "don't likes" about me more than the "likes" because it helps me better understand what I need to improve on and to become the best player I can be. Because I agree on all of them.. I'm still learning and am a rookie to the varsity level and can use all the advice I can get.

Ha Ha, Kid I have forgot more about basketball than you will ever know! Where did you watch Hood play this summer? From my understanding he played on a traveling team out of West Virgina.

then it will be easy to answer my question...what basketball have you played in your life

Im not going to tell that then it would not be hard for people to find out who I am. You did not answer my question.

at his school at RC...i substituted there

too bad you cant answer my question...high school ball? college ball? coach any?

Let me get this strait, you sub there in the middle of the summer? That's kind of cool what did they pay you? Im going to have to get a job like that!

let me get this straight...i dont sub during my school year...so i was on break...SUMMER break [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]