Bluegrassrivals

Final

Congratulations to the Lady Dragons. Jordan Brock was on fire last night!

Best of luck to them going forward.

The difference in this game was Mackenzie King. Early on Jordan and Brooklyn weren't hitting. Harlan was down one and Mackenzie went on a 14-2 run to put them up 11. Without her, I think it would have been a much closer game.

Definitely! My comments about Jordan was about her over all ability to run the court.

King had like 7 straight 3 point shots. Amazing night for her.

ky_boy Wrote:The difference in this game was Mackenzie King. Early on Jordan and Brooklyn weren't hitting. Harlan was down one and Mackenzie went on a 14-2 run to put them up 11. Without her, I think it would have been a much closer game.

Still should have been closer when you have Green and Gross.

I agree Dorlon but HC does not utilize the Gross girl like they should.Seems like they don't start going to her until they dig themselves a hole. Anytime they went to Gross she scored.

Can't wait to see the draw! Some great games ahead for 13th region fans.

Dragons far and away best team in the region.

HC tried getting it on snide to Gross multiple times early but Harlan did a great job doubling down to prevent it (especially the two King girls, they really battled). Mackenzie King was the player of the game: 3 point shots, driving to the basket, handling the ball on the press. She proved she is a top level player in the region. I was baffled why HC continued to leave her open to shoot for so long. When they did finally come out, she beat them off the dribble. Bright future for that young lady. I still say Harlan and HC are the two best teams in the region.

Oops get it inside, what I wanted to say

JerryGarcia Wrote:I agree Dorlon but HC does not utilize the Gross girl like they should.Seems like they don't start going to her until they dig themselves a hole. Anytime they went to Gross she scored.

Gross is a great player. I'd like to see her get it a little more, but she has 252 shots attempted. That's about as much as King and Bianchi combined and 30 more than Taylor, who may have been the second best post player coming into the season.

Looks like her and Green still had good games. Harlan scored 32 points against Middlesboro but throw up 73 on Harlan County. Are they the 32 or the 73?

Middlesboro, the 36 was one of the worst if not the worst game they have played. I say they are the best team in the region hands down. However, anyone can have a bad night and be beat. That's why they play the game. If Harlan is in their game, it will be tough to beat them in the region.

Latest Maher rating (strength of schedule) as of February 21, Harlan was 28, next closest in 13th region is HC at 54 then North Laurel at 59. Not sure how much to put into this but it does go by teams strength of schedule with wins/losses.

HCS Wrote:Gross is a great player. I'd like to see her get it a little more, but she has 252 shots attempted. That's about as much as King and Bianchi combined and 30 more than Taylor, who may have been the second best post player coming into the season.

252 attempts sounds like a lot but actually HC has played 29 games therefore that makes it 8.7 attempts a game. That is not enough shots for Gross. She has got to get up at least 15 attempts a game. But hey that's why I'm sitting here chatting and not coaching. Just an innocent bystander trying to figure out why she is not touching the ball more lol

JerryGarcia Wrote:252 attempts sounds like a lot but actually HC has played 29 games therefore that makes it 8.7 attempts a game. That is not enough shots for Gross. She has got to get up at least 15 attempts a game. But hey that's why I'm sitting here chatting and not coaching. Just an innocent bystander trying to figure out why she is not touching the ball more lol

I'm a big Gross fan, but I don't know if a post player in the region gets that many shots. She did have 14 in the finals.
Sometimes she needs to work a little harder to get open, but as Mountain Warrior pointed out she was getting double teamed a lot early in the Harlan game. She should also be averaging more rebounds than 8 a game, which would lead to more shots.
From what I've seen, HCHS works the ball inside as much as anyone in the region.

Mountain Warrior Wrote:Latest Maher rating (strength of schedule) as of February 21, Harlan was 28, next closest in 13th region is HC at 54 then North Laurel at 59. Not sure how much to put into this but it does go by teams strength of schedule with wins/losses.

North does not have a strong schedule at all. I think you might have misread that. I think they are 154 not 59.

HCS Wrote:I'm a big Gross fan, but I don't know if a post player in the region gets that many shots. She did have 14 in the finals.
Sometimes she needs to work a little harder to get open, but as Mountain Warrior pointed out she was getting double teamed a lot early in the Harlan game. She should also be averaging more rebounds than 8 a game, which would lead to more shots.
From what I've seen, HCHS works the ball inside as much as anyone in the region.

Yes but 10 of those shots were when the game was already over. Didn't see them make a conscious effort to get her the ball until late in third qt

HCS she had 13 rebounds in that final game come on now

JerryGarcia Wrote:HCS she had 13 rebounds in that final game come on now

I said average 8 a game. I think a player with her size, strength and ability should get more.

If you want a big girl to rebound you better get her some touches on offense.

Let’s just cut to the chase about these two programs as others seem to be attempting to do. When you have an embarrassing (39-90) record over the last 6 seasons at your previous school and a (11-14) record at your new school last year. I mean come on folks, this year is their first winning season in the last 8 years. Why would you expect district and regional championships? Really? HC will have their best chance in 2018 at the district level if they “all stay together”. I’m not sure about their regional chances. Everyone is "very young" as well. Now let’s take a look at Harlan Independent. They have a (119-66) in the last 6 seasons. With only 1 losing season. They’re a well-coached team. The main difference in their program is their coach and players don’t care who leads them in scoring as long as they get the win. Just look at Akal, Brock or Massingill while King was going off on HC in the district championship. What did they do? Continue to feed her the ball. That’s what TEAM ball is supposed to look like. Stop complaining and get use to it.

Parents are the players own worst enemies. Winning is secondary. Brock seems to enjoy when her teammates do well.