Bluegrassrivals

I guess that answers that!

Yep. Who coaches Bell baseball team?

Very smart game plan by Bell, IMO. HC went on a scoring spree to open up the third quarter, and answered Bell's stall ball in the fourth quarter very well.

Congratulations Harlan County Black Bears!!!

Congratulations to Coach Jones and taking care of their game plan. So Bell has the fastest point guard in the region, but they don’t push the ball to score. Sounds like no confidence in stopping HC from scoring and that showed in the second half. Bell has athletes that can play, but game plan did not use these skills. Three averaging in double figures. Once again coaching failed these kids. Good luck Bell in the future.

Make no mistake this hire was never about basketball. It was about Scott Madon being moved back to Bell County with all his support. It was about politics plain and simple. Now i agree, the talent he had at North makes him an underachiever and it is showing now. If Napier had the ties , he would have been our coach. With Y. Gilliam and T. Gambrel you never get what you think you are and the reasoning only has their personal best interest in mind. That is why if we give Tom Gambrel this superintendent job it will be detrimental to our school system and the education of our children.

Must see your board member and change it at the top so this type thing doesn't continue. Tom Gambrel can not be next in line or things will never change.

Don't you just LOVE mountain school politics!!

four quarters Wrote:Congratulations to Coach Jones and taking care of their game plan. So Bell has the fastest point guard in the region, but they don’t push the ball to score. Sounds like no confidence in stopping HC from scoring and that showed in the second half. Bell has athletes that can play, but game plan did not use these skills. Three averaging in double figures. Once again coaching failed these kids. Good luck Bell in the future.

I have to agree with what you're saying about Bell's athletes. I would love to have seen Bell come out aggressive, I believe it would have been a great game with HC coming out on top in a very close game. Bell has a couple good looking sophomores that will have two more very productive years, not sure what grade the rest of their starters are, but should be a solid team.

Bell has no depth right now, I love four quarters constant bashing when it's obvious he hasn't watched the team much if at all this year. Bell played 7 people last night and really only went to the 7th when it became an absolute must situation. London is very fast and one of the most gifted athletes I've ever seen, but he can get out of control when you get to playing too fast and that has happened on occasion. The game was tied with a minute or so to go, so it's obvious they had a plan that gave them a shot to win, for a first year coach I don't know how much more you can ask for. WHYLIE is also up there advocating for a coach that lost by 40 last night in the opening round, and oh by the way the team that won by 40 over WHYLIE's choice lost to Harlan County by 7. Fact of the matter is some people just have an axe to grind with Madon or have their feelings hurt that their choice didn't get the job and they are just intent to stir the pot at every turn. This season was always going to be a building year, Partin and Collett both graduated last year and they accounted for about a third of the points in the previous year. But the kids developed and got better as the year progressed, it's hard to ask for a lot more than that in year one.

It almost worked for bell. The other 2 games with HC was just as close without stalling to the point its 4-2 after a quarter. as a matter a fact bell lost by 6 this time and only by 5 at hc few weeks ago. I am sure the coaching staff knows more about their team than we do and have a good reason why they chose to do it. might have been the 8 games in 12 days heading into district worried about tired bodies maybe

fridaynightfights Wrote:Bell has no depth right now, I love four quarters constant bashing when it's obvious he hasn't watched the team much if at all this year. Bell played 7 people last night and really only went to the 7th when it became an absolute must situation. London is very fast and one of the most gifted athletes I've ever seen, but he can get out of control when you get to playing too fast and that has happened on occasion. The game was tied with a minute or so to go, so it's obvious they had a plan that gave them a shot to win, for a first year coach I don't know how much more you can ask for. WHYLIE is also up there advocating for a coach that lost by 40 last night in the opening round, and oh by the way the team that won by 40 over WHYLIE's choice lost to Harlan County by 7. Fact of the matter is some people just have an axe to grind with Madon or have their feelings hurt that their choice didn't get the job and they are just intent to stir the pot at every turn. This season was always going to be a building year, Partin and Collett both graduated last year and they accounted for about a third of the points in the previous year. But the kids developed and got better as the year progressed, it's hard to ask for a lot more than that in year one.

I am not advocating for any coach, my problem is they pay coaches an absurd amount of tax money and when you try to hold any of them accountable they come up with excuses like first year coach, knowing his team. Results for the money paid should have been much more. That is YOUR statements at the beginning of the year. Just go back and take a look at what ALL of you said about the up coming season. Now, the good ole boy network and politics are why we are here with this guy so and now he doesn't have to preform....well that just doesn't sit well here. You want to continue with the same people running everything from top to bottom ...OK...if not, start with the coming superintendent and change this place for the better. Gambrel Gilliam Crawford R. Gambrel has to go. Y. Gilliam is on her way out, don't fall for T. Gambrel line of BS. As far as a coach just win. Last year fighting Freddy done just as good. Tom Gambrel and Richard Gambrel product. Now Y. Gilliam wants Madon on her tit so she does this. Kids are never a thought here, time to start thinking of them for a change.

WhyLie Wrote:I am not advocating for any coach, my problem is they pay coaches an absurd amount of tax money and when you try to hold any of them accountable they come up with excuses like first year coach, knowing his team. Results for the money paid should have been much more. That is YOUR statements at the beginning of the year. Just go back and take a look at what ALL of you said about the up coming season. Now, the good ole boy network and politics are why we are here with this guy so and now he doesn't have to preform....well that just doesn't sit well here. You want to continue with the same people running everything from top to bottom ...OK...if not, start with the coming superintendent and change this place for the better. Gambrel Gilliam Crawford R. Gambrel has to go. Y. Gilliam is on her way out, don't fall for T. Gambrel line of BS. As far as a coach just win. Last year fighting Freddy done just as good. Tom Gambrel and Richard Gambrel product. Now Y. Gilliam wants Madon on her tit so she does this. Kids are never a thought here, time to start thinking of them for a change.

I'm not wading in to all the other stuff I'm going to stick to basketball, but I went to approximately half the games this team player this year, and it was obvious that the Coach was doing his job. I don't recall have any specific expectations at the beginning of the year. But I did see a coach that was coaching his tail off and players playing their tail off. I agree with accountability and after he's been given a little time then we should have results or move on, that's the name of the game. But the cupboard was pretty empty this year. I've never expected miracles in day one, I will be honest the closest thing I've seen to one was the job French did at Middlesboro this year in football. I will also say I think it's fair to be of the opinion he's being paid to much and the resources should be used elsewhere to an extent, but as far as doing the job he was hired to do it appeared to me as though he did it.

fridaynightfights Wrote:Bell has no depth right now, I love four quarters constant bashing when it's obvious he hasn't watched the team much if at all this year. Bell played 7 people last night and really only went to the 7th when it became an absolute must situation. London is very fast and one of the most gifted athletes I've ever seen, but he can get out of control when you get to playing too fast and that has happened on occasion. The game was tied with a minute or so to go, so it's obvious they had a plan that gave them a shot to win, for a first year coach I don't know how much more you can ask for. WHYLIE is also up there advocating for a coach that lost by 40 last night in the opening round, and oh by the way the team that won by 40 over WHYLIE's choice lost to Harlan County by 7. Fact of the matter is some people just have an axe to grind with Madon or have their feelings hurt that their choice didn't get the job and they are just intent to stir the pot at every turn. This season was always going to be a building year, Partin and Collett both graduated last year and they accounted for about a third of the points in the previous year. But the kids developed and got better as the year progressed, it's hard to ask for a lot more than that in year one.

Not sure if you noticed, but HC actually only played 6 players last night and the 6th man only played about 2 minutes I believe. Having pointed that out however I am not criticizing the Bell coaching or giving you a hard time for making excuses for the coaching strategy. After watching the game I simply believe myself that Bell had good enough players to go toe to toe with HC last night and would have had the same chance to win the game as they did choosing to hold the ball for the time that they did. I believe both HC and Bell have solid starting lineups with very little depth and are pretty evenly balanced teams. IMO would have been a more enjoyable game to watch if Bell had come out prepared to take it to HC. I do believe that the two best teams in the district both won last night and I have to say that I am happy about that. Friday night should be another of many great games to remember between HC and Harlan this year and over the next few years.

Sizemore stall ball strikes again. Been there seen that!

Black Bear Cuz Wrote:I have to agree with what you're saying about Bell's athletes. I would love to have seen Bell come out aggressive, I believe it would have been a great game with HC coming out on top in a very close game. Bell has a couple good looking sophomores that will have two more very productive years, not sure what grade the rest of their starters are, but should be a solid team.

Of the 7 that played for Bell last night, 5 were sophomores. Stephney and Wilson being seniors.

There we go John Calipari we are young excuse.

WhyLie Wrote:There we go John Calipari we are young excuse.

No excuses. Cuz asked, I answered.

HCHS played two seniors, two juniors, one sophomore and an 8th grader.

Not much depth coming up for Bell after the sophomore class for minutes.

Be honest fridaynightfights if not for family in Bell County do you think he would have left NL? I know the salary increase with Bell, but the talent he had just your thoughts.

four quarters Wrote:Be honest fridaynightfights if not for family in Bell County do you think he would have left NL? I know the salary increase with Bell, but the talent he had just your thoughts.

Maybe not, no way to know for sure since he does have the family and he did leave. That said I don't ever fault a guy for the "happy wife, happy life" thought process in making a decision. And I do believe in accountability, but this isn't the football team he took over. He took over a team that lost a good chunk of it's scoring from the year prior, only had 2 upper classmen contributing, played a good schedule, and didn't get his best player until December. If they don't show improvement going forward then people have a right to raise questions, but just because he didn't work a miracle this year doesn't mean he won't be a good coach.

I agree with family does come first!!! Just curious on the coaching part, but there will be difficult years for all teams. I enjoy discussing different aspects of situations and am glad this didn’t get out of hand. Good luck with all teams and take care. Until we post again👍🏼

WhyLie Wrote:Make no mistake this hire was never about basketball. It was about Scott Madon being moved back to Bell County with all his support. It was about politics plain and simple. Now i agree, the talent he had at North makes him an underachiever and it is showing now. If Napier had the ties , he would have been our coach. With Y. Gilliam and T. Gambrel you never get what you think you are and the reasoning only has their personal best interest in mind. That is why if we give Tom Gambrel this superintendent job it will be detrimental to our school system and the education of our children.

Must see your board member and change it at the top so this type thing doesn't continue. Tom Gambrel can not be next in line or things will never change.

Napier just led a far more talented team to a 40 point loss against Corbin after they had beaten them a few weeks ago. I don’t think Bell hiring him would’ve changed much this season for the Bobcats. Sizemore was the right hire and a good hire. His team is young and they will be really good down the road.

MrBasketball78 Wrote:Napier just led a far more talented team to a 40 point loss against Corbin after they had beaten them a few weeks ago. I don’t think Bell hiring him would’ve changed much this season for the Bobcats. Sizemore was the right hire and a good hire. His team is young and they will be really good down the road.

Keep reading, I didn’t say they should have hired Napier. Just keep reading the thread.

At least Bell girls won! And a close game I might add!

Hey WhyLie, MrBasketball78 has 16 posts so obviously somebody told him about the Bell/Sizemore discussion and he got mad. Needs to look at previous posts and realize on how discussions/posts go instead of getting on here and bashing Napier and praising Sizemore. We’ve both talked about the hire and future. Relax, it’s baseball season with a new coach. Anybody know who he is?