Will Rowan County return to the state finals?

Trouble · 11-17-2011, 06:00 PM

With all due respect, I didn't see much pressure from Rowan last year. they have a change in defensive philosophy? And if so, won't they miss Cross at all? Seems everyone had significant losses except Rowan by your estimation. Hunter and Cross for Rowan seem to be greater than Delaney and Johnson, IMO.

gapman · 11-17-2011, 06:30 PM

HD28 Wrote:Has a lot to do with it since people are downplaying an amazing accomplishment by saying "it was a good draw". So what? you still have to play the games and you still have to win to advance. Rowan COunty had no say in who was in their bracket.

Secondly, my bet is that Ashland will turn the ball over at an alarming rate when faced with good pressure from quality opponents, especially if Bush is the choice at PG. And I do not believe that either of the other two you mentioned are viable candidates for that position either. Your point about Hunter is a good one...however, at 6'2 Gregg's best asset is his passion for the game; nobody plays harder. That said, the 16th region doesn't have a dominant post player so although RC's lack of a true post player may hurt them on the state level, I do not believe it to be an issue in the 16th.

Teams don't rely soley on guard play to get the ball up under pressure these days. Your guys were no exception to that last year even though you still had the sevices of Mr Cross. I don't know how you can slam Bush for his ablility to get the ball up the court, if you are a Rowan fan you've seen him have a lot of success on your court handling the rock.

Rowan only won by 6 at Johnson Arena last year and it was ANYBODY'S game with a minute thirty left and Ashland was actually up 1. About the only thing I see that qualifies as being alarming here is the memory gap you seem to be suffering from.

dore20 · 11-17-2011, 08:35 PM

I saw Rowan play at rupp last year, i wasnt overly impressed, and if they have lost as much as everyone is saying on here i dont see ne way they could make it back to the finals.

sportsfanatic · 11-17-2011, 08:51 PM

They will have a better chance against the Louisville teams than Morehead State will have against Louisville this year. :biglmao:Here's hopimg that they both represent Rowan County well again this year.

PantherTradition · 11-17-2011, 10:29 PM

I will say NO. It all depends on the pairings for the tournament. Good draw last year does not guarantee a good draw this year.

**OrangenowBlue** · 11-17-2011, 10:37 PM

dore20 Wrote:I saw Rowan play at rupp last year, i wasnt overly impressed, and if they have lost as much as everyone is saying on here i dont see ne way they could make it back to the finals.

They may have not been overly impressive but they did make it to the state finals and they did beat a Wayne County team 17 points that had earlier defeated Perry Central by 10. Do I think they will make it back to the state finals, absolutely not, but I do not want to downplay the post season success they had by whining about their so-called weak bracket.

dore20 · 11-17-2011, 10:52 PM

OrangenowBlue Wrote:They may have not been overly impressive but they did make it to the state finals and they did beat a Wayne County team 17 points that had earlier defeated Perry Central by 10. Do I think they will make it back to the state finals, absolutely not, but I do not want to downplay the post season success they had by whining about their so-called weak bracket.

im not trying to downplay, just saying they didnt really impress me. and i nvr said anything about a weak bracket. its the sweet 16, the best show on earth, i dont think anything about it is weak. And of course u had to take a shot at PCC lol

Gold Charger · 11-18-2011, 09:01 AM

Wire Wrote:I agree Rowan had the more favorable draw than Christian Co, no doubt the upper bracket was brutal, however to indicate that Rowan could not have played with Eastern, Lex Catholic etc.. or even come out of the upper bracket is IMO wrong. They played with GRC (lost by 2), Louisville Moore (Won by 2), Louisville Butler (lost by 2), Ashland (won by 14 & 6), Madison Central (lost by 9), Daviess Co (won by 13), Wayne Co (won by 17), Bullitt East (won by 2) and Christian Co (lost by 2) all of which were ranked in the top 20 when Rowan played them.

They also lost to Menifee Co...which I think turned out to be a good thing. Got them refocused and showed that they could be beaten on any given night.

Didn't say they could not play with the likes of the teams in the upper bracket. Just stated IMO that they would not have made the finals if they had been in the upper bracket. Upper bracket was brutal, got to have some luck and Rowan did with the draw they got. GRC had already beaten Christian Co, not once but twice.....but didn't make it out of the upper bracket.

HD28 · 11-18-2011, 09:14 AM

Trouble Wrote:With all due respect, I didn't see much pressure from Rowan last year. they have a change in defensive philosophy? And if so, won't they miss Cross at all? Seems everyone had significant losses except Rowan by your estimation. Hunter and Cross for Rowan seem to be greater than Delaney and Johnson, IMO.

Hunter will be a major loss for them; with the return of Phillip Hodge and the development of some guards in the sophomore and junior class there will be a change in defensive philosophy. RC will do more pressing and I believe that will cause Ashland some problems. AS for the poster that said RC fans saw Bush have success bringing the ball up, I do not remember that because I can hardly remember him playing much!

Wire · 11-18-2011, 10:07 AM

How many people had Christian Co coming out of the upper bracket before the tourney started?? I certainly didn't...... If they could come out of the upper bracket why couldn't another so called underdog have done the same thing... That's why they play the games

Trouble · 11-18-2011, 11:02 AM

Well, Hell they are the favorites to win it all this year. I must be mistaken. They should have made the USAToday super25 last year.

**OrangenowBlue** · 11-18-2011, 11:20 AM

dore20 Wrote:im not trying to downplay, just saying they didnt really impress me. and i nvr said anything about a weak bracket. its the sweet 16, the best show on earth, i dont think anything about it is weak. And of course u had to take a shot at PCC lol

You guys make it way to easy.

Wire · 11-18-2011, 12:03 PM

Trouble Wrote:Well, Hell they are the favorites to win it all this year. I must be mistaken. They should have made the USAToday super25 last year.

I wouldn't go that far.....top 30 would have been about right:Clap:

gapman · 11-18-2011, 12:33 PM

HD28 Wrote:Hunter will be a major loss for them; with the return of Phillip Hodge and the development of some guards in the sophomore and junior class there will be a change in defensive philosophy. RC will do more pressing and I believe that will cause Ashland some problems. AS for the poster that said RC fans saw Bush have success bringing the ball up, I do not remember that because I can hardly remember him playing much!

If Rowan does more pressing, it may indeed cause some problems. The turnovers at an "alarming rate" thing seems doubtful to me, but heck, what do I know. Any Rowan fans that watched their sons and those now at the varsity level play and develope over their basketball careers, know Bush very well. I guarantee you the players all remember him. Aside from that, he's hard to knock off the ball and he ain't scared, as they say. He did have to work his way into the line-up and learn the system, but I don't see him as incapable or ineffective. My take on it would be you'll give up as many points as you get by pressing JMHO:biggrin:

Truth · 11-18-2011, 12:57 PM

Bush, Gregg, Whetsel, and Hart all played under John Bush at Rose Hill before "relocating" at Ashland. Bush, Gregg, and Whetsel played together on John Bush's AAU teams for several years. They were exposed to winning and to strong fundamentals and, as with Terry at Fairview (who aso played for years for John Bush), will be the backbone of their team.

TRUESTATECHAMP · 11-22-2011, 12:55 AM

Just throwing this out there, watched Rowan's Green/White scrimmage tonight and they looked NASTY. Better team than last year for sure

Gold Charger · 11-22-2011, 07:50 AM

TRUESTATECHAMP Wrote:Just throwing this out there, watched Rowan's Green/White scrimmage tonight and they looked NASTY. Better team than last year for sure

Good to hear, look forward to watching them play this year.

DRYBACON21 · 11-23-2011, 09:48 AM

To answer the original question!! I sure as heck hope so! Go RC.... Anyone looked at the Sch. they have this year???? IMO, coach Thacker and the Vikings are not looking for a cakewalk....

Gold Charger · 11-23-2011, 11:33 AM

DRYBACON21 Wrote:To answer the original question!! I sure as heck hope so! Go RC.... Anyone looked at the Sch. they have this year???? IMO, coach Thacker and the Vikings are not looking for a cakewalk....

Looking at the schedule, Trinity and Bullitt East Will be their biggest challenges. Christian Co and Hopkinsville is the next level and they should win both of those games. After that, competitive/talent level of these team are fair. They should win all the rest of the games.

DRYBACON21 · 11-24-2011, 02:12 PM

Top bracket may have been "loaded" but the bottom bracket had an overall better record than the top at the start of the sweet 16. just saying!