[Old School Hound]

I figured the Hounds would be better by this point in the season, and just a few short weeks until district tourney. They have been looking like a candidate for a quit exit from postseason play. A loss at home to a poor Whitley County team last night was the cake topper. Whitley was a team that was down to South Laurel, what was it, 42-4 at one point? Corbin pounded them in WBurg a couple of weeks ago. Since then, Corbin has been embarrassed by South Laurel, scoring only 35 points in defeat. Then they lost at home to an Evangel Christian team that had only won about 4 games on the season. Then last night's debacle against the perennial, and not very lovable losers from Goldbug.  Why is Corbin playing poor basketball this late in the '24-25 campaign???

I'll be watching the North Laurel, Bell County and Clay County games coming up this week and next to see any signs of life in these regressing Hounds. I'd like to see a couple of wins and at least a good competitive showing on Log Mountain against what I think is the region's best team.  What are the possible reasons for Corbin's funk ?

1. Injuries--  Let's face it. Corbin likely wins easily if Akins plays against Whitley. However, he played against South Laurel and Evangel and his team lost both of those. So, their problems seem to go deeper than just a missed game by Akins.  Getting Ellis on the court should help. It will be interesting to see how he and Ryder work together.


2. Youth---  I hate the youth excuse. But people always point to it. Corbin has some very young kids that are key components to their success. But even the freshman are almost sophomores at this point in the season. So youth is sort of a cop out, in my opinion.  Focus and desire are more serious concerns, however.

3. Focus---  This teams loses focus, at times, during games. They'll get a lead, like in the Evangel game, lose their focus ,  and either lose the game(as with Evangel) or have the game become more competitive than it should have been. They led Whitley by 27 points at Whitley and allowed the Colonels to shave the lead down to 16, before closing out the win. 

4. Desire--- Sometimes these Hounds just don't bring it. Just don't have that "want to" motor that a team needs to have. They had it for 32 minutes against South Laurel at Corbin but , other times, they just don't seem to have the drive, energy , or intensity they need. They didn't have it at any point in the game last night against Whitley. Why is that?   Where's wrong with the tickers in their chests?  More heart...please!

5. Tony P --- I've always said Tony is a good basketball coach. I think he has showed that, with over 500 victories. You don't suddenly forget how to coach basketball. Tony hasn't forgotten how to coach but late in last night's game, with a 1-point lead, then a 1-point deficit, the Hounds were just throwing the ball around the perimeter with seemingly very little purpose and very little urgency. I kept thinking , "What in the hell are they doing?"  Didn't seem very intent on even looking for a shot.  They just looked very confused last night. A couple of guys got serious minutes that don't usually play.  I don't question Tony's ability to coach, just sometimes question whether he still has that fire in his belly like he once did.

6. Johnny Crawford---Why is that chump still on the Corbin bench? What in the name of Lex Dixon's fat belly does Crawford add to that bench. He is just a sad sack with grandiose delusions of self-importance. Even when he played, he would never listen to the coach. The coach would give him instructions and John would look behind the bench where his daddy was sitting and take his instructions from daddy. That's right, he listened to DADDY, instead of the coach.  Has anyone ever seen that sad sack crack a smile? Tony, tell him to kick rocks and pound sound. The only thing he makes high school kids want to do is give up basketball and join a doomsday cult in the Amazon rainforest , canning pickles all day long.

7. Chemistry--- when teams underperform, this is always a possible reason. I have no reason to suspect this being the case but Corbin has added a couple of players to their roster. There's a fine balance between putting the best talent on the floor and maintaining good chemistry on the team. Hopefully, this isn't an issue and the kids pull together and decide to go out out in making a run to Rupp Arena.

This team has the talent to be a good basketball team, if it has everyone healthy, happy, driven, and enthusiastic about closing the season on a high note. Things haven't been good in a while. But with North, Clay and Bell on the horizon , there's an opportunity to turn it around here in the next couple of weeks.

I'd like to hear from our basketball gurus on here about what you think is up with the Hounds. Why are they underperforming just a few weeks before tourney time? Three really bad games this late in the season is atypical of T.P-coached teams. Usually, the Hounds are playing their best around this time. Can they turn things around in time to make a run?

I've spoken. Now, I'm listening to you ....