bullets13

i think i will, actually.

it's really hard to ask highschoolers to stay focused and fight through it when they're getting blatantly cheated. i was a pretty levelheaded player in my day, but at the age of 16 it was pretty difficult for me to get my head back in a game where i felt like i was being cheated. that's kind of an x-factor in this debate. one can argue that a player should be able to overcome a bad ref, but at this age, all the kids have to play for is their love of the game and school pride. a bad call is to be expected once in awhile, but a poorly-called game is a disservice to young men who are fighting their hearts out to win a game for their school. if you're getting frustrating all night by the refs, it's going to lead to turnovers, missed freethrows (if you can get a call), and missed shots. this is true in college and the pros, but especially in HS basketball where these players are still just kids.

i agree that no matter what the refs do, there are things you could've or could've not done to improve your chances... but refs can cost you a game. say they are calling cheap fouls and keep your best player out of the game for most of the 1st half and then foul him out early in the second. or call 20 more fouls on one team than the other, leading to 15 extra points from the freethrow line for one team who should not have gotten them. there are things that refs can do that affect the entire game, and sometimes so much so that no matter what you could've done better, they cost you the chance to win.

HJ 82 WOS 50

sounds like ya'll did pretty well, especially considering who all was gone...

i've been away, and just got to see the result of this game... no shame in a loss this deep into the playoffs. congrats on a great season.

and it looks like HJ has no non-district schedule.

Amen! I don't see the point of going back and drudging up dirt on people who were using steroids several years ago. Many players did, and were kind of even expected to, and nobody enforced any steroid-related rules then. I think it's great that MLB is taking steps to eliminate steroids now, but i don't see what will be gained by this modern-day "Mitch" hunt. You shouldn't go back and punish players for what they've allegedly done in the past. In most cases, there's little or no physical proof anyway. And as for the astros signing tejeda... who cares? Maybe if they signed him the day after the report came out, but not several days before. Should they be ashamed of all of the hundreds of players in their system through the years that have used steroids? For a long time they were a generally accepted part of the game. Now that they aren't, show me a current positive drug test, and i'll show you grounds for a suspension.

that's a pretty damn impressive start. i'd love to see them go deep in the playoffs.

i went last year at HJ and it was pretty insane. packed to capacity and it felt like it was about 110 degrees inside. it's a hell of an atmosphere if you can get a seat.

i think HJ is obviously the better team, but silsbee's athletic, and they've got a good season going for them so far. Also, they have a lot of motivation to beat HJ. I'm not saying that Silsbee is in the same class as HJ in talent, but they're the best team HJ will face in district, and they're also going to play harder than anyone else when they play HJ. All i was really stating is that silsbee is the one team that might actually give HJ a competitive game come district.

what's HJ's record now?

i tried to answer the poll question, but i couldn't decide if i wanted to put that they were YES a threat, or NO, not a joke.

they better be careful... BYU is no Louisiana College

HJ is an obvious answer, but after donahoe left a lot of people didn't really think they'd do all that great this year, and they're proving people wrong. spurger has also really impressed me, as well as lcm.

yeah, it's to be expected though... you have to figure in a couple of things... 1) HJ is the defending state champs 2) they just beat the #1 team in the state 3) they haven't lost yet 4) the silsbee/hj rivalry is one of the best in the area in any sport, and is good for several threads by itself 5) HJ isn't good at that many things, so they gotta get all the mileage they can out of basketball (i'm an HJ alum, and reserve the right to say that) 6) HJ basketball has a tremendous fan base who is pretty active on here I took no offense to this thread because HJ is the undisputed champion of the SETXsports HS Basketball forum.

i'm with you. the smack talk doesn't bother me, but the ignorant, repetitive, and disrespectful smack talk does get a little old. some of the stuff people think up on here amazes me. i don't always say what people want to hear, but i at least back it up with stats or first hand accounts, and i make sure that the two brain cells that i have are working in conjunction with each other rather than independantly.

good offensive trade... the pitching won't have to be that good if this division is anything like last year. good luck stros!

i wasn't sure how HJ would handle losing donahoe, but i've been to a couple of games and like what i see. i like HJ's chances to go undefeated until playoffs... there are only a few teams in the area capable of handing HJ a loss, and silsbee is the only team left on their schedule who could do so. Now i'm not saying that nobody else can beat HJ, but i'm talking about teams with a legit chance to compete and win without it being some crazy fluke. District should be a cakewalk with the exception of Silsbee, but i don't think there's any way that HJ will underestimate the tigers. They'll be prepared for those games, and i still believe they're the better team. As for most of the rest of the district, HJ can show up and expect to win, and probably will. The real question will be whether or not they can get mentally ready for the playoffs if they do manage to go all year without losing.

silsbee's no joke... i don't think they've quite reached the level that some of their fans predicted before the start of the season, but they have a very respectable record, and have beaten some pretty decent teams. i don't think they're quite in HJ's league like they were last year, but they will be one of HJ's only tests between now and the playoffs.

it's not uncommon, but if you take a good 4A team and a good 5A team and match them up, the 5A team is generally going to be the favorite. also, i wouldn't hold losing to a couple of much larger schools against Ozen. that was all i was trying to say.

EC is doing a good job of keeping it respectable. I thought HJ would pour it on them.

yup, but they dropped them to 5A schools, like you'd expect a 4A team to do.

6-1 now, with their only loss a heartbreaker to #6 Washington State where they gave up a big lead down the stretch. Baylor is definitely not the pushover they've been in years past.

well-played