TxHoops

The premise was the bigs in today's game are not skilled. My point was we have as many of more 6'10" or bigger players with advanced skill sets as we've ever had, and certainly more dominant in general than the Euros. Forgot to mention Tim Duncan. He's not bad either.

He signed with Baylor after Christmas and will be in Waco this spring

Like Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins? Just to name a few off the top of my head Biggest hoax going in the sport...

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17 according to KOGT

I think Sterling has done a very good job with them. They are a fairly young team too which is encouraging for the Cardinals. I'm not going to get into who I think is the better coach. BUT I will say I think Sterling going to BC was a positive thing for both BC and Vidor. Sometimes a change of scenery is good for everyone. This was one of those situations where I think that was exactly the case.

Two pretty evenly matched teams. I would have said LCM was the favorite but not surprised by any means. BC is much improved this year.

I haven't given up hope yet...especially after tonight Gonna be tough to go 3-0 against Ozen though. They are a talented group.

Huge confidence booster for the Dogs, even in a loss. They will beat at least one of the Beaumont schools (Ozen or Central) this year.

I agree in principle with many of the complaints. But I have also seen the reverse. Kids who play summers having a much greater concept of team defense versus those who only play school ball. Again, depends on the program you are with and the coaching. I can tell you I have seen as much or more emphasis on defense as offense in my AAU experience. As far as the Europeans, it's funny to me how it keeps being argued that they are taking over the sport due to their fundamentals. I am a big fundamental guy and believe them to be absolutely crucial. But these Europeans are still almost always getting beat down by the US in international play and their players that make the leap to the NBA seem to flop (no pun intended) at an extremely high rate.

Colton was and is a special kind of player. Has plenty of talent but also a rare kid who gets every single bit of production he can with what he has. However, we all knew English could coach before he had Weisbrod and before he was even at Nederland. I saw them the Bulldogs the first game of the season and they have definitely improved a lot since then. Which you would expect from an English-coached team. Ozen is and should be a heavy favorite in this one. But I am long past being shocked any time Big Ned pulls off an upset in this district.

I care a lot more about what Big Shot Rob has to say than the Blackhole Mamba for sure. Point taken on the second paragraph. Although I'm not sure there is a better program for kids even that age, in terms of learning and playing the game. There is a reason you had 3 freshman step against a top 5 ranked 5A team earlier this season without flinching. And it ain't Little Dribblers

This. All depends on who you play for. And, for the record, his same arguments could be made against many school coaches. As for Kobe, he lost all credibility with me a long time ago. Namely when he had a top 5 all time center run off to feed his own ego. I am about as interested in his opinions on a given subject as I am Allen Iverson's. But I think he should petition to play for the Italian national team in the next Olympics so he can get his butt kicked by USA basketball.

Everyone knows the two teams. One has just been more vocal and out in the open about it. The other one is more of a lurker behind the scenes. I much prefer the former.

Ozen coach emptied the bench, some starters did not play at all in 4th and literally tried to play keep away the entire quarter. Of the three wins in reality, this one was the least competitive.

I predict Ozen will surprise a lot of folks and make it to state last year ;)

As good as they come. He will get many, many more.

I would have agreed pre-tournament. Based on the first two rounds, however, I would have seeded it Ozen - 1, PAM - 2, Kelly - 3, and WB - 4. We will see how the next game goes but based on their first two games, probably Marion - 5. You could alternate Memorial and Kelly. Obviously HJ would be 4, 5 or 6 so still shouldn't play the 1 seed but at that point, it gets a little too nit picky. I'm sure Saveat would rather play HJ than Fall Brook's JV.

Hmmm, based on the scores thus far, looks like the PA folks did a pretty good job seeding this tournament...

Ridley injury is a killer. Successful foot surgery with no timetable yet on return.

Kelly wins that game more often than not. But credit to the Titans for getting it done and getting the win. They always seem to play well and advance in the Gamble.

Close game the whole way. For the record, the officials should have given Kelly a timeout at the end with less than one second left (my best guess is 0.7). So probably inconsequential to the outcome.

THANK YOU! Exactly. The complaining is a "fan thing." Or at least should be. I haven't talked to Clay Davis but I would think he was glad to get to play an Ozen team to get his kids on the court with the type of speed they will face when they play Silsbee. Most coaches I know don't really care about holiday tournament trophies. The goal is to get your team prepared for district and hopefully the playoffs. You do that by getting the best matchups you can find. As far as the Gamble this year, from the "fan aspect," I get some complaints about the HJ-Ozen game in the first round. But to be fair, overall, they did a much better job evening out the bracket. If PAM had wanted to make its path the easiest, they would have put the Kelly-Marion game in the bottom half of the bracket and the WB-Fall Brook B game in the top half. Proof in fact that no matter what you do, always going to be some complaining...

UIL at its most ridiculous. Even with an inordinate amount whining from a couple of schools (much of it behind the scenes with a hidden hanky), the DC approved him. Then said schools through various representatives and/or proxies, take their crying to Austin. Textbook example of how UIL makes various rules (and exceptions) and then selectively decides how to enforce them based on what they want the result to be. I could take the Sodom kid's case in front of almost any 12 non-biased people and prove "hardship" under the criminal standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt." Just goes to show you it's who you know and who has whose ear. /rant over

I know this is all tongue in cheek (mostly), but if anyone were to complain about the Panthers' bracket in this one, it would be like Silsbee complaining about being in the tough bracket while playing in a Sabine Pass tournament (no disrespect to the much improved Sharks' team intended). There are some very good teams playing in the Gamble but certainly no top 10-type 5A teams (which Ozen looks every bit the part of right now).