JimThorpe

Not press them into oblivion but press them to a nice 15 point win. With Silsbee's personnel you go tight full court man to man with impromptu traps. Then full speed transition on offense. With this group that's the path to victory against all 4A comers. It's the best route against everybody, big kids, little kids, kids that climb on rocks as the old Oscar Meyer song went and yes, even kids with chicken pox. Now if a tall 6A team gets accidentally thrown in against these 4A schools then yea, we'll have to rethink.

And they can do that when they have the ball. Silsbee can force the action on offense against just about anybody. The Tiger transition game is rocket propelled. Even after made baskets Silsbee is sometimes down the court in 2 seconds. Actually they are more like cheetahs than tigers in that regard. On defense the Tigers will have to be crafty cats. Of course full court one on one pressure as always. Never let them walk it up. With the athletic and sneaky defenders Silsbee has that's a given. But I'd be careful with pressing and trapping. Give it a try but I have a feeling Argyle will be up for that challenge and could get some unnecessarily easy transition baskets out of it. Don't let the Eagles add a bunch of needless transition points to the inevitable half court points. But I'm sure the Coach is way ahead of us on all this. Like the insurance add, he know's a thing or two because he's seen a thing or two The wild card as always is Silsbee's 3 point shooting. If the Tigers can hit just 35% the Eagles will be flying back to the nest Friday evening.

You mean the two kids who were Silsbee's contribution to the Region III All Tourney team, one being awarded MVP honors? Those two? Hmm....... let me think. Why yes now that you mention it. They may indeed have been somewhat helpful to the Tigers.

I have a lot of respect for those Yates kids. They showed a lot of grit all week long. They were challenged by determined teams on Monday and on Friday and they came through. And yesterday in the 3rd quarter they were down by 18 and a hair's breadth from being blown out by the best team in the state but they dug deep and rallied and made a game of it. And in doing so they made the Tigers also have to dig deep themselves to pull out the win. I think this kind of win helped the Tigers. A worthy opponent. I was proud to give the Lions a standing ovation as they were recognized as Region 3 runners up.

Didn't see the game of course, but Argyle's 19 point win over Paris sounds like a defensive masterpiece. They held opponents to an average of 37. And along the way they blew out a number teams. But I think it's a great matchup. It's the one I wanted. Both teams can play good half court basketball. Argyle is probably better at that, obviously. But I wonder if Argyle has faced anyone who pushes the ball up the court with the semi-maniacal intensity that Silsbee often displays. Average times of possession less than 5 seconds range. The Tigers' passing game is sometimes more like football than basketball. It's like they are running posts and deep outs. I think the contrast will contribute to a fabulous game.

Scary isn't it? And the girls were fun to watch this year as well. Our cup runneth over.

I hear what you're saying. On paper your argument is sound. We're talking about a young man who is capable of delivering a triple double against any 4A or 5A team, and most 6A teams on any given night. He can play front court or back court, whatever. It must mean something. But then I'm sitting there Monday night looking up at that scoreboard which reads 124 to 84. How does it get better than that? 80 to 128 maybe? Yea I guess that's better. But seriously? Maybe the tired old cliche about the others stepping up isn't just a tired old cliche. We'll see. There could be match up issues down the road but I don't think so. I think they can find a way. As North Forest Coach Woods so aptly put it, "Wow, those dudes are good for real!" And lest we forget, we're talking about a sophomore. As the old saying goes, the best thing about a sophomore is that next year he'll be a junior. And in this case a wiser junior. Next year he really will be indispensable.

True. But the way you beat a lesser opponent has meaning too. On Monday they outscored North Forest in all 4 quarters beating back every potential run and that's against the 14th ranked team. That's a good platform to build on. Also they focused a little more on the inside game which will be needed down the stretch.

I stayed and watched the Yates-Huffman game and there is a lot to what you say. On paper the comparison is apt because Yates was playing just as hard as they possibly could to beat Huffman. Couple that with the fact that North Forest is not a bad team. They won 17 of their last 19 games. The two loses were to Yates by 11 and to Bellaire (who was upset by Cinco Ranch incidentally) and one of the wins was over Yates by 19. But again, that's all on paper. I'll tell you one thing. From a certain perspective, as a Tiger fan, I'm kind of glad Yates pulled it out. Huffman was starting to get that ominous "team of destiny" look about them. You know, when all of a sudden a group of young men suddenly find themselves and discover that they are a lot better than they thought they were? Then fate takes the wheel.

Stayed to watch and boy am I glad I did. Very entertaining game. Yates and Huffman was a much better match up than I expected. You never know what's going to happen when a couple good, well coached teams meet and neither has a let down.

208 points is the most I've seen in 36 minutes at any level. It was a fun game to watch and it was a statement. The second quarter let down wasn't as pronounced as the one against HJ. Every time North Forest started to make a move the Tigers recognized it and responded with increased intensity, from the opening tip to the moment the starters were pulled.

They beat Yates by 19, then turned around and lost the second time by 11. Interesting. They've got one kid who is averaging over 29 pts and 11 rbds a game. They've won 17 of their last 19 and the two loses in that period were to Bellaire and Yates.

Sigler understands that and so do his kids. Silsbee can play that game and they had to when they faced some of the tall, athletic 5A and 6A competition in the preseason. We saw them play Waxahatchiiiiee (however you spell it, they're ranked 3 in 5A) up in Dallas over the holidays. The Tigers won in OT and there was a good deal of half court basketball in that game. Watched the Lincoln game online and it was mostly straight basketball. Course that was when they were full strength and now they are nursing their self inflicted wound. So yes, they can play standard basketball if that's what it takes to win. They will always move the ball rapidly but they will pull up and run an offense when circumstances dictate. They can and they will. But why ask them to plot up and down the court before you have to?

Much more interesting than I thought it would be

Yates has a really good team they feed off lots of turnovers created by suffocating defense diboll was severely overmatched and lack of depth killed them but I give diboll credit for getting that far and not backing down to Yates silsbee and Yates mirror each other and if that game happens it will be a great game let's hope so They could (should?) meet at the Region final. Silsbee may have a bit of a harder path perhaps but if these teams continue to play well they will meet and it will be fun.

Yes but that one, and for that matter all other sports disasters, pale to insignificance compared to the spring of 1997 and the biggest sports upset I ever witnessed in person. Silsbee was 31 - 0 and ranked No. 1. We had a first round bye. Then we lost in the area round to Tyler Chapel Hill. The specter of the game still haunts me. Lufkin's old high school gym I believe. We sat there paralyzed in stunned, silent disbelief. The score board read 66-62. It was like watching the Hindenburg on the ground, a burning broken mangle of junk. Oh the humanities! Meanwhile the kids on the other team enjoyed the happiest moment of their lives. Many of our kids (and fans) were crying but I think some of their's were too, out of sheer joy and perhaps the astounding unlikeliness of it all. And then Chapel Hill, a fair team but far from great and one that we could have easily dusted off any other time, lost a not very close game to Cleveland in the next round. The only joy I can take out of it is a perverse one. I'm certain that this was the high point of those Chapel Hill peoples lives and it's been all downhill from there. Anyway, for me, when it comes to unexpectedness this one is up there with the The Miracle On Ice - but in a bad way. I'm just glad they didn't make a movie. But it's apples and oranges. Everything is different. It's like a giant meteor has just hit the Earth so it can't happen again, right? Not in the same lifetime anyway. Impossible odds, right? Maybe I shouldn't even be talking about this. Isn't there some rule for Silsbee people that makes it taboo to even think of it? If not perhaps there should be.