Adam Ward Classic

[marcus_twain 14]

If anyone attended the Adam Ward Classic and watched the Radford game and the Gate City game, could you please give us a comparison between the two teams? I know Gate City pulled away late to beat Pulaski County 89-69 while Radford extended its undefeated streak to 31 games in a row beating William Fleming 67-53.

[EHC87 60]

I saw the Radford vs. William Fleming game.  The Bobcats shoot the ball really well.  Their point guard Morton-Robertson is very quick and a good outside shooter.  Morton-Robertson was able to get to the basket some but he isn't very tall at all.....maybe 5'7".  Their other good shooter was Cam Cormany....excellent shooter and I think he is a 9th grader.  Cormany handled the ball well enough but really didn't try to get to the rim.  Radford's big guy, Jones has apparently been dealing with a knee injury.  It looked to me that there was an obvious issue with the knee in the brace.  You could tell that he was a pretty sound player but he is hobbled somewhat.  

Radford liked to play at a fast pace, reverse the ball and have the open guy shoot from behind the 3.  They are a solid team and took good care of the ball.

In my opinion, the Bobcats will have a tough time stopping Gate City's big 3 because of the size advantage.  Gate City must get out and defend the shooters if they play Radford.  Morton-Robertson has the ability to drive shoot or drive and dish if he is guarded too closely.  I think Radford vs. GC would be a great matchup but I'm giving the edge to Gate City.

 

[BigWinners 1,643]

If GC has the size advantage, Radford must be SUPER small lol

[EHC87 60]

Gate City's guards have a size advantage over Radford's guards.  Radford's big guy is about 6'5".  One guard is about 5'7, another looked to be 5'8" and Cormany looked to be about 5'11"....so yes, Gate City has a size advantage, especially at guard which was the Big 3 that I mentioned.

[BigWinners 1,643]

22 minutes ago, EHC87 said:

Gate City's guards have a size advantage over Radford's guards.  Radford's big guy is about 6'5".  One guard is about 5'7, another looked to be 5'8" and Cormany looked to be about 5'11"....so yes, Gate City has a size advantage, especially at guard which was the Big 3 that I mentioned.

My post was only semi-serious, damn. GCs weakness is their lack of an interior defender and rebounder, they play a lot like GSW without the Draymond type who is somewhat tall and can defend post players. But if Radfords guards are that small and quick, GC still has to be reluctant to play too tight without a rim protector. 

[EHC87 60]

Morton-Robertson, the Radford point guard, poses a difficult defensive assignment.  He handles the ball well, shoots well, can drive and dish or drive and score...and he is quick.  I've seen Gate City three times in person this year and Radford (based on the one game I've seen) and Gate City play a similar style.  

Would love to see a Radford/Gate City matchup...would be a great game in my opinion.  With that being said, I'm probably not giving Martinsville and Dan River the respect that they historically deserve.  I think GC wins Region D barring multiple injuries or widespread illness.  Region C winner could be someone other than Radford but it will take a very good team to knock them off.

[BigWinners 1,643]

28 minutes ago, EHC87 said:

Morton-Robertson, the Radford point guard, poses a difficult defensive assignment.  He handles the ball well, shoots well, can drive and dish or drive and score...and he is quick.  I've seen Gate City three times in person this year and Radford (based on the one game I've seen) and Gate City play a similar style.  

Would love to see a Radford/Gate City matchup...would be a great game in my opinion.  With that being said, I'm probably not giving Martinsville and Dan River the respect that they historically deserve.  I think GC wins Region D barring multiple injuries or widespread illness.  Region C winner could be someone other than Radford but it will take a very good team to knock them off.

GC walks thru Region D IMO, but Region C is REALLY good. If GC doesn't win it, a team in Region C will IMO. Dan River, Martinsville and Radford could all do it. Lee is really only other team with a shot and they'll have a much easier path in Region B (I believe they're in B, if they're in A it's even easier). 

With a quick guard and no defensive rim protector, you have to play a little off on defense to stay in front of a offensive player. So Radford, a team with shooters, can for sure give GC problems because GC cant afford to play close and allow players to blow by and get layups.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

8 hours ago, BigWinners said:

GC walks thru Region D IMO, but Region C is REALLY good. If GC doesn't win it, a team in Region C will IMO. Dan River, Martinsville and Radford could all do it. Lee is really only other team with a shot and they'll have a much easier path in Region B (I believe they're in B, if they're in A it's even easier). 

With a quick guard and no defensive rim protector, you have to play a little off on defense to stay in front of a offensive player. So Radford, a team with shooters, can for sure give GC problems because GC cant afford to play close and allow players to blow by and get layups.

Graham beat Martinsville, yet poses less of a threat than does Martinsville.  Interesting...

[BigWinners 1,643]

6 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

Graham beat Martinsville, yet poses less of a threat than does Martinsville.  Interesting...

Correct. 

Even tho we all know the transitive property is infallible in sports, Martinsville is a proven winner late in the year and seems to be clicking. A win in early December is not gonna change my opinion. Graham also hasn't played a tight game aside from Bluefield all year. 

If Martinsville wins C and faces Graham as D-runner up in tourney opener, I'd still favor Martinsville. Maybe they lose, I'm far from psychic, but that's how I think. 

 

Instead of a snarky answer, do you truly believe Graham could win a state title this year?

[Ryan4VT 4,550]

33 minutes ago, BigWinners said:

Instead of a snarky answer, do you truly believe Graham could win a state title this year?

Well duh...their name is already on the trophy. 

[Deleted Account 5,203]

1 hour ago, BigWinners said:

Correct. 

Even tho we all know the transitive property is infallible in sports, Martinsville is a proven winner late in the year and seems to be clicking. A win in early December is not gonna change my opinion. Graham also hasn't played a tight game aside from Bluefield all year. 

If Martinsville wins C and faces Graham as D-runner up in tourney opener, I'd still favor Martinsville. Maybe they lose, I'm far from psychic, but that's how I think. 

 

Instead of a snarky answer, do you truly believe Graham could win a state title this year?

As I’ve said before, if Graham and Gate City play 100 times, Graham might win 2 of them.  Graham’s style is a poor match as it plays right into Gate City’s strengths.  But were Graham to somehow get past Gate City, Graham would have just as fair a shot as R.E. Lee, Radford, and Dan River.  

 

It’s fairly common knowledge in the sports community that Martinsville is “rebuilding” this season and is not nearly up to the caliber of years’ past.  Good team (they’re something like 15-4, albeit with a slew of low-scoring, single-digit wins), but not a state contender, even in a year without a strong favorite like Gate City.

 

I’m fairly certain you included them on name recognition alone, with little else to back it up.  Hence the brief (and sarcastic) response when you fail to include a Region D team that handed Martinsville its largest defeat of the season.

[BigWinners 1,643]

2 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

As I’ve said before, if Graham and Gate City play 100 times, Graham might win 2 of them.  Graham’s style is a poor match as it plays right into Gate City’s strengths.  But were Graham to somehow get past Gate City, Graham would have just as fair a shot as R.E. Lee, Radford, and Dan River.  

 

It’s fairly common knowledge in the sports community that Martinsville is “rebuilding” this season and is not nearly up to the caliber of years’ past.  Good team (they’re something like 15-4, albeit with a slew of low-scoring, single-digit wins), but not a state contender, even in a year without a strong favorite like Gate City.

 

I’m fairly certain you included them on name recognition alone, with little else to back it up.  Hence the brief (and sarcastic) response when you fail to include a Region D team that handed Martinsville its largest defeat of the season.

So an eight point loss in the second game of the season is Martinsvilles worst loss, despite playing teams as big as 4A? Hmm...

 

You claim I'm being unreasonable and yet you claim Graham has just as good a shot of winning it all as Radford, undefeated and without argue no worse than the second ranked #A team. Aren't we both being a little silly then? 

[Beamerball 566]

Actually they play 5A and 6A teams (Halifax and Franklin Co.)...bigger doesn't always mean better though.

[sixcat 2,919]

21 hours ago, EHC87 said:

I saw the Radford vs. William Fleming game.  The Bobcats shoot the ball really well.  Their point guard Morton-Robertson is very quick and a good outside shooter.  Morton-Robertson was able to get to the basket some but he isn't very tall at all.....maybe 5'7".  Their other good shooter was Cam Cormany....excellent shooter and I think he is a 9th grader.  Cormany handled the ball well enough but really didn't try to get to the rim.  Radford's big guy, Jones has apparently been dealing with a knee injury.  It looked to me that there was an obvious issue with the knee in the brace.  You could tell that he was a pretty sound player but he is hobbled somewhat.  

Radford liked to play at a fast pace, reverse the ball and have the open guy shoot from behind the 3.  They are a solid team and took good care of the ball.

In my opinion, the Bobcats will have a tough time stopping Gate City's big 3 because of the size advantage.  Gate City must get out and defend the shooters if they play Radford.  Morton-Robertson has the ability to drive shoot or drive and dish if he is guarded too closely.  I think Radford vs. GC would be a great matchup but I'm giving the edge to Gate City.

 

I have seen Gate City and Radford as well.  I watched Radford struggle mightily to contain Wes Ayers from Grayson, who finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists.  Wes is long, lean, athletic and aggressive.  I would imagine after watching that game, Radford will need to figure something out before trying to defend three players better than Ayers in McClung, Ervin and Dean.

 

[Deleted Account 5,203]

1 hour ago, Beamerball said:

Actually they play 5A and 6A teams (Halifax and Franklin Co.)...bigger doesn't always mean better though.

Good friend of mine is an assistant coach at Halifax County, so I’ve followed them a little bit.  They fall into the “okay” category on a local level, and should struggle in 5A postseason.  Franklin County struggles in darned near everything athletically, but I’m not sure how they match up this season.  They beat Halifax by 1 earlier this year.

[pdfan 101]

UVA, your right. Martinsville is not very good this year. Graham was head and shoulders better than them and the Dogs were lucky to lose by 8. Their record is 15-5, but it was because they didn't play anybody. They will probably lose their 1st round regional game. Like I've said before, this championship is GC's to lose, everybody else is playing for 2nd.

[EH31 2,517]

6 minutes ago, pdfan said:

UVA, your right. Martinsville is not very good this year. Graham was head and shoulders better than them and the Dogs were lucky to lose by 8. Their record is 15-5, but it was because they didn't play anybody. They will probably lose their 1st round regional game. Like I've said before, this championship is GC's to lose, everybody else is playing for 2nd.

[pdfan 101]

Sarcasm? Not I. This is the worst shooting team the Dogs have had in years. Not really rebuilding,  we had a good core back this year from last. We do play fairly good D and rebound pretty good for an undersized team and we have pretty good overall quickness, but if we can't control the tempo we just have a hard time scoring enough points to win. Also have been battling injuries and the flu bug the last couple of weeks. Did your buddy from Halifax tell you last week when we beat the Comets we had 2 starters out ( Pettway and Hundley) and they only dressed 7 because the flu is going around here big time.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

1 hour ago, pdfan said:

Sarcasm? Not I. This is the worst shooting team the Dogs have had in years. Not really rebuilding,  we had a good core back this year from last. We do play fairly good D and rebound pretty good for an undersized team and we have pretty good overall quickness, but if we can't control the tempo we just have a hard time scoring enough points to win. Also have been battling injuries and the flu bug the last couple of weeks. Did your buddy from Halifax tell you last week when we beat the Comets we had 2 starters out ( Pettway and Hundley) and they only dressed 7 because the flu is going around here big time.

That’s impressive to win that short-handed.  He didn’t mention that, LOL.  

 

I do think Martinsville would be a legitimate threat to Gate City with its defense and rebounding if the O weren’t so inept.  If Gate City is going to be beaten, it’s going to be in a low-possession, defensive rock-fight.  No team except Union has really tried that against Gate City this year.  

[BigWinners 1,643]

17 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

That’s impressive to win that short-handed.  He didn’t mention that, LOL.  

 

I do think Martinsville would be a legitimate threat to Gate City with its defense and rebounding if the O weren’t so inept.  If Gate City is going to be beaten, it’s going to be in a low-possession, defensive rock-fight.  No team except Union has really tried that against Gate City this year.  

 

Some of that is UVAW I believe. For whatever reason, GC just does not shoot well up there. Union had the perfect game plan and kept the game as close as they could possibly keep it without Slagle, but GC seems to struggle some in that gym. But Union only losing by 15 without their best player is a moral victory I guess lol.