BasementBaller2021

Noticed the brand new Gate City blue “banners” on all the street lights in town. Well I will say. It’s a start. Something that would be nice and would bring a lot of pride to the community is if instead of just the banner of the school on the street light you have Gate City Blue Devils and then put football state champs 1970 or another sport with a state championship winning year. Put a banner up for every single state championship team on the street lights. Or do like Kingsport. Put a street sign up for every single state championship team that’s ever been at the school. or use the concrete wall beside the road leading to the school. Draw banners of all the state championship winning sports teams on the concrete wall. Hey. Maybe even draw a huge mural of Mac McClung there beside it on the wall in a Lakers jersey doing the reverse dunk he had in a game. To me any of that stuff is good. Anything is better than the (and I mean no disrespect) the Jerry Kilgore Attorney General sign. That has played itself out a long time ago. If Gate City is about pride in the community and making itself better… do something like this that shows pride in the community and gives your young people something to dream about. God knows they have nothing else to dream about in the town. If the town is just about politics and making sure certain individuals have a certain elite status over everyone else in the county then leave the attorney general sign up. Let everyone else in the county know how you stand anyway. People power over community pride. That’s what the place is about anyway. Why from this view the town will never grow and develop and be a proud symbol of growth and revolution. Too many afraid of change. No pride in community and no one wanting to take the initiative to show that pride in the community. Just remain the lil old hicktown where things remain the same. And you look at photos 30 years from now and see the same old hicktown you saw 30 years before. Don’t even know why I suggested this stuff to begin with. These ideas are too radical for the old fogeys in Gate City. Long live the kings in power who fear nothing but one thing. Change coming to their kingdom. P.S. And before some ignorant doofus says “But I thought you weren’t about the individual? Dude I think a mural of a guy who has worked his tail off to play in a pro sports league where only the best 500 people who play the game of basketball in the world are able to play there is indeed quite the feat. Considering there’s about 5 billion of us or more on this planet. And one of those people came from here. So yeah. I think that concrete wall would be very deserving of a bunch of sports banner of our state championship teams and McClung reverse dunk mural.

June 22, 2019 “I don’t want to see no Nike bags. Only Addidas bags. You guys need to mature real fast and go get your money! People in this thing.... They got a black card and go anywhere they want and swipe that card and don’t even have to check their balance.” While in June in the summer in Southwest Virginia, coaches be saying, “Hey we trying to get better. I know some of y’all have summer jobs but I appreciate you taking the time to spend it with us. This is where we get better for next year.” Class 2 basketball at its greatest baby!

If Radford had an open enrollment and a nationally recognized AAU program (say it was called Team New River Valley) and this team had the best players from Carroll County, Pulaski, Blacksburg, Christiansburg. Etc ... ... then a few of them move into the Radford area to go to school I’m sure Cormany would in all accounts be accused of recruiting the best players to come to Radford because the area and the school is Class 2 size yet they are producing college players every single year with lineups that go 6’3 to 6’8 and the majority of them played for their AAU team. Maybe that’s what needs to happen. Since John Marshall has set the precedent. Every school needs to have an open enrollment. Doesn’t matter where you live. Go to where you want to play ball. Schools out of the Roanoke, Bristol, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, the beach.... just load up. Do your best LeBron and make the best super team in the history of Virginia high school sports. John Marshall does it. What’s good for Richmond is good for the rest of the state. If the VHSL says anything just point east and say, “My dawg Ty White said it be ok.”

1. Abingdon - If Ramsey returns healthy I put them here along with the youth coming on JV. 2. Ridgeview - Possibly a good year or two ahead 3. John Battle - Good JV squad coming with unknown potential 4. Union - Has some good JV players coming up that will fill some holes by not enough to fill the one left by Bradley Bunch. Barter and the young Bunch along with a big boy inside will be interesting to watch develop as young players Union has a nice pipeline working in their favor right now. They will be in the mix for a championship for years to come 5. Gate City - Cant see them as number one just yet and here is why. Lose lots of scoring and rebounding that are seniors and not so much coming up on JV. McMurray and Garrett can’t do it all by themselves. Staff is currently waiting on 6th and 7th graders who will be varsity as freshman and will most likely start once McMurray and Garrett have graduated. Going to be some interesting dynamics playing out in the future with a lot of people. 6. Lee High - Young bunch not old enough to compete yet 7. Central - Coach will stay on until little McAmis graduates UVA Wise and is put in as head coach later.

Region A John Marshall vs Greensville County Region B East Rockingham vs Central Woodstock Region C James River vs Martinsville Region D Union vs Graham Class 2 Semifinals John Marshall vs East Rockingham James River vs Union Class 2 Finals John Marshall vs James River Class 2 State Champion James River (upset)

With the unbalance of teams in Region D Class 2 (7 and 5) should Region D Class 2 go to a 4 pod system? LPD Pod Union Central Ridgeview Southwest Pod Tazewell Richlands Graham Highlands Pod Marion Abingdon John Battle Clinch Mountain Pod Gate City Lee Virginia High Each pod plays each team in their pod twice 4 games Each team plays one team from each pod each year on a rotation 6 games That’s a 10 game pod guarantee Each team can then schedule up to six other non pod teams for t2 extra games (counting benefit games) (home/away) and also allows a lot of freedoms to schedule in season tournament games as well Post Season Tournament format (Southwest 3 vs Southwest 2) winner plays Southwest 1 (Highlands 3 bs Highlands 2) winner plays Highlands 1 LPD 3 vs LPD 2 winner plays LPD 1 Clinch Mountain 3 vs Clinch Mountain 2 winner plays Clinch Mountain 1 Region Tourney Quarterfinals Southwest 2/3 be Highlamds 1 Game 1 Highlamds 2/3 bs Southwest 1 Game 2 LPD 2/3 bs Climch Mountain 1 Game 3 Climch Mountain 2/3 vs LPD 1 Game 4 Region Semifinals Game 1 winner bs Game 2 winner (Game 5) Game 3 winner vs Game 4 winner (Game 6) Region Championship Game 5 vs Game 6 winner. Finalist move in to state quarterfinals

I thought I would wait until after the game tonight to post but I am guessing the news is out. E. McMurray broke his hand last week. I’m guessing that puts him out for a while. Since he led us in scoring last game out vs DB it should be interesting to see who steps up for Homecoming night. Not to mention the rest of the year!

https://www.prephoops.com/virginia/player-database/ https://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/marshall-justices-(richmond,va)/basketball/roster.htm Just look up the players on the roster of John Marshall and then look at the AAU team that they played for in the Prep Hoops site. The only Class 2 school producing tons of college players (some D1) every single year There’s a reason Ohh And if someone from Richmond sees this don’t be surprised if you see John Marshalls roster disappear on MaxPreps anytime soon In the words of Johnny Cash what’s done in the dark will be brought to the light Sooner or later God will cut you down

Checking to see if anyone has this.

Chris Akers could win the state championship at Holston this year and have his name in the record book for all eternity and have a nice ring in his mantle to shine forever but his name would still be the scum of the earth in Gate City. I don’t know him as a coach. I really don’t. All I know is that people can’t stand to hear his name. People have PTSD flashbacks at the sound of the syllables of the sound of his name in Gate City. I have read look at what he inherited. If any person inherited a program like he did they would be good to. Well I have seen some coaches come into good programs and rip them to shreds because they didn’t have a clue about the sport they were coaching yet they were hailed as the next greatest thing. And for those with short memories I’ve also seen coaches come in and inherit programs from other successful coaches and do well and never have the former coach leave per se. So does that mean the coach that took over wasn’t that good either? Was he not up to the job that other coaches couldn’t let him do his own thing? Funny how short some people’s memories are about things. And going off the comment about looking at what Akers inherited at Holston. Ok. He inherited a program at Fort Chiswell and went 4-3 in a covid year. His first year. Not bad really. Before that he inherited Gate City’s program and had a decent year the first year and 2-18 after that. So he inherited a lot of players. And going off the comment of what he inherited sounds like people are upset to find out maybe some of their kids were below average? Maybe it wasn’t all Akers as it was the DNA received by the players during conception. Because going by what I’ve read Holston must have some parents that used to play for the Hokies or the Vols or somebody because he definitely wasn’t much of a man for that job considering what he did here. Sounds like if GC needs some football players they need to go mate with some residents of Damascus. Give a new meaning to the “Creep”er Trail. Lol I don’t know the guy as a coach. I really don’t. But maybe people need to get their DNA and ego in check before they want to get another coach.

If it is voted in it will probably be voted in for the higher classifications. I would not think that some of the smaller schools in the state have that capability.

Region D predictions - Girls Southwest 1. Marion 2. Virginia High 3. Richlands 4. Graham 5. Tazewell Region D Tournament prediction 1. Gate Citu vs 4 Graham 2. Ridgeview vs 3. Richlands 3. Union vs 2. Virginia High 4. Central vs 1. Marion Region D Tournament Semis prediction 1. Gate City vs 2. Ridgeview 2. Virginia High vs 1. Marion Region D Finals prediction 1. Gate City vs 1. Virginia High Region D Champions 1. Gate City State Finals Round 3 - Gate City vs Luray Wimner TBD

Having watched some girls games as well last year it is my opinion that Gate City is by far and away the absolute very team to beat this year. With their talent they should be head and shoulders above everyone. With as much talent as I have been told they have coming back and coming up to varsity they honestly should not lose one game. They should go undefeated. All the guards they have plus the tall girl inside. It’s not a matter of if they when the state championship but by how much. The next closest team way way way down the line in the M7 would probably be Abingdon. I think they had some good underclassmen cloning back. Not good enough to beat the Devils though. Not even close. The third best team I think would be Ridgeview. They are always competitive and a contender for the championship in my opinion. I’ve heard Ridgeview and GCs girls had some physicality in their games. But that’s probably the only way Ridgeview or any other team would even have the slightest chance of beating GC this year. Knocking them out. Literally. The fourth best team in the M7 would probably be Union. Like Abingdon they had some really good talent coming back and it was young talent. So they should be good. Just not contender good. The fifth best team would most likely be Central. Everything will probably run through their pg of the future which will probably hurt them more than help them. The sixth best team is a tough one. I am going to go with Lee on this one. Battle and Lee are in a dead heat when it comes to trying to decide who will finish higher than the other. Depending what type of players are on the floor and who is leading them on the sideline will depend a lot on the success of the Generals. The team I have finishing last in the district in girls basketball is John Battle. Let’s just face facts. This team might have some of the most athletic girls in the district but will still finish dead last. As many of my friends have stated up here or down in here in the basement, the zone defenses aren’t going to do anything but keep scores low and slow down a game that probably needs to be sped up. That would only happen playing man and a lot of pressure applied but this will never happen up here. No matter who becomes the next one up unless the philosophy changes the results never will. The Trojans aren’t going anywhere on either side and that’s a shame given what they could be if maxed out in their potential. You get what you put in and the Trojans do not put anything in that will scare you. They haven’t in about. 24 years anyway. Might as well chalk up 25 from what I’m hearing. Really strange how the Trojans use freshman and sophomores on their varsity girls but not on varsity boys. I guess that’s why baseball, softball and volleyball will always rule the roost up on the hill. Those teams know what it takes to win. Mountain 7 District Prediction 1. Gate City 2. Abingdon 3. Ridgeview 4. Union 5. Central 6. Lee 7. John Battle

Southwest District 1. Graham 2. Virginia High 3. Tazewell 4. Richlands 5. Marion. Region D Tournament presiction 1. Graham vs 4. Gate City 2. Virginia High vs 3. Central 3. Tazewell vs 2. Ridgeview 4. Richlands vs 1. Union Region D Semifinals 1. Graham vs 2. Virginia High 3. Tazewell vs 1. Union Region D Finals 1. Graham vs 1. Union Region D Champion 1. Union

Not sure about 1D but 2D I would go..... Mountain 7 1. Union 2. Abingdon (3D) 3. Ridgeview 4. Gate City 5. Central 6. John Battle 7. Lee 1. Union - The defending state champs and loaded even with losing the Cusano kid. Not a lot else really needs to be said. Only have to look at Coach Moore’s schedule to see what he thinks about his team. A date in the Arby’s Classic says enough. 2. Abingdon - The 3A state Runnerup this year. Could possibly be the sleeper for Mountain 7 champion. Will have 6’9 and 6’10 in the post. Only thing that comes to mind with this is the Houston Rockets and the Twin Towers. Coach Williams is loaded for the future with these guys. Falcons also playing in the Arby’s Classic. Two M7 teams in the Arby’s Classic? That’s says a lot about the district. 3. Ridgeview - This is where the Mountain 7 will stay strong or drop. Wolfpack has been very competitive of late. Will not be strong enough to overtake the top 2 because of intangibles the top 2 have that they don’t. Only until they get those intangibles will they compete for the championship. 4. Gate City - Lost the head coach and six seniors I believe it is. I see the Devils as competitive but not playing at the level they were once at. Also hearing from people I know over that way that some of the coaches are more focused on “the next state team” coming up in 6th and 7th grade anyway and really worried about this year. Future of the program being good again is three or four years down the line. Next few years probably looking at a above .500 team. 5. Central - Hard to say how this team will do. Not sure who is even coaching them anymore. Central had some athletes last year. Having the ability to turn it into some good basketball and wins might be another story. 6. John Battle - The school will probably never win or even contend for a district championship until they actually get some things out of their system. From what I’m hearing from those parents involved in the program, the coaches run their own thing. They might do one thing on one level and do something else totally on another level which lends to instability. The school has a policy that disallows great underclassmen players from playing varsity if the varsity has enough upperclassmen come out for the team. Don’t count on any freshmen or sophomores having a strong varsity career at Battle if the school doesn’t want to win anyway. And third according to one coach I’ve talked to in the district, they are not the smartest tool in the shed win it comes to winning basketball games and they aren’t really worried about losing to them because of it. 7. Lee - The Generals are only here because they are going through a youth movement. But this youth movement will pay off in the future. Folks in Lee County are excited about what the upcoming classes of players can bring.