canes1234

The only way this will turn around is going to be up to the players. They got it together last year inspite of the coach. The AD had an opportunity this year to get a real good coach but he didn't. The principal allowed him t do this. The School superintendent an he school board as well. They just don't care abot sports. It's pathetic. Last week there was a banquet for all the players of the week for footbal for the past season, and Marion's Brent Johnson was the only kid who did not have anyone from the school attend even though the coach,AD and principal were all invted. They al should be ashamed of themselves.

Marion's new coach, formerly the coach of Norhwood, is even worse than last year's coach, the AD, who handpicked him for the job over several dozen coaches from across the state who had inquired about the job during the off-season. The Canes lost to NW in double OT. NW's kids played a good game, but Marion should not have lost. Marion's Coach had them doing the 4 corners (or whatever you folks here call it when you tell the team to just kill time, or basically stop playing basketball), while up by 1 point with abou 4 minutes left. This is after NW jst rallied from being down by 10. Even a few of the Marion fans were booing. With Marion's next few games, they will probably be 2-6 before their first district game (that is, if they luck out and bat Chilhowie away, whom they hd barely beaten at home to open te season. Hey Coach your kids have the talent, what the he** are you teachng them? If anything, maybe just get ou of the way and let them play the game. Tonight was truly embarassing It's not 1950. The AD tonight proves what many people think around here, on why he hired the Northwood coach over who knows how many more qualified candidates, the coach of consistently one of the worst teams in the area. You figure that out

7 pm Salem Civic Center this Satruday according to one of the Canes players.

I like Jason Palmer, but there's another Jason who has stepped it up towards the end of the year, and has outhustled much bigger kids in the post. That's Jason Dotson. Brock Hannah is a decent PG as well.

Hmmm, you also picked Cave Spring to beat Marion y 30+. I hope you are as accurate this time as your last prediction, and the Canes play like they are capable of. That could mean a big upset...

I am not questioning Coach Haga's character, let me make that very clear. What I am critical of is his lack of hoops knowledge. If you had watched his substitution patterns throughout the year, you would probably understand what I am talking about. He puts such a high premium on hustle, which is understandable, but at the expense of execution and BASKETBALL preparation. Unfortunately the same element that goes into the lack of good referees here i in southwest Virginia s present when it comes to good coaching. There is not much to choose from, and apparently they are limited to whoever is already in the teaching community. Anyway it is not my intention to bring anyone in the Canes community down. I just think that, as far as the basketball team has gone this year, we could be better for next year.

Marion held their own in the game until the 4th quarter, when they played like it was a pick-up game and no one was allowed to drive to the basket. Sure the bigger guys on the other side had something to do with it but the Canes just did not look like a team in that last quarter. They were down 45-41 and got stuck while CS scored I think 12 or 14 in a row, mostly on free throws. It would ave been a good time to have some decent coaching. Jason Dotson seemed to be the only one wanting to take it inside consistently, but Marion's big guys, Lincoln and Helton, had by far their most minutes of the whole season and were up to the challenge defending against the bigger CV boys. Makes you wonder how good Marion would have been this season if they were played against the much smaller teams throughout the year. Roe did not have a good game and Hannah, Noe and most of the rest were not at their best. All in all Marion had a better year than most expected, but for some of us who have seen these boys since they were young, competing against the region's other teams in AAU, we know they could do better, and only hope that we get a coach next year who knows basketball and knows how to teach and motivate the kids. Congratulations Canes for a good year and best of luck in the quarter-finals next weekend. We will be there cheering til we're hoarse.

Wow, that makes it even tougher. Ususally 3's aren't as "money" as insdie play by a dominant big man.

I cannot remember if Marion has played any team this year who had players bigger than our 2 big boys (about 6'6 or 6'7). In any case they are not used to seeing a lot of minutes. Jason Dotson is our post player and his twin gets just as much minutes time as the 2 big boys (btw Jason's tenacity kept us in the game last night w/ 21 rebounds and 22 points, both career highs). It would be interesting to see if the coach does some adjusting, since CS obviously relies on their big guy/s. But without the preparation and time in games over the season, it might be too late for that. I do hope that Marion does play the way it can - too many unforced turnovers last night got them behind, and if they do that against CS then they won't be competitive at all.

To me that is much more believable, at least from the 2 games I have seen them play this year. He is all business and no whining to the refs or talking smakck to the players. Some of his teammates on the other hand....

tri-cities.com article on the game http://www.tricities.com/tri/sports/high_school_prep/high_school_basketball/article/marion_earns_state_tournament_bid/20904/

I agree, great post kid. I talked to a couple of the Graham kids (Jason their post player and the back-up pg) before and after the game and they have the best attitudes, very respectful and humble and appreciative. Your post just confirms my intuition on what a good bunch of guys you have on your team.

Cheap stuff? Face guarding? Unless they were doing something dirty - trying to hurt the kid, then it's all part of the game. That just sounds like a whiner to say that. In pick up ball is he the kind of kid who calls a foul on every lttle thing? I play with a lot of these Marion kids, and watch them all the time. They play clean and hard.

I don't remember if Roe was guarding Hunt, but typically if they play man Coach Haga has Garrett Johnson guarding the best player on the other team, so I kinda doubt that.

What an awesome game! Congratulations to Marion! Go Canes!!! Congratulations to Graham as well.