Far Southwest Virginia Top 20 - February 5, 2024

[olewave 44]

Grundy knocked off Lebanon last night 62-59.

[TheDuke 13]

On 2/7/2024 at 7:46 AM, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

Said it earlier, its a giant pool of mediocrity with no team that stands out because no team should be considered very good. The mediocrity is so great Graham can lose to Marion and get blown out by VH, then win at VH, and VH playing within 4 of Richlands and GC thumped by Union, but Union struggling against Lebanon/Honaker. On and on it goes.

These teams are all dead even because their isn't one team that I would consider a "very good" basketball team.

I'm still going with Graham because of the athleticism and youth at seasons start that I figured to mature just enough to get them over the hump.

There are no dominant players in the area this year. This area is all about baseball so most of the families that live around here are baseball families, and what do baseball families do? They have more baseball players. All the former great basketball players either moved away or didn't have kids, so there are very few families making new basketball players. There is very little athleticism left in swva unfortunately, and it will take a long time before that changes. There are hundreds of baseball players, and a whole bunch of kids who play basketball just to stay in shape in winter. 

[stan.the.man 29]

On 2/7/2024 at 7:46 AM, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

Said it earlier, its a giant pool of mediocrity with no team that stands out because no team should be considered very good. The mediocrity is so great Graham can lose to Marion and get blown out by VH, then win at VH, and VH playing within 4 of Richlands and GC thumped by Union, but Union struggling against Lebanon/Honaker. On and on it goes.

These teams are all dead even because their isn't one team that I would consider a "very good" basketball team.

I'm still going with Graham because of the athleticism and youth at seasons start that I figured to mature just enough to get them over the hump.

there is a lack of quality coaching in this area as well,  most of these kids grow up playing daddy ball in the travel leagues and some of the bad habits can't be broke,  most teams players lack fundamentals, basketball skill and knowledge of the game!!!  this is happening in all sports except for a few programs in different sports!!  all the schools have lost students throughout the years and its going to keep getting worse!!

[TheDuke 13]

1 hour ago, stan.the.man said:

there is a lack of quality coaching in this area as well,  most of these kids grow up playing daddy ball in the travel leagues and some of the bad habits can't be broke,  most teams players lack fundamentals, basketball skill and knowledge of the game!!!  this is happening in all sports except for a few programs in different sports!!  all the schools have lost students throughout the years and its going to keep getting worse!!

I hear the term daddy ball all the time and I don't know exactly what it refers to except that the sons get to do whatever they want and the team suffers. I would point out though that if not for "daddy ball" the vast majority of kids in this area wouldn't touch a basketball until middle school and would be far behind the schools that do have "daddy ball". The best teams in this area have kids that live in the gym all summer, Gate City and Union for example. 

I don't know what bad habits you are referring to either, maybe taking bad shots and turning the ball over too much, this is remedied at the high school level with a little time on the pine.

My point is that this area is all football and baseball, just look at the magazine the BHC puts out for football, then the basketball previews don't come out til the season is 7 or 8 games in.  Until you get some new families moving in here that value basketball and raise basketball players, or there is a huge shift in the mindset of families already here, it is not going to get better. 

We are 6 years post Mac-mania and you would think there would be all sorts of kids coming up that were inspired by him and are ready to play, but that doesn't appear to be the case. 

[Stelley 57]

21 minutes ago, TheDuke said:

I hear the term daddy ball all the time and I don't know exactly what it refers to except that the sons get to do whatever they want and the team suffers. I would point out though that if not for "daddy ball" the vast majority of kids in this area wouldn't touch a basketball until middle school and would be far behind the schools that do have "daddy ball". The best teams in this area have kids that live in the gym all summer, Gate City and Union for example. 

I don't know what bad habits you are referring to either, maybe taking bad shots and turning the ball over too much, this is remedied at the high school level with a little time on the pine.

My point is that this area is all football and baseball, just look at the magazine the BHC puts out for football, then the basketball previews don't come out til the season is 7 or 8 games in.  Until you get some new families moving in here that value basketball and raise basketball players, or there is a huge shift in the mindset of families already here, it is not going to get better. 

We are 6 years post Mac-mania and you would think there would be all sorts of kids coming up that were inspired by him and are ready to play, but that doesn't appear to be the case. 

Oddly enough most schools in our area are “baseball schools” but yet the community is still all about football. Main example: Lebanon. Everyone thinks because we were amazing back in the late 90s early 2000s that we have a great football program. We’ve won one playoff game in the past 15ish years. Meanwhile the baseball team has won 20+ games in 4 of the last 5 years (Went 19-0 during Covid). But yet the only time you’ll see people at games that aren’t parents is when the state tourney roles around.

[stan.the.man 29]

9 hours ago, TheDuke said:

I hear the term daddy ball all the time and I don't know exactly what it refers to except that the sons get to do whatever they want and the team suffers. I would point out though that if not for "daddy ball" the vast majority of kids in this area wouldn't touch a basketball until middle school and would be far behind the schools that do have "daddy ball". The best teams in this area have kids that live in the gym all summer, Gate City and Union for example. 

I don't know what bad habits you are referring to either, maybe taking bad shots and turning the ball over too much, this is remedied at the high school level with a little time on the pine.

My point is that this area is all football and baseball, just look at the magazine the BHC puts out for football, then the basketball previews don't come out til the season is 7 or 8 games in.  Until you get some new families moving in here that value basketball and raise basketball players, or there is a huge shift in the mindset of families already here, it is not going to get better. 

We are 6 years post Mac-mania and you would think there would be all sorts of kids coming up that were inspired by him and are ready to play, but that doesn't appear to be the case. 

the term daddy ball is there are people who think they know or understand these sports run teams to highlight or showcase their kids at all cost.  what is lost is that fundaments, basketball skills,  basketball knowledge, game management, team concept and so forth.  daddy ball is not necessarily the coach as the parents are as much to blame,  look at eastside to burton this year!!!!   all successful teams and programs had a great feeder program that led to that with great parental support behind that push.   the game is being lost because kids are losing fundamentals, skills and all the knowledge that is needed to build a successful program.. 

[Elder statesman 22]

I think the term “daddy ball” has been glamorized because of the explosion of travel ball.  In the past, AAU ball was an awesome tool to take advanced players and compete against the best.  Now, travel ball is a watered down version of that.  All you need is 7-8 kids, a little money for entry fees, and somebody to coach.  That coach is usually a “daddy” who builds the team so his kid can play.  
 

These parents think playing games is better than practice and that’s just not true.  You learn ball handling fundamentals in practice, you learn shooting form in practice, you learn post moves in practice, you learn how to make the right passes in practice, etc.  Kids who just play games only learn how to play up tempo street ball.  That’s why you don’t see a true point guard or true post player anymore.  Just a lot of shooters and slashers.

[TheDuke 13]

51 minutes ago, stan.the.man said:

the term daddy ball is there are people who think they know or understand these sports run teams to highlight or showcase their kids at all cost.  what is lost is that fundaments, basketball skills,  basketball knowledge, game management, team concept and so forth.  daddy ball is not necessarily the coach as the parents are as much to blame,  look at eastside to burton this year!!!!   all successful teams and programs had a great feeder program that led to that with great parental support behind that push.   the game is being lost because kids are losing fundamentals, skills and all the knowledge that is needed to build a successful program.. 

Do Eastside and Burton not have dads that run travel teams that make these kids what they are and they end up being the foundation for these successful teams? I have no idea, but I know for a fact that a hs coach can have a bunch of kids playing together at the local level, or you can take a team that is made up of a few travel ball players that are playing much better competition outside this area and they will stomp those local kids all day long. 

I think of all the great teams around here, and the main studs for these teams were kids that were playing travel ball. 

I don't agree that teams are losing skills and fundamentals, quite the opposite. Back in the day hs kids in this area couldn't even dribble with their left hand, and had maybe one or two kids that could make a 3. Now they are doing euro-steps, step-backs, fade-aways and guys off the bench can make 3s. I think the athleticism is gone in this area and that is not the kids fault. They can't help the genetics they were born with. 

I heard a local coach tell a team one day, "look at each other, we all come from the same gene pool, whoever works the hardest is going to win". That is why you have such mediocre teams, you have no great basketball athletes. 

It is also why the best coached teams, Gate City and Union boys, Wise and GC girls are always at the top, until a dominant player comes along on another team and then they win for a few years.

 

[Elder statesman 22]

I agree that a travel team with studs from all over will beat a typical high school team. That’s called an all star team.  At some point those travel kids go back to their school team and then they become mediocre as a team again because the “team” did not work together in the offseason.  Gate City had 3 studs who played travel “together” and that’s why they were so good.  The best teams in the area are developed because their kids play together in the offseason.  They don’t have the majority of the team sit home while 1 or 2 go play on their own team for highlights and exposure. That doesn’t build chemistry or team unity and that shows during season.  
 

Plenty of kids when I played could dribble with the off hand.  They could also play defense without constant hacking at the ball trying to get steals and fast breaks. The only thing I see better now is overall athleticism.  Euros and step backs mean nothing to me in comparison because the rules or the interpretations changed.  That was traveling in the past.  Can’t compare eras because of that.  While we see more threes shot, we see 3-4x more missed layups and easy buckets.  Rebound stats go up because they get their own misses.  Overall, I would guess shooting percentages are way lower across swva.  Turnovers are also much higher in todays game because of the reckless style.  

[TheDuke 13]

29 minutes ago, Elder statesman said:

I agree that a travel team with studs from all over will beat a typical high school team. That’s called an all star team.  At some point those travel kids go back to their school team and then they become mediocre as a team again because the “team” did not work together in the offseason.  Gate City had 3 studs who played travel “together” and that’s why they were so good.  The best teams in the area are developed because their kids play together in the offseason.  They don’t have the majority of the team sit home while 1 or 2 go play on their own team for highlights and exposure. That doesn’t build chemistry or team unity and that shows during season.  
 

Plenty of kids when I played could dribble with the off hand.  They could also play defense without constant hacking at the ball trying to get steals and fast breaks. The only thing I see better now is overall athleticism.  Euros and step backs mean nothing to me in comparison because the rules or the interpretations changed.  That was traveling in the past.  Can’t compare eras because of that.  While we see more threes shot, we see 3-4x more missed layups and easy buckets.  Rebound stats go up because they get their own misses.  Overall, I would guess shooting percentages are way lower across swva.  Turnovers are also much higher in todays game because of the reckless style.  

That is not at all what I said. What I said was that the best local teams are anchored by players who played travel ball and became great players. Mac McClung, Zac Ervin, Bradley Dean, Bradley Bunch, Sean Cusano, Evan Ramsey, Dayton Osborne, are just a few of the ones that I know spent their summers playing travel ball and they were the anchors for their great hs teams. 

Some of the old heads might think it's better for them to stay home in the summers and develop chemistry and unity with a bunch of scrubs, because the other basketball players play football so they aren't even practicing during the summer because they are getting ready for football. That is ridiculous.

That GC team did not play travel ball together, Mac was with team loaded, the others weren't. Bunch and Cusano did play travel together with team rogue. Ramsey and Osborne did not. 

You are very misinformed about what goes on in the summers around here. You have 3 or 4 kids per team that are really into basketball in the summer, the rest are either on the lake, getting ready for football, playing travel baseball, or on the couch playing xbox. The ones that are good shouldn't stay home and play with whatever poor old 8th graders and freshmen the coach can talk into coming to the gym, when they could be playing travel ball vs great competition and getting better. 

 

[stan.the.man 29]

1 hour ago, Elder statesman said:

I think the term “daddy ball” has been glamorized because of the explosion of travel ball.  In the past, AAU ball was an awesome tool to take advanced players and compete against the best.  Now, travel ball is a watered down version of that.  All you need is 7-8 kids, a little money for entry fees, and somebody to coach.  That coach is usually a “daddy” who builds the team so his kid can play.  
 

These parents think playing games is better than practice and that’s just not true.  You learn ball handling fundamentals in practice, you learn shooting form in practice, you learn post moves in practice, you learn how to make the right passes in practice, etc.  Kids who just play games only learn how to play up tempo street ball.  That’s why you don’t see a true point guard or true post player anymore.  Just a lot of shooters and slashers.

spot on,   thanks for clarifying my point!!  you can watch games today and several kids look up in the stands at their parent trying to coach them!!!  you see it all the time.   there have been and are  some super loaded travel ball teams and the kids on those teams develop a ton of experience and skills,  kids have to many options today and are not as interested in the work it takes to grow as a player and team and it will get worse!!!  all great programs have to have a great feeder program and the schools that stay at the top usually do,  

Edited February 10 by stan.the.man
spelling

[F@lcon 47]

I agree with both of you to some degree. 

 My son's core group played together from a very early age.   2 different youth teams developed for Abingdon youth basketball that eventually merged into 1 team around middle school.   They played together every summer and their chemistry was a big reason for their success.   

With that being said, Abingdon is a baseball school and that either pulls kids away from basketball or at least dominates their summer. It's very hard to get enough kids to field a full summer team. 

 

[Elder statesman 22]

54 minutes ago, TheDuke said:

That is not at all what I said. What I said was that the best local teams are anchored by players who played travel ball and became great players. Mac McClung, Zac Ervin, Bradley Dean, Bradley Bunch, Sean Cusano, Evan Ramsey, Dayton Osborne, are just a few of the ones that I know spent their summers playing travel ball and they were the anchors for their great hs teams. 

Some of the old heads might think it's better for them to stay home in the summers and develop chemistry and unity with a bunch of scrubs, because the other basketball players play football so they aren't even practicing during the summer because they are getting ready for football. That is ridiculous.

That GC team did not play travel ball together, Mac was with team loaded, the others weren't. Bunch and Cusano did play travel together with team rogue. Ramsey and Osborne did not. 

You are very misinformed about what goes on in the summers around here. You have 3 or 4 kids per team that are really into basketball in the summer, the rest are either on the lake, getting ready for football, playing travel baseball, or on the couch playing xbox. The ones that are good shouldn't stay home and play with whatever poor old 8th graders and freshmen the coach can talk into coming to the gym, when they could be playing travel ball vs great competition and getting better. 

 

I know quite well what goes on in swva.  
FYI, the GC trio did play together some in summer ball.  There was a GC team that played some locally during those years and McClung and Ervin (and possibly Dean) played travel ball with the Heat early on.  All three of these boys worked out with McClungs dad every offseason on strength, fundamentals, and shooting.  They are the epitome of what work outside of just playing games does for you.  

Bunch, Cusano, Honeycutt, Jordan and Anderson played together until Cusanos dad put together his team to get exposure for his son and then the Cusanos left Union for more exposure at Hilton Head Prep.

Ramsey and Osborne had good individual careers but their team wasn’t a dominant team by any means.  Abingdon went to state finals when Ramsey was a sophomore but graduated a great group of seniors that year.  Osborne was still on JV.

This year to me is a very down year for the area.  There are 6-8 teams that are very competitive with each other but nobody stands out other than George Wythe for possible state championship.  They were very impressive at the Arby’s.

as for us old heads, my point wasn’t entirely about playing for the team chemistry aspect.  I just think the fundamentals of the game are getting lost.  One of the biggest problems is the rule changes and what officials will not call.  This isn’t the NBA, everybody these days have to carry the ball to control their dribble, they travel on a lot of their moves, and the defense just goes for steals rather than play straight up defense and deny passing lanes.  I see very few players significantly improve their individual game after 10th grade.  
 

 

[tornado99 345]

There are too many points on both sides that are hard to address. “Daddy ball” and travel sports can be both good and bad for all the reasons listed. With an excellent daddy-coach that cares about the team, the ceiling becomes close to the genetic limit. As one poster pointed out the population loss plus the need or want to specialize is a killer for the sport not chosen by the individual or school. The three-sport athlete is an endangered species. Success is no longer limited to athleticism or hard work, but how you focus that hard work. So now, we simply play sports to win a championship or earn a scholarship. The love of the game and lessons learned as a byproduct have been supplanted by winning at all costs. I’m not saying this is right or wrong, it just is. We transfer, holdback, and spend more time and money for those ends than in the past for one or two sports. In most schools the dominant sport eats up the others for those goals. Let’s use Lebanon for example. It is a “baseball” school. But sheer numbers of players should rightfully dictate greater support and attendance for football and basketball. Instead, we shouldn’t only play and support baseball because that is our best chance to win. Gate City has become a “basketball” school some because of the Mac influence, but how many players have given up playing football for the limited time they are able to play it in life to focus on basketball?
This isn’t an indictment on people’s choices. Just pointing out how that population loss and pressure to commit early has made us sell out in some sports and neglect others.

[F@lcon 47]

1 hour ago, tornado99 said:

There are too many points on both sides that are hard to address. “Daddy ball” and travel sports can be both good and bad for all the reasons listed. With an excellent daddy-coach that cares about the team, the ceiling becomes close to the genetic limit. As one poster pointed out the population loss plus the need or want to specialize is a killer for the sport not chosen by the individual or school. The three-sport athlete is an endangered species. Success is no longer limited to athleticism or hard work, but how you focus that hard work. So now, we simply play sports to win a championship or earn a scholarship. The love of the game and lessons learned as a byproduct have been supplanted by winning at all costs. I’m not saying this is right or wrong, it just is. We transfer, holdback, and spend more time and money for those ends than in the past for one or two sports. In most schools the dominant sport eats up the others for those goals. Let’s use Lebanon for example. It is a “baseball” school. But sheer numbers of players should rightfully dictate greater support and attendance for football and basketball. Instead, we shouldn’t only play and support baseball because that is our best chance to win. Gate City has become a “basketball” school some because of the Mac influence, but how many players have given up playing football for the limited time they are able to play it in life to focus on basketball?
This isn’t an indictment on people’s choices. Just pointing out how that population loss and pressure to commit early has made us sell out in some sports and neglect others.

I agree.   Abingdon is a baseball school with countless kids who either stop playing other sports or do the very least possible to say they played multiple sports.   Look at Mac, he is told to have been great at football but he chose to dedicate fully to basketball.   But, some of the best to ever go through the area played multiple sports and excelled at all.   Calvin Talford and Heath Miller could have played all 3 major sports at college level without a doubt, 4 if you consider track. Thomas Jones was a really good basketball player as well as James Mitchell.  Julius Jones was great at track, etc

 

[BigWinners 1,643]

And Lebanon beats Graham while GC barely escapes v a mediocre DB team. Parity is name of the game heading into conference tourneys. 

[Comegetsum 18]

Graham laid an egg like they did in Marion last week.   No energy, 6 out the 8 kids have been taking breathing treatments for week and not feeling well.  They seem to go through the motions tonight on nfhs till mid 4th when made a run to cut to 3 after being down 17.  The Disibbio kind needs more time on the floor.  He doesn’t miss many and makes things happen.  

[TheDuke 13]

On 2/10/2024 at 9:46 AM, stan.the.man said:

the term daddy ball is there are people who think they know or understand these sports run teams to highlight or showcase their kids at all cost.  what is lost is that fundaments, basketball skills,  basketball knowledge, game management, team concept and so forth.  daddy ball is not necessarily the coach as the parents are as much to blame,  look at eastside to burton this year!!!!   all successful teams and programs had a great feeder program that led to that with great parental support behind that push.   the game is being lost because kids are losing fundamentals, skills and all the knowledge that is needed to build a successful program.. 

I would like to know who ran these "great feeder programs" you speak of. Every one I know of was run by a group of dads when they had a good group that wanted to play all summer against better competition. To act like the dads just rolled the ball out there without teaching them anything is a slap in the face to all the dads that do things the right way, and I for one am sick of the term being used to put down all the great dads in this area.  

Most coaches think cause they have the word Coach in front of their name that they are a genius, and everyone who doesn't is a fool who has no idea how to coach basketball. 

Basketball is not rocket science or brain surgery. It is mostly repetition just like everything else in life. 

Every great team in this area the foundation of that team was built by "daddy ball", long before the high school coach was ever in the picture. 

In case you haven't noticed, there are very, very few kids in this area that are getting basketball scholarships. The parents know this. "Daddy ball" isn't about "showcasing their kids at all cost". It is about getting them in the gym, getting exercise,  and getting them ready for hs ball so they aren't getting their butts kicked every season by the teams that do play all summer. 

 

[Elder statesman 22]

3 hours ago, TheDuke said:

I would like to know who ran these "great feeder programs" you speak of. Every one I know of was run by a group of dads when they had a good group that wanted to play all summer against better competition. To act like the dads just rolled the ball out there without teaching them anything is a slap in the face to all the dads that do things the right way, and I for one am sick of the term being used to put down all the great dads in this area.  

Most coaches think cause they have the word Coach in front of their name that they are a genius, and everyone who doesn't is a fool who has no idea how to coach basketball. 

Basketball is not rocket science or brain surgery. It is mostly repetition just like everything else in life. 

Every great team in this area the foundation of that team was built by "daddy ball", long before the high school coach was ever in the picture. 

In case you haven't noticed, there are very, very few kids in this area that are getting basketball scholarships. The parents know this. "Daddy ball" isn't about "showcasing their kids at all cost". It is about getting them in the gym, getting exercise,  and getting them ready for hs ball so they aren't getting their butts kicked every season by the teams that do play all summer. 

 

You are right that programs must have parents involved to build success.  But, in my experience, the successful programs (boys and girls) are built because the varsity level coaches orchestrate the youth leagues and provide them with gym space and resources.  The parents must be involved because there is a need for team coaches.  Being that it’s an unpaid position, non parents aren’t knocking down the doors to coach.  The most successful programs also have varsity coaches who provide guidance to these youth coaches as they get older so they can instill knowledge of how the varsity teams offense and defense works.  If you take a look at the most successful programs in the area, you can give thanks to those varsity coaches for putting in that time to make it happen.  Current names like Robin Dotson at Wise, Scotty Vermillion at Gate City, Misty Miller at Honaker as well as older names like Stan Wilson at Burton, Lee Clark at Twin Springs, and Rick Goodman at Council in the 80’s-2000’s.  All of these coaches made multiple trips to state and they would all give credit to their youth programs.  And they all had parents at some point coaching youth teams but under the guidance of their respective varsity coaches.  
 

The “daddy ball” that gets negative feedback usually comes from the parents who go against their programs youth leagues because they don’t agree with how they are run.  I have witnessed it more in baseball/softball with parents who want to make sure their kid is pitching or playing shortstop and batting cleanup.  In those sports it’s common place to see a family team jump every year or just start their own team so they can get the situation they want.

[EH31 2,518]

Speak of “daddy ball” and it appears in the thread.  Just like beetle juice. 

[sixcat 2,919]

14 minutes ago, EH31 said:

Speak of “daddy ball” and it appears in the thread.  Just like beetle juice. 

Those freshmen have a lot of potential.

[stan.the.man 29]

8 hours ago, Elder statesman said:

You are right that programs must have parents involved to build success.  But, in my experience, the successful programs (boys and girls) are built because the varsity level coaches orchestrate the youth leagues and provide them with gym space and resources.  The parents must be involved because there is a need for team coaches.  Being that it’s an unpaid position, non parents aren’t knocking down the doors to coach.  The most successful programs also have varsity coaches who provide guidance to these youth coaches as they get older so they can instill knowledge of how the varsity teams offense and defense works.  If you take a look at the most successful programs in the area, you can give thanks to those varsity coaches for putting in that time to make it happen.  Current names like Robin Dotson at Wise, Scotty Vermillion at Gate City, Misty Miller at Honaker as well as older names like Stan Wilson at Burton, Lee Clark at Twin Springs, and Rick Goodman at Council in the 80’s-2000’s.  All of these coaches made multiple trips to state and they would all give credit to their youth programs.  And they all had parents at some point coaching youth teams but under the guidance of their respective varsity coaches.  
 

The “daddy ball” that gets negative feedback usually comes from the parents who go against their programs youth leagues because they don’t agree with how they are run.  I have witnessed it more in baseball/softball with parents who want to make sure their kid is pitching or playing shortstop and batting cleanup.  In those sports it’s common place to see a family team jump every year or just start their own team so they can get the situation they want.

very good points here,  all these coaches you mention I guarantee had or have a say in all school feeder programs coming below them,  yes there are dads that more than likely coach these teams but those are not the "daddy ball" coaches being spoken of.   all these programs do need great parents involved as parents.  not sure who runs some of these programs but I can tell you that one of the best teams Dotson had back 20 years ago or so had their start playing AAU ball for PEE WEE Dean from St. Paul.  The Council Teams in the late 90's and early 2000's were built by Dave Rasnake, former coach and parent at Council.  I can assure you that Larry Compton had his hands all over the programs at Haysi.   All these I mentioned were parents coaching their kids but were very good coaches and new the game as well.

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

On 2/11/2024 at 10:24 AM, TheDuke said:

Every great team in this area the foundation of that team was built by "daddy ball", long before the high school coach was ever in the picture. 

 

 

I agree and also apply to even the not so good teams and I apply that to the overwhelming percentage of High School Teams in the United States.  I apply it the overwhelming portion of cheerleading teams and moms across the country.  It's like anything else.  It's good and bad.  It is very good and very helpful to have dads in the community helping out.  The overwhelming portion of them do good things.  At the same time, like anything else, you will have a few bad apples that take it too far and tries to dominate and their kid may end up playing perhaps more than he should.  It happens, but I still think this is largely the exception to the rule.  I think as a state, a country, a region of Virginia, we want and need dads and moms participating early on.  The good of this by far, by far...outweighs the bad in my opinion.  We will hear about the 1 Dad at school A who has far too much influence and his kid probably shouldn't be starting QB or Point Guard or Running Back, etc, but we never talk about the other 9 dads who have just put in the work, helped the program, helped all the kids and not just their son, and volunteered his time after a 40 hour work schedule.  Just my opinions though.  I'm not saying I'm right.  Just giving my perception.

As for the High School Head Coach, I would disagree with you some Duke.  I think it's the same thing as above.  Some do think they are completely entitled or a "genius" as you wrote, but the overwhelming majority of them are not that.  They, by in large are good and decent people without a narcissistic complex just like most of the daddy ball dads and moms who are just trying to do the right thing.  It's the few bad apples that makes the news and message boards.

[Gridiron60 2,555]

On 2/11/2024 at 12:23 AM, Comegetsum said:The Disibbio kind needs more time on the floor.  He doesn’t miss many and makes things happen.  

Graham has been on again, off again all season. Disibbio is one of the more consistent players. He definitely needs more playing time. The Fix kid is fun to watch too. Graham can win tomorrow night at the SWD tournament semis, depending on which Graham team shows up. 

[Gridiron60 2,555]

Graham rallies to advance over Lebanon to championship game. Daniel Jennings & Markel Ray had solid games. Ray hit a lot in the paint rather than his normal 3 pointers.