Northwestern 4A Hoops Preview

ok now its changed and they are 7th but here is the site...

http://www.ncbasketballacademy.net/site/reports/carolina_scouting_top25_hs.php

hope ya'll find what you're looking for!

 

I think the folks at that website are affailiated with some AAU teams, that may be why they have Freedom at that position. IMO its too early to start ranking teams.

 

1. Mcdowell- hard to argue with 4 returning starters from a conference champion. Having a new coach will likely make them even more of a bear.

2. ACR- I think Reynolds is going to surprise a lot of people-they have good size and have a lot of interchangeable parts.

3. East Burke- Coach Murray will return a lot and they will always play great defense.

4. Freedom- It's hard for me to see them being any better than last year. Ford is terrific, but she has yet to make the players around her better-perhaps this is the year.

5. Watauga- Anderson will bring some toughness to them-they will beat some people they shouldn't...but will likely lose a few they shouldn't either.

6. South Caldwell- Not a whole lot of talent right now, they are in a down cycle.

7. Alexander Central- I watched so little of them last year I am just going by scores.

 

Here are my predictions for the NW4A...

1. McDowell: Without a doubt this is a year with high expectations. First off you have three very good seniors leading this team including All-State player Kurie Washington. It will be interesting to see how #25 elevates her game her senior year. On top of the talent, you have a team that by the end of the year could be a deep team. You have the four returning freshmen from last year who will be asked to carry more of a load and you have a couple kids from last years JV squad that will provide more athleticism on the court. Third thing is that for the first time in the history of the McDowell program you have a new coach taking the helm. I think Brian Franklin will do a good job with the Lady Titans this year and as much as everybody in this community liked Mike Silver, I see Brian capable of offering things that maybe Mike wasn't able to do. I think we'll definitely see some different things with this years squad but in the end our strength is still getting up and down the court.

2. East Burke: Loss the one girl in the interior from last year. To be honest I'm not sure just how much she will be missed but I think the Lady Cavs have enough pieces to compete for 2nd place in this conference.

3 (tie) AC Reynolds/Freedom: These two squads could finish in either spot so I figured why not have them tied for 3rd in the conference. I thought the best player on AC Reynolds team last year was the freshmen Brinkley. Her along with Taylor and a cast of others can finish in the top half of the conference. Meanwhile for Freedom, I think the honeymoon is over for them. Ali Ford got all the high praise as a freshmen and sophmore but she was a novelty act. Well now that she is an upper classmen everybody knows she is the big dog on the team and that she will need to carry them to some wins. There needs to be times where she completely takes over. Last year where she may had scored a lot of points, she never single handed pulled Freedom through a win against the upper-tier of the conference. Infact against the Lady Titans last year they threw her completely off her game and it got to her mentally. Freedom lost Morrison to graduation but I wonder if Connelly being the primary compliment to Ali may end up being better for them anyway.

5. Watauga: New coach and I'm hoping full commitment from the community. Coach Dixon left them some decent girls but not as talented as some want you to believe.

6. (tie) Alex. Central/South Caldwell: Gonna be a long year for both squads, but they'll win at least a game in conference.

 

Novelty act? Thanks for the bulletin board material bigdan....!

 

If this message board serves that purpose...then you're welcome.

 

Novelty Act? Are you serious!?

My first time on this or any other blog of any type, so exuse me if I don't put in any cute smiley faces. Frankly I'm not sure I know how. Something I do know a little about is this blog here. See, I have been logging on and listening ( so to speak ) for a little over a year now. I see the games every chance I get, and almost never have a chance to talk to anyone about the games I see. I don't have any kids or grandkids playing, it's just fun to read about the happenings of these teams and the girls who are trying so hard to have fun and hoping they're skill gets them to a college so they can have some more fun. Not much more for a girl basketball player after college. Anyway, I can only say, for bigdan to say Ford was a freshman and sophmore novelty act just might be the most rediculous thing I have ever read anywhere, anytime. I don't believe I have ever read that ford was the best player in the state, nation or other. What I have read is that Freedom has a girl that is quite possibly one of, if not the best and most prolific scorer any of you has ever seen. I have read she works her tail off to be that way, and have read quotes from her coach saying she's one of the hardest working players she's ever seen. And a Burke County article has her father saying she has been working on her basketball game since she was very young. I have also seen and read where almost every team play's her box and one. If now as a "upper classman" everyone knows she is the big dog, then why the box and one for the last two years. I believe all teams have recognized her ability and have known for some time that she was Freedom's Big Dog as bigdan put it. I for one can hardly believe she has been able to accomplish all she has done considering she's 5"3sh and the box and one is designed to be a double team defense. No one has to play against as tough of defenses as that kid. Has she single handedly torn McDowell or most other's a new one? No. It is a team sport after all. I also don't believe it's the teams best player's job to "make"everyone around them better. Sometimes you do all you can do and others still play at a different level than the elite players. Coaching has a tremendous amount to do w/ the star making others better. If the coach has a game plan for one player to drop 25-30 then win or lose they'll generally stick w/ that plan and usually not change it so their star can work on getting the rest of the team involved. That's what practice is for. Will others step up this year for their respective team? We all hope so, no one likes to see a one woman/man show. The best games and memories for the players and fans are the ones that are a fight till the bitter end, not the blow-outs. Since I may not return to write on this blog again, let me finish by saying I hope as the season goes along we remember these girls read these blogs and a hopefully are doing their best on the court. Don't crucify them. Anyone who has ever played sports at any level knows noone is harder on you than yourself. And finally, BigDan, do you really believe that little girl will fade away and be the supporting cast this year? I may only see a few of that conferences games this year but I know i want to see her play again. P.S. I enjoy watching the Washington girl as well.

 

I think some folks have mis-read my comments in regards to Freedom and Ali...

After some thought...Me calling her a novelty act may be a bit much. But on the otherhand I don't see the greatness that everybody else has glamoured about the past two years. It's not all about the scoring and the individual talent...it's about making the team and yourself better. And yes DaperDanman, good players make others around them better.

Too many great players have stepped on the floor at Freedom over the years and have elevated their teams to a high level. There's no better example than that of Kerri Gardin. Kerri IMO is one of the top five to ever play at Freedom High School. And when all was said and done she took that team and guided them to a state championship. She made her players better by being around her. There's two players in particular (not calling out any names) that Kerri made to look like stars . And as soon as Gardin departed for Virginia Tech, those same two players never were the same.

I honestly think this could be the best Freedom team since Amber Fox took over as head coach. I think Connelley and Surratt complimenting Ford is better than that of recent seasons. It's just a matter of elevating their game to a higher level.

 

Grasshopper:
If you can answer this question , you will see the folly in your response:

"Name the Freedom player who has lead their team in ASSISTS the past 2 seasons" hmmm..

(hint#1: maybe the same one that has led FHS in steals, scoring , shooting percentage)
(hint#2 maybe the ONLY soph in the History of NW4a to have 1200 pts)

I think assists are where you are making the people around you better, like say... Atkinson did ??

 

Certainly Dribbles has a point that Ford has the stats to back up his, and Thad's assertion that she makes her team better.


I guess the realization for Freedom fans needs to be that Freedom just isn't good enough to win the NW4A-especially if Ford is already the complete player that Freedom fans claim that she is. If Ford is already as good as she is going to be (her stats certainly back this up, and she isn't going to grow 6 inches or suddenly get even faster at this age) then Freedom might even take a step backwards at this point.