Eastern Eagles @ Athens Bulldogs 12/29/09

[classof86]

45-42

[Dundas]

Thanks 86!

[Steely Dan]

OK, I'll say it, as, for all you Southern idiots, "I WAS THERE" and saw the whole damned game!!!!!!!!

Coach Skinner outcoached Coach Caldwell, hands down. Eastern seemed to lose their "mojo" somewhere around the five minute mark of the third quarter, and got away from what was working for them. PFloyd was sitting two rows and one seat behind me, so he can keep me honest on that. Sorry I did not have a chance to get up and talk to you, PFloyd, as I respect the hell out of your opinion and would have loved to have talked hoops with you, but I was surrounded by Eagle fans, and they had me engrossed in conversation, and the game.

I spoke to you on your initial ascent to the top of the bleachers, and I noticed that you looked at my school garb. So, you should now know who I am. Would love to talk hoops sometime with you........

Kyle Connery was playing a heck of a game for Eastern, and Howie sits him down with about four minutes to go. IMHO, that cost them dearly. Too many missed foul shots, too many missed layups, and too many poor decisions by your other guards cost the Iggles this game. KC was playing a great game and you sit him the last four minutes???

Well, you're the coach, and you bear the loss. Bottom line.

Athens earned the win, but I see significant struggles when the Bulldogs play schools their size. Their guards can do well against D IV guards, and some D III guards, but going up against D II guards in the tournament, well, "they ain't gonna do too well".

Just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. Great high school game to watch tonight, I really enjoyed it. Had the Iggles hit a few of the shots that they normally make, they would have walked out of A-town with a win. And no, they didn't miss those shots due to Athens defense. The Iggles were ice-cold

[Gib25]

I must have been watching the wrong game! I thought Eastern was busting their butts on defense and the Athens guards did a pretty fair job of controlling the Bulldog offense. Anybody who thought Eastern wasn't playing hard has to have blinders on. Coach Caldwell ran some great dead spot offense against the dogs zone defense and Coach Skinner responded with man. Eastern hurt Athens early with motion cuts to the basket, but Athens learned how to stop it by hedging their cuts. I think Athens "D" grew a great deal tonight. McAdoo, Harris, and Herpy all helped off the bench to overcome the loss of Maffin due to sickness. Great win in a game that could've gone either way. Don't try to take away from the win for Athens by down playing how much Eastern wanted this game. Both teams played hard and tonight was Athens' night. Go Bulldogs

[Gib25]

Athens got 17 points from Cori Butcher, 14 from Frank Valentour, 9 from Collin Pfaff, 3 from Ben McAdoo, and 2 from Joey Stanley. Kyle Connery lead the Eagles with 12, Titus Pierce 8, Jake Lynch 7points, Kelly Winebrenner, Mike Johnson, and Devon Baum 4 points, and Tyler Hendrix 3. Joey Stanley lead Athens with 8 rebounds.

[Steely Dan]

Bulldog 64 - Who said that the Eastern guards, and their entire team, didn't play hard? I guess I missed something. "Hedging their cuts"? That, alot of times is a foul. I didn't see that at all tonight in this game. Coach Skinner had his boys play it correct, and stopped the cuts through the lane.

If you think my post is trying to take away from the Athens win, you are REALLY off the mark. I'll give your team kudos right here and now. Eastern had a chance to walk away with a win, and didn't "get 'r dun", unfortunately.

I'm really at a loss for your post, is it in response to mine? If it is, you really need to re-read what I said. I'm not trying to discredit your bulldogs at all..... Help me out here....

[athens78]

Let's just blame it on the officials. I'm still waiting for the Meigs County folks to get on here and start that. This was a hard fought game by each team and good coaching by both. Good luck to the Eagles in future games.

[Gib25]

Steely, gh123 said Eastern didn't bring their game tonight. I have no problemn with your post. Different terminology on stopping the flash cut. We taught our guys to get away from their man on the weak side and chest them up when they were cutting to the ball. Not much gets called in the middle of the lane if you don't grab the offensive player. I thought Coach Skinner did a great job of adapting his defense during the game, which is not easy. Great win for the dogs!

[Gib25]

Athens 78,
Your earlier post was right on when you said Athens would have to play man defense sometime to really have a chance to win the championship. I know Coach Skinner wants to play man, but it will be a learning process. Tonight was a good start.

[Spartan]

What a game. Great effort by both clubs. It was a knock down drag out affair. From where I was sitting and standing, I thought the defense was superb by both teams. Nothing came easy for either club. Both clubs probably equalled each other in transition offense. I really believe that in these type of games that when teams play so hard especially on the defensive end, it hurts their ability to make shot, especially perimeter shots. In the end, the Bulldogs were better in this game. Athens played without their best perimeter shooter in Dean Maffin who was home ill. What a game!!!!!!!!!!

[athens78]

It was a very good start.

[pfloyd]

... Steely Dan - you should have introduced yourself! more than glad to share hoops with anyone ... yes I did look at the "school colors and logo" for future reference of course lol ... and yes you were surrounded by the Eagles faithful ...

[Steely Dan]

Bulldog 64 - I absolutely and wholeheartedly agree with you on this point! Your boys didn't grab at all, they just "slowed them down a little bit", which is how you need to defend this. Great coaching by JS!

Now, for Captain Sunshine, I would be really surprised to see any of the Iggle faithful to come on here and say that they "got screwed" by the officials. You know, and I know, that two of the officials have afilliation to Fed Hock, if you really want to dig. The other dude, well, I thought that three quarters of the game, he needed to pull his whistle up out of his espoghus, as it was quite apparent that he had swallowed the darned thing.

We are talking Eastern here, not Southern, so, I'd be really surprised if any of the Iggle supporters gripe too much about the officiating. These guys called a pretty good game tonight, as a completely unbiased observer.

Oh, a TVC game played with decent officials and not alot of controversy? Oh yea, it took place in Athens County. Different story down in Meigs county......

[Spartan]

I agree Athens 78. I was worried about them leaning too much on that zone defense. One has to be able to adapt. Coach Caldwell cut up the zone, they certainly were ready for it. Athens went from 2-3 to 1-3-1 and had to depend on making shots themselves to keep up. Sometimes when you are forced to do things you see what you can become. I know Skinner loves the man to man, so I have been a little surprised by the zone. Regardless, the man defense was tremendous as the night wore on. Go Bulldogs!!! Next up, a good Nelsonville-York team.

[Steely Dan]

Spartan - I agree. As an unbiased observer, I see the NY game as a trap game for the Bulldogs. I'm sure that Coach Skinner will have them fully prepared for what is to come....

[pfloyd]

... saw Coach Kline at the game tonight doing a little "napkin stat" noting taking of his own ...

[Steely Dan]

Yes, I believe that he was using my back as his writing surface!!!!!!!

[AxGrinder]

If Athens wins, I'll be the first to give them credit. And I have said nothing about how Athens is a bigger school...nor will I. That's an obvious fact, and it doesnt matter anyway. So in that reguard, your incinuations are incorrect. I was just saying that having seen both these teams play, it SHOULD be a close game and I give the slight edge to Eastern. And I mean that in a totally unbiased way. Yes, athens has played some tougher opponents but Eastern had a very impressive win against Hunt Ross and a win against Trimble(in trimble).. and all their other games have been utter blowouts. So, you cant get down on them for having a poor schedule when they win by 30+.

ANYWAY, I'm excited for the game. Period. We can flap our gums when this thing is over.

This was in all honesty, and AWFUL game to watch. Eastern couldn't make anything from beyond the arc. Even still they were ahead most of the game until the fourth quarter. In all honesty, I'm quite shocked the game wasn't way worse since they couldn't make a 3. Just a rough guess but I'm going to say 2-16 or 2-18 from three point range. The two they made were in the last 20 seconds of the game. Congrats to Athens on a hard fought victory. Eastern just didn't bother to show up tonight. You win some, you lose some.
Score was 45-42.

So I guess when you said you would give Athens credit if they won you really didn't mean it? I don't know what game you were watching but the one I watched was pretty good. Use all the excuses you want ("Eastern just didn't bother to show up tonight") but I think they played as well as they could given the situation.... Athens defense was just better tonight.

All that thought Eastern would just come into McAfee Gymnasium tonight and dominate, were wrong period. Thanks to those that gave Athens credit, which weren't many, we appreciate it.

Go Dawgs! Next up NY! Go Dogs Go!

[athens78]

Steely Dan and Pfloyd are two of the most knowledgeable basketball minds in the area. I do always enjoy reading you posts and thoughts on games. Keep up the good work and posting.

[classof86]

This was a very entertaining game to watch. It was pretty much what I expected just a different outcome. Athens guards were much quicker than Eastern's and I think that was the difference in the game. Athens outplayed Eastern tonight. Both of these teams are going to win the majority of their games and I think this will be a great learning experience for Eastern. This will definatly be the hardest regular season game that they will have and I was pretty pleased with the effort put forth by both teams.