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I know this year isn't in the books yet, but I was discussing the future of Fed Hock roundball with a co-worker and he asked about it and I really didn't know what to tell him.

We've had a nice string of talent come through the system the last few years and have pretty much been able to just re-load. What do you FH fans think about what's in the pipeline? Will Bob Vales be back?

Watching most of the varsity games, it's apparent that Smith, Stanely and Thompson will be the nucleus next year.

The few JV games I've seen this year have not been real encouraging although the coach seems to do a lot of platooning which can sometimes be indicative of the final score.

Since we don't have a freshman team it's real hard to say anything about a few years out, although I was told the class of 2011 only won a handful of games at the junior high level. I did noticed we have one freshman dressing for varsity. That is encouraging considering the talent in the upper grades.

I think they'll be solid. Smith, Thompson, and Stanley will play well. Thompson will hit from the outside, and Smith could lead the league is scoring.

Clark, E. McCune, E. Williams, and Torrence will likely also be a part of the regular rotation.

Clark is a hustler and plays good defense. McCune and Williams are post players that seem to have a decent amount of naturaly ability, but don't always finish. That will come. Torrence is steady with the ball, and is a good three-point shooter.

Others would know more about the personnel than I do, but I think the team could contend next year.

What happened to Clark? I haven't seen him in action for a while.

I think they will be ok, but Eastern and Southern will be at the top of the league. Fed hock has had a nice run starting with Quinn in 2003 and it continued on with Hornsby and Butcher in 2005 than Garrett and Tate and of course this year group. It's been a nice run for the Lancers and they will have enough to content next year. Now as far as who will Coach? That's a good question.

freethrow wrote:I think they will be ok, but Eastern and Southern will be at the top of the league. Fed hock has had a nice run starting with Quinn in 2003 and it continued on with Hornsby and Butcher in 2005 than Garrett and Tate and of course this year group. It's been a nice run for the Lancers and they will have enough to content next year. Now as far as who will Coach? That's a good question.

They should try to hire Jay Kline. Build him a house and sell some stuff to pay him extra to come. NY cares about football only. Jay Kline is the best in the biz and would take fh from sectional champs to regional contendors.

fh isnt really a basketball school until they win some district titles ...kline would have them playing in c'bus

are you on crack or something? He has beat Athens twice and Wellston. As someone mentioned in another thread if is daughter played for him she might be the best player, if he stops putting pressure on her to shoot all the time. Some one said he was screaming at her when they played at Federal Hocking this year. You can't put that kind of pressure on a kid. Let her play and have fun.

Now back to the topic. Eastern has the edge than Southern and Federal will Compete.

I think Fed Hock 08/09 will be competitive. They have returning as seniors Smith and Stanley. Both will improve and be even better. Should have several Juniors next year- Thompson, Williams, Clark, Torrence and McCune. I think the dominent big men underneath will be Stanley and Williams. Smith and Thompson will no doubt dominate. Thompson finally found his groove mid season and deservedly saw some quality varsity time the last half of the season. Hope he sees more in tournament play. He's really improved defensively this year and when he's subbed in, he's getting the job done. I saw Williams dominate at a couple JV games - Meigs was one, if memory serves me. He's only gonna get bigger and better. It's a shame he didn't get worked into varsity games more. The experience would have really benefitted to program for next year. Torrence will be a big threat offensively next year. He's just so game smart. Throw in the rest and it makes for a solid squad.

I hope Vales returns to Coach, but if he doesn't I hope he and the school makes sure these boys have a good, solid coach. Having a new coach every year is beyond tough. They deserve stability.

JV didn't do so well this year, in my opinion, because Amos Cottrill worked every player in just about every game, regardless of score. Sorry, but some of these games were frustrating to watch. In his defense though, I think he was limited on quarters for Torrence, Williams and Clark. But it seems odd at times who he started - never the best 5. Just my opinion.

Clark is ineligible due to grades.

JayKay wrote:JV didn't do so well this year, in my opinion, because Amos Cottrill worked every player in just about every game, regardless of score. Sorry, but some of these games were frustrating to watch. In his defense though, I think he was limited on quarters for Torrence, Williams and Clark. But it seems odd at times who he started - never the best 5. Just my opinion.

Well, also in his defense, I think playing everyone is sometimes smart at the JV level. It seems you want to balance teaching the kids to learn how to win, with keeping everyone interested and gaining experience. JV records really mean nothing. No one remembers how the JV teams did each season. They are basically a feeder team for varsity.

Some of those freshmen or sophomores who struggle now, may end up being the best players when they're seniors. However, if they're not involved in games now, they may give up the sport and never reach their potential. Plus, if guys are going to be ineligible, you can't count on them to be around when it matters.

I agree that FH rarely had their best 5 on the floor in JV, but I think it was a good thing. It only becomes a bad thing, in my opinion, if the kids start to accept losing.

Edit: Though, I will admit that I didn't have to watch them more than 3 or 4 times, and two of those times were easy wins against NY. So, I did not reach those levels of frustration

I dont hear anything about the Feidler kid. He was a solid player in Junior High with Thompson. He still playing?

Fielers moved to Parkersburg last year. Not sure which school the kids attend.

I agree somewhat with getting kids experience and how important that can be. But by the time kids reach JV, they should be playing to win, in my opinion. I think most JV coaches are playing to win. Vales/Chadwell certainly played to win JV last year.

JayKay wrote:Fielers moved to Parkersburg last year. Not sure which school the kids attend.

I agree somewhat with getting kids experience and how important that can be. But by the time kids reach JV, they should be playing to win, in my opinion. I think most JV coaches are playing to win. Vales/Chadwell certainly played to win JV last year.

I think they should be playing to win, but everything should be geared around whatever is best for the varsity program.

For instance in baseball, if some kid is the best JV shortstop, but is a future catcher at the varsity level, he should be getting nearly all his reps at Catcher. Even if that means the JV team loses because SS is a giant hole.

Sorry for the baseball reference, but it's easier for me to use. I do agree that they should be trying to win, and should be angry and not accepting of losing.

I agree that you build the varsity program. But when a solid sophomore player is told they can only get a couple of JV quarters because they are needed for varsity, then never see any varsity floor time, that's a problem. I believe they can have 5 quarters a night? It cheats 'em of time they need to develop their skills. I'd like to see how many quarters some of these sophomores got each game night. Bet it was never 5. How does that build the program for down the road? Maybe I'm a dense old guy, but I've never got that. Seems to me the younger players need floor time - JV or Varsity. Doesn't matter.

Last year the JV squad started/played the same group of boys, unless they got way out ahead. Then you saw substitution. But this year it seems the opposite was done. Seen this JV team be tied in the 4th and they substitute 4 second stringers. Almost like they wanted to lose? Makes ya scratch your head.

Well, I can't really argue with you about much. Like I said, I only saw a handful of games this year.

I'm guessing that they saved 3 quarters a piece for some of the sophomores out of fear of injury and/or foul trouble in the varsity games. Since the varsity team suffered from injuries, and only had 7 in the rotation when healthy, they would have needed these sophomores if a bad situation came up. Obviously, the game at Miller was one of the few times it happened, but Coach Vales would have looked like a fool if he would have run out of eligible players in a game.

I hate the rule that a player can only make an appearance in 5 quarters. That means if a kid plays for 5 seconds in one quarter, that counts as a full quarter of play. I know it would be more difficult to track, but you would think that maybe four 7 minute quarters and one 8 minute quarter would be the time allowed per player, per night (with overtime excluded). That would be 36 minutes of game time per night. Then a coach could play those sophomores more freely, and could sub depending on the time.

This issue is one of the main reasons those close games are rough on a team sometimes. With all those close games, those sophomores were left watching from the bench. I do agree with you that, ideally, those sophomores would have played 3-5 quarters per night.