Pioneer Valley Offseason BUZZ

[newlex/sheridan]

sorry Spy, was just in a bad mood I guess I just know how parents get going when it comes to scrimmages, I have a parent who sits in the stands and keeps stats only for the kid, not the team and I may be old school but I hate that kind of individualism. I think it puts pressure on the kids. I know Jefferson is a nice player and I expect him to have a nice year. As for the fort/west/meadowbrook scrimmage, each team played the other two five quarters, fort was the best of the three teams there Saturday, they are fundamentally sound as always. A running score was not kept and I know at least between fort and West most of the quarters were a 2 or 3 point differential, believe the largest margin was around 6 so it was competitive. Was a little surprised that Meadowbrook wasn't better.

[EasternDspy]

I was at Meadowbrook sat.FF only lost one qt played pretty well but yea besides the on 16-5 qt the West M was close.Both Meadowbrook and West M are down.Fort Frye did not even shoot well and got most points by out hustling the other team.West M has 2 good player's in 15 and 23
The big 23 had a nice mid range game.

[newlex/sheridan]

Def a rebuilding year for West, missed pg and best player Shey Herd who could not be there Saturday. Fort did all the things they always do well, move well and defend. They will have a good year.

[EasternDspy]

FF has to be the favorite to repeat as PVC champs.I think most teams on the schedule will struggle to score points on the Cadets.

[I drain 3's]

What's Waterford supposed to be like this year? Caldwell has a scrimmage against them Saturday and I was wondering how well of a measuring stick it would be for this team.

[3 for me]

Waterford will compete in the TVC. They always seem to have atleast one person over 6'6 on there team. It should be a good scrimmage for Caldwell as they are trying improve and learn there offense and defense more.

[newlex/sheridan]

Waterford has a 6'6 kid that is supposed to be pretty good. Should be a good first scrimmage. The Redskins come to West M next weekend for a four way scrimmage. I am curious as to how they will do against what should be a very good New Lex team on Tuesday night. New Lex returns all but one player from last years squad and added three or four other newcomers, very athletic team.

[I drain 3's]

If Crane can get the team to buy into it, the Skins should perform pretty well on defense. They've got a good bit of athleticism, compared to what they've had in the past.

[EasternDspy]

Fort Frye has a big scrimmage at John Glenn tonight vs Jg and Marietta

[newlex/sheridan]

John Glenn lost a big senior class last year led by state division 2 player of the year Jake Heagen (now starting for Findlay).......They return two players with experience in Heath Dodson and Zack Adkins. Marietta has athletes most years and a good coach. Nice scrimmage for the cadets.

[EasternDspy]

FF took 6 of 8 qts beating John Glenn 52-44 and Mariett 52-36.Big night for Sr Zach Eddy.

[newlex/sheridan]

Caldwell with Waterford this morning:
1st qtr-Caldwell 19 Waterford 8
2nd qtr-Caldwell 12 Waterford 10
3rd qtr-Waterford 12 Caldwell 10
4th qtr-Waterford 15 Caldwell 13
5th qtr- Caldwell 12 Waterford 9
6th qtr- Waterford 14 Caldwell 11

*Clint said Caldwell played half court man the whole time. Said that it was a good scrimmage, that Waterford had a nice big kid who could play inside and out. He also said they got multiple looks from man to a 2-3 and a 1-2-2 along with some full court pressure. He said he was pretty happy with the first scrimmage but they have a lot to work on defensively.

Glad to hear the fort is playing well early in the process, the PVC should be very competitive this winter.

[EasternDspy]

Who started for Caldwell?Sawyer,Weichman,Hesson, Croucher,Severck? If Zach Eddy and Shon Smith continue to play like they are in scrimmages they wont lose on the PVC.

[newlex/sheridan]

He said he started those five and is concerned about depth. Their fist five are solid but it gets shaky from there as there is little to no experience.

[EasternDspy]

Its basketball and anything can happen but I don't see Caldwell matching up well with FF.

[3 for me]

How do they not "match-up" well? Wiechman will be one of the fastest if not the fastest pesky defender in the league.He will cause Smith some trouble. Your next point would be who is going to guard Eddy, answer to that is Croucher. He has been one of the best defenders Caldwell has seen in many years, just because of true heart and hustle. Caldwell "matches-up" with FF as much as anybody will in the league.

[Phoenix]

so then who will guard lang? or schweindeman? caldwell might be ok this year, but fort frye will probably be better. i never see caldwell as a basketbal school. nobody really cares about the sport in the community like beverly and lowell does for fort frye.

[EasternDspy]

When Fort Frye has 4 highly skilled perimeter players its going to be hard for anyone to stop them.

[newlex/sheridan]

Any team with four very skilled guards is difficult to defend, games will be about match ups. Fort is the favorite until someone else takes it from them. Doesn't matter who says what on here. I watched and/or my team played against some of these PVC teams this summer. Based on what I took from there Trail/Fort/Caldwell/Central were all 6 in one, half a dozen in the other. That is why when it comes to coaching I'd take the Fort. Caldwell has proven nothing to this point, other then they couldn't be overlooked last year. I am pretty sure they have not been coached up like this in awhile though. Should be an interesting season. Good luck to my brother and all of the PVC teams.

[I drain 3's]

Any team with four very skilled guards is difficult to defend, games will be about match ups. Fort is the favorite until someone else takes it from them. Doesn't matter who says what on here. I watched and/or my team played against some of these PVC teams this summer. Based on what I took from there Trail/Fort/Caldwell/Central were all 6 in one, half a dozen in the other. That is why when it comes to coaching I'd take the Fort. Caldwell has proven nothing to this point, other then they couldn't be overlooked last year. I am pretty sure they have not been coached up like this in awhile though. Should be an interesting season. Good luck to my brother and all of the PVC teams.

This. Caldwell has had some talented teams comes through in the past, but they always seemed to fall short of expectations. Some of that can be blamed on players and some on coaching. Caldwell hasn't had a solid coach for a few years now. Hopefully Crane can change that. Seems that he is truly interested in rebuilding the Caldwell program from the ground up.