Fairland 2024-25 ??? ...

[pfloyd]

The Fairland Dragons, one of the outstanding hs hoops programs in all of SEOhio annually ... Coach Speed has been at the helm of the boys program since the 2009-10 season (prior to that he was the successful head hoops coach at Fairland on the girls side) - piloting his FHS teams to district play in all but 1 season, a state tournament appearance in 2017 ... 250+ wins ... an almost 80% winning percentage ... 9 OVC 'ships (I believe) ... I haven't heard much about Fairland over the summer?!!! The Dragons return senior Brody Buchanan - the lefty SG is outstanding/has been outstanding in his time starting varsity at FHS ... so 1 of the 5 starting spots - taken ... where do the Dragons stand at the other 4 starting positions? Buchanan moves to PG with the ability to put up 20 ppg from the PG position? others Trevor Lochow 5-11 jr ... Cliff Franson 6-1 jr. ... others ??? the Dragons lost their size to graduation (and it wasn't BIG size in Noah Marcum at 6-4) - any size? any scorers of the ball beyond Brody Buchanan??? ... Is this a rebuilding year for the Dragons? What does last seasons JV squad offer up for the varsity? LOTS of questions about the Fairland Dragons ... any transfers as the school year starts in the coming 3 weeks ??? any information would be helpful as we move into the 2024-25 school year ...

[84Dragon]

No insider info , just what my neighbor tells me. The Dragons are going to be on the small side again this year , no height really to speak of. They will be guard oriented big time . I dont look for them to be as good as last season but Coach Speed gets the most out of what hes got so ya never know .

[pfloyd]

No insider info , just what my neighbor tells me. The Dragons are going to be on the small side again this year , no height really to speak of. They will be guard oriented big time . I dont look for them to be as good as last season but Coach Speed gets the most out of what hes got so ya never know .

... Coach Speed & Co. are/have been one of the best staffs at getting everything out of the Dragons over the years for sure ... other than Brody Buchanan Fairland will struggle offensively ... any move-ins? what does Fairland have in the younger grades? size? scoring help? probably won't get those answers until we tip things off later this Fall in late October ... Chesapeake looks to be the TEAM to beat in the OVC this season, Ironton, Portsmouth to follow ... I keep looking for Coal Grove to swing back into the picture as I really like Coach Vanderhoof ...

[RJShifko]

Looking to be a lot of Brody Buchanan this year for the Dragons. Would love to see Lochow and Fransen emerge as options to go along with Buchanan and Keegan Smith. Getting Polcyn back will help this team a lot. Depth will be an issue and not a ton of size. Nice to have Buchanan and Smith back tho. Excited to see what happens with guys stepping up

[pfloyd]

Looking to be a lot of Brody Buchanan this year for the Dragons. Would love to see Lochow and Fransen emerge as options to go along with Buchanan and Keegan Smith. Getting Polcyn back will help this team a lot. Depth will be an issue and not a ton of size. Nice to have Buchanan and Smith back tho. Excited to see what happens with guys stepping up

... Gabe Polcyn (6-1) is a good add ... not as big as graduated brother Jacob Polcyn (6-3'ish) , wish he would have played his first 3 years so he isn't getting a feel for the varsity game in his senior year BUT he played lots of hoops with Buchanan & the other seniors ... I remember watching the livestream of Fairland vs Ironton in the 8th grade championship game ... glad he's playing his senior year , if he brings the passing that big bro Jacob brought along with some offense - he'll be a good addition for the Dragons ...

[Dragonguy13]

Looking to be a lot of Brody Buchanan this year for the Dragons. Would love to see Lochow and Fransen emerge as options to go along with Buchanan and Keegan Smith. Getting Polcyn back will help this team a lot. Depth will be an issue and not a ton of size. Nice to have Buchanan and Smith back tho. Excited to see what happens with guys stepping up

... Gabe Polcyn (6-1) is a good add ... not as big as graduated brother Jacob Polcyn (6-3'ish) , wish he would have played his first 3 years so he isn't getting a feel for the varsity game in his senior year BUT he played lots of hoops with Buchanan & the other seniors ... I remember watching the livestream of Fairland vs Ironton in the 8th grade championship game ... glad he's playing his senior year , if he brings the passing that big bro Jacob brought along with some offense - he'll be a good addition for the Dragons ...

Dragons return 2 starters in Buchanon and Keegan Smith. The final 3 will likely be Lochow, Fransen, and Polcyn. They’ll need Lochow and Fransen to really step on offense but they are capable and both had tremendous summers playing together with a successful travel team. The real issue is getting Buchanon to learn to trust his guys. He’s going to see a lot of box and 1 and triangle and 2. His shooting and IQ are impeccable but he’s got to have a supporting cast. Bench strength is the biggest question mark. I think Jr Conner Black can help in all phases. Great athlete and aggressive on boards. After him, it’s a who’s who of what kid can/will step up.

[RJShifko]

I think Fairland will be in good hands with Buchanan having the ball in his hands a ton. Last year his shooting percentage was amongst the best in the league and I think his ability to set up his teammates off the dribble is solid. He does a great job passing the ball out of the top of the key and last year lead to several easy back door baskets and open looks for Allen last year I thought that combo was amongst the best in the area needing Lochow or Fransen to step into that role will be a must. Smith now becomes the second option and would love to see him be a guy who gives you 11-13 PPG

[pfloyd]

Looking to be a lot of Brody Buchanan this year for the Dragons. Would love to see Lochow and Fransen emerge as options to go along with Buchanan and Keegan Smith. Getting Polcyn back will help this team a lot. Depth will be an issue and not a ton of size. Nice to have Buchanan and Smith back tho. Excited to see what happens with guys stepping up

... Gabe Polcyn (6-1) is a good add ... not as big as graduated brother Jacob Polcyn (6-3'ish) , wish he would have played his first 3 years so he isn't getting a feel for the varsity game in his senior year BUT he played lots of hoops with Buchanan & the other seniors ... I remember watching the livestream of Fairland vs Ironton in the 8th grade championship game ... glad he's playing his senior year , if he brings the passing that big bro Jacob brought along with some offense - he'll be a good addition for the Dragons ...

Dragons return 2 starters in Buchanon and Keegan Smith. The final 3 will likely be Lochow, Fransen, and Polcyn. They’ll need Lochow and Fransen to really step on offense but they are capable and both had tremendous summers playing together with a successful travel team. The real issue is getting Buchanon to learn to trust his guys. He’s going to see a lot of box and 1 and triangle and 2. His shooting and IQ are impeccable but he’s got to have a supporting cast. Bench strength is the biggest question mark. I think Jr Conner Black can help in all phases. Great athlete and aggressive on boards. After him, it’s a who’s who of what kid can/will step up.

I think Fairland will be in good hands with Buchanan having the ball in his hands a ton. Last year his shooting percentage was amongst the best in the league and I think his ability to set up his teammates off the dribble is solid. He does a great job passing the ball out of the top of the key and last year lead to several easy back door baskets and open looks for Allen last year I thought that combo was amongst the best in the area needing Lochow or Fransen to step into that role will be a must. Smith now becomes the second option and would love to see him be a guy who gives you 11-13 PPG

... watched the Fairland vs Minford, Jackson ... Fairland looked as good as either of the Elite 8 teams with Jackson just getting players back from football and Minford from soccer runs ...

Fairland 20-17 over Minford
Fairland 16-9 over Jackson
Fairland 22-8 over Minford
Jackson 11-5 over Fairland
Fairland 17-10 over Jackson

... I was impressed with the offense of the Dragons - Buchanan ran the show but he spread the ball around - didn't force anything offensively ... Fransen/Smith/Lochow all scored the ball on the perimeter & at the rim, no hesitation - they looked for their shots/took them ... a BIG ADD imo is Gabe Polcyn - the senior hasn't played since the 8th grade but he has the instincts of a big inside - he has great hands/distributes the ball from the post position - not just passing the ball back to the perimeter - he has the vision to make the backdoor passes to the cutters ... the Dragon "inside" passing game is back ... this connection will keep getting better imo just as Polcyn will be a scoring threat as well on the interior and I think he will be able to hit that foul line jumper and foul line extended midrange jumper as he gets comfortable AND he will eventually take the baseline jumpers as he did in the 8th grade ... Fairland did not take a step backward as I thought they might - I was concerned as to where the scoring was going to come this year - Buchanan/Fransen/Smith/Lochow/Polcyn ... size is good SEO size - Polcyn 6-3/Fransen 6-3/Smith 6-3 ... some new to varsity lineup - Stephen Jones jr 6-4/ Maddox Gue jr 6-2 ... solid all around defense , they can push the ball in transition, finish in transition, strong on the boards ... length out of their bigs ... I look for the Dragons to move up the rankings , improve as the season goes along ... they open with North Adams on the road - this will be a good test for Coach Speed's Dragons ...

[pfloyd]

... good scrimmage for Fairland @ Meigs tomorrow (Thursday) evening! Meigs on paper IS the best team in SEO this season ... all levels are covered - size 6-8, 6-5, 6-5, 6-5, 6-6, 6-4, 6-2 out of their first 7 players ... length/strength in the paint/ perimeter scoring from 4-5 players including the 6-8 jr Carson Davis ... big test for the Dragons ... hopefully there will be some video on this one ...