I have seen a LOT of hoops this season ... lots of teams ESPECIALLY those teams in the top 30 of the rankings ... when you see teams early in the season you get an impression of their potential by seasons end ... Logan at the beginning of the season wasn't even a "team" on the court ... totally lost at both ends of the court ... watching Logan play you visually knew the progression of teaching/learning in practices by Coach Kellough - Defense was first on the menu of what needed to be done ... preseason/early part of the season WAS devoted to teaching the kids how to play the game of defense - learn the concepts/learn where they were supposed to be & why ... from the stands you could see the kids "thinking" every trip an opponent made down court ... thinking & playing don't mix ... offensively - no one knew their roles , there was definitely talent but knowing what to do with that talent in the TEAM concept - not there ... each game from the cheap seats you could see less thinking more reacting , the teaching/learning was taking hold ... close calls with solid teams early, games Above the Lancaster-Dixon Line had the kids beginning to believe that DEFENSE was in fact the key to winning games ... as the team struggled offensively Coach K was developing each player's role as a part of the team - the youngsters were becoming comfortable with the speed/strength of the varsity game - perimeter scoring roles, defensive roles, inside people were learning what they COULD DO and what they COULD NOT DO ... by January 1 the framework for a TEAM came together - the thinking on the court had been replaced by reacting naturally to situations ... in January a strange phrase called BASKETBALL MATURITY was seen ... on court "control" of situations was seen ... on Saturday night the complete package had finally arrived - On court maturity, role players doing what their roles required nothing out of control, offensive/defensive EXECUTION was seen for the first time in a long time ... Logan had arrived ... without hesitation Logan is THE team which has shown the most improvement in ALL phases of the game from game 1 to Saturday night's game with Warren Below the Line this season ... with the losses by ALL but Unioto/Lucasville Valley this past week Logan has earned it's jump into the Elite 8 this week imo ... now if the we could just have a "season do-over " beginning where we are now ! even those games vs the teams up North would be great matchups imo ...
Congratulations to Coach K & the Purple ... Lane Little PG/scorer/leader , Cole Baron (defense, defense and more defense), Sam Evans (scorer/rebounder/ probably the BIGGEST growth in skills & maturity on the team) Isaiah Smith (senior leadership/inside presence/learned to become a bb player this year), Kory Henthorne (the BIG MAN in the middle, has learned/is learning to play the post position, another summer of footwork - look out , the paint will be his), the youngsters ! - the freshmen > Bo Myers ( Mr. 3-ball), Caleb Bell (3 ball/ballhandling/defense) , Caiden Landis ( inside vs the opponent's big/spelling Henthorne) ... truly a team having grown into a TEAM this season ... thanks for letting us share from the Cheap Seats !!!
