Can Johnstown Be Beaten

[captain earth]

Good point.

[lhac warrior]

Honestly does anyone think Johnstown can be beaten this year?

Johnstown definitely has the potential to go all the way but they lack the coaching to do that... and how strong is the lhac to prepare them for the better teams along the road in the playoffs?

[theerunningback]

First of all no coach is going to keep track of these kids 24/7. Second, their last two coaches quit on them, so why are we bashing someone who is so willing to put in his time. I admitted that someone stretched so thin was not ideal, but he does have the resume for the job, so let's give him a chance. There is a school called Aliquippa a little west of here, where the same guy is the head football and basketball coach. They do all right. I still think someone in the school is important, the teachers aren't going to care whether the kids stay eligible. I know that coaches work with kids off-season, and as far as I know, Cobaugh coached them in a summer league in Indiana and is having open gyms.

We have had three open gyms so far. One in which no coaches were there just formal players at Johnstown letting them play full court. In the words of the great Head Coach Neil Cobaugh, "we will not run any plays this year, we are just going to press and the crowd and fans are going to love it.

So much for a good resume.......

[LHAC Titan]

We have had three open gyms so far. One in which no coaches were there just formal players at Johnstown letting them play full court. In the words of the great Head Coach Neil Cobaugh, "we will not run any plays this year, we are just going to press and the crowd and fans are going to love it.

So much for a good resume.......

If this is true this does not look good for the upcoming season at Johnstown. Since Johnstown has joined the LHAC I would imagine 95% of the time they see zone defensively. If there is no strategic attack then they will be in close games with a fairly young team and a first time head coach. This could be good news to the rest of the LHAC.

[Crimson09Crazy]

if Johnstown doesnt run plays...wow. thatd be some dumb. You cant have 5 high school players on the court with no order or no spacing. In Basketball you need to have floor spacing, and you need to know where to be on the court. Not running direct plays is okay...you can get away with that. But you need patterns like a motion offense or cutting offense so people at least have a spot to be and are making the right cuts. This isnt AAU and the NBA. In High School basketball you need order and a purpose.

So if he thinks he is just going to press and cause mayhem and win......Whats his answer when they play teams with good guards that can dribble right through it?

[lhac warrior]

if Johnstown doesnt run plays...wow. thatd be some dumb. You cant have 5 high school players on the court with no order or no spacing. In Basketball you need to have floor spacing, and you need to know where to be on the court. Not running direct plays is okay...you can get away with that. But you need patterns like a motion offense or cutting offense so people at least have a spot to be and are making the right cuts. This isnt AAU and the NBA. In High School basketball you need order and a purpose.

So if he thinks he is just going to press and cause mayhem and win......Whats his answer when they play teams with good guards that can dribble right through it?

These guys have been playin together since they were kids... they have the chemistry to Orchestrate and offense without plays. Its like another game on the playground they love things like this now they have more freedom to do what they do best.

[lhac warrior]

classic streetball

[I wear stripes]

These guys have been playin together since they were kids... they have the chemistry to Orchestrate and offense without plays. Its like another game on the playground they love things like this now they have more freedom to do what they do best.

This is by far the most ridiculous statement I have heard. If you watch college basketball 90% of the major programs in the country, players come from inner city kids. That grew up playing street ball and AAU and everything else that may give a lot of freedom. Now why does UNC, PITT, WVU, UCLA, KENTUCKY and KANSAS of the world run plays, and have a system. When their players are more accustom to playing street ball? Well DUH the game is not played that way, when you add in referees and scouting, and let’s think actual coaches. And these are the best players in the country and they run plays and have structure. But you know Johnstown has to much talent to run plays and have structure, give me a break this is just crazy, if this is the approach of this coach at Johnstown fire him ASAP.

[lhac warrior]

These guys have been playin together since they were kids... they have the chemistry to Orchestrate and offense without plays. Its like another game on the playground they love things like this now they have more freedom to do what they do best.

This is by far the most ridiculous statement I have heard. If you watch college basketball 90% of the major programs in the country, players come from inner city kids. That grew up playing street ball and AAU and everything else that may give a lot of freedom. Now why does UNC, PITT, WVU, UCLA, KENTUCKY and KANSAS of the world run plays, and have a system. When their players are more accustom to playing street ball? Well DUH the game is not played that way, when you add in referees and scouting, and let’s think actual coaches. And these are the best players in the country and they run plays and have structure. But you know Johnstown has to much talent to run plays and have structure, give me a break this is just crazy, if this is the approach of this coach at Johnstown fire him ASAP.

those aare all true statements but.. but none of those players or teams have been built like this team.. and quite frankly your forgetting this is high school basketball where the competition is less intense... these players have been together for x amount of years they know eachother well they know how to play as a unit

[LHAC Titan]

lhac warrior,

It is pretty apparent that you don't know much about high school basketball or about how teams are put together.

I remember 5 years ago watching Lebron's high school basketball games on ESPN and watching them run almost a Princeton style offense with open post 4 out 1 in sets and back screening the weak side for lobs. Now that team played together for along time and was very good and they had a system and ran multiple sets. No one on the Johnstown team is better than anyone on that team and they were very structured in a half court setting.

Also to make the statement that high school basketball is not intense is false as well. Johnstown has talent and has a group that I believe has the chance to play basketball in college. Well what happens when a college coach comes in the gym and sees the players that do not know how to play in a structured system. Don't know how to execute an offense or for that matter play in a team setting. Because to be honest street ball has nothing to do with team. You’re going to have a bunch of players with a whole lot of talent that is not going to get college looks because of a coach not implementing structure. I can guarantee you that 3 years from now there will be no scholarships on the table if that is the way they play.

I doubt any coach in there right mind would say anything of the sort about not running sets. No matter how bad of a coach you maybe no one coach is that BAD. What about out of bounds plays? What about end of quarter, and game plays. What about a stall offense, or plays to utilize your best player scoring potential. No I can't believe any coach would say such a thing and if he did then shame on him.