SOC 2 LEAGUE PROJECTIONS

[Blitz]

Heard Roberts is twice the ball player he was last season

i've heard the same... had a good AAU run in off season

[DcP3407]

[/quote]
Pretty nice run down. I am surprised you left out Stanley 6' 5" (sr) and Swords 6' 3"(jr) for Burg. Stanley is physically unmatched and probably in the running for football MVP and Swords is raw but very athletic. Both will be issues for every team in the SOC
[/quote]

Hard for me to anticipate them having much of an impact, I haven't seen them play too many varsity minutes. They may do great things. Same thing with some of the kids from Minford and Webster that will need to fill voids on their teams. Not a ton of varsity experience, but could definitely be difference makers.
Like it was said earlier on this thread, I think the experience factor gives Valley an edge #'s 1-5, but after that its a drop off. It will definitely be an interesting and fun season. I think it is possible the "best" team may not be the "best" team until February.

[Valenth]

WOW! OakHill does not even get ranked in their own league!

I was getting ready to say...Im pretty Sure Oak Hill is in SOC 2

[The Ghost of Swanker]

I got the Oaks beating Valley this season. You heard it here first 10-27-22

[FatBoy]

in june two posts did not even list oakhill in projections! SOC2

[Blitz]

Pretty nice run down. I am surprised you left out Stanley 6' 5" (sr) and Swords 6' 3"(jr) for Burg. Stanley is physically unmatched and probably in the running for football MVP and Swords is raw but very athletic. Both will be issues for every team in the SOC
[/quote]

Hard for me to anticipate them having much of an impact, I haven't seen them play too many varsity minutes. They may do great things. Same thing with some of the kids from Minford and Webster that will need to fill voids on their teams. Not a ton of varsity experience, but could definitely be difference makers.
Like it was said earlier on this thread, I think the experience factor gives Valley an edge #'s 1-5, but after that its a drop off. It will definitely be an interesting and fun season. I think it is possible the "best" team may not be the "best" team until February.
[/quote]
I agree Valley definitely the favorite. Depth is a major concern for them. Really depth is the major concern for Minford and Webster too. Depth will definitely be Burg's strength. burg's top 1-2 guys are not as talented as as the other 3 mentioned but will go 10 deep with no drop off. Size is also a huge strength for Burg they can go 6'1", 6'1", 6'3", 6'4", 6'5" with the last three guys all being in the 1200-1400 lb. club in the weight room. I see a lot of zone play... slow rough ugly games with the scores under 40.

[ItownFootball]

I have heard from many different sources that Jeffrey bishop has a trainer that used to be in the NBA. Has been working with him all off-season and has improved tremendously. I see him averaging close to 25 while being one of the top defenders in the league.

[Blitz]

Haven't seen much about how scrimmages have been going. Any updates on the SOC teams so far? I haven't been able to see either of Burg's games so far. Heard they won vs ISJ and lost to Fairland and won pretty handily against ND last night. don't have any specifics though. How is everyone else looking so far?

[The Ghost of Swanker]

How we lookin

[Blitz]

My Prediction
1. Burg
2. Minford
3. Valley
4. Northwest
5. Webster
6. West
7. Eastern
8. Waverly
9. Oak Hill

It was mentioned in the other thread about finding the preseason picks... I'm feeling pretty good about mine!!... I really thought the last game of the year was going to decide it... credit Minford for not stumbling at all in conference staying clean this year is impressive!

[Blitz]

1 Valley
2 West
3 Minford
4 SW
5 Oak Hill
6 Wheelersburg
7 Northwest
8 Waverly
9 Eastern

I think Minford and Valley will struggle rebounding the ball and playing interior defense without Zimmerman and Stuart. The big kid Stewart that came off the bench for Valley will need to be a factor. He’s had health issues. If he doesn’t play well they are in trouble. Teams will run another guard at Montgomery and get the ball out of his hands. I’m not sure he will have enough help.

Not sold on Webster’s backcourt. I think they have several decent players and the big boy. Not sure they are ready.

OH has 2 good players.
Could be the least talented Wheelersburg team in years.
NW has a couple decent players

West will surprise. They were playing good ball at the end of the year. Will be a solid defensive team with lots of athleticism. Sissel is a load underneath. Tipton and Bishop are 2 of the better athletes in the league. Irwin and Fike are solid players.

I do not know much about West but I take your word on it seeing your from there. I don't think I caught one of their games last year. Perhaps their football success spills over to basketball???

I do not think Minford will struggle with rebounding - Shoemaker is big body, Kayser has good size, and the Hannah kid has the height if he gets a little stronger. I do think that they rely too heavily on Montgomery , as evident in the tournament when they lost to Burg, so they will need someone else to step up and score if they want to win the league.

I do agree that Valley is more than likely the favorite, however, I think they are going to have a few losses. They have shooters and they are going to try to generate offense by way of their defense and press.

Webster is going to be a strong contender this year. Roberts just presents a mismatch against any team they play. It just depends on how much help he has and how willing he is to allow teammates to help. He definitely has the skill and size to take over any game this year.

Wheelersburg will surprise some people. I think they will find a way to finish in the top 3 of the league. They return a few starters from last years district championship team(Schwamburger, Wright, and Estep), Arthurs returns from injury, and they have a few freshman that I think will contribute more and more as the season goes on. Like Waverly and Eastern, Burg has a new coach this year, so it will be interesting to see if there are some changes to philosophy/gameplay.

I do not know much about Eastern . Seen some of the stuff the new coach has put on social media and he seems to be generating some positive energy in Beaver.

Same with Waverly - New coach and I am not real familiar with their program - Only that from what I remember seeing, their Jv and jr high groups have been pretty weak and that it hurts them losing the younger Robertson kid.

Northwest - Litz is a player, but I think you need more than one player to compete for a league title.

My picks:

1 Valley
2 Minford
3 -Tie - SW and Burg
4 West
5 Northwest
6 Oak Hill
7 Eastern
8 Waverly

I would not be surprised if Valley, Minford, SW or Burg would win the Leauge.

Something else to think about with most of these teams playing in the football playoffs - How far they make it (this has always hurt Burg) and also how far they make it in the Soccer playoffs- - Many of these athletes we talk about in Basketball play a fall sport and with the way the SOC schedule is, an early loss/upset can easily happen.

Pretty nice run down. I am surprised you left out Stanley 6' 5" (sr) and Swords 6' 3"(jr) for Burg. Stanley is physically unmatched and probably in the running for football MVP and Swords is raw but very athletic. Both will be issues for every team in the SOC

these two paragraphs aged pretty well

[The Ghost of Swanker]

as long as Burg comes out of fall sports without major injuries they will be right there for the SOC title as always. This will be one of the strongest biggest rosters at burg in a while. This will be the most physical team in the SOC by a wide margin. No superstar but very deep look for 8-10 kids in the rotation. Don't sleep on Prater in his first year he knows these kids well. I fully expect an SOC title and another deep run in the playoffs

Nailed it

[LetsRide]

1 Valley
2 West
3 Minford
4 SW
5 Oak Hill
6 Wheelersburg
7 Northwest
8 Waverly
9 Eastern

I think Minford and Valley will struggle rebounding the ball and playing interior defense without Zimmerman and Stuart. The big kid Stewart that came off the bench for Valley will need to be a factor. He’s had health issues. If he doesn’t play well they are in trouble. Teams will run another guard at Montgomery and get the ball out of his hands. I’m not sure he will have enough help.

Not sold on Webster’s backcourt. I think they have several decent players and the big boy. Not sure they are ready.

OH has 2 good players.
Could be the least talented Wheelersburg team in years.
NW has a couple decent players

West will surprise. They were playing good ball at the end of the year. Will be a solid defensive team with lots of athleticism. Sissel is a load underneath. Tipton and Bishop are 2 of the better athletes in the league. Irwin and Fike are solid players.

This post aged like fine wine I see…