lightle04 wrote:And that move which is an hour and 20 min closer to Manchester than the Convo was responsible for a 16 point blow out. That might be the dumbest thing I have read on SEOP ! SMH !
I don't think it is that dumb of a statement. Manchester had played great basketball at the Convo over the years so I would say playing at Waverly instead of the Convo may have affected them some. Did it cost them the game? I don't know about that but it definitely affected their game and shooting.
But wouldn't it be the same effect on Eastern ? It's not like they Manchester played all year at the Convo then had to move to Waverly. I'm not trying to be a jerk . I'm just saying it didn't favor either team it in fact was closer for the Hounds by alot to play at Waverly. Eastern on that night plain and simple wore them out doesn't mean they would have done it every time but excuses like his is silly. It would be like saying Eastern got screwed cause they played Afrocentric at Logan that's why they lost. NO they lost cause Afrocentric was better. Same as Eastern was better than Manchester that night.
streetballer wrote:Eastern beat manchester last year with help from ohsaa...last year and this year is totally diff years...fairfield has a darn good chance of beatin eastern..should be a good game
While I agree it was ridiculous of the OHSAA to schedule it there....your grapes are too sour.
Don't care about last year. I like our cross county rivals in this one though. Too much Lands, Pickett, Lightle, Murphy, and that crazy tough defense. Williams may get his, but gonna be hard to shut down all the Eastern scorers. Look for Pickett to feast in this one. Good Luck Eagles!!!!
lightle04 wrote:But wouldn't it be the same effect on Eastern ? It's not like they Manchester played all year at the Convo then had to move to Waverly. I'm not trying to be a jerk . I'm just saying it didn't favor either team it in fact was closer for the Hounds by alot to play at Waverly. Eastern on that night plain and simple wore them out doesn't mean they would have done it every time but excuses like his is silly. It would be like saying Eastern got screwed cause they played Afrocentric at Logan that's why they lost. NO they lost cause Afrocentric was better. Same as Eastern was better than Manchester that night.
Don't think you are being a jerk. IMO Manchester played a lot more games at the Convo over the last 3 years and played well. Kind of like their home away from home but enough of that. I think EP and FF will be a great game. This is two of the better teams in the tournament playing in the first game. I will take EP by 4
For what it's worth, I do believe it was a disadvantage to Manchester. As many times as they had played there over the past few years it was almost like a 2nd home court for the seniors. I think someone last year had commented about how hard it would be to beat any team that had the shooting % they did. Now, I'm not saying they would have won if it weren't played at Waverly, but I do think it would have been a more even. Did Stricklett have something to do with the game being at Waverly? Heard he was the one who made the suggestion to OHSAA but of course that could be just a rumor.
Anywho, for this game I think it depends on which Fairfield team shows up. If they bring the A game I think they will win by 4 or 5, however if they don't, EP will win by 12+
Last edited by airforcejm on Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
No arguement! Eastern showed up at a neutral floor, and won the game. I think we will find out if Eastern has what it takes to go deep in the tourney after this one. This won't be a cake walk for either team.
IF this Fairfield team plays as well as everyone says they are capable of the Eagles might be in trouble, otherwise they are still a .500 ball club who has had ups and downs this year.
Ironman92 wrote:Why would Stricklett favor Eastern Pike over Manchester?
I didn't mean for it to sound like I was accusing Stricklett of helping EP. IF he did make the suggestion, I highly doubt it was to favor either team. Maybe OSHAA came up with the idea on their own, who knows.
Eastern is a matchup nightmare for alot of teams . Especially in D-4 around our area. They can put 5 players on the floor at once that an handle and creat shoots for there selfs or team mates not many teams have 5 solid defenders. And if zoned can shoot the 3 with the best . Lands,Lightle,Pickett all have put up 30+ in a game in there careers. Thacker,Fultz and Phipps can shoot the lights out. But there staple is defense there commitment to defense is what makes them go. I hope they can win Tuesday but I know Fairfield is a great team from a great league. Good luck Eagles you know what it takes to win and advance . Go get'em boys !!
I saw the Fairfield vs White Oak Sect. game at Valley recently. Fairfield is solid and has #11, Williams that can flat play the game. Handles the ball well and averages more than 20+ per game. Is a streaky shooter. Talked to his grandfather at the game and he said the kid had 4 pts. in first half of a game and then scored 28 the second half. They also have some size underneath in the Bates kid who can also score. If Lands and Pickett play their "A" game to cancel Williams and Bates, Eastern has a Good chance to win if the other kids can play the "D" and score a few. I've only seen Eastern play once this year and they play great Defense. Should get your monies worth at this game.
... this will be an interesting "clash" of teams ... Eastern Pike passed my "eye test" after the mid point of the season - a solid basketball team with 4 players averaging double digits per game Colten Lightle, Chad Lands, Tavares Pickett, Josh Thacker ... Coach Fitch's Eagles play great fundamentally sound defense ... a very, very good basketball team ... Fairfield Leesburg was on my radar in the preseason. I had ranked Fairfield in my top 8 teams in the preseason BUT they never lived up to the rankings and fell rapidly into the TreeHugger list - which team shows Tuesday night at the Convo? Elite 8 Fairfield or TreeHugger Fairfield ? I'll be in the Cheap Seats at the Convo to see the action Tuesday night to find out ...
This will be a fun game PFloyd ! If the Eagles continue to play solid defense they are hard to keep up with. Lots of teams can score but defense wins at tourney time. Lets go Eagles let's "D" those boys up and advance !!
