Kentucky High School Basketball Christmas Wish List
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is on Tuesday, there are 30 Christmas tournaments happening around the state this week and there are even more tournaments coming next week. With the holiday spirit in mind, I’ve come…
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Continue ReadingIt’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is on Tuesday, there are 30 Christmas tournaments happening around the state this week and there are even more tournaments coming next week. With the holiday spirit in mind, I’ve come up with my own Christmas list of what I’d like to see in Kentucky basketball over the course of the season and into the future. Hopefully I’ve made the nice list and some of these could come true.
- The KHSAA adopts a 35 second shot clock. Yes people present a million reasons why there can’t be a shot clock in high school. “It costs too much; No one can work it; We don’t want it; etc” but as an AAU coach I have been lucky enough to play with a shot clock in multiple events. It doesn’t affect the game as much as people think. This July I coached 4 games with a 30 second shot clock and I don’t think we had to take a rushed shot even one time. Fans don’t want to watch stall ball anymore. Faster pace of play should benefit everyone.
- Every district uses seeding and not a draw. The draw makes playing district games pointless in the regular season. The small schools say it levels the playing field but that’s the only way for many of them to make the regional tournament (drawing another small team) but I would say that some of these coaches should have enough faith in their coaching abilities to look forward to playing the bigger schools and showing their abilities on the sidelines. It seems like the few districts left who draw are doing so because of coaches praying for a good draw instead of getting the fourth seed and facing the best team in their district to get to the regional.
- The Class of 2020 steps their game up. The Junior class as a whole has been lamented as being a big letdown as both a recruiting class and on the state level. The class of 2019 has spoiled us as they have been so loaded and producing at a high level for years now. There is talent in the 2020 class but the time has come to show that there are more than a handful of college prospects and there is quality depth across the state in the Junior class.
- Someone rises to challenge Scott County. After only a few weeks of regular season, Scott County is the very heavy state title favorite and has been rolling over their competition. Many of their individual stats are down because they’re sitting most of the second half in a lot of games. They resemble Alabama football right now. So they need a team to play the role of Clemson and look capable of knocking the Cardinals off. Covington Catholic has been disappointing early and Trinity may not have the firepower to keep up with Scott County. I have no issue with Scott winning the state title (they are the best team) but I’d like to see them face some tough challenges on the way.
- The State Tournament gets a good draw – Last season, Scott County and Trinity faced off in round 1 while both teams were capable of making the Final 4 or deeper. That’s the risk we run with a draw for the Sweet Sixteen. I’m not requesting we get rid of the draw. I don’t mind the draw. It may sound hypocritical to keep the draw for state but eliminate it for districts, but that’s how I feel. I’m hoping that this season we have the 7th and 11th regions on opposite sides of the bracket. I’m hopeful that we can avoid a 14th versus 16th match-up on the opening night at Rupp and could see a Final 4 on Saturday where any of the teams is a legitimate threat to win it all.
- Kentucky basketball continues to be on the rise. The state’s basketball talent continues to improve and be noticed on a national level. Hopefully that trend continues. On the national level, Kentucky is looked down upon because we don’t turn out high major players all the time but our state is starting to have young men show up in the national Top 100 rankings and our AAU programs are getting recognized in the summer. Scott County is nationally ranked by some services. Hopefully basketball continues on an upward trajectory for Kentucky and our state gets the respect it deserves nationally.