5A conf descriptions

[Vteagle]

It is always a good read this time of year when the tournament begins!  To read what each person has to say about their team and to read the friendly bantering that takes place and the seriousness from others.  I would ask each person to describe their entire conf as a whole?  I hope u understand?

It is my belief that the 5A west has a lot of athletic talent but besides Vilonia, There is not a lot of height.  3 of the 5A teams in the playoffs like a more up tempo game!  As has been said about the other divisions.....ALOT of parity in the West.  Clarksville started 0-3 in conf and made the tournament!  That is amazing!

Hit me with some comments and insight!

[Vteagle]

Just thought of this as well....if I am not mistaken, Clarksville (boys) beat each one of the 5A West teams that finished ahead of them!  A lot of pairity out of the West!

[MaumelleHawg]

No, Maumelle beat C'ville by 1 at their place and by 20 in Maumelle.

The trip to Clarksville was a great game and atmosphere for HS ball! they packed the house the night the Hornets were in town!

Maumelle likes to set the pace, up and down the court as fast as anyone will run with them.  Their weakness is shooting over the zone, we don't utilize the 3 ball nearly as much as others in the west!  There are some serious shooters in the west!  The teams that MHS struggled with were the teams that shot the ball well from deep and stayed in a tight 2/3  3/2 zone.  MHS should be OK with White Hall, but you never, I think the Daniel Sprinkle plays there and he's got to be a beast inside with his size!  My son told me that WH likes to go to 4 corners when they get a lead, we will see tonight.

Making the trip to Paragould this afternoon about 4:00.  Will catch as many games as I can today!

GO Hornets!

[hotspringshog]

Hot Springs Trojans like to run the floor.  We play lots of full court man to man with a trap every now and then.  We don't play much zone unless the other team just can't shoot.

We don't have lots of size if any but we do have Clarence "Cleo" Floyd the leading rebounder in the conference last year.  He's about 6'1, has an offer from Memphis for football and has a motor that never quits.  He's one of those kids that just has a knack for finding the ball.   

We got knocked out in the second round last year so hopefully having some experience this year will pay off. This is my son's senior year and its exciting and sad at the same time thinking about watching these games coming up.  Gonna be kind of strange sitting there watching and thinking this could be the last time my son plays high school ball.

Would be a dream come true to see the Trojans make it back home to play for it all.

Good luck to all the teams.  Safe travels to all!

[Burks]

5A Central boys by far is the most athletic conference. All four coaches have coached in State Championships already. I look for the Central to sweep the East. Other than the 6A State the 5A will be very entertaining. McClellan and Mills are pressing uptempo teams. Jacksonville plays tough half court man. Fair likes to play a little slower by controlling tempo. This conference is also young, look for total dominance from this conference next season.

[Grond]

Well, here is a view from the 5A East:

1) Valley View - Conference champion, good defense, well coached, EXCELLENT free throw shooters*.......um, they lost to JA Fair in first game. 

4) Nettleton -  Scrappy 4th place, play hard, and.................they lost, too. 

That leaves 2) Forrest City and 3) Paragould, who are very similar. They are not "teams"; they are a combination of scorers and defenders. Too many players that are strong on one end, but not on the other; which means half the time the 'specialist' players are an asset, and at the other end of the court they are a liability. These teams live by the '3', and die by the '3'.

The truth is, the 5A East is down this year. NO TEAM has a dominant post player. Frankly, I give Forrest City and Paragould a less than 50% chance of making the second round. But I am still cheering for them. 

* - Valley View had a chance to win or tie, and missed BOTH freethrows. Highly unusual for Valley, but that is why they make you shoot them.

[Ponca]

WEST in order of who I wouldn't want to play.

Clarksville made late season run with best player playing on one wheel. If he's back 100%, they are best team in West... playing as a 4 seed. He should be conference player of year. Hot Springs has their hands full. Clarksville looks very average in warm-ups. You think you're gonna roll them. Then they run dribble-drive kick-out offense that Alma made famous. Very difficult to defend. And they rebound.

Maumelle is probably best defensive team in state in any classification. Not the best offensive team. Very much like their football team. As the game goes on, their defense becomes their offense and they start getting easy buckets.

Vilonia has combination of size and high IQ good-shooting guards. Tough to defend. One big guy outshines the other two. You collapse on them, their guards light you up from 3. Not quick and susceptible to the press.

Morrilton just spreads you out in 4-up and tries to take you one-on-one. When they're clicking, it works. When they're not, it doesn't. Nothing but dribble-drive or the 3. Not many assists. Can stroke the 3. Guard #23