what is the most overrated team in the top ten and who should be ranked higher

[Wraith]

The contenders......  BIC, Earle,  JC, Altheimer, Hughes, Bergman,(winning 3/4 against Valley).........   Pretenders......  Eudora, ECS, Valley, Pine(only bc their schedule has been considerably weak).

That is the true facts and I don't care what anyone says.

[ColonelReb]

i agree with that one

[wonderboys]

I don't know what the size is like for all the other teams, but I do know that a team like Bergman would be severely undersized against someone like James Anderson of JC. I think that if Bergman makes it to state they will make it to the round of 8, but they will not proceed any farther. That pains me to say that because that was home and I have family on the team, but as Wraith said those are facts and I don't care what anyone says.

[ColonelReb]

anyone facing a guy like that from JC is gonna have problems...any west team going against hughes against his BIG guy is gonna have problems. so i see where you come from!

[heathwaldrop]

And the thing about it is, Anderson is a guard. He isn't a big man and doesn't play in the post. He's a major mismatch problem for any team at the AA level.

[wonderboys]

I hope that Danville gets a chance to find that out for themselves. It will be fun.

[bballfan36]

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Quote Heathwaldrop: And the thing about it is, Anderson is a guard. He isn't a big man and doesn't play in the post. He's a major mismatch problem for any team at the AA level.


Yeah, pretty amazing, huh....you just have to see him to believe it.  No one can tell you how to play him - even a box defense doesn't work very well...sure hated JC didn't pull out the win Sat. night at Dual State.  They played so well until the Hopson (spelling?) kid got hurt.  To me that was the turning point in the game. 

[mossified4]

i disagree because all those teams that have weak conferences you should look at their out of coference play

[mossified4]

my contenders are bic, jc, mp , bergman, altheimer, and hughes and the pretenders are "WRAITH"

[ColonelReb]

fresh

I hope that Danville gets a chance to find that out for themselves. It will be fun.

[herws]

And the thing about it is, Anderson is a guard. He isn't a big man and doesn't play in the post. He's a major mismatch problem for any team at the AA level.

As good on offense as Anderson is, Kevin Brown matches up real well b/c he is a better defender than Anderson is. Brown is a super defender and matches up real well and that would be a fun one to watch. The coaches who have offered or seen Brown have all said he is a D1"defender" right now, he needs to work on his offensive game AND the exact opposite holds true for Anderson.

[heathwaldrop]

As good on offense as Anderson is, Kevin Brown matches up real well b/c he is a better defender than Anderson is.

Fill me in on Brown...I claim ignorance.

Anderson is a great defender above the rim, but I think he lacks the quickness to be the kind of defender that you're talking about. Of course he's a pretty true two guard and not a point (although he plays the point at JC quite a bit), so scouts aren't going to look at him in the same way that they would a point guard.

[herws]

Kevin Brown is 6'6 and is a junior at Hughes. He has D1's all over him. Ole Miss and Texas A&M showing the most interest right now. All the mid-major D1's have offered. He is very athletic and explosive and needs a little more work on his perimeter game to play SF at the college level. He has a great work ethic and will stay in the gym as long as you will let him. He plays AAU with the Wings and had a monster summer and if he focuses on a little more individual work this summer, will be in the same caliber player Anderson is, maybe better b/c Brown is already a better defender than Anderson.

[bballfan36]

I disagree...whatever you've seen of Anderson in the past, throw it out the window...he is playing at a whole different level now.  Defense is about the only area he might need to hone, and the fact that even averaging 31 points a game, he can be too unselfish at times and not take over enough.  In the local stats (El Do News-Times) not only has he amassed three times the points of any other player in this area, he has the third highest stats in assists.  While Kevin Brown may be a good player, you can not compare him to Anderson.  Have you seen him play lately?

There is an article in Hawgs Illustrated about Anderson titled "The Next Big Thing in Arkansas" dated Jan. 31st...if you're able, check it out. 

[heathwaldrop]

He plays AAU with the Wings and had a monster summer and if he focuses on a little more individual work this summer, will be in the same caliber player Anderson is, maybe better b/c Brown is already a better defender than Anderson.

I've got to say that even though I haven't seen Brown, it would be hard for me to imagine his being better or even as good as Anderson is. There's quite a bit of talk that Anderson might be the best player ever to come out of Arkansas. I saw him over the weekend and I can say without any reservation that he's the best high school player that I've ever seen play.

I saw only two holes in his game...the most obvious was endurance. Of course he plays nearly every minute and is all over the floor the entire time he's in there, but he did start sucking wind in the third period. Secondly was his defensive quickness. A couple of guys who play for Eudora are smaller and quicker and could dribble around Anderson. But as I said, he's relentless enough to get back into it and defends well above the rim...he blocked a number of shots when he appeared to have been beaten to the goal.

Of the players I've seen this year, Anderson would be far and away the best, followed by Solomon Bozeman (Magnolia), Jeremy Evans (Crossett), Bryan Sherrer (Monticello) and Jerome Richards (Dumas), in that order.

[herws]

Bballfan, You don't worry about who or what I have seen. Just know that I know. Period.

[bballfan36]

In his weekly recruiting column for Hawgs Illustrated and The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, Dudley E. Dawson writes about Junction City junior basketball player James Anderson (6-6, 190) and how he is likely the next big thing in Arkansas :

"The 16-year-old is the most "complete" player I have seen in Arkansas in a long, long time and yes that includes Corliss Williamson, Joe Johnson and Ronnie Brewer.  While he may or may not have as good a college or NBA careers as they have/will, he is solid in all facets of the game.

Anderson has outstanding athleticism, can shoot the 3, has a mid-range game, hits nearly 90 percent of his free throws, dribbles it equally well with both hands, creates his own shot, can take it to the rack, is an excellent passer and gets after it defensively.

While not very talkative, he's also as humble as they come."

[herws]

That's a good post if I would have said he wasn't good. But to say he would dominate Kevin Brown is a stretch. That's my point behind all of this.

[John M.]

I would like to see the matchup.I've seen Brown play and agree he has a tremendous upside.His biggest weakness in the games I've seen is not slapping the snot out of his teammates and screaming "give me the dang ball."

It would be nice to see if Anderson can dominate someone his own size.That's always my concern with someone 6'6" or taller at a small school.Sure they can score on a 6'1" guy but how do they respond if they are eyeball to eyeball with the defender.

[herws]

Size wise and athletically, it is an even match. You have one players strength being offense and the other defense. I can tell you this much, Anderson hasn't matched up with a Kevin Brown caliber player this year. Maybe in AAU but not this basketball season, that is what makes this match-up so inticing.

[-Painted Fan-]

I heard Dudley say on the radio that Dual State was loaded with scouts- Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss, LSU.  He listed around 8-10 schools that were there.

[herws]

As for bballfaN36 and my knowledge of things outside of Hughes. ...Son, I have more knowledge in one of my bitten off fingernails than you will ever have.  If I hurt your feelings I am sorry. I forgot Rivals AND Scout are what determines a quality player. If you think I am wrong, then ask people on this board that have seen Kevin Brown and they will tell you the same. I guess SEC and Big 12 schools recruiting this kid are wrong too.

I know about all the good players in this state b/c I know more coaches on the high school and collegiate level than your high school coach.Played the game on the collegiate level as well.  And by the way, Rakestraw isn't on Kevin Brown's level but Sanchez and Anderson are better at this point and time, but if Brown was Sanchez's height, he woudldbe more intruiging b/c he plays harder and would be a collegiate post player. Right now he isn't projected as such b/c he is 6'6. So put your lip back in and hold your head up. You ran with old heads as long as you could but now it is time to get tucked in.

[heathwaldrop]

It would be nice to see if Anderson can dominate someone his own size.That's always my concern with someone 6'6" or taller at a small school.Sure they can score on a 6'1" guy but how do they respond if they are eyeball to eyeball with the defender.

Unh-uh. I anticipated this question when I saw him on Saturday. It's got nothing to do with what the other players are doing...seeing him play answers the questions. For instance, in two straight games I don't think he missed a free throw (maybe one) and he went to the line I'd guess close to 30 times in those two games alone. He is not just a good shooter, but a superlative one and can hit lonnnng range treys even while double-teamed. His mid-range jumper is flawless. He's incredibly athletic and elevates well.

But beyond all of that, what you see in Anderson is basketball instinct. I've seen a number of D-I players at the high-school level in my eight years of covering the sport and I've seen none who have the kind of innate understanding of the game that he obviously has.

I don't think that Anderson would be scoring points at the kind of rate that he is currently if he consistently faced similar-sized guards with similar athletic ability...but sheesh, how often is that going to happen in high school at any level? He might not be averaging 35 points, 14 boards, six steals and four blocked shots a game, but at any other school, he most certainly would be an impact player regardless of the defense he would face.

[amehr36]

The thing that stood out to me the most about James (ive seen him play in 4 games....all in dual state this year),  is that he seems to be able to draw fouls like noone ive ever seen.  Im not a huge bball fan so what i say may mean nothing to some of you, but i watched him time and time again be double teamed but still bust through and put up a one handed shot under the rim and get fouled (or some other amazing out of nowhere shot).  Then once he gets to the FT line he makes around 90 %.  He will score if he wants to plain and simple...his D was pretty good too, he had quite a few blocks.  Watching him i thought to myself, at any time this could turn into a highlight play, and it did several times.  Do you think he could go pro straight out of HS like Lebron??  (This question is directed to people who have actually seen James play)

[herws]

Unless he is 19  at the time he has to go to prep school or college due to the new age limit.

[heathwaldrop]

Do you think he could go pro straight out of HS like Lebron??

Even if the rules allowed it anymore, I doubt it. He definitely couldn't right now. I'm not sure how much more developed he will be in a year, but I just couldn't see it happening. Most of those guys who jumped straight to the NBA were bigger. It's been widely circulated that Anderson is 6-6 or 6-7, but after seeing him on Saturday I'd guess him to be closer to 6-4. Not only that, but the guys who went straight to the NBA played much tougher competition on a regular basis than what Anderson is seeing.

He's a phenomenal player though.

[herws]

Herws - don't even go there with me...you obviously are a big Kevin Brown fan, and could quite possibly BE him, and you most certainly love your Hughes team, and that's fine. You are entitled to your opinion, and I am going to have mine. Since ALL you ever talk about is Hughes, maybe you need to get out more. There are many other good players in the state, but none so heavily recruited right now in the junior class as Anderson, Sanchez, and Rakestraw. Since you have no valid points to back up your statements, let me give you some straight from the article I mentioned earlier. Personally, I like the last part about being humble the best....

James Anderson is the best in the state and I carry his banner, but I don't have to leave Hughes to see another D1 player named Kevin Brown who just dropped 40 on Altheimer. From now on, you believe what I say when I say it and you will be all right. This kids play tonight VALIDATES EVERYTHING I say about him and the people that have seen him play will tell you the same. Don't quote me a story from a newswriter when I have seen more basketball players and games than you have taken "poops" since you have been born. I know what I am talking about.

Evidently you need to get out more b/c you only know what you see on here and Rivals.

[John M.]

Well it looks like they're finally pounded the ball inside.But they still lost at home?

[herws]

I am puzzled myself..................

[Nash Fan]

No player in Arkansas has a chance at the NBA draft out of high school.  That is totally ludicrous.

[Wraith]

Agreed.  I think we all know that.  And I personally think Sanchez is overrated.  Look what his team does?  If he was as good as they say he is.  He could carry his team and have more than 7 wins......

[wonderboys]

Agreed. I think we all know that. And I personally think Sanchez is overrated. Look what his team does? If he was as good as they say he is. He could carry his team and have more than 7 wins......

I haven't ever seen him, but I have HEARD the same thing Wraith.

[mossified4]

what do yall think of mountain pine now that they have beat a great team are they still overated or have we proven ourselves