Well its another disappointing end to another pitiful basketball season for the Westside Renegades and as a fan of Wyoming County sports I must say it totally sucks! It has to suck more for those full blooded Renegade fans who for the first few years of their existance was use to seeing their team be winners, but now days just suck. Alot of people are telling me it's cause of lack of talent and maybe it is true? BUT I think its cause of the lack of talent on the coaches part, everyone says "Nick is a good young coach", well they must be seeing something that I dont? In his years of being a head coach he hasnt once made Charleston yet. I mean sure last year everyone could understand why he didnt get no where, but the year before that he had enough talent with Blankenship and Bailey among others to make it. And then this year was just one big disappointment, with a team that should have been alot better than last years team cause they gathered experience but then they only win a game or two more than last season! I mean to lose to an Indy team who aint that good, I mean c'mon Westside beat them by 30 the first time and then by 10 or so the second time and loses when it matters the most? ARGH! Really makes me question Nick's credibility as a coach. I noticed as the season went on and I attended certain games his boys seemed to keep losing respect for him or listening to him? Maybe it was just me seeing that? But I think before you can be a good coach or have a good program you have to win your players over first and have their respect and Cook just hasnt done that yet. Oh Well! Best of Luck Wyoming East make all of Wyoming County proud bring home a 3rd straight title!!!
Pitiful
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 WestsideWarrior |
Pitiful |
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Posts: 3 (03/01/09 12:57:23) |
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WestsideFan |
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Posts: 490 (03/02/09 16:36:43) Junior |
I agree with EVERYTHING you said. Its unbelievable. Westside didnt even try, or didnt care during the game.. Nick would call time out and they would just
casually walk to the bench, and Indy would already be at their bench. I heard Nick say, run, get over here, quit wasting time... something like that. You have
to be a good hearted but well rounded coach to win over your team. Cant let your personal feelings get in the way. Dont be surpised If BIG NATE goes to East
next year.. from what i heard today. I mean, they dont even play him. He sat out the whole game and hes 6'8". scored 18pts against Liberty.. he had
confidence.. i know Liberty isnt that good. but still. ahh.. im burnt out lol... Just dont be surpised if he doesnt go, and the tilley twins cause they live in
the area to go. Probably alot wont try out either, but oh well.
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WestsideWarrior |
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Posts: 4 (03/03/09 13:39:20) |
yeah I've talked to the Tilley Twins parents and they said they dont appreciate how their kids have been done at Westside and how they wanna see them
succeed.
never said they was going to transfer, but it totally wouldnt shock me? As for Nate, I was expecting him to be there already as I know his dad lives on Mullens Hill in Mullens, and I thought he was staying with him and was gonna go to East? IF and I say IF the Tilley's stay and Nate stays and Brewster actually does pretty good next year and the others that should come back does, Westside and East might be a lil more equal for the first time! Cause this year they lose Gentry, Travis, and who else? I know Webb, Fralin, Evan, and a few others will be back and will have a slight advantage, ehh IDK. If Nick cant win over the respect of his players he's gonna be hurting, Nick could be as good as any other coach who has come through the ranks IF he can get his players to respect him, he just goes at it all wrong! Jimmy, Jesse, and others before them such as Gene Reid among others they may have yelled at you or even cussed but the players respected them and becuase of the respect they got results. Now yes I know guys like Hoppy, Jesse, and Reid had better talent to work with that Nick did but my biggest problem over the years of watching Westside since Nick took over the helm is he tries to make a superstar outta somone, he did it with Blankenship and then he did it with Bailey, I await to see who he tries to do it with next year? Cause next year I dont see anyone who could come back that could be a Eric Bailey or Chris Blankenship type player for us. Another thing I've noticed is Nick has tried to do the things Jimmy did to see success, but again maybe when Chris was there they could do the things that Jimmy did, but these last two seasons the Westside teams played better Zone and Half Court games than they did when they played Man to Man. IMO the Westside boys did well until the first Wyoming East game after that game they lost the wind in their sail. I Really do wish the team next year success I wanna see both succeed, I would love nothing more than to see a Westside-Wyoming East game in Charleston at the State Tourney and even more so for the state title But with the way Oak Hill is gonna be for the next few seasons it will be hard to see both make it. But best of luck to both of them next season, as for nwo I really need to stop talking about it or my blood pressure will raise! |
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WestsideFan |
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Posts: 491 (03/03/09 21:28:11) Junior |
Hopkins could take 5 guys that wasnt that good and make them all great players. I remember that year @ Oceana when we lost all those seniors in Ben Cook, Bobby
Lusk, Nick Calucci, Matt Hopkins, cant remember the other one, could've been a different lineup to. And we lost them to graduation and everybody in town
was like "Next year wont be good, Hopkins doesnt have anybody coming up." Thats when I think, personally, we had the best team in Ryan Maynard, Matt
Cook, Ryan Cook, Micheal Asbury, Joey Allen, Brent Prichard, Brandon Gregory, etc. Hopkins had that team as role players. Ryan M= point gaurd/slasher got
everybody the ball and took over in some games when needed to. Matt Cook= your go to scorer Ryan Cook= your 3pt shooter plus some scoring Micheal Asbury= your
defense guy/fastbreaker. Joey Allen = your go to scorer/defense. Brandon Gregory= defense/fastbreaker. Brent Prichard =rebounder/inside presense. Nick has had
a good team for 2 years if he would just "use" everybody in right way. Nick has had the same kind of talent Hopkins did, maybe better. With hopkins
you didnt have a superstar, you had 5 guys night in and night out and when someone was off, the other guys would pick it up. You can win games with a
"give the ball to eric offense".. hes good, dont get me wrong. Theres no reason Big nate should sit out the entire game unless in foul trouble. But
this is how i would do it. Big nate=rebounder/inside presense (should to be taught to score at will as big as he is but noone is teaching him.) Travis Whitten=
defense/fastbreaker. Zack H.=point gaurd/scoring. Dannie Hicks= go to scorer/defense/point gaurd. Eric Bailey= go to scorer (lord knows he doesnt play
defense). Nate Miller=inside presense/defense. Ok im done with that, im just rambling lol. But anyway, I was told the other day that at the end of every East
practice they have to run a mile but for every charge you take in a game you get out of the mile run and if you are caught saying a cuss word you have to get
on the "treadmill" lol..but yet they still resepct the coaches because they dont let personal feelings interfer with the game. But i dont expect to
see the Tilley Twins back or Big nate next year... Tilley twins live in either district and his dad does live in east district at the cabin creek (right beside
east)
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WestsideWarrior |
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Posts: 5 (03/04/09 13:10:42) |
I think the team you refering to from the 2001 Oceana team consisted of Ben Cook, Bobby Lusk, Nick Colucci, Dave Mathis, Ryan Spaulding, Josh Mutters, and
company. Who was a very great combination of players alot of people expected them to dominate the Single A scene and for the most part they did until it came
to play the likes of the Williamson Wolfpack and then it was a different story. Oceana split the regular season with them and then lost in the championship
game by 10 to them I do believe. and I'm like you between the 2001 Oceana team and then the team of Super Sophs who formed the final Oceana team and the
first few teams @ Westside was some of the better formed teams on the "Westside" of Wyoming County in a long while. I hope things gets better for
Westside, as I've said before I really like the idea of seeing both teams from our county doing well. Anyways time will tell.
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justafan |
get some facts | ||
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Posts: 1 (03/08/09 09:23:24) |
before you spout things off. If Big Nate wants to go to East then let him - if you notice he's not that good. Granted he's a big body and could be a
good player but he seems lazy. He didn't play the whole game - Do you know why??? I didn't think so. He sprained his ankle during practice -
wasn't really expected to play at all. He went in early and then HE told the coaches he couldn't play. With 4 minutes left in the game he said he
said he was ready and could play.
For anyone to say that Nick has had as much as talent is Coach Hopkins - that is just laughable. Also, this group is talented at football - not basketball. I definitely agree with the comments about Nick earning respect. He also needs to treat everyone equally |
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indianoutlaw |
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Posts: 2012 (03/08/09 12:04:45) Senior |
I as well agree on the comments about Nick earning respect and also agree with the treat everyone equally, but one thing i think everyone is forgetting Nick
isnt a season verteran at any means.....so hopefully with time all this will come?
maybe? as for saying this is group is talented at football, idk? i mean i watched'em play....but Eric Bailey was basketball all the way thru and thru.....anybody woulda been lucky to had him as a player. as for all this talk of the Tilley Twins going to East and Nate going to East, I'm gonna be honest it wouldnt shock me if it did happen? as someone else pointed out, the Tilleys live in an area to where they can go to either school and I was under the impression before the season started they'd be over there before their high school career ended? at least that's something i got told by someone close to them. and as for Big Nate I was under the impression he'd be at Wyoming East, cause one night bak in the summer I had to take him to the hospital (i work in EMS) and his dad talked to me of how Nate was gonna live with him and play for coach Lester and the Warriors, etc. IDK Westside has been use to being successful all these years i think its just aggravating for most to see them struggle. no Nick hasnt had the talent Jimmy had to work with, but on the same hand, Jimmy had as bout as much talent some years at Oceana as Nick has had here at Westside the last 3 or 4 years but Hop was still able to come off with winning seasons. Again I try not to cast many stones as a fan, cause I'm not a coach and as I said i try to remind myself of how the experience factor really isnt in Nicks corner yet. I still say give him some time before anyone cast judgement on his ability to coach. but i do agree, Nick needs to figure a way to get the players respect. i know of a lot of good kids who coulda contributed that wouldnt play basketball cause of his attitude or whatever and not feeling they'd get a fair shake at things. |
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WestsideFan |
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Posts: 492 (03/11/09 13:51:54) Junior |
Big Nate would be a good player if he was taught right. I was told by a player on the team that the coaching staff didnt even have any plays drawn up for Big
Nate. If i had a kid that big on my team and i was a coach, trust me, he'd be a force. And it doesnt matter if his ankle was hurt or not.. he didnt play
much before that... in every game he started and got pulled out .... then came back in with like 3 minutes to go. So that sectional game wasnt any different.
And believe me when i say, If he does go to east next year, Jesse Lester will make him a monster. Espeically with the graduation of Gentry. He will tear
Westside up cause he'll be coached right.
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LtCarl |
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Posts: 350 (03/13/09 07:02:29) Junior |
One thing I will say about players quitting or not coming out. I remember a few years back if Aaron Stepp hadn't quit the team I think we would have won a
state championship. I have heard reason's why he quit but I won't put hearsay on this board. Cameron Brown did not come out this year, again I know the
reason. This does not just happen on the basketball team though. I have seen kids quit the football team, baseball team, Lady Renegades in basketball and
softball for different reasons. Kids will be kids.
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LtCarl |
Talent & Schedule | ||
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Posts: 351 (03/13/09 07:13:01) Junior |
We may have had more talent than last year but no one on this board seems to realize how tough a schedule we had this year. Poca(twice), Wyoming East(twice),
Bluefield(twice), Scott(twice), Logan(1), either 3 or 4 AAA schools and probably someone I'm forgetting. One of the toughest schedules in AA in the state.
It didn't seem to help us when tournament time came around, maybe just to tough a schedule got them down instead of better. It's a fine line a team
straddles(sp). Play bunnies all year long and have a great record or play tough teams and have a so so record.
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justafan |
the schedule | ||
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Posts: 2 (03/13/09 08:42:39) |
was brutal. And like you said - kids quit all of the time in both boys & girls. My gripe is when people start spouting off without really knowing what
goes on. Granted, I know quite alot but would never post it on a board. I just wish people would look at the big picture. I see people saying the twins are
going to east, Big Nate is going to east - well all I can say is, we didn't win it with them.
I wish Nate would have played more. But I also see that when he was in the game against some of the 'big' guys that he may score 10 points but would give up 20 on defense. That's the same problem that Brent Prichard had. Personally, I would like to see next year's seniors either not come out or sit the bench. They are not going to win anything so let the younger guys play and learn - might as well at least learn while losing for one year instead of for two or three. |
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LtCarl |
Seniors | ||
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Posts: 352 (03/13/09 18:47:52) Junior |
Can't agree with your last statement justafan. I have always said put your best five on the floor, I don't care if they are all seniors or all freshmen. You always play to win regardless. |
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justafan |
i understand | ||
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Posts: 3 (03/14/09 06:58:24) |
what you are saying about putting the best 5 on the floor. I'm just saying the best 5 aren't going to be much better than the worst 5 so get them some
experience. It worked great for Coach Hopkins my sophomore year - we got the experience (and some beatings) but it helped us over the next 2 years.
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WestsideFan |
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Posts: 493 (03/21/09 13:35:22) Junior |
We need hopkins... lol
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