So there was this big fuss about Lebron James and " The Decision " as he took his talents to South Beach.... Well, after all of the craziness died down, all he did was get a few titles and lots of extra cash on top of that.... So where am I going with this you might ask????
In the days of reclassifying kids and transferring schools every year, kids are now beginning to "Stack" up on the high school level like never before.... I know in the past there were a few teams that had players who came together and all decided to play together but the number of schools are increasing year after year....
The city of Brotherly Love has a ton of talented kids and always has.... Back in the 80's and 90's, Simon Gratz was a perennial power house as most of the top players in Philly would attend... They were able to compete with any school in the country at that time.... All of the other players seemed to be more spread out all around the city which made the other teams good, but not power houses.... So as time goes on, the Catholic schools in Philly became more powerful... Schools like Neuman Goretti, Roman Catholic, Archbishop Carroll began getting the kids who were really good ball players and was sold on getting a stronger education..... As time went on, the Charter Schools like Prep Charter and Imotep came into effect and grabbed more kids away from the public schools and there you have it, Philly basketball is looking great once again....
So how does this affect Central PA??? Since Philly now has an opportunity to win a PIAA State Championship, It's more difficult than ever for a team from Central PA to win... Teams in Central PA are not allowed to have kids from every school district migrate to one school so they pretty much work with the kids that are in the neighborhood.... So when they face a team from Philly in the State playoffs, there's a very good chance that the Philly team will have more talent on the floor at one time than the Central PA team....
I'm not suggesting that these schools in Central PA begin stacking teams because that's not always the answer, but I do believe that these schools need to get out of Central PA and see what the top competition looks like.... If the better teams in Central PA can get used to playing the top teams in NJ, MD, NY, Philly, etc.... it will erase the fear factor when they face a team with a big name kid....
I'll never forget when little ole Pine Grove faced Vaux out of Philly two years ago in the State tournament and Vaux had one of the best point guards in the country in Rasheed Jordan.... Pine Grove had a few good players but one in particular was a little hard nosed white football player named Larry Zimmerman who had played against enough urban guys so he didn't care who Jordan was.... Pine Grove went on to win that game behind Zimmerman's 44 points and it shocked everyone.... Exposure was the key.... That Pine Grove team had played against urban teams all Summer and Fall so they weren't afraid....
The Central PA area need to get more teams out there asap..... It baffles me how Coach Kirk Smallwood could send out a mass email about a basketball showcase in Harrisburg with schools like Chester, Glen Mills, Coatesville and others but only 3 local schools reply back.... HOW COULD YOU NOT WANT TO PLAY THOSE TEAMS????? The experience alone will help the players regardless if they win or lose....
So, can Central PA keep up? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.....
Coach Little
In the days of reclassifying kids and transferring schools every year, kids are now beginning to "Stack" up on the high school level like never before.... I know in the past there were a few teams that had players who came together and all decided to play together but the number of schools are increasing year after year....
The city of Brotherly Love has a ton of talented kids and always has.... Back in the 80's and 90's, Simon Gratz was a perennial power house as most of the top players in Philly would attend... They were able to compete with any school in the country at that time.... All of the other players seemed to be more spread out all around the city which made the other teams good, but not power houses.... So as time goes on, the Catholic schools in Philly became more powerful... Schools like Neuman Goretti, Roman Catholic, Archbishop Carroll began getting the kids who were really good ball players and was sold on getting a stronger education..... As time went on, the Charter Schools like Prep Charter and Imotep came into effect and grabbed more kids away from the public schools and there you have it, Philly basketball is looking great once again....
So how does this affect Central PA??? Since Philly now has an opportunity to win a PIAA State Championship, It's more difficult than ever for a team from Central PA to win... Teams in Central PA are not allowed to have kids from every school district migrate to one school so they pretty much work with the kids that are in the neighborhood.... So when they face a team from Philly in the State playoffs, there's a very good chance that the Philly team will have more talent on the floor at one time than the Central PA team....
I'm not suggesting that these schools in Central PA begin stacking teams because that's not always the answer, but I do believe that these schools need to get out of Central PA and see what the top competition looks like.... If the better teams in Central PA can get used to playing the top teams in NJ, MD, NY, Philly, etc.... it will erase the fear factor when they face a team with a big name kid....
I'll never forget when little ole Pine Grove faced Vaux out of Philly two years ago in the State tournament and Vaux had one of the best point guards in the country in Rasheed Jordan.... Pine Grove had a few good players but one in particular was a little hard nosed white football player named Larry Zimmerman who had played against enough urban guys so he didn't care who Jordan was.... Pine Grove went on to win that game behind Zimmerman's 44 points and it shocked everyone.... Exposure was the key.... That Pine Grove team had played against urban teams all Summer and Fall so they weren't afraid....
The Central PA area need to get more teams out there asap..... It baffles me how Coach Kirk Smallwood could send out a mass email about a basketball showcase in Harrisburg with schools like Chester, Glen Mills, Coatesville and others but only 3 local schools reply back.... HOW COULD YOU NOT WANT TO PLAY THOSE TEAMS????? The experience alone will help the players regardless if they win or lose....
So, can Central PA keep up? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.....
Coach Little
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