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SMC 2018-19

Murphy boys are really athletic
Probably not going to happen but it would be nice if they could convince Abling to play football next year. He's never played football as far as I know but considering his athleticism and his family tree I would say it would come pretty naturally for him.
 
Probably not going to happen but it would be nice if they could convince Abling to play football next year. He's never played football as far as I know but considering his athleticism and his family tree I would say it would come pretty naturally for him.

You really want to listen to Robbinsville fans if a kid that athletic whose sister was a star at HD played football for Murphy? Jk
 
You really want to listen to Robbinsville fans if a kid that athletic whose sister was a star at HD played football for Murphy? Jk
If he did play football I can mind the heat from Robbinsville people. It's not like Abling doesn't have Murphy ties, I mean his mom and uncle (JC Brown) both went to Murphy.
 
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Hayesville boys cruise over Murphy in the 5th place game at Battle of the States, disappointing showing for the Bulldogs.
 
Hayesville boys cruise over Murphy in the 5th place game at Battle of the States, disappointing showing for the Bulldogs.
When Murphy gets more time under their sneakers they will be fine! Very athletic just couldn’t score Dorsey carried the load after Abling got in foul trouble!! Keep both on the floor and add Nelson they will be a tough matchup for a lot of people!
 
When Murphy gets more time under their sneakers they will be fine! Very athletic just couldn’t score Dorsey carried the load after Abling got in foul trouble!! Keep both on the floor and add Nelson they will be a tough matchup for a lot of people!

I agree, especially if they push the tempo a little more. Halfcourt game doesn't suit them.
 
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Was really impressed with our boys last night against Rosman looked to be really clicking haven’t seen that this hopefully that will be the turnaround .

Cherokee girls had running clock early in second half
 
Was really impressed with our boys last night against Rosman looked to be really clicking haven’t seen that this hopefully that will be the turnaround .

Cherokee girls had running clock early in second half
I think right now it's easy to click against us. Our boys team is not playing good basketball.
 
Andrews boys over Copper Basin after a sluggish start and a lot of questionable calls. Big game tomorrow in Andrews against Murphy

Murphy will be looking to rebound after losing to Highlands tonight. I think the Highlanders are 3-1 against Big Smoky now. Weird year when 2 Little Smoky teams would probably be in the running if they were Big Smoky and a third would be middle of the pack.
 
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Heard Swain lost Bradley to a knee injury. Can anyone confirm that? If so, that will send Swain on a downward course.
I hope not. He is a good player and is the best big man in the conference seeing the court, great passer. He doesn’t force anything and he stil gets his points every night
 
Wildcats played a complete game last night. Don’t get me wrong, they have played good this year but maybe not strong enough on defense at times and lacking in rebounds. They are still room for improvement but everyone contributed last night and played up to their potential. Murphy is still trying to get their basketball legs under them but has many good athletes. It always is a struggle for Murphy in basketball going deep in the football playoffs then trying to get their shots to fall. This team is capable of winning as the season goes on
 
Wildcats played a complete game last night. Don’t get me wrong, they have played good this year but maybe not strong enough on defense at times and lacking in rebounds. They are still room for improvement but everyone contributed last night and played up to their potential. Murphy is still trying to get their basketball legs under them but has many good athletes. It always is a struggle for Murphy in basketball going deep in the football playoffs then trying to get their shots to fall. This team is capable of winning as the season goes on
I was able to make it to the Andrews/Murphy game last night and I feel like Andrews has plenty of room to improve on their performance. They played good defense, no doubt about it, but they only scored 27 points in the first half. I left in the fourth quarter and never saw Ellis hit an outside jumper ... for that matter, Holloway was off too. If Andrews is able to sink 3 pointers, they can be dangerous. If they rely on driving and defense, they'll be a second round exit at best, just because overall they are small.

As far as the Dogs go, whew, that is brutal to watch. I know that everyone says they haven't had practice due to football, but geez, not one kid boxed out to rebound the entire game. Also the worst shooting team I've seen all seasons. They can absolutely hit nothing. The Shope kid who is playing center is a big ol boy, but his vertical looks to be about six inches. He slows the whole team down running the court. They need Nelson to be in his position (does anyone know why he isn't playing yet?). Before any of you Dog fans get your tail on your shoulders, I'm just being objective. My Knights aren't much better ... but are a little better. I don't think that Murphy wins a game in conference. They may not win another game out of conference.
 
I was able to make it to the Andrews/Murphy game last night and I feel like Andrews has plenty of room to improve on their performance. They played good defense, no doubt about it, but they only scored 27 points in the first half. I left in the fourth quarter and never saw Ellis hit an outside jumper ... for that matter, Holloway was off too. If Andrews is able to sink 3 pointers, they can be dangerous. If they rely on driving and defense, they'll be a second round exit at best, just because overall they are small.

As far as the Dogs go, whew, that is brutal to watch. I know that everyone says they haven't had practice due to football, but geez, not one kid boxed out to rebound the entire game. Also the worst shooting team I've seen all seasons. They can absolutely hit nothing. The Shope kid who is playing center is a big ol boy, but his vertical looks to be about six inches. He slows the whole team down running the court. They need Nelson to be in his position (does anyone know why he isn't playing yet?). Before any of you Dog fans get your tail on your shoulders, I'm just being objective. My Knights aren't much better ... but are a little better. I don't think that Murphy wins a game in conference. They may not win another game out of conference.
Yes room for improvement but also we scored 45 points in the second half. Ellis was off for the first time this season but what I liked is seeing the others step up. You can’t consistently win when you can only count on one player. Mathis stepped up with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Holloway only had 7 points but played great defense and made a couple big blocks. Maennle is our defensive stopper and played lights out. I feel like all the pieces around Ellis including our bench took a big step forward heading in the right direction. Andrews played a hard fought game Thursday night at Copper Basin coming out with a win after starting sluggish so it was a much better night.
 
I was able to make it to the Andrews/Murphy game last night and I feel like Andrews has plenty of room to improve on their performance. They played good defense, no doubt about it, but they only scored 27 points in the first half. I left in the fourth quarter and never saw Ellis hit an outside jumper ... for that matter, Holloway was off too. If Andrews is able to sink 3 pointers, they can be dangerous. If they rely on driving and defense, they'll be a second round exit at best, just because overall they are small.

As far as the Dogs go, whew, that is brutal to watch. I know that everyone says they haven't had practice due to football, but geez, not one kid boxed out to rebound the entire game. Also the worst shooting team I've seen all seasons. They can absolutely hit nothing. The Shope kid who is playing center is a big ol boy, but his vertical looks to be about six inches. He slows the whole team down running the court. They need Nelson to be in his position (does anyone know why he isn't playing yet?). Before any of you Dog fans get your tail on your shoulders, I'm just being objective. My Knights aren't much better ... but are a little better. I don't think that Murphy wins a game in conference. They may not win another game out of conference.

Ellis is shooting over 45% from 3 this year. I think him being off Friday is actually a positive for Andrews--still won a conference game by 40 showed they aren't a one trick pony.

Murphy can't guard versatile fowards (Stroud from Nantahala, McTaggart from Hayesville, and now Mathis from Andrews have all had moster games against them recently), can't score, and especially struggle against pressure defense. Still think they win 4 or 5 league games, but that says more about the SMC this year than Murphy.
 
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Ellis is shooting over 45% from 3 this year. I think him being off Friday is actually a positive for Andrews--still won a conference game by 40 showed they aren't a one trick pony.

Murphy can't guard versatile fowards (Stroud from Nantahala, McTaggart from Hayesville, and now Mathis from Andrews have all had moster games against them recently), can't score, and especially struggle against pressure defense. Still think they win 4 or 5 league games, but that says more about the SMC this year than Murphy.
True and I wasn’t boasting over beating Murphy but was just happy to see all our players step up and play to their potential. I have also never said this team is going to make a big playoff run but again it was nice to see the role players contribute like I know they can when Ellis & Holloway have a off night scoring. Still those two players had a good night getting the ball down court and playing good defense. Hustle, rebounds, defense and teamwork mean a lot when I watch a game. It’s not all about how many points were on the scoreboard at the end of the game. Basketball is a game of matchups and it’s going to vary with every team
 
They need Nelson to be in his position (does anyone know why he isn't playing yet?).
I would guess he's recovering from the adductor injury he played with the last two months of football season, don't know that for sure though.

I thought Murphy was headed in the right direction after Union game and the early portion of Battle of the States but they seem to have actually regressed since then. Even though they lack shooters and scorers outside of one kid there's no excuse for them not to be better defensively than what they are.
 
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Got to see Hayesville boys play Towns County last night. Very close game. Hayesville won 53-52. Hayesville has a lot of potential. The McTaggert kid is really good for a freshman. Hayesville has some talented young players too. They could be really good if the coaches will figure out who needs to be on the floor most of the time. They survived last night but it will hurt them down the stretch if they don’t figure that out.
 
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I would guess he's recovering from the adductor injury he played with the last two months of football season, don't know that for sure though.

I thought Murphy was headed in the right direction after Union game and the early portion of Battle of the States but they seem to have actually regressed since then. Even though they lack shooters and scorers outside of one kid there's no excuse for them not to be better defensively than what they are.
I have not been around Murphy athletics as long as some of you guys but it is disheartening to see the basketball and wrestling teams. Considering the athletes in the halls and the success of the football team, we should be better at both sports.
 
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I have not been around Murphy athletics as long as some of you guys but it is disheartening to see the basketball and wrestling teams. Considering the athletes in the halls and the success of the football team, we should be better at both sports.
Murphy has a good history in basketball but the talent in that sport seems to come in cycles, with Murphy having a really strong group for 2-3 years and then falling off for a few years. It's just this time the down cycle is really down and it's lasted longer than any other down cycle than I can personally recall. Unfortunately I don't see a lot coming up to suggest that Murphy is going to have a top tier basketball team again anytime soon.

The fall off in basketball seems to have coincided with Murphy's continued rise as baseball program, though I'm not sure if those two items are related or if it's merely a coincidence. But considering Murphy won the conference in all three major sports (football, basketball, baseball) three years in a row not that long ago: '08-'09 to '10-'11, there is proof that Murphy can be good at all 3 of the "big" sports at the same time.

Of course that was also an amazing run of all around athletes for the school that probably won't happen again for a very long time, but no one else in the conference would ever be able to replicate that either. Murphy is the one school in the SMC with the enrollment numbers and the athletes to do something like that.

As far as wrestling goes Murphy has had quite a few individual state champions over the years but as an overall program Murphy has never been a strong wrestling school, they've had a few years where they've had good overall teams but that seems to be the exception and not the rule.
 
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The fall off in basketball seems to have coincided with Murphy's continued rise as baseball program, though I'm not sure if those two items are related or if it's merely a coincidence. Considering Murphy won the conference in all three major sports (football, basketball, football) like 3 years in a row from '08-'09 to '10-'11, I think that is proof Murphy can be good at all 3 of the "big" sports at the same time.

I would also point out that the last time Murphy was a contender in basketball (2010-11) was the first year in their most recent run of making it to December in football year after year. I am sure Murphy fans would never trade the last few football titles for a few more basketball wins, but it's really hard to build a basketball program when you miss a month more practice than everybody else waiting for football to be done, then once you get started you miss even more practice making up the early games that got cancelled for football.
 
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I would also point out that the last time Murphy was a contender in basketball (2010-11) was the first year in their most recent run of making it to December in football year after year. I am sure Murphy fans would never trade the last few football titles for a few more basketball wins, but it's really hard to build a basketball program when you miss a month more practice than everybody else waiting for football to be done, then once you get started you miss even more practice making up the early games that got cancelled for football.
I agree and that's a big part of the reason why I believe in order for Murphy to be successful in basketball again that the core of the team has to be made up of kids whose primary sport is basketball.

Most of the top players on that 3 year run for Murphy were basketball only kids or kids whose primary sport was basketball: Lovingood, Sudderth, Neal, G Reid, Sneed, B Reid, Allen, Cook, Oliver, etc. There were important football first kids like Charles, Kerber, Reese and Curtis during that run but most of the core were not football players.

If you take a look at this year's team the core minus Abling are all football first kids.
 
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Murphy has a good history in basketball but the talent in that sport seems to come in cycles, with Murphy having a really strong group for 2-3 years and then falling off for a few years. It's just this time the down cycle is really down and it's lasted longer than any other down cycle than I can personally recall. Unfortunately I don't see a lot coming up to suggest that Murphy is going to have a top tier basketball team again anytime soon.

The fall off in basketball seems to have coincided with Murphy's continued rise as baseball program, though I'm not sure if those two items are related or if it's merely a coincidence. But considering Murphy won the conference in all three major sports (football, basketball, baseball) three years in a row not that long ago: '08-'09 to '10-'11, there is proof that Murphy can be good at all 3 of the "big" sports at the same time. Of course that was also an amazing run of all around athletes for the school that probably won't happen again for a very long time, but no one else in the conference would ever be able to replicate that either. Murphy is the one school in the SMC with the enrollment numbers and the athletes to do something like that.

As far as wrestling goes Murphy has had quite a few individual state champions over the years but as an overall program Murphy has never been a strong wrestling school, they've had a few years where they've had good overall teams but that seems to be the exception and not the rule.
If the current crop of Murphy Middle school players continue to all play,they should be a very good team by high school
 
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I agree with that, but I also think they could be successful going with a deep bench and a high-pressure, uptempo style where 1) you don't have to rely too much on jump shooting 2) kids play in short bursts, closer to football conditioning, and 3) there aren't a lot of sets to not have the time to perfect.

I think you can certainly win without kids specializing in basketball, but it makes it a lot harder the more successful the football program is. And you certainly won't have much success playing a half-court game with a 7-man rotation.
 
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I agree with that, but I also think they could be successful going with a deep bench and a high-pressure, uptempo style where 1) you don't have to rely too much on jump shooting 2) kids play in short bursts, closer to football conditioning, and 3) there aren't a lot of sets to not have the time to perfect.

I think you can certainly win without kids specializing in basketball, but it makes it a lot harder the more successful the football program is. And you certainly won't have much success playing a half-court game with a 7-man rotation.
I don't disagree with anything you've just said.

The fact of the matter is that Murphy has not had quality coaching in basketball even when they've been good and that's going all the way back to the days of Boyd Shields. It's sad because I really think they have a state title in '95 and again in '09 if they did, but it is what it is. I know a couple people that might disagree with my thoughts on the coaching, including people I consider friends, but that's my take and has always been my take. I've changed opinions on a lot of things over the years due to becoming more knowledgeable and more mature, but this is one thing I've never wavered on.

I was cynical of the current basketball hire when it was made, even though I like Coach Laney as a person, because I figured it was probably going to be more of the same. I said so at the time and there were people on here who criticized me when I said it. But I was more than happy for him to prove me wrong. The current situation is no fault of Coach Laney, he's doing the best job he can but the reality is Murphy is not interested enough in having a top level basketball program to put the necessary leg work into it to get a top coach.

I don't know how it would've worked out long term but I was told at the time that Mintz was interested in the Murphy boy's job when it came open last time, but they either didn't have the money or were not interested in spending the money to make it happen. Like I said who knows how it would've worked out, but at least it would've showed some ambition. Murphy has never made an ambitious basketball hire.

Nobody is expecting Murphy to win conference titles with the current crop of talent but they really should be better than what they are. It's down to fundamentals and style of play conducive to the talent on hand, things that any good coach should have in order.
 
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I don't disagree with anything you've just said.

The fact of the matter is that Murphy has not had quality coaching in basketball even when they've been good and that's going all the way back to the days of Boyd Shields. It's sad because I really think they have a state title in '95 and again in '09 if they did, but it is what it is. I know a couple people that might disagree with my thoughts on the coaching, including people I consider friends, but that's my take and has always been my take. I've changed opinions on a lot of things over the years due to becoming more knowledgeable and more mature, but this is one thing I've never wavered on.

I was cynical of the current basketball hire when it was made, even though I like Coach Laney as a person, because I figured it was probably going to be more of the same. I said so at the time and there were people on here who criticized me when I said it. But I was more than happy for him to prove me wrong. The current situation is no fault of Coach Laney, he's doing the best job he can but the reality is Murphy is not interested enough in having a top level basketball program to put the necessary money into it to get a top coach.

I don't know how it would've worked out long term but I was told at the time that Mintz was interested in the Murphy boy's job when it came open last time, but they either didn't have the money or were not interested in spending the money to make it happen. Like I said who knows how it would've worked out, but at least it would've showed some ambition. Murphy has never made an ambitious basketball hire.

Nobody is expecting Murphy to win conference titles with the current crop of talent but they really should be better than what they are. It's down to fundamentals and style of play conducive to the talent on hand, things that any good coach should have in order.
No matter who they hired, they are paid as a teacher and then whatever the local supplement is. So chances are they would be making similar to what Coach Laney makes. Depending upon years of experience and degrees. This isn't college.

I believe that kids should play as many sports as they want. Specializing is not the best thing for any athlete in my opinion.
 
No matter who they hired, they are paid as a teacher and then whatever the local supplement is. So chances are they would be making similar to what Coach Laney makes. Depending upon years of experience and degrees. This isn't college.
I get that but it really isn't that cut and dry either. Mintz supposedly wasn't a legitimate candidate because of money, Murphy could not offer him what he makes at Cherokee, which I don't doubt that one bit. But was Mintz even contacted about the position? Would he have been willing to take a pay cut with the opportunity to lead a men's program instead of women's program and have his sons involved in football program like Murphy, if a formal offer was there? Probably not, but it's doubtful it was ever posed in the first place to even get rejected.

Plus you're kidding yourself if you don't think booster club members or other interested parties don't or won't supplement some head coaches pay, beyond what he makes from teaching and stipends, if they feel it's a worthwhile endeavor. It's big business in Georgia high school athletics.
 
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I heard the rumors but I don’t think he would of left . I also know Cherokee does pay well. We were very below avg before he got here in girls and now we are probably top 5 every year. The boys side has had good big name coaches but they just don’t stay but we been really successful . .
Look at Murphy girls they got a good coach and have competed with Cherokee every since. Good coaches do make a difference . Look what Briggs did to our football.
 
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