Friday, February 15, 2008

Friday's points to ponder from Paso Robles

Here are a few notes from the first round of the Southern Section boys basketball playoffs. I was in Paso Robles. Anybody who was at any other games, please give some color.

• David Cone has been a big topic of the posters these past couple weeks. Will he go D-1 in college? Won't he? Can he play against tough opponents? I'll say this about Friday's performance: Even though he was the biggest player on the court, he was challenged by some long, athletic big men.

Cone's response? 19 points, eight rebounds and at least five blocks. He was breaking the press. He's untrappable at the high school level. He'll definitely be playing college somewhere next year. At a J.C., a small four-year school. Heck, I've seen players with his frame go to D-I colleges, sit until their senior year and become impact players in the end. Some improved quickness and an outside jumper might earn him some more opportunities at higher levels.

• Though Paso Robles won its first-round game with a great fourth quarter, by the end of the third, Valley View had charged back, and the Bearcats looked ripe for the upset. Since North County Christian had already been bounced from the playoffs, I couldn't help but think, "Wow, I'm a moron. Two of the three teams I picked to go deep in the playoffs were goners. I knew I should have just stuck with the safe pick — the Mission Prep girls."

• To the Paso Robles Booster Club: Maybe look into investing in a new CD player for the gym. As reported in The Tribune's game story in the paper, the Bearcats' warmup music sounded like it was "chopped and screwed" by Yan Can Cook. It might've just been some scratchy CDs, but the disc reader didn't look very, uhm, modern.

On a side note, it's a sad commentary on the state of rap music today when three different songs can all scratch and skip in succession and a gym full of people just continues to bob its collective head as if it's just hearing a new remix or something. Thanks a lot, Derrty South.

• And finally — though my audio taped interview with Paso Robles coach Scott Larson somehow got erased from my digital recorder on the way out to the car — I can still hear the man's shouts ringing in my ears. Scott has to be one of the loudest in-game coaches I've ever heard.

During the craziest parts of Friday's game, I could look over at Valley View coach Jim Long and just see his mouth moving and hear nothing coming out. Then I'd gaze over at Larson, plug my ears and his shouts of, "He's PUSHIN' him!" still cut through to the heart of my eardrums.

It's a talent. I wish I could unleash that kind of yell at my cat when he's scratching the couch.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Morro Bay Cruisin

Anonymous said...

Paso and Cone are playing excellent. Keep it up boys!

Anonymous said...

josh- dont let all the ridiculous paso fan votes sway your opinion on who the county player of the year should be... dylan royer is hands down the best overall player on a winning team. Hattar can get some props for his scoring ability but his team did not do well. cone is simply the biggest 17 or 18 year old in the county so thats why he can put up 15 and 10 a night. he is as stiff as they come, and being 5 inches taller than your normal competition should affect the way you should select the "county player of the year"

Anonymous said...

David Cone has guided his team back from the worst season in school history. He has stepped up and played great not to mention very consistently throughout the whole year. He has not only managed to improve himself, but also make those around him better. He has weorked extremely hard to get Paso back to it's ways, and he has suceeded. Whether or not he wins County Player of the Year means nothing to Paso fans such as me. All that matters is that everyone realizes what Cone has done for this team. Don't make the mistake of listening to the above comment.

Anonymous said...

here's what it boils down too, yes cone has helped his team and has played well, but royer and hattar have both played better and are better and since royers team actually won he deserves player of the year.

Anonymous said...

Morro Bay without Royer would be a decent team. As is: 20-7 and still in CIF.

Templeton would be very bad without Hattar. As is: 11-13 Not in CIF.

Paso Robles without Cone wouldn't be very god at all. As is: 19-8 and still in CIF.

It's a close one, but Cone is very good and so valuable to his team, not to mention his vast improvment over the last two years. He's my pick for POY.

Anonymous said...

Dylan Royer recently passed 2000 points for his high school career. Any idea how many other players in the county have done that? Any recently? I also heard that this is the first time Morro Bay has advanced to the second round of CIF in 12 years.

Anonymous said...

So Royer should win it because his school's team hasn't been very good for the last 12 years? Give it to Hattar!

Anonymous said...

Morro Bay beat Templeton 4 of the last 5 times they have played

Anonymous said...

If I had to pick it would be Royer.

The Templeton team just did not perform the last 10 games, so it's hard to select him since the player has to make his team (and teammates) better.

Cone is deserving, the tie-break is based on Royer's career.

If you want to put blinders on that fact (i.e. player of the YEAR), then make Cone/Royer co-players of the year.

They've both made their teammates better.

Anonymous said...

is the templeton guy trying to say morro bay's teams havent been very good, look at templeton the last oh idk like 30 years playing in cupcake leagues or getting dominated when they stepped into the big guys league.

Anonymous said...

they were getting dominated in that cupcake league too

Anonymous said...

good point haha

Anonymous said...

Davis Cone for MVP for sure. No one else can compare with him. If Paso wins again it will surely make him this years MVP.

Anonymous said...

why does cone win mvp for sure? is that just an opinion or based off facts.

Anonymous said...

Well lets see...MVP means Most Valuable Player, therefore that would be my opinion on who the most valuable player would be!

Anonymous said...

well obviously but im saying why him over hattar or royer?

Anonymous said...

well the MVP cant beat ocean view! Paso loses by 11. Where are all the paso fans now?

Anonymous said...

I don't know bout the rest of Paso's fans,but I am right here. I assume the person who commented above wasnt at the game but only heard 2nd hand. I say that because if he was at the game, there is no way he could disregard Cone like that. Cone was AMAZING! It wasn't his fault the team lost! He played tremendous! He was everywhere, scoring, blocking shots, rebounding, diving on lose balls(you don't have an advantage if your 6'9'' when doing that), and best of all being a great leader to his team. I dont know how MB did, but all I know is Cone deserves MVP of PAC 7 and County Player of the Year.

Anonymous said...

Ok Cone fans, explain WHY Cone deserves player of the year over Royer, not just why he's a good player. We all know that. Have you seen Royer?

Is he a better player than Royer? What does he do better than Royer? Can he dominate a game better than Royer? If you had to take one player, who would it be?

I think Royer is a better player and the POY. He is a more versatile scorer, he's a better on ball defender, a solid rebounder. Royer can dominate a game ON HIS OWN for his team better than Cone. Cone is simply better at occupying space in the middle and drawing attention. Why, because he's 6'9" and a decent shooter. But the award is not for the tall POY, it's the player of the year.

Having said that if I was a coach I'd still take Cone if I had to pick one or the other to form a team so long as I had a decent point guard, because of the position he plays and his height. 6'9" non-clutz decent shooting centers are so rare and he'd allow me as a coach more options.

Anonymous said...

Very political answer. Run for office.