57 replies to this topic

[Rocketman]

Maltese Falcon, on 07 May 2012 - 11:20 AM, said:

All is correct, except the BOE meeting is tomorrow night.

I am now wondering where and when the meet & greet with the new coach will take place?

there are quite a few places worthy of this....the carry it, red pig,and splinters come to mind.....They could also go out of town to celebrate...buckeye club or west end could accommodate the crowd.....

good luck to the next coach

[Sanyo27]

Announcement in the Lima News.....Some postitive talk.....Talked to a couple of the girls that were at the meeting with the new coach.....they seemed very excited after their meeting and the coach seemed to be really fired up. Both young ladies said they were looking forward to a Fast Tempo attack style Defense and Offense he discussed. Will need to be ready to run....I got the impression that the both of them really liked what Coach had to say.

[charliesheen]

Uptempo offense huh? While it always sounds fun, especially to the players, I'm not sure that doing that is going to result in a tremendous amount of success. TO's were a huge issue last year. I'm not sure that going to an uptempo offense is the way to correct that problem, in fact, it may make it worse. Throw in the fact that not everyone is coming back next year and I think Troy will have his hands full this coming season.

[Snip]

LOL!!!! I can see Winnie and Leppie licking their chops already if OG tries that uptempo against the Kittens.

[nothalfbad]

Snip, on 10 May 2012 - 03:56 PM, said:

LOL!!!! I can see Winnie and Leppie licking their chops already if OG tries that uptempo against the Kittens.

bennyg, on 25 April 2012 - 05:20 PM, said:

Thats what you think. Wrong again, TEN YEARS I have been going, and I have not missed to many games. I know how she coaches.She coached my kid. I have no problems with how she coaches.Thats why my kid turned out like she did. Lori helped her move on to play college ball, and now has a very good job.Thanks to Lori Smith.You think Lori is hard on the girls try a college coach That will give the OG parents something to really cry about.

I know one parent that had a daughter and Lori completely held her back. You can hear both kinds of stories if you look hard enough. We need a new coach.In varsity bb you should not go backwards yr. after yr. There should be improvement. At OG there has not been. For whatever reason and who knows exactly what that is there needs to be change. OG bashers can say what they want. Parents here care enough to say look we need change. My gosh we have had losing seasons yr. after yr. That might be ok somewhere else. But not at OG. If you cannot cook get the he** out of the kitchen. Time to move on. We just have the guts to not talk about it at Splinters, Red Pig or the other places you out of towners like to mock behind the coaches back but we put the wheels in motion. The same people that bash OG are the ones lining up to see our big games yr. after yr. Maybe it is just to see us lose. But, when you are still the attraction it means you are doing something right.

[Snip]

nothalfbad, on 14 May 2012 - 02:54 PM, said:

I know one parent that had a daughter and Lori completely held her back. You can hear both kinds of stories if you look hard enough. We need a new coach.In varsity bb you should not go backwards yr. after yr. There should be improvement. At OG there has not been. For whatever reason and who knows exactly what that is there needs to be change. OG bashers can say what they want. Parents here care enough to say look we need change. My gosh we have had losing seasons yr. after yr. That might be ok somewhere else. But not at OG. If you cannot cook get the he** out of the kitchen. Time to move on. We just have the guts to not talk about it at Splinters, Red Pig or the other places you out of towners like to mock behind the coaches back but we put the wheels in motion. The same people that bash OG are the ones lining up to see our big games yr. after yr. Maybe it is just to see us lose. But, when you are still the attraction it means you are doing something right.

Coach Smith has led the Titans girls basketball program for 12 years compiling a 173-95 record (65.6% winning percentage). Her teams won 4 WBL titles, appeared in 3 Regional Tournaments and 4 District Tournaments during her tenure as coach.


In the last 12 years this would be the second best team in the WBL. Sounds pretty good to me.

I was not bashing. I don't think the new coach should of been telling anyone his style of play until it is proven to work. And believe me, it won't work on all teams. Good teams will have a good half court defense and offense. If you want to run you better be deep on the bench. Sounds like OG will be a young team and not very deep.

My question now would be; Are you related to Victorian?

[Goin2goal]

Landess, on 15 May 2012 - 03:22 AM, said:

What was her record in the last 6 years?

Can only coach the talent that is there. I'd think the last 6 years the teams have largely overachieved, as opposed to under....

[Snip]

Landess, on 15 May 2012 - 03:22 AM, said:

What was her record in the last 6 years?

The coaches talent is the same as a BB player. It gets better or stays the same with expierence. It would not get worse.

[milt73]

Landess, on 15 May 2012 - 03:22 AM, said:

What was her record in the last 6 years?

I will be the first one to tell you that AAU sports are far different than high school sports. And you, being the all knowing AAU coach that you are, should know that as well.

AAU teams are made up of a collection of individuals assembled by age or talent level. This gives an overall stability to the situation because players are generally going to be on the same skill level of the other individuals on the team. They are competing against kids and teams that are also in their same general skill/age level.

These two aspects are not seen in high school athletics. A 14 year old girl that is playing on a varsity team might be playing against an 18 year old young woman who is physically stronger, smarter and much more experienced than her. Think about that for a second. Teams are not set up on relatively even parameters which inherently makes the teams unequal, every single game.

High school athletics and individual sports successes usually go in spurts and in a cyclical pattern. It depends on the groups of athletes that are currently at the school, competing. This is especially true in smaller towns, like Ottawa, who are limited to the parameters of their town and general area. It might take 2 or 3 good classes of kids consecutively to be successful at the varsity level.

If you do not understand these concepts, then you should not be around high school athletics.

Edited by milt73, 16 May 2012 - 07:55 AM.

[The Owl]

milt73, on 16 May 2012 - 07:53 AM, said:

I will be the first one to tell you that AAU sports are far different than high school sports. And you, being the all knowing AAU coach that you are, should know that as well.

AAU teams are made up of a collection of individuals assembled by age or talent level. This gives an overall stability to the situation because players are generally going to be on the same skill level of the other individuals on the team. They are competing against kids and teams that are also in their same general skill/age level.

These two aspects are not seen in high school athletics. A 14 year old girl that is playing on a varsity team might be playing against an 18 year old young woman who is physically stronger, smarter and much more experienced than her. Think about that for a second. Teams are not set up on relatively even parameters which inherently makes the teams unequal, every single game.

High school athletics and individual sports successes usually go in spurts and in a cyclical pattern. It depends on the groups of athletes that are currently at the school, competing. This is especially true in smaller towns, like Ottawa, who are limited to the parameters of their town and general area. It might take 2 or 3 good classes of kids consecutively to be successful at the varsity level.

If you do not understand these concepts, then you should not be around high school athletics.

SERVED! GAME, SET, MATCH. Give it up, Landess.

Let's move on, shall we?

Coach Smith had a great run, and people (parents) weren't happy with how she handled the team when she didn't have as much talent.

No one can convince me she isn't a good coach. Her high intensity, tendency to exhibit her emotions plainly, and very high expectations for the team and the individual players wore thin on the know-it-alls when her team lost.

I think Chris Adams the former Elida coach is an excellent comparision to Coach Smith. Very intense, great person and happened to rub some people the wrong way. Coach Smith would be an excellent college coach or even a large school girls high school program.

The new coach has a passionate supporting cast of parents and a young team that has some valuable experience. He's turned the OG softball program around and will look to do the same with the basketball program.

Good luck to the team and hopefully the parents will shut up now and let the coach coach, which will allow the girls to have a positive experience - regardless of the record.

Edited by The Owl, 16 May 2012 - 09:33 AM.

[gamekeeper]

Was coach Smith a teacher for Ottawa as well, or was she just the girls basketball coach?

[Maltese Falcon]

Coach Smith currently teaches at Ottawa Elementary in the Jr. High

[Sanyo27]

Has the new assts. for coaching staff been decided on yet?

[Rocketman]

Sanyo27, on 28 May 2012 - 03:05 PM, said:

Has the new assts. for coaching staff been decided on yet?

Sanyo,
they are working this out during the summer AYBT season........I would suspect that none of the former staff will return
This leaves it pretty much open for the new coach to bring in some of the posse if he deems it necessary to his survival.....the
new coach has 2 years.........I remember clearly the story about the Van Buren team a few short years ago........much was expected,
little was gained..........that, and the fact that their best player found that the grass was indeed greener on the other side of the interstate

[Sanyo27]

OK...but on a serious note about the remaining staff.... I was hearing an ex-player and plus another ex-asst. coach might be in the mix.....I don't believe these individuals are currently tied to any of the parents or either to the past years coaching staff? Just wondered if this was a possibility....I'm sure the new Coach has been working on forming the new coaching staff.

[Common Sense]

The Owl, on 16 May 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

SERVED! GAME, SET, MATCH. Give it up, Landess.

Let's move on, shall we?

Coach Smith had a great run, and people (parents) weren't happy with how she handled the team when she didn't have as much talent.

No one can convince me she isn't a good coach. Her high intensity, tendency to exhibit her emotions plainly, and very high expectations for the team and the individual players wore thin on the know-it-alls when her team lost.

I think Chris Adams the former Elida coach is an excellent comparision to Coach Smith. Very intense, great person and happened to rub some people the wrong way. Coach Smith would be an excellent college coach or even a large school girls high school program.

The new coach has a passionate supporting cast of parents and a young team that has some valuable experience. He's turned the OG softball program around and will look to do the same with the basketball program.

Good luck to the team and hopefully the parents will shut up now and let the coach coach, which will allow the girls to have a positive experience - regardless of the record.

It's funny how coaches are portrayed. If you're too intense and yell, you're a bully, and parents aren't happy. If you're nice to the kids, you don't care and the parents aren't happy. Be careful what you wish for. Administrators have to look at the program from a long distance view, not a 2-3 year window. In girls sports especially, jr. high success does not mean a thing. My guess is the expectation will be too high for this group, and in a year or two, they'll be looking for another coach and picking up the pieces.

[charliesheen]

A team with nothing but guards is going to have a tough time competing in the WBL and in tourney play. The team lost a graduating senior inside player from last year...and at least a couple girls aren't returning. Going to be tough to compete against the Siefker (Ottoville) and Ruhe (Bath) girls with nobody on the roster over 5'7.