Spartan Coach Comments Questionable

Spartan Coach Comments Questionable
By David Gravely

While I normally don't get into the battle of words that some coaches seem to want to constantly get into, a recent story in the Roanoke Times caught my attention more than any has recently.

Let me show you what was said first.  From the Roanoke Times article:
But(Salem Coach)Harrell's joy was muted because his star player, junior Tay Taylor, was not named district player of the year. That honor was awarded to co-winners Tyler Evans of Hidden Valley and Sydney Anderson of Pulaski County.
"[Tay] averaged 17 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals for us this year," Harrell said. "Plus she's already gotten 10 offers from colleges to play at the next level, and no one else around can say that. I'm disappointed; I'm upset. She's not getting recognized the way she should be."

I would suggest that while Taylor is certainly a fine athlete and well deserving of the attention she is getting, Evans and Anderson are also in that class, and while I don't have Evans stats on hand, Anderson can certainly boast comparable if not better stats.  Let's also face the fact that they are also getting those stats on teams that are not as well balanced as Salem is this year, and they get their stats in games where most of the times the opponent can focus on them, making those stats even more impressive.  If Taylor was the lone standout player for the Spartans, I would suggest that she may not have those impressive numbers.

And for the record, in the three meetings that Pulaski and Salem have had this season:
Anderson had 22 points in game one, 12 in game two, and 19 points in the last meeting.
Taylor had unknown in game one, 7 in game two, and 17 points in game three.

Anderson is averaging 18.7 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game, and 3.9 steals per game.  She doesn't get as many assists (.7 per game), but her presence on the court does free up the other players for their shots.

Salem is winning this year because they have a very balanced team and can attack you from many spots.  If Taylor finds an opening, she'll drive the lane for the layup.  If not, she can drive and dish it off to the next girl for the layup, or pass it back out for one of Salem's other effective shooters to hit the deeper ball.  Defensively they play tough as nails, and they have very good team speed and athleticism. 

At the high school level, when you have that many fast players with good ball handling skills and decent shots, you're going to be a hard team to handle.  Salem has proven they have that this season, with an unblemished River Ridge District record.  They won the regular season and tournament titles.  They didn't do that BECAUSE OF Tay Taylor, they did it WITH Tay Taylor and her talented teammates.

Nobody is trying to say that Tay Taylor isn't a fine basketball player who will do well at the next level.  BUT, if she wasn't on the floor for the Spartans, they would still be balanced and athletic enough to make a run at things, while Pulaski would be hard pressed to replace Anderson. 

The Award "RRD Player of the Year" is not only for the best basketball player, but for the player that also best carries the load for their team.  It's for the player that takes on the position of team leader and assumes the responsibility to take their team to the next level.   I would suggest that the selection of Anderson and Evans not only validates the award, but it gives respect to Salem for having such a balanced team this season.

Shame on you Coach Harrell, for disrespecting not only the two young ladies who were selected for the award, but for disrespecting your entire team and their commendable accomplishments this season with your comments.