Houston Yates' 170-35 causes controversy

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/010610dnspoHoustonYates100.4fab22d9.html

Houston Yates' 170-35 boys basketball win causes controversy

The Houston Yates boys basketball team scored 100 points by halftime against Houston Lee on Tuesday night, setting the second-highest first-half point total in history and causing outcry from fans and players.

Houston Yates eventually won the game, 170-35.

Wow, not really angry or anything. I have seen our Juniors getting demolished by like 90 points this year against a very respected team. No one said much about that one. Few people were angry but eventually the subject faded. Same thing will happen here. Few people will get mad and talk a bit. Then they will forget it.

What can you do in this situation is a big headache. By passing the ball around for 5 min without scoring is an insult. By competing maybe shows some respect. Truthfully, I dont know what I would do as a coach in this situation. Yates are ranked 2nd in USA and Lee General are ranked 11,807. I am sure the deep bench player got enough minutes and they were able to score.

I would like to hear some opinions from our GTA coaches.

To score that many points in 32 or 40 min (which is it for US high school ball?) youmust be pressing/trapping a fair bit. You only need to pass 4 or 5 times as you practice running an offensive play to use up 10-15 seconds of clock. If you did this most times down the floor, I would think the score would stay closer to a hundred. Although i'm definately not an expert on this topic as our team doesn't see this disaparity in ability either for or against us on a frequent basis.

Which team in the GTA lost by 90pts this season? i never knew that

If i were the other team, lee high school i would wonder the same thing as everyone else is thinking, why would the yates' coach continue to press after being up at halftime, 100-12. There is no point in doing this, you're already got to the 100 plateau, which is an accomplish as it is your 3rd consecutive but u gotta realize u are facing a relatively weak team. The coach should have put his bench on the rest of the 2nd half or atleast half of the 3rd and the full 4th quarter. To me i think they either should have ended the game, or just make a rule if a team is beating someone by 100 they just end the game kind of like in NBA 2k10 ( the skunk rule people made up).

It seems like we have one of these games every year that gets picked up by the mainstream media. I saw this on PTI. Michael said that the Yates coach should be taken to the barbershop and spoken to about how his role includes teaching sportsmanship but Tony suggested that the Lee coach could have better prepared the team to handle pressure and protect the ball.

I heard that the Yates coach played the end of his bench but continued to press. I think that the team would have been better served to slow it down and work on their halfcourt sets. To win a state title, Yates will need to beat teams who play tough defence and don't constantly cough up the ball.

Having been on both ends of blowouts at different schools, I appreciate that there's no easy answer. It's true that the end of the bench (who may not otherwise play in tough games) deserves a chance to have fun but there isn't a need to trap and press all 94 feet. I think Jimmy Johnson was criticized for blowing out Nebraska or Notre Dame while at Miami and he said "I was playing my bench; the opponent couldn't stop anyone."

To partially agree with TAJ, I wouldn't object to a much better opponent scored a well-deserved basket. I would probably know ahead of time and definitely after the first few minutes that my team was that outmatched and encourage them to focus on whatever small victories were possible. If the other team moved the ball and scored because they were better or faster, that's fine.

If my team were down a hundred points, I would have an issue with continuous pressure tactics. Also, if there was any trash talking I would likely say something to the other coach and ask that he rein in the players on his team.

I saw a clip of an on-court conference with the refs and the coaches during the highlight reel. Was this at halftime or after the game? I would hope that the referees in these games would remind the coaches that they are coaching amateur athletes and encourage a respectful end to the game.

Is anyone on Yates on the NBA/College recruiting radar?

Honestly I see no problem with a team scroing that much. You can call me unsportsmanlike or whatever you wish but the object of the game is to score the basketball. How would you feel if someone said to the president of wal-Mart 'Slow down your sales so Zellers doesnt feel bad'. You have an objective, go out there and do your best because lets face it these kids are competing to get into universities,is anyone telling the kids with 94+ averages to slow down so the kids with 60s can have a chance. The answer is not to tell the better to slow down, but to tell the weaker to pick it up.

I've seen this team. They in my opinion are easily one of the best teams in the U.S! I think they are currently ranked #3 in the country but...sportsmanship is part of this game. If we lose that, then...this could have easily been avoided. The team is however very, very talented and deep. The Young kid is highly recruited and easily has the ability to play in the league someday. I think he's signed with Providence. There are about 4 or 5 other kids on that squad that are on the radar of a lot of major D1 NCAA schools. It is very disappointing and does raise a lot of questions in regards to character. Coaches more than anything, and there coach is a very flamboyant individual.

Shouldn't the focus of all of this controversy be more centered around what kind of thought process would need to be involved within a planning committee if it could put a rabid pitbull in the same ring against a chiuaua?

I mean really, the Houston area b-ball association (or whatever they're called) needs to be called out. Did anyone really expect a close result between teams that have a 12 THOUSAND team ranking differential? I just don't get why people are surprised by the outcome.

Don't get me wrong, I am not some heartless guy who advocates preying on the weak. And, I get why the talk about being sportmanlike is of value. But, Houston (I would assume) should have methods in place to separate age groups, gender, and so on to avoid these types of outcomes. Why not go the extra step and look at the calibre of teams that they place next to each other on the schedule.

Thumbs down for the Houston planning committee that setup this matchup, then burried their heads in the sand with what the outcome might be.

I think the issue is ensuring that your own team is ranked correctly and playing in tournaments that you will be competitive in. As the owner of the chiuaua, I wouldn't allow my dog to fight against a pitbull because I know what the result would be. Why would you enter a tournament where you know the competition is ranked 1000 positions higher than you? Don't blame the strong team for playing their game, blame the coach of the weaker team for sending the "sheep to the slaugher".

This game is no different than the Junior World Hockey Championships that were just completed. When Canada played Latvia the final score was 16-0. This is the equivalent of 170-35. All of Canada cheered as the Canadians continued to pour in the goals. Nobody was embarassed, assamed or considered to be unsportsmanlike. Everyone entering that tournament wants to be the best (world champion). In order to be the best, you have to beat the best - and don't cry about it if you come out on the short end of the stick.

Just to clarify. This was a league game and not a tournament game.

from what i heard houston yates was pressing the whole game

Unknown baller you are correct. Houston Yates did press the whole game. After this quote from the coach

"They work really hard in practice, and when they go in, they deserve the chance to play hard and compete, too," http://highschoolsportsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/01/170-points-in-a-game-record-breaking-spo.html

Although this argument could go either way I have to believe that coach underminded the integrety of basketball. For the comment that reffered back to a90 point blowout and nobody made acontraversy. I have to say that that game should of had that much publicity as this topic right now. Houston Yates previously league game win was 139 - 51 agasint Austin. This coach is questioning the morals that every team plays with. The coach that scored 100 in the girls game agaisnt the deaf school got fired. It is a constant reoccurence when good teams blow out not so good teams. Henry carr blew out Korah but coach melnic played all his subs and was respectful. Loyola blew out Iriquious earlier today and the starter splayed no more then 5 min. But they wer not full court trapping. They both played there game, and ran some offences and did not disrespect eithe team in any way. A 130 point win is a slap in the face and an embarassment to the face of basketball.

This game is no different than the Junior World Hockey Championships that were just completed. When Canada played Latvia the final score was 16-0. This is the equivalent of 170-35. .[/quote]

The only different factor to consider is that goal differential meant something in the hockey tournament and Canada is forced to score as many as possible in the event of a tie at the end of the round robin. This league probably has a max point differential and even if it doesn't, I don't think this team would be concerned about tie breakers at the end of the season. Just a thought.