OFSAA Qualifiers...match-ups

Actually it's not stupid. If Etobicoke loses to Eastern and Eastern goes on to win the finals, then the loser of the finals will have to play Etobicoke. Should Etobicoke win then Eastern and Etobicoke go on to represent Toronto at OFSAA. How is that stupid?

I will admit that something has to change. The reason that you get these matchups is because there is a crossover system that changes every year. I feel that the 8 teams should be re-ranked to avoid this type of matchup this early. The West benefited this season in the first round as they had to play the North. No AAAA or AAA team from the North belonged in the playdowns, just look at the scores.
Etobicoke 83 Victoria Park 15
Weston 68 York Mills 39
Richview 57 Don Mills 10
I am sure that York memorial had no problem with Westview.

We in the East knew full well that we had a much tougher first round game as we matched up with the South. I would have loved to have had a first round playoff with the North as it hasn't happened since 2005 but we played with the cards that we were dealt. I am sure Jarvis, Thomson and Birchmount Park are sitting here today knowing they were pushed in their games yesterday, I cannot say the same for the West teams. This is the City playdowns and the quarter finals should not be embarrassing blowouts in three possible four games yesterday and three real playoff games. I mean you had two games where a team didn't score over 15 points! Do you think they belonged there in the first place? I know that nobody from our (East) region accepted the opportunity to get pasted by Eastern Commerce yesterday and I commend them for it. I don't look at it as quitting as much as the coaches of these teams knowing that they will offer no resistance to them and saving their players from the embarrassment.
How do you think those kids from Don Mills and especially Victoria Park felt yesterday? Todays youth doesn't have the filter not to mock or laugh at these kids while they are taking a beating. I give much respect to Jarvis for a well deserved and tough victory over us but their crowd behaved liked idiots. They taunted and mocked my players and even decided to be cute and do a 5 second countdown when there was 20 seconds left to make my players believe that they had to rush their shot. Classless! I am all for making noise when my player is on the free throw line as long as it is genuine cheering and not rude comments. I had no problem with the behaviour of the Jarvis players nor the coach as they represented their school with hard work and class.
I decided to say what I had to say because those scores yesterday puts a negative light of the competitive nature of GTA basketball. These are not regional quarter finals, these were City quarter finals. I would have had the two North teams play Martingrove or Riverdale in a wild card qualifier to at least increase the level. Martingrove would have smoked any of those teams. In AAAA, there is not much you can do as there are not a lot of AAAA schools. I think that maybe just 4 teams should go through which has happened before.
Lastly, it may be time to base your playoffs by levels not by school size. There are plenty of smaller schools who can kick the crap out of the large schools because they have the talent. Eastern Commerce and Oakwood are AA size schools that have been basketball powerhouses in Boys and Girls basketball for many years. I think it should be based on how many club players your roster has and go from there. Just to make a point, my roster has no club players . I have had to start from scratch and teach the basics of basketball to my kids and then after a few YEARS, attempt to implement more complicated systems.I would really have liked to see how my team would match up with a school that has only one or no club players. Swimming does it, as there is a club level and a non-club level. Just a suggesstion because it would stop the arguements over transfers and put the focus on who plays club on your high school team. Everybody knows who is playing club and who isn't.

I want to say good luck to all teams in the City Semi-finals.

Hi WCBasketball
Coach Vic (Richview) here
Tuesday 2pm @ Stephen Leacock CI we play Jarvis.
I find your posts knowledgeable, thought provoking and sincere.
We have not seen nor heard anything about Jarvis other than they can play.
If you could share anything about your recent game with them, we would be grateful.
Thanks
Coach Vic
asta.vic@sympatico.ca

I'm not sure why there are so many complaints about the West playing the North. When is the last time this has happened? The last couple of years the West has played the East and the South has had to play the North. If I remember correctly the north teams didn't even play those games and gave the south a bye. Why no complaints about the system then? There is absolutely nothing wrong with the system now and I feel really badly if any player from the north teams are reading these posts about their teams not belonging. They have every right to be there and represent their schools in the city playdowns. It just so happened that this year they were not very strong but at least the girls get a sense of accomplishment of having reached as far as they did...no shame in that. To rob them of an opportunity to play at all because people don't feel they are good enough is just cruel in my opinion.

In my opinion Eastern and Etobicoke are the 2 best teams for Quad A in the TDSB and more than likely they will go on to represent the TDSB in OFSAA. The system works. In my humble opinion.

thanks Coach 11...well put.

The North had some very very young (majority grade 9s and 10s) but athletic teams this season including Downsview, Westview, Newtonbrook. Also some schools with ONLY junior teams including Boylen, Fleming, Northview.
True the league was not very strong this year at all, but these girls will be back next season a year older and more experienced. Its their right to play just like all other teams.

And the other leagues weren'y exactly full of powerhouse teams this season either. Maybe only 1 or 2 really strong teams per division.
South - Eastern (Jarvis, Northern, Lawrence, Oakwood; good but not a powerhouse)
East - Thomson, Birchmount, (Churchill? good not a powerhouse)
West - Etobicoke, Richview (Weston had the twins, not a powerhouse)

Hopefully with their youth the North will have a few strong squads over the next couple seasons. I think Downsview has only 1 grade 12 on their team, all the rest 9s and 10s, and they are one of the fastest run-n-gun teams I've seen. Fun to watch.
The North will improve next season, and hopefully begin to close the gap to the other regions.

[quote="Coach11"]I'm not sure why there are so many complaints about the West playing the North. When is the last time this has happened? The last couple of years the West has played the East and the South has had to play the North. If I remember correctly the north teams didn't even play those games and gave the south a bye. Why no complaints about the system then? There is absolutely nothing wrong with the system now and I feel really badly if any player from the north teams are reading these posts about their teams not belonging. They have every right to be there and represent their schools in the city playdowns. It just so happened that this year they were not very strong but at least the girls get a sense of accomplishment of having reached as far as they did...no shame in that. To rob them of an opportunity to play at all because people don't feel they are good enough is just cruel in my opinion.

In my opinion Eastern and Etobicoke are the 2 best teams for Quad A in the TDSB and more than likely they will go on to represent the TDSB in OFSAA. The system works. In my humble opinion.[/quote]

You are fully entitled to your opinion and I respect that. You state that you feel badly for any player from the North reading these posts so I ask you a question. Do you feel bad for them for what they had to go through in the City quarter-finals? I have been on the short end of blowouts and the two things you want is for the game to end as quick as possible and to get out of the gym. It is very difficult to get the young kids of today to recover from beatings like 57-10 and 83-15. As I said before, a lot of kids of today don't have a filter. When my girls got blown out by Thomson last year, they were embarrassed and distraught for days. It also didn't help that the immature kids at my school found the time and effort to make fun of them. Don't tell me that it is any different anywhere else.
The kids also start to wonder why I, as the coach would put them in such a position. As you read here, a fellow coach from the East stated that he would not put his kids through the torture of getting trampled by Eastern Commerce and as you can see, nobody else from our region took up the spot. This has nothing to do with the future but instead the present. There was nothing positive learned by Don Mills and Victoria Park. I am sure none of those players are saying, "What a great experience".Keep in mind that this is how the girls finish their season and in some cases their high school careers. Not a good feeling for them. Finishing your high school career in a league(North) semi-final or final is much better than playing a game against a major powerhouse with the knowledge that you have no chance of winning. This is not a shot at the players but in my opinion, a challange for the coaches.

Why is Richview being called a powerhouse in the west when they split victories with Weston this year? Just wondering.

WCBasketball, I don't disagree with you about it being a painful experience being blown out but I do think that the choice to play should be left to the individual schools. I have personally never been blown out by more than 30 points in my coaching career, but when we have come up against superior competition I let my girls know before hand that there is no shame in losing to a better team as long as we go out and compete and play the best we can (I sound like an afterschool special I know...lol) .

Anyway, the point of my post was that this year the north was particularly weak and therefore the quarterfinals weren't competitve. But that is no reason to say there is something wrong with the system just because one particular year a region had weak teams. I've read your posts and have a lot of respect for the things you say but perhaps this is just an occasion where we can agree to disagree:)

Actually I'm mistaken...I did coach senior boys one year and we lost to West Hill by I believe 60 points. So I do know what it feels like

[quote="RealBall"]thanks Coach 11...well put.

The North had some very very young (majority grade 9s and 10s) but athletic teams this season including Downsview, Westview, Newtonbrook. Also some schools with ONLY junior teams including Boylen, Fleming, Northview.
True the league was not very strong this year at all, but these girls will be back next season a year older and more experienced. Its their right to play just like all other teams.

And the other leagues weren'y exactly full of powerhouse teams this season either. Maybe only 1 or 2 really strong teams per division.
South - Eastern (Jarvis, Northern, Lawrence, Oakwood; good but not a powerhouse)
East - Thomson, Birchmount, (Churchill? good not a powerhouse)
West - Etobicoke, Richview (Weston had the twins, not a powerhouse)

Hopefully with their youth the North will have a few strong squads over the next couple seasons. I think Downsview has only 1 grade 12 on their team, all the rest 9s and 10s, and they are one of the fastest run-n-gun teams I've seen. Fun to watch.
The North will improve next season, and hopefully begin to close the gap to the other regions.[/quote]

I also respect your opinion but I have to correct you on an assumption. I never said that these teams and girls didn't have the right to play. All teams have a right to play. I said that the coaches should have protected them from these games. Also, the North teams are not full of grade 9's and 10's as Westview did have a Junior team as well as York Mills and Victoria Park and these were three of the four reps. I really believe that you are missing my point.

[quote="Coach11"]Why is Richview being called a powerhouse in the west when they split victories with Weston this year? Just wondering.

WCBasketball, I don't disagree with you about it being a painful experience being blown out but I do think that the choice to play should be left to the individual schools. I have personally never been blown out by more than 30 points in my coaching career, but when we have come up against superior competition I let my girls know before hand that there is no shame in losing to a better team as long as we go out and compete and play the best we can (I sound like an afterschool special I know...lol) .

Anyway, the point of my post was that this year the north was particularly weak and therefore the quarterfinals weren't competitve. But that is no reason to say there is something wrong with the system just because one particular year a region had weak teams. I've read your posts and have a lot of respect for the things you say but perhaps this is just an occasion where we can agree to disagree:)[/quote]

Many times I do agree with you and this is one in which I don't. I respect what you have to say and we are taking advantage of what this board is, a discussion forum. I would rather people like us say what we have to for the betterment of the game then not contribute at all.

wcbasketball;

True that Westview had a junior girls team this season, but the best player by far on the senior girls team is in grade 10. They also have other 9s and 10s who get alot of minutes. I guess the coach decided to move them up to field a competitive (but young) senior team.

YorkMills and Vic Park did have both jrs and srs, and probably mostly grade 11s and 12s on their senior teams.

I still stand by my point that the North overall had alot of very young teams that should improve over the next couple years.
But I understand your opinion about coaches protecting their teams.

DURING the thomson and lawerance park game i believe thomson went to there bench.n they stood out strong.thomson bench is unbelievably good.n hope to see them play more.