Mucrisco
02-27-2015, 03:47 PM
I think Wisconsin should get rid of the divisions and just have one tournament and one state champion. Keep in mind that I am saying this from a girl's basketball perspective. However, I don't think the boy's side is much different. I have gone to a ton of high school basketball games this year. I have probably averaged 8 games a week. Usually, I am coaching my own high school team. However, since I have started my own AAU program, I wanted to have more time building it up. When I did both last year, I was drained. So, instead, I went around looking for players and supporting the ones that I already have. I am kind of surprised at the state of basketball as this year is the first year that I've seen this many prep games.
Watching the games, I can see that there are quality teams and quality programs and there are programs that for one reason or another, they are really bad. This happens regardless of division. For example, take a look at the Southeastern Conference for girls. I have a lot of Oak Creek girls on my team, so I went to a lot of their games. Their varsity won state last year. All three of their teams rolled through that conference. Oak Creek is an elite team. Franklin is solid. After that, the teams really struggle. It's the same thing with the City conference. You have teams that are really good and you have teams that struggle.
It might just because the AAU games are faster paced since there is a lot more talent on the floor, but there quality programs are tough to find. They are out there, but they are in different divisions. Teams like Oak Creek, Arrowhead, King, Mukwonago, and Germantown are great teams in Division 1. Cedarburg, Pewaukee, Pius, and New Berlin Eisenhower, from Division 2 are just as good as those teams, if not better. On the boy's side, I was surprised when I was told that Marquette High is going to win the Greater Metro because Brookfield Academy almost beat them, and BA is not even a top team in their regional. They are seeded first after a great Brown Deer team and a top Kettle Moraine Lutheran team. Then you have the really bad teams. There are teams that are bad, regardless of division. Those city teams or Southeastern teams get crushed by division 3 or 4 teams.
Wouldn't it be great to see all of these teams play each other at state to see who the best is? Kettle Moraine Lutheran only lost to DSHA by 8 or so points, and DSHA has the top player in the state. For the schools that are smaller and not as good, I'm not seeing how they are different than teams in division one that are not very good. You could have the higher seeds get a couple of byes in the tournament. Then, those small schools would still have competitive games in the first round or two. If I am a small school and I have a great class coming up, I am doing everything that I can to make my program better for that team. I'm improving my feeder system. I'm putting effort into my program. That will only make basketball better in Wisconsin. And wouldn't be great to see a small school make it to state? Then you can throw out all the multipliers and public school versus public school etc. There are few people who care won the Division Five state championship. I'm saying this as someone who came from a small school, but I'd love to see one big state tournament.
Watching the games, I can see that there are quality teams and quality programs and there are programs that for one reason or another, they are really bad. This happens regardless of division. For example, take a look at the Southeastern Conference for girls. I have a lot of Oak Creek girls on my team, so I went to a lot of their games. Their varsity won state last year. All three of their teams rolled through that conference. Oak Creek is an elite team. Franklin is solid. After that, the teams really struggle. It's the same thing with the City conference. You have teams that are really good and you have teams that struggle.
It might just because the AAU games are faster paced since there is a lot more talent on the floor, but there quality programs are tough to find. They are out there, but they are in different divisions. Teams like Oak Creek, Arrowhead, King, Mukwonago, and Germantown are great teams in Division 1. Cedarburg, Pewaukee, Pius, and New Berlin Eisenhower, from Division 2 are just as good as those teams, if not better. On the boy's side, I was surprised when I was told that Marquette High is going to win the Greater Metro because Brookfield Academy almost beat them, and BA is not even a top team in their regional. They are seeded first after a great Brown Deer team and a top Kettle Moraine Lutheran team. Then you have the really bad teams. There are teams that are bad, regardless of division. Those city teams or Southeastern teams get crushed by division 3 or 4 teams.
Wouldn't it be great to see all of these teams play each other at state to see who the best is? Kettle Moraine Lutheran only lost to DSHA by 8 or so points, and DSHA has the top player in the state. For the schools that are smaller and not as good, I'm not seeing how they are different than teams in division one that are not very good. You could have the higher seeds get a couple of byes in the tournament. Then, those small schools would still have competitive games in the first round or two. If I am a small school and I have a great class coming up, I am doing everything that I can to make my program better for that team. I'm improving my feeder system. I'm putting effort into my program. That will only make basketball better in Wisconsin. And wouldn't be great to see a small school make it to state? Then you can throw out all the multipliers and public school versus public school etc. There are few people who care won the Division Five state championship. I'm saying this as someone who came from a small school, but I'd love to see one big state tournament.