Luray

[shenhoopsfan]

What has happened to Luray? Lost 2 in a row, and 3 of the last 5? Not sure I've ever seen such a talented team be so Jekyll and Hyde.

 

[1referee]

Lots of internal issues going on there this season that has taken the focus off of winning basketball games. I wouldn't be surprised to see a coaching change there next season unfortunately.

 

[lhsparent]

If you had a kid on the team, you wouldn't be saying unfortunately. Openly making fun of kids with speech impediments, cussing at kids and telling them they suck, kicking the kids out of practice and telling them to get the hell out of his gym, and throwing an empty basketball rack across the locker room are just a few of the things that have gone on this year. Not only should a change be made, it should be made immediately.

 

[dwcherb]

As much of a Page fan that I am...it does somewhat bother me when I hear of this sorta thing..granted, Luray has the talent to be #1 in the district, but, I have always felt the coaching never got the best of the talent they had..that's the main reason I had Luray picked #6 this yr...it's one thing to try and put some fire under the team, it's another to belittle them and make kids feel they're not worthy..if the statement was made to get out of his gym, he is sadly mistaken..that gym belongs to the school system, not him...with the size and ball handling Luray has, they should be a very tough team to beat...but,I believe I saw where they were out rebounded by East Rock almost 2-1..that is puzzling...granted Purdham from Page gets on his players, but at same time, he will be the first to pat em on the back for giving a good effort. I also know Luray has some fine young men on their team...maybe they will turn it around before season's end

 

[gtownfencecrew]

If Purdham had the talent that Luray has this season, you could pencil them in for a trip to Richmond in a few weeks.

 

[longtimerhsfan]

Wow, with us being stuck down here in the Valley, who knew all that drama was going on up north?

On a related note, some of us in the RHS stands last night at Stonewall were a little surprised at both their coaches. The JV coach literally got within six inches of a player's face and screamed at him at the top of his lungs, and then during the varsity game, although Smoot wasn't as bad, we could sort of see where he got his guidance.

Those of us who overheard it were surprised but at the same time we attributed a large part of it to how close we were to their bench and also to the fact that it was an extremely quiet gym overall.

I have always heard that players don't really mind being yelled at, if it is for the purpose of helping them improve. But when it becomes personal and leads to behavior that have little or nothing to do with the game, then I guess that becomes a different story.

We have all seen some of the college coaches and their classic meltdowns (Woody Hayes, Bobby Knight, Larry Eustachy, Jim Boeheim, to name a few) and I am amazed that some of them are still living after stretching their neck veins to those levels. So for my money I will take a calm coach any day.

 

[shenhoopsfan]

If that in fact is true, and I am not saying it is; then it would certainly make sense as to their struggles. It's hard to get positive results from that style of coaching out of kids. And I agree with Gtown: the talent is there, and Purdham could do wonders with it.

 

[pchs4life]

Half of these kids couldnt even play back in the day. Showboating, talking trash when you make one good play then get beat on the other end four plays in a row, WOW!! You would take an accidental elbow to the face and then be overthere on the bench crying..

When a coach got in your face or snagged u up by the collar or put a foot on ur butt. Nobody said anything. Now parents go crazy when they see that. lol

I agree that it's NO Place to say anything towards someone with as the comment above stated has speech problems or any other problems like that and if this is true then im sure something will be done. From above post >>Openly making fun of kids with speech impediments, cussing at kids and telling them they suck, kicking the kids out of practice and telling them to get the hell out of his gym, and throwing an empty basketball rack across the locker room are just a few of the things that have gone on this year..

 

[bballer4life82]

I don't think I've read anything factual in this thread. Just a bunch of disgruntled parents of players who don't play hard/aren't good enough to earn the playing time they feel they deserve. Wah wah wah....200+ wins in his Era with, at times, sub par talent. Bunch of babies.

 

[white&blue]

Back 2009-2010, Luray had a very good team but Madison had a great team. In the game between these two at Madison, I had to scratch my head over the Luray strategy. Madison was up by 16 at the start of the 4th quarter. Luray had the ball but was instructed to spread the floor and hold the ball. Remember, they were down by 16. Madison juts backed up and let them hold the ball. With little exception, this was the Luray tactic for the last quarter. The coach seemed to prefer not losing by a possibly larger margin than trying to win the game. I actually felt bad for their players. I think the final was a 16 point MC win. I recall some very angry parents in maroon that night as well. I would have been too.

 

[dwcherb]

Back in 2011, Luray played Galax in the state semifnal game...Luray was up by 8pts with 20 seconds or so remaining on the clock...instead of trying to run out the clock, Sanders kept trying to push the ball...Galax tied at end of regulation and won in OT..Galax then defeated Page in the finals...I have never seen a team lose a game with that big of lead with that amount of time...Sanders is a good coach...I feel he is better defensive then offensive,,,but, some of his strategy is puzzling...whatever the current situation is at Luray, I hope it get's straigthened for the players sakes....no coach is gonna have everyone loving em...

 

[longtimerhsfan]

I was at that Galax game and in fact that was my last game of the day before heading home. I was so sure that Luray had it in the bag that I was actually all the way to the exit door ready to leave. But suddenly, that one guy from Galax hit a three and I thought, well maybe I had better hold on. I don't remember anything in particular about how Luray played that game or whatever mistakes they might have made, but it seemed to me that the one guy from Galax just took the game over and won it on sheer willpower.

 

[gtownfencecrew]

Justin Hash of Galax lit Luray up at the end and basically willed them to the finals and eventually the title.

And I tend to agree. Sanders is better on the defensive end than offensive.

 

[shenhoopsfan]

Those were some of the best years for single A basketball in the area since the 68-72 era. These recent Madison teams, correct me if I'm wrong, only lost 1 game out of like 50, and was nearly a back to back state champ, losing only to I believe a Dan River team that had D1 signee White in the finals. Either team could've won a title at any classification in VHSL that year and Madison was hands down the best boys team in the state the following year when they won it all. And yes, I will stand by that statement, they were that good ! That 11' Luray team should've won, and were leading by 9 with 13 seconds to go. The Hash kid hit 3 treys in a row to tie it, and the rest is history. I've often heard head coaches say the way to beat Luray, is to just stay close, and then out coach them at the end.

 

[Lurayfan65]

My son was a 3 year starter on that team . In those 3 years we did a lot of wondering at what was going on in his mind. Lets don't forget the chair kicking time at Stonewall when a fan was hit by the chair!

 

[lhsparent]

Everything said above is the truth, and that is just scratching the surface. And believe me, it has absolutely nothing to do with playing time. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone on that team that wants to play for him right now. The time has come, and a change will be made.

 

[dwcherb]

Some may not believe this, but, I was hoping Luray would've won that game...you can only imagine the hype there would have been with both Luray and Page playing in the state finals...I actually sit there in disbelief as I saw Galax simply out play, and yes out coach Luray..but, how can you lose a game with a 8 pt lead with less then 15 seconds???...I guess miracles do happen...but, I also sat there in disbelief the next day to see Page get robbed from a championship. main reason I wanted Luray to win that game was so Page could beat em in finals..lol..again, I do hope that the situation at Luray corrects itself for the sake of the players and fans...I have family who live in Luray/Rileyville and as much as I am a Page fan, I am a fan of young people first...I know there have been alot of people in Luray who has wanted a change for some time...and it wasn't because their "kid" didnt get to play...some started...in the games I have seen Luray play this yr, I don't think Sanders uses the size he has...I have seen him sub Josh Good time and again when the kid was playing well..and Good is an excellent player and all round great young man....it's one thing to give a player a break, but, to take out one if not ur best players several times during a game is hard to understand....I agree with couple of the others on here...give Purdham any of those big guys(Good, VanWyck especially) and Yates, Page is state bound

 

[Amy123@07]

My daughter played for him the first year he ever coached varsity ball,you could tell then that it was only a matter of time till he dug a hole he would have a tough time getting out of.There were times when i wanted to speak,but for my daughters sake and also me looking like a fool,i let it go and twelve years later i'm glad i did.She went on to college and has become very successful and looks back at it and says she learned a lot about life in those years.

 

[20luray14]

Well all of the above mentioned is mostly true. This crap has been going on there for years, and most parents that have had kids in this program have seen this. As far as the Galax game Luray had a 9 point lead with 19 seconds and the Hash kid hits 2 - 3 pointers and then just under 10 seconds they foul Luray and we miss the foul shot .Rather than foul them we let them shoot another 3 from the same corner and send it into overtime.Luray lost to Page earlier that year when they let Page dribble down and shoot a 3 uncontested to tie that game . Page won that game in OT. I had a son on that team as well. I hear things are really bad there this year, just heard the assistant coach quit this week. dwcherb I really thought before this season they should be contenders to win it, but I was wrong. I think we could agree on one thing they sure had the talent.
This post was edited on 2/5 11:00 PM by 20luray14

 

[dwcherb]

I agree 100% on the talent...but, with all the turmoil going on from what has been posted on here and also, what I heard before the season started, you have to give the players credit that they have won as many games as they have...but, there is still time to right the ship...however, it appears that things will have to change for that to happen

 

[hokietech]

As a fan of Luray and a former player, that post is completely false. Yes, sanders may not be the nicest coach all the time and will yell at you when doing wrong. But he would never do anything that was said, and would definitely never make fun of speech impediments. And too top that, ball racks are never even kept in the locker room. Sanders cares for his players almost like a father does his son. In the offseason, he's always doing stuff with his players and In the fall he even takes all the kids who workout all the time to a Virginia Tech game. As I said, sanders does like to yell but it's just because he wants the kids to play their hardest. He loves the sport just as much as anyone. For someone to accuse him of all of that is so sad, because he would never do that. He's a great man and a even better coach. He would be the first one to give the shirt off his back to a player or student. And what's the big deal he yells and gets after the kids? You're gonna have that the rest of your life with bosses, coworkers, college sports, and much more. Parents complain and so do their children just because their kid isn't being made the superstar or getting the playing time you want. I garuntee if you ask most of the players over the years, and even this year they would have so much good to say about sanders.

 

[20luray14]

Hokie it is soooo obvious who you are. These posts are not false, the group of kids in 2006 through 2008 went through most of these things. Then the kids from 2009 - 2011 went through this. Now its 2015 and the same thing. So wake up and stop trying to difuse this situation. It is a FACT.

 

[Pagefan69]

What a joke! Lurays talent isn't a bit better than Pages! I wish you'd stop looking into the future because it's anyone's game in Conference!

 

[gtownfencecrew]

I have an opinion and you do as well. That's what's great about America. And I'm not the only one at Page who has said that Luray has the talent this year. But you obviously like taking everything I say and trying to make it a big deal. Wish I had a crystal ball. Maybe I could win the lottery. Get over yourself.