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Mike White's high school sports chat: 03.07.23
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Mike White
10:56
State basketball playoffs start Friday. WPIAL championships ended Saturday. Plenty to talk about. Let's head onto the court. Game time.
Junkie
10:57
Who are the favorites in wpial baseball this year?
Mike White
10:58
I readlly have to look at that more closely. Can't really answer yet. We'll have baseball preview in coming weeks. Yesterday was start of official practice for spring sports.
JC
10:58
Hi Mike. Who makes the decision to not let the students down behind the baskets? It looks stupid having them so far back and would just add to the atmosphere if they were down low. I also don’t get why they don’t or won’t show any stats on the video boards. You can get more information at most high school venues about points, fouls, etc. I do like having the games at the Pete but some of the things that go on are head scratchers.
Mike White
11:01
Agree with both of your points. I'm not sure who makes the decision on the seats under the baskets - Pitt or WPIAL. I know the WPIAL says they like to use those seats to put cheerleaders and players for next game. But c'mon. There are tons of empty seats up on that first level in corner. Put players for next game there. You can still have cheerleaders in those seats under basket. I've heard talk about worried about security and students rushing court. C'mon. Well then put more security there. The Oakland Zoo sits there. They provide great atmosphere, I agree they should let students there.
11:02
Getting back to the seats under the baskets. For first year they played at Pitt, they pushed back all the seasons on the side of the first level. Was ridiculous. was like a cavern in there. Then they wouldn't let anyone sit there. But now they sell them as reserve seats. Cost is 20 dollars. Good move. But my point is they adjusted. They should adjust to the students.
Curious George
11:03
Hey Mike. I don’t believe any of the PG staff made it to Allderdice game last week. I was disappointed, to say the least. Out of teams in area that were supposed to go, they were the ones. I watched the live stream - this team did not look anywhere close to Buddy’s teams from the past couple years. From a talent standpoint and coaching. Curious as to your thoughts now that they’re done.
Mike White
11:06
First off, we do not have the staff to cover EVERY game. That game was in Erie. We're not sending anyone to Erie for a SUBREGIONAL game. It was also the night of the WPIAL semis. Sorry, but there was more interest in those games than a sub-regional. That's not to degrade Allderdice. Excellent team. I thought they had a chance to make a run in states. We would've picked up coverage on them when they got into states. If they wanted coverage, at least get out of the sub-regional. We can't cover every team. As far as coaching, c'mon. Team loses, blame the coach. Allderdice blew a 17-point lead. You maybe the players had something to do with that? I saw Allderdice a few times this year. Devin Crummie did an excellent job. So did Buddy. Sometimes you just don't win.
Jersey mike
11:06
Aliquippa golf predictions?
Mike White
11:07
I played in Mike Ditka Celebrity Golf Outing in 1987. I know Ditka was really good golfer. Don Yannessa? I used to play with him. Not too good. Ha ha.
D9 Dave
11:07
You thoughts on PIAA first round games being on the home court of the higher seed.  Makes for some awful long trips for some teams.  Higher seeds usually have the advantage of officials from their home district too and now you give them home court on top of it.
11:10
Who do you think was the biggest surprise winner in the WPIAL boys finals and which WPIAL champion(s) can you see winning a PIAA championship?
Mike White
11:12
First on the first-round games at home sites. I go back and forth. I don't think it's a bad idea. Teams that finished higher in their districts get a lot of the home games. Yes, some rides are far. That's not great. But it is the "state" playoffs. Sometimes you make a trip. Second-round are all neutral sites. So I don't have a big problem with it.
11:13
As fdr the biggest surprise winner, there wasn't one. You might want to say Deer Lakes because they've never won before. But Deer Lakes is pretty good and they beat OLSH already this year. So that wasn't really a surprise.
Proud fan of those "Cheating Catholics"
11:14
Great article by Paul Zeise today! I hope some of your chat fans get to read it! Unbiased view from a sport writer whose son played football for NA!
Mike White
11:14
That's your opinion.
WPIAL #1 Fan
11:14
Central winning WPIALs is big.  I know u hate them but you can’t dispute DePante getting it done. Missed reg seas games with multiple injuries but got that title.  Has to be Fab 5 with Meleek, Givner – who else?  All got chips. Players you hyped all season for scoring didn’t win crap – that says something.  Fab 5 should be leadership w/championship. Scoring stats w/ nothing to show is meaningless.
Mike White
11:18
I hate Central? Too funny. Yes, DePante was terrific in final game. Was good in playoffs. Will he be considered for Fab 5? Most definitely. Players who score do get publicity. That's the way of the world. But obviously you haven't followed Fab 5 too closely over the years. Ton of top scorers in WPIAL didn't make Fab 5. By your thoughts, we just take the top 5 scorers in the WPIAL and make them Fab 5. That's ridiculous. Go back and look at Fab 5s. We have the leading scorer in WPIAL history this year and it's questionable whether he will make Fab 5. So please spare me the crap that we just pick the top scorers to Fab 5.
HW
11:18
opinions on D1 athletes showing up late to their first practice
Mike White
11:18
I don't have "time" for this question. Woooo hoooooo.
Jay Daven
11:18
Mike, is there any talk in the WPIAL to limit the number of teams in the playoffs for football, basketball, etc.?  The NFL and NCAA does it for money but for high school!
Mike White
11:20
No, there isn't. Sure there are some blowouts in first round but so what. I used to think there were too many teams, but  I don't any more.
George Wilson
11:20
How do you feel on Connor Spratt getting an offer from Lock Haven
Mike White
11:20
Woooo hooooo. Let's have a party.
Jersey mike
11:20
predictions for seton la salle football?
Mike White
11:22
Tom Donahoe is coming back to take over as coach and will lead them to two titles like he did in 1979 and '80. Greg Gattuso will step down as Albany's coach and be defensive coordinator and will lead his team to a championship in the North Park Summer League. And the school will then go back to an all boys school.
JohnLaw
11:22
Who do you like in 2A boys volleyball?
Mike White
11:22
The team with the best libero.
Nc fan
11:22
Some of these PIAA games have team traveling over 4 hours.  Shouldn’t that be considered when picking a venue?
Mike White
11:23
They decided last year and this year to give teams at top of bracket a home game. We talked about this earlier up in the chat. I go back and forth on it. It is a lot of  travel. But it's only the first round. And the teams with home game usually finished higher in their district than the opponet. So maybe it's a little reward for them.
Guest
11:23
Obviously it's not what it once was but do you think people are now too down on the quality of boys basketball around here? The WPIAL playoffs this year had what, five players with power five offers? Plus a few others who are either already committed to play D1 or most likely will eventually? Imagine if someone like Jalen Hood-Schifino would've stayed in the area too.
Mike White
11:28
This area isn't close to what it was in 60s and 70s. I have all section teams from some of those years. There might have been 25 Division I guys in a year. Population has something to do with it. It's a good time for big time players. Lincoln Park's Meleek Thomas, Imani's Alier Maluk, North Hills' Royce Parham are all top 75 players in their class and Brandin Cummings is a Pitt recruit. In past 25 years, we've never had three players at once ranked that highly. But still, what there might be Divison I players a year? Some years 2 or 3. Maybe talent is on the upswing. It's nice to see. I just hope all those players stay and don't go to these "basketball schools" or prep schools.
Makeitmakesense
11:28
There are some really talented players in the area who seem to not get the D1 offers that some others do.  Do you think that off the court facotrs (fake/promoted social media accounts, people in the stands, off the court behaviors) have more of a negative impact on the players than people believe? Seems like the D1 programs steer away from players/families with ego's that might cause them a problem down the line.
Mike White
11:29
Sure, colleges don't want to deal wtih idiotic parents. And if two players are equal, and one has idiot parent, they'll take the other one. But if you're that good, they will sometimes overlook some of that stuff.
HoopFan
11:29
I am sure this will be discussed, but I am submitting this anyway. Mark Stanley is getting unfairly dragged for his post game comments after the loss to Imani. I am a lifelong Union Township resident, and he has been nothing but classy since I have known him and his family. He is tired of putting hours in with his groups, and seeing an AAU team put together to beat them. It makes it worst when you have 3 sons on the team as well. Some of the stuff being said about Mark is flat unfair. It's a basketball issue. Nothing more. Whether change comes or not, what private schools are allowed to do is a problem. One that should be address, but will not be.
Mike White
11:31
It will not be addressed in playoffs, that's for sure. There is a committee in WPIAL examining whether they might separate some schools for regular season. But that's a band-aid. People are still upset about the playoffs. I'm not surprised about Mark. He's never been shy to express his opinion. And many feel the same way.
11:35
And one last thing I need to address. I've seen where I was accused of "writing a story" last week and saying Imani was an "AAU team" and they have no fans or pride. Ummmm, that was in a chat. And I didn't say it. This thing is called a "chat" for a reason. People make comments or ask questions and I respond. Someone did make the comment that Imani was AAU team and didn't have pride. Here was my response. I never said Imani was AAU team. Here is a copy of my response. Remember it's a chat: "Mike White: I love Union's story. Really small public school with a tough, hard-nosed coach with tough kids. But Union has talented players, too. It will take a monumental effort to beat Imani. Union beat Imani in last year's semis, don't forget. But Imani added two transfer guards this year who make a difference - R.J. Sledge and Dame Givner. As for public and private thing, it's been talked about over and over, rehashed time after time. PIAA wants nothing to do with separate tourneys. There is a WPIAL committee still mee
BBALL Fan
11:35
Top 5 WPIAL point guards since 2000?
Mike White
11:36
Good lord, I love how people ask stuff like this, name something in the past 25 years right off the top of my head with no time to research. But I'd put T.J. McConnell and Ethan Morton at the top of the last.
Rebels
11:36
Seton has 3 upset wins and lost to #1 seed at buzzer. With Brookville ranked #3 in PA 3A - do you like Seton’s chances to upset Brookville on thier home court?
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