Did I see this right. Stuart bet Herndon last Friday and then Herndon beat lake Braddock last night. Isn't Stuart where PJ Kelly from Fairfax went?

Yes PJ, you left Fairfax before getting fired by Melnick and went to Stuart. Nice win. Ask Barbee about the shambles of a program you left.

August West Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes PJ, you left Fairfax before getting fired by
> Melnick and went to Stuart. Nice win. Ask Barbee
> about the shambles of a program you left.


In all fairness, Fairfax looked a lot better with Kelly at the helm, but it is early. His style suited that team well, with Barbee the team looks lost and with all key players back and supposedly better, are playing a lot worse than they ever did last year.

13-12 Varsity team returning several key players..

11-5 JV squad with a 14-2 freshmen team..

PJ sure left the program in shambles...right?

^^The talent is there, but the discipline and ability to actually run an offense is not, all a reflection on PJ. 13-12 in the Liberty is nothing to brag about.

August West Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ^^The talent is there, but the discipline and
> ability to actually run an offense is not, all a
> reflection on PJ. 13-12 in the Liberty is nothing
> to brag about.


The liberty has had a very up two years. Ask any coach, the Liberty and Patriot are the strongest by far this year. The Liberty brings back almost all key players, Mclean has knocked off Westfield convincinly and Madison (a mid-level liberty team took down Chantilly).

13-12 is nothing to brag about but it is ridiculous to say he left "a program in shambles" when all three levels clearly had winning records. I suppose that might depend on your interpretation of shambles.

The talent (slightly above average) is there and has been far before PJ when Steve Henry was there and made 56 consecutive region tournaments (exaggeration/joke).

The lack of discipline for last years team to underachieve is completely a reflection of PJ. However,that was LAST YEAR and he has been gone from Fairfax for months. Also,I am pretty sure the lower level teams had the discipline to "run an offense" successfully because they certainly did not play free lance basketball.

Barbee has had months to turn this program that has been left in "shambles" around. Perhaps the 1-3 record, "lack of discipline" and inability to "run an offense" is reflective of the current coaching staff..but hey, it is still early!

One thing about PJ Kelly is he gives control of the systems to freshmen and jv coaches, they can run what ever they want and rarely run what varsity does. Almost every where else there will be a system in place at all 3 levels to keep the players familiar with a single system and make a smooth transistion each year.

PJ has very little to do with the freshmen and jv success, he's very hands off, which at the same time is not a bad thing. Fairfax wins because they pull out of a talented area with 2000 kids in a weak district. All levels got smashed when they were in the Concorde a few years ago.

Right. My point was simply that the current players have experience "running an offense" particularly at the lower levels and the lack of discipline and inability to run an offense spoken of now is NO reflection of PJ Kelly whatsoever.

Also, give credit to the man for a quality win over Herndon!

May East Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Right. My point was simply that the current
> players have experience "running an offense"
> particularly at the lower levels and the lack of
> discipline and inability to run an offense spoken
> of now is NO reflection of PJ Kelly whatsoever.
>
> Also, give credit to the man for a quality win
> over Herndon!


Absolutely, great win for Kelly and Stuart. Only question is will they win many more?

By the way, this is not PJ Kelly!

Anyway, I saw Fairfax play several years ago in Christmas/Holiday tournament and I thought they were just terrible, looked completely lost on the court. Then I saw Fairfax play at Mt. Vernon in the first round of the Region tournament last year, and actually, and this is an admittedly unprofessional view, it seemd that the coach did as much as he could do. Mt. Vernon just had much more quickness and athletic ability, and basketball skill.

Those 2 games are the only ones I ever saw that PJ Kelly coached. From reading other threads on this board, I had the impression he was a less than promising as a coach going to Stuart, and I was surprised when I saw they beat Herndon, althouogh I know nothing about Herndon.

I would bet that Barbee will do an excellent job eventually. I'm basing that on seeing him play at Woodson and knowing he played for an outanding coach there.

I'm just an average, older guy that enjoys high school basketball and don't have the time to follow it as closely as I'd like to.

PJ was NOT fired at Fairfax by Melnick. PJ resigned. He wanted a more low-key coaching job with less pressure. That's why he went to Stuart.

Matt Doherty played for Dean Smith.

I have known PJ Kelly for some years now and played for him myself...does it really matter how we in the public view him as a coach?? I know for an absolute fact that he tries harder than anyone to coach, cares more about his kids than anyone, and ALWAYS has the best interest of his players- both on and off the court- in mind. why are we quoting a HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL COACH's win/loss record and discussing/talking crap about him? this is high school basketball, it would even be ridiculous to waste this much time talking crap about an NBA coach because it is JUST A GAME- and this is freaking high school!!!. i love basketball more than anything in the world, but it is always just a game. why spend this much time bashing a high school basketball coach? to discuss teams/games is one thing, but to go out of your way to bash anybody is very stupid, and even more so, very sad. Who cares people, the guy tries, sometimes succeeds, sometimes fails, but at the end of the day, what is important? it sure isn't whether or not he was hands on with his JV/Freshmen teams, whether he resigned or got fired (he resigned, trust me), or what shape the program is in and what Barbee is now doing to rebuild/save it. If you ever actually met PJ or had a normal conversation with him you would never say such things, regardless of what you think of him as a coach. It is sad that I felt compelled to write on this forum to defend him, i was not aware of this board and i'm sure glad i wasn't, because it is pathetic that anyone would come on here and talk crap about someone who does a lot of good things for a lotttttt of young people in the area (nearly or maybe over 20 years of coaching). Please, stop. talk about basketball. talk about Stuart's win over Herndon. talk about the good players/teams. Leave personal vendettas out of this find a new hobby if that is what you enjoy doing.

Well said former player. He's a great guy and loves the kids.

Kelly is doing a great job at Stuart to make them competitive, and more importantly, "clean" program. The previous coach gutted Falls Church, took their best players to Stuart, and practiced them all year round at Glasgow Middle School. He forced out all the football players, filled out his roster with gym class kids, and built the team around his son (who is on the roster at West Virginia State). What varsity coach doesn't ever watch a freshman or JV game?

Kelly was left with nothing. He's brought back the football players, organized the lower levels, and should reap the benefits in a year or two.

Herndon picked up a transfer, now they're the favorite to win the region...

Newssss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Herndon picked up a transfer, now they're the
> favorite to win the region...


When did this happen?

Will Ferguson, from Oconnell apparently. ESPN top 100 player. Herndon's now the favorite.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/recruiting-insider/post/g-will-ferguson-transferring-from-oconnell-to-herndon/2012/01/09/gIQA4U5umP_blog.html

Who cares...NoVa teams dont win states.

Predictions:

(in following order for end of season district rankings)

Concorde-Westfield, Herndon, Chantilly, Robinson, Centreville, Oakton
Oakton & Centreville will miss regional tournament

Patriot-Woodson, Lake Braddock, West Potomac, South County, TC Williams, West Springfield, Annandale, Lee
Woodson, Lake Braddock, West Potomac & TC will make it to regionals

National-Edison, Wakefield, Washington-Lee, Yorktown, Mt. Vernon, Hayfield, Stuart, Falls Church
Top 4 move on to regionals

Liberty-McLean, Langley, Madison, South Lakes, Fairfax, Stone Bridge, Jefferson, Marshall
McLean, Langley, Stone Bridge, and South Lakes make it to regionals

Regional Winner could be anybody, but most likely either McLean, Westfield, Herndon (now that they got Ferguson & if McLaughlin isn't in a soccer tournament), Edison, or Woodson

Yeah how about fairfax buddy??^

Well he was pretty close, Fairfax finished in 4th he had them in 5th.

Fairfax is the #3 seed & lost to Mclean for the District Championship. The only thing saving weak predictions is the caveat @ season records...

Jess1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fairfax is the #3 seed & lost to Mclean for the
> District Championship. The only thing saving weak
> predictions is the caveat @ season records...

The guy picked 5 teams for the final four in the regionals, and 3 of them were right (Westfield, McLean and Edison). Not bad. No one expected Fairfax to do this well.

He said how the regular season would end. Fairfax was the 4 seed in the district tournament and that's why they played the 1 seed Langley in the final 4. South Lakes (who beat Fairfax twice) finished as the 3 seed, but lost to TJ in the first round of districts.

Edison 69, Fairfax 65 (OT)

anyone know what the score was of the westfield mclean game? heard the bulldogs won

Westfield 55, McLean 41. 2 points for the Highlanders in the 4th sealed their doom... uncharacteristically poor outside shooting against Westfield's 1-2-2 zone.