You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Mike White's high school sports chat: 03.05.19
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Mike White
11:28
They're always good. Joe David has done a terrific job there. You know they've been good for a while. This year's team may not look like much when you see them warm up. But here's the thing: They all can handle the ball. They have a number of guys who can shoot and they've bought into David's new system. Gotta give Joe David a lot of credit. He totally changed his system a year ago. It has worked.
WPIAL202
11:28
Hey Mike, looking ahead to 4A bracket in PIAA, I think Grove City will give New Castle all they can handle if they make it to round 2. Hickory is also very good. Seems as though PIAA 4A bracket much tougher than WPIAL.
Mike White
11:30
Hickory is 24-1. Huntingdon is 24-0. Records aren't everything but yes, Class 4A bracket in the west is pretty good.
Joe montana
11:30
I am the most famous WPIAL alum yet I’m not in the hall of fame?  Why???
Mike White
11:31
Because you, Joe, like Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett and Mike Ditka and others, apparently won't commit to coming to the banquet for induction. So they're not putting you in. I too think it is really odd that those guys aren't in. When you tell people that, they can't believe it. But I don't know if you can blame WPIAL that much. Hard to put you in if you can't come to ceremonies.
Joe montana
11:31
How good were the 95 ringgold rams?  First WPIAL school to win title in states highest class
Mike White
11:33
Not true. RInggold was the first to win a 4A title. But that was only because 4A started in 1984. 3A used to be the biggest class and many, many WPIAL teams won state titles in that class. Thing about 95 Ringgold was they lost in WPIAL semifinals.
Walter White
11:33
Why does Aliquippa play Lincoln Park so tough but struggle against other opponents (i.e. Neshannock, Bethel Park, Riverside)?
Mike White
11:33
Because Bethel Park and Neshannock are pretty decent teams. Bethel Park is 6A and didn't make playoffs. But Bethel was pretty good.
Herb pope
11:35
Your WPIAL fab 5 over the last 20 years?
Mike White
11:35
Hard to do right off top of my head but I know T.J. McConnell, DeJuan Blair and Terrelle Pryor would be on it.
Dave Portnoy
11:35
How bad do you hate some of the questions you get asked here?
Mike White
11:36
I'm not a hater. Don't mind the chat at all. But certainly some tomato cans out there sometimes with questions.
Guest
11:36
Other than Morton, Donovan Johnson, Warfield, think there are any other potential Division I kids coming up through the WPIAL?
Mike White
11:37
They're all juniors. No other top 100 or 150 players I see right now in sophomore class.
PFT Commenter
11:37
Do you think the WPIAL will revert back to 4 classifications after next year? I don't know too many folks who like 6.
Mike White
11:38
It's not the WPIAL's decision. It's the PIAA. There has been talk about even people in east wanting to go back to four. But I don't think PIAA bosses want it. That would pretty much say they made a wrong move.
PFT Commenter
11:38
I love these chats. What happened to your varsity blog and will it ever make a comeback? The comments were legendary!
Mike White
11:39
Blog is no more. Our idea is that if we want to write a blog, it is pretty much the same thing as a story. So just make it a story. Overall,  you don't see as many blogs nowadays.
5A Fanatic
11:39
You referenced District 3 in the West now.  I noticed they had 9 teams qualify.  Are the teams from greater York typically strong?
Mike White
11:39
Distict 3 is Harrisburg/Hershey area and down to York. York has had some decent  teams, yes. But District 3 overall is pretty good.
Hoopsta
11:41
Doesn’t it seem like butler got the easier bracket over mt lebo...mt lebo has allerdice and Kennedy catholic
Mike White
11:42
Not really. If Butler wins first game, likely will get Coatesville. Let me tell you that Coatesville is really good. No. 4 in state. Chester is also on Butler's side of bracket. They are good. Kennedy Catholic skews the side of the bracket.
PFT Commenter
11:42
Mike - you seem to receive a decent amount of hate from people in the WPIAL if you don't pick their school or for a lack of coverage, etc. How do you handle that type of thing?
Mike White
11:46
It's old, old complaint. Get in line to complain on that subject. If we listened to people complain, you'd think we don't cover anyone. But it's part of this business. And we try to cover the entire WPIAL. That's over 130 schools. Can't ever please everyone. Larger classes obviously get more of the attention, which they should. If you want to know what really hurts? It's that we no longer have the PG North, South, East, West - once-a-week editions that had tons of high school coverage. But they went away a few years ago.  A complaint that did bother me was a few years ago when someone in North Allegheny athletic office actually complained about us not covering their sports teams. Incredible. Really? But that's a true story.
WPIAL Lifer
11:47
Perhaps you can figure out the PIAA’s logic behind this, b/c I sure can’t: Quigley and Vincentian lost in WPIAL girls 1A semifinals. Quigley is WPIAL #3 seed and drew District 6 #3 seed in opening round. Vincentian is WPIAL #4 seed and drew District 9 #2 seed. Meanwhile, West Greene is WPIAL runner-up and #2 seed. They get…..District 10 champion/#1 seed Kennedy Catholic. What?!?!?
Mike White
11:48
I know. PIAA logic is sometimes hard to figure especially when it comes to brackets. But reps from all around the state approve the brackets. So ...
rollDICEroll
11:48
Mike, who do you take in a potential second round PIAA matchup between Allderdice and Mt. Lebanon? Lebo got the best of dice on their home court by a few points when they matched up in the regular season
Mike White
11:49
Would be a heckuva game. Tough to pick. First I will say Allderdice better not overlook Canon-Mac too much. That said, if it comes off, I would probably go Allderdice this time.
Hoopsta
11:50
Pine Richland vs Kennedy catholic is cant miss right?
Mike White
11:51
No way. I think Fox Chapel is a shoe-in to hold down Oscar and beat Kennedy. Stop. I'm just kidding. Yes, Kennedy will win. But Pine-Richland is playing Wilson. Wilson is No. 3 team from District 3. Might not be a cakewalk.
Disappointed Tiger
11:51
Moon’s Puff Johnson who is 6’7 averaging mid 20’s per game and wasn’t even guarded by Carmody as predicted, Mars used a 6’3 Guard in Fusco and Johnson was held to 13 mostly off of putbacks and one open 3 point shot. In your opinion do you think Moon should have forced it to  him more or was it just good defense?
Mike White
11:51
This question couldn't come from a Puff Johnson family member could it???
11:52
You know Moon has some other pretty good players. The guards of Smith and Ryan twins are pretty good. And Mars can play some defense also.
Sir
11:53
Have any idea of who would be going for/ getting the central job ?
Mike White
11:53
Supposedly Dan Marino wants it bad and Art Walker will be his assistant.
Bummed out in Butler
11:55
Mike, I got to the 6A boys game early on Saturday.  I watched most of the Peters/North Allegheny girls championship and thought it was a great game.  It was good to see the Martindale girl back on the court leading her team a year after blowing her knee out in the championship game last year.  Do you see Peters and NA meeting again in the State Playoffs and if so do you think the outcome will be the same?
Mike White
11:56
If Peters and NA meet again it would be in the semifinals. It's a strong possibility. I would say it would probably be close again. And I really like the Rachel Martindale girl. Really nice player and seems like a tremendous young lady. Like Marissa.
Pinkney
11:56
Why didn’t Clement go man down the stretch vs Lt. Lebo. Could have made that game closer sooner than the last minute. Scared of Lebo’s quickness?
Mike White
11:58
Butler doesn't defend very well in man-to-man. Remember, it was a one- or two-possesion game early in fourth. Butler has been a zone team much of the year. They eventually went to a trapping half-court zone, which is fine. You have to remember, like I said early in chat, Mt. Lebanon is good and they can all handle and pass the ball. It's tough to trap and turn over teams like that.
Connecting…