The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 19

3 www.tennessean.com THE TENNESSEAN Tuesday, March 6, 2001 3C SPORTS: PREP BASKETBALL AUTO RACING Bunks, 3-point shooting make jump shots rarer BCA's Frensley stepping down "It shard to find kids who for 2-3 hours every day say Tm going to work on a skill' What would kids rather do, play in a pickup game or spend time working on a skill?" Al Cooper, Northeast coach "Coach Frensley resurrected our program, we hadn't won but 10 or 11 games the two years before he got here." Dennis Goodwin, Donelson Christian AD what they do. The emphasis on the game is getting to the basket. If you see someone go 5-for-7 from 3-point range, no one is awed. But if you see someone with three dunks Oakland Coach Randy King believes the medium-range shot is what's being lost. "The 15-footer coming off the dribble, that's what I've noticed," King said.

"Kids work bn the 3-point shot and dunking I think they get a bigger thrill out of missing a dunk than laying it in. But I really believe to be a complete player, you have to hit the medium-range shot." Montgomery Bell Academy Coach Ricky Bowers, himself a former great shooter for Lipscomb University, believes shooting is down because defenses are up. "I think this is deceiving because there is so much more athleticism By ANDY HUMBLES Slafl Writer If shooting percentages in the pros and colleges have dropped in recent years in men's basketball, high school coaches say it's not any different at the prep level. "It's hard to find kids who for 2-3 hours every day say Tm going to work on a skill' said Northeast Coach Al Cooper, a former player at Lipscomb University whose trademark was shooting. "What would kids rather do, play in a pickup game or spend time working on a skUl?" Coaches believe the influence of the NBA's slashing style and emphasis on dunks on television highlight reels has made finding a shooter next to impossible.

Ronny Carlisle has coached at Jo Byrns for 29 years and has had shooters such as Freddie Mcintosh and Shane Heade in past seasons. And even with a 204 team that is ranked in Class Carlisle says it's not because of shooting. "Freddie was a pure shooter from any range, but those guys would shoot an extra 400 shots a day," Carlisle said. "Those guys in the 70s and '80s lived in the gym. Kids have more going on now with malls, girlfriends, cars.

I remember over Christmas vacation I said call me if you want me to open the gym. I didn't get a single calL" Northeast's Robert Lusk is one of the few current players whose biggest contribution to his team is as a pure shooter. Lusk developed his skill with 300-500 shots a day. "It seems like there were better shooters back in the day," Lusk said. "I know if we can let teams shoot from 15 feet out, we're convinced we can win because nobody can shoot it consistently.

So yeah, it's a lost art. "Everyone sees the NBA and By HAROLD HUGGINS Stall ti nier Tommy Frensley, one of Nashville's high school coaching icons, has decided to step down at Donelson Christian Academy. Frensley winds up a 36-year head coaching career, the first 29 at Hillsboro and the past seven at DCA. He had a 632-304 career 2 record at NfJ Hillsboro, 139-72 FRENSLEY at DCA). "It's just time to go," said Frensley, 62, who played at Howard High, then Belmont, where he finished in 1962.

"It's been a great run, and I'll miss it. I'll be working somewhere, probably in the way of tennis or golf." "Coach Frensley resurrected our program, we hadn't won but 10 or 11 games the two years before he got here," DCA Athletic Director Dennis Goodwin said. "We hoped he would be able to coach here at least five years, and he wound up coaching seven. "He is loved around school, and we are grateful for what he's done here." Frensley took three of his Saw's Hillsboro teams to state tournaments (1972, 1974 and 1979), and made a substate appearance in 1989. At DCA, his teams won two district and one region title, and he took his 1998 Adam Sonn-led DCA team to state.

He calls the 1974 Hillsboro group (27-5), which went to state in Memphis, his best team. "That team had Randy Moss, Bucky Ford, Alvin Futrell, Nick Davis and Larry Fitzgerald. It was a great time for high school basketball in Nashville," he said. "It was always a challenge to play his teams, because they were always well-prepared and he usually had some new innovation," former Overton High Coach Tommy Griffith said. Shooters: Putting in hours gets results including a 48-point outburst in a game in February.

He is described as the more natural athlete of the two, but decided before his senior year he would give up football where he was a starting defensive back to concentrate on basketball. "Caleb just loves sports," Man-grum said. "He was a starting safety in football and the starting center fielder in baseball, and he's always played basketball. I am for playing all athletics in high school, but when Caleb said he was interesting in pursuing basketball, we sat down and said this is what you have to do. He really got started late in the game.

He's never played AAU basketball." Baker, who plans to continue playing baseball, shoots each day during the season with GixKlwin 1 "He was an average junior high player, but you could see the possibilities of him becoming a good shooter. We talked to Josh and his father about how to get there, and he's made the commitment. He just takes the game seriously and that comes from his parents. They are there for him and have committed themselves to what he wants to do. Josh says "You tell me what to do and I'll do the rest' Josh whose father, Scott Goodwin, is a former college basketball player from Baptist Bible College in Missouri began a shooting practice routine the summer before his freshman season.

After showing progress on the junior varsity team as a ninth-grader, Goodwin emerged as a var Sports Bar and Grill Formerly Jonathans in the Village now that you have much less opportunity to stand open and sh(H)t it," Bowers said. "It's just not the same. It's such a physical game and there's intense ball pressure." Shelbyville girls Coach Rick Insell believes shooting among the females is at an all-time high. "1 think the girls have surpassed the boys, probably because they work on it," Insell said. "The boys dream is to dunk a basketball.

The girls realize they aren't going to dunk, so they work on fundamentals. They work on sh(X)ting." during a free period in the morning. "We're sort of like twins or something," Baker said. "We know where each other likes to be on the court. During third period, we shiwt a couple of hundred shots to see who will hit the most.

We stay on each other to keep practicing, we motivate each other during games." Led by Gcxxlwin and Baker, Har-peth shot an incredible 60 from 3-point range and finished 22-6. "At first it's like an investment," Goodwin said of the work on his shooting touch. "You're putting in something but not really getting anything out of it. But then when you see progress, it becomes fun. "I think it's kind of surprising more people don't work on shooting.

A lot of people don't realize what it could do for them" Rivals Take Mm sity star last year as a sophomore, averaging 20 points per game. That helped him land a spot with the prestigious Tennessee Travelers AAU team that has numerous college prospects in its program, including the likes of Vanderbilt commitment Mario Moore, with whom Goodwin became friends. "If I miss a day, I feel like I'm getting behind," said the 6-foot-2 Goodwin, whose shooting routine in the summer takes 2-3 hours, depending on the rebounder. "Everyone wishes they could be like Michael Jordan and dunk the ball, but it's kind of fun being an underdog when it depends on how hard you work at it." Goodwin calls Baker "my right arm." A 6-2 senior, Baker averaged more than 15 points per game, "It's a super-nice track," Steele said. "As for the concrete surface, to me a racetrack's a racetrack.

The crew will handle the setup and make the necessary adjustments from asphalt to concrete. I let them worry about that." "Concrete is a different-behaving surface," said Steve Partridge, one of the Hoosier engineers who oversaw yesterday's tests. "It's more abrasive on tires. We'll test about 15 different tire compounds to try to find the best tire for this particular track." Since Nashville Superspeed-way is the only concrete track on the ARCA circuit, Partridge said it is "highly possible" that a special tire will be developed exclusively for this track. Trade Concrete surface unique test for race teams 2 for Tuesday mm I 1 li MmklumiL i PIU5 Ladies Night Every Thursday Night 2 for One All Pay Sunday Happy Hour Paily from 3-7 Dan Patrick Show LIVE in Nashville at the WNSR Studios Thursday, March 8th from 12 noon 3 pm Exclusively on AM 560 WNSR 22 televisions (brand new) g4" Big Screen TV Full Coverage of Mad Marchneee Full Service Lunch Served Paily Fantastic Food Ice Cold Beer 1603 21st Avenue South 363-5601 ii ii 3 tires for the April 14 NASCAR Busch Series race, also will conduct tests.

Not only is the 13-mile track brand new, it has a race concrete surface. It will be the only concrete track on which ARCA races. "It's a beautiful facility and it's going to be a very fast track," Robinson said. "The corners are a little tough to get through. Right now we're just testing for everything." As for being the first driver on the new track, Robinson said: "I'd rather have my name in the record book as the winner of the first race." A Chris Sanders Titans Come I Titans And Their NFL A Stand i fW I' iiiiifciif Darrell Green Redskins Tony Boselli Jaauars Ernie Conwell Jeff Blake Rams Saints Pete Boulware Ravens Derrick Mason Titans With Many More Special Guests Surprises experience two life-changing nights as these NFL stars share the power of Jesus Christ that enables you to live March 6 7pm Bethel World Outreach Center Admission Is Free Old Hickory Granny White Pike In Brentwood Phone: 371-1000 Childcare will be available for children ages 5 and under.

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