The main reason we lost... (FT disparity)

[Niels Boar]

is that on our floor UAB got 9 more FTs than we did and hit them at an almost 80% rate, well above their season average.  We compensated partially by having a good night at the line ourselves.  However, the frequency that UAB went to the line was well above their season average, whereas we went to the line less frequently...on our floor.

Sadly our defense with the exception of the last play was actually one of our better efforts.  The 2-pt D and defensive rebounding were good.  The arc D was subpar as usual but wouldn't have beat us if we hadn't fouled, or been called for fouls, so often. It is worth noting that we had 3 players play over 35 minutes.  They had one.  Fatigue wasn't to our advantage in that last minute.

So I guess Pel is a genius for beating a ranked team if the last two seconds go differently and a dolt otherwise.  Fact is our margin of error is anorexic.  We are usually losing offensive rebounding by a wide margin thanks to no Orebs.  We are usually losing the arc because we turn every team we play into a collection of Larry Birds.  We aren't doing much damage on TOs.  That means we have to win the the FT line and 2-pt battle by significant margins.  Only one of those was accomplished yesterday.  If you play a lot of one-possession games, you are going to win a few (Missouri St.) and lose a few (UAB).

BTW the arc D continues to be a constant source of irritation.  Yeah, we have small guards.  However, UF has guards listed smaller than ours and are one of the best in the nation at perimeter D.  I don't understand why we have languished at around 300th in the nation for two straight years in arc D.  Just get that to NCAA average and get Washington on the floor able to contribute, and we are fine.

[Breems]

Good post Niels Boar.  I wish more people would listen to you, and hear.

[ErieHog]

Defensive rebounding in the second half fell off the map.  When you are outscored by 20ish, at home, on the offensive glass, it's a real problem.

That said, yesterday was a good performance against a good team, aside for a few lapses in judgment.

The last 9 minutes of the first half were brutal offensively, even moreso than the second half of the Baylor game.    This team *desperately* needs a guard who can score the basketball by taking it to the rim.

[Breems]

This team *desperately* needs a guard who can score the basketball by taking it to the rim.

Now, who on Earth could that be?

[ErieHog]

Now, who on Earth could that be?

I don't care if it's Nobles having a breakthrough, Welsh learning how to dribble under control, or Fortson returning.  They just need *anyone* that plays the point to do this.

[hillhog]

We continue to commit non-forced turnovers, dumb fouls, no one wants to rebound consistently on either end of the floor. We have to depend on our smalls to score inside on drives,etc. We look at some of our bigs(?) shooting 3's instead of consistently being a force inside. There are more but I will stop here.

[ErieHog]

We continue to commit non-forced turnovers, dumb fouls, no one wants to rebound consistently on either end of the floor. We have to depend on our smalls to score inside on drives,etc. We look at some of our bigs(?) shooting 3's instead of consistently being a force inside. There are more but I will stop here.

Marks of a young team, with players playing out of position.    UAB is one of the better rebounding teams in the country, and we rebounded with them for a half.   The most glaring part of the rebounding problem I saw yesterday was with the lack of effort-- the best example of that effort issue was when Washington took a 16 foot jumper from the right baseline, and there was not a single Razorback on the backside of the play to rebound-- there wasn't even one within 20 feet.  Everyone had abandoned the offensive end before the ball had even been controlled.   A Blazer ran it down just before it went out of bounds, but that lack of effort on the glass was ridiculous.

[Hogimus Prime]

What confused me was late in the 2nd half was Pel putting Cox at PF.  I understand that Johnson isn't great and that Bryant gets confused but putting Cox at 6'3" on a 6'10" kid is a terrible matchup.    I remember Cox had the kid boxed out but the 6'10"(I can't remember his name) just reached back and took the ball before Cox could grab it and then stick it back.

[ErieHog]

What confused me was late in the 2nd half was Pel putting Cox at PF.  I understand that Johnson isn't great and that Bryant gets confused but putting Cox at 6'3" on a 6'10" kid is a terrible matchup.    I remember Cox had the kid boxed out but the 6'10"(I can't remember his name) just reached back and took the ball before Cox could grab it and then stick it back.

Cox was playing SF.   UAB was excellent at using screens to force defensive switches, and that left Cox on their PF a number of times.

[Triple T]

It comes down to this.

Good teams find a way to win.

Bad teams find a way to lose.

[ErieHog]

It comes down to this.

Good teams find a way to win.

Bad teams find a way to lose.

Young teams have to learn how to win.  This is an extremely young team.

[Niels Boar]

Defensive rebounding in the second half fell off the map.  When you are outscored by 20ish, at home, on the offensive glass, it's a real problem.

That said, yesterday was a good performance against a good team, aside for a few lapses in judgment.

The last 9 minutes of the first half were brutal offensively, even moreso than the second half of the Baylor game.    This team *desperately* needs a guard who can score the basketball by taking it to the rim.

UAB rebounded about 33% of their misses for the game.  They are an excellent offensive rebounding team and average 38% for the year.  You have to consider that a win on defense overall.  I'll take it.  When Washington plays, our defensive rebounding is pretty decent.  The discrepancy is all about our total lack of offensive rebounding.  We only rebounded 22% of our own misses.  NCAA average is 33%.  That really puts us in a possession hole if we aren't going to win the TO battle by a good margin.  It is really baffling that we can't force TOs and can't prevent 3-pointers.

[ErieHog]

UAB rebounded about 33% of their misses for the game.  They are an excellent offensive rebounding team and average 38% for the year.  You have to consider that a win on defense overall.  I'll take it.  When Washington plays, our defensive rebounding is pretty decent.  The discrepancy is all about our total lack of offensive rebounding.  We only rebounded 22% of our own misses.  NCAA average is 33%.  That really puts us in a possession hole if we aren't going to win the TO battle by a good margin.  It is really baffling that we can't force TOs and can't prevent 3-pointers.

It's not a bad net result, I agree-- the problem is that they were rebounding about 18% of their misses in the first half, and then they got back to normal or slightly better than normal in the second half.     That killed us, when we were in a back and forth one possession game.

[G-HOG]

Take a look at the offensive rebound stats, and I mean every fricken' game.
After every game people come up with a different excuse why we lost.
We lose because we are inferior to our opponent.It's time to face the facts, we suck!!!

[ErieHog]

Take a look at the offensive rebound stats, and I mean every fricken' game.
After every game people come up with a different excuse why we lost.
We lose because we are inferior to our opponent.It's time to face the facts, we suck!!!

Inexperienced teams do that.  They lose in every way imaginable, until they learn how to win, and how to not let a bad day in any single phase of the game define how they play.

What is truly amazing is that a team that has one starter returning full speed, and two others playing about 50% of the time has had as many good periods this soon, as this team has.    Highs will be nice;  lows will be low.    The Pel-backers have to remember this as well, even when it looks like the team is doing well--  they're going to be maddeningly inconsistent from night to night.

[pfrg999]

Inexperienced teams do that.  They lose in every way imaginable, until they learn how to win, and how to not let a bad day in any single phase of the game define how they play.

What is truly amazing is that a team that has one starter returning full speed, and two others playing about 50% of the time has had as many good periods this soon, as this team has.    Highs will be nice;  lows will be low.    The Pel-backers have to remember this as well, even when it looks like the team is doing well--  they're going to be maddeningly inconsistent from night to night.

Bad team.... Not good.... Call it what you want.... it comes to the same thing... The team fought hard... the coach let them down... the COACH... called the wrong defense.... and he knows this... he knows its coming... at least the TEAM didnt wilt like a flower in this game

[Niels Boar]

It's not a bad net result, I agree-- the problem is that they were rebounding about 18% of their misses in the first half, and then they got back to normal or slightly better than normal in the second half.     That killed us, when we were in a back and forth one possession game.

I wonder if fatigue didn't have something to do with that.  Farmer, Powell, and Washington get most of our defensive rebounds.  Farmer and Powell played virtually the entire game. 

[G-HOG]

When will the excuses stop? Pathetic!

[Breems]

I don't care if it's Nobles having a breakthrough, Welsh learning how to dribble under control, or Fortson returning.  They just need *anyone* that plays the point to do this.

I doubt Welsh's out-of-control dribbling will be fixed anytime soon.  Nobles is a freshman and seems like he might be good with more practice and experience, but yas yet to show the skills to go to the hole.  Fortson was a freshman last year and in his first year showed the ability to get to the rim and score pretty easily.  Seems like our best option at this point if his issues are corrected.

[wildcathawg]

the main reason we lost is that we have good players, not great players, and we have an average coach. pel simply hasnt the experience necessary to take arkansas to the next level.

the notion that he was all we could get and should therefore love and support him is silly. its likely that many coaches shied away from arkansas due to uncertainty with broyles (pending retirement) and the nolan fiasco. my guess is that a big time head coach wants to know the AD pretty well and broyles being on the cusp of retirement was too much of an unknown.

if the seats are filled then paying 2 million + per year is feasible. a filled arena will generate more than enough cash to pay a big timer. the key is that whoever we get probably needs to bring their recruiting class....

it looks like our record will be awfully similar to last years record and that is simply unacceptable. barring a 10 game winning streak, pel must go.

[Niels Boar]

I doubt Welsh's out-of-control dribbling will be fixed anytime soon.  Nobles is a freshman and seems like he might be good with more practice and experience, but yas yet to show the skills to go to the hole.  Fortson was a freshman last year and in his first year showed the ability to get to the rim and score pretty easily.  Seems like our best option at this point if his issues are corrected.

Welsh had 6 assists (half our total) to 3 TOs.  He had as many boards as Powell in fewere minutes, shot for effective FG% of 50%, and added 2 steals for good measure.  He isn't a pure PG and wasn't supposed to be our PG this season, but PG play wasn't our problem at all in that game.  He had a solid game for a PG.  You guys just fixate on every mistake he makes at this point.

[Niels Boar]

When will the excuses stop? Pathetic!

Yeah, we get it. We lost, we suck, no discussion of what actually happened on the court allowed.  There are umpteen fire Pel threads on the board.  Go clutter up those threads with cliches, and let us have one where we actually discuss the game.

[3kgthog]

The main reason we lost is because our coach was an idiot with 2.2 secs left.

[Porkatarian]

3jgthog, he didn't just become an idiot for those last 2 seconds.


Porkatarian out...

[heathtits]

Besides the woeful 3 pt defense, impact PG play is a serious problem with this team.

Never thought I'd miss Gary Ervin.

The lack of three point shooters is a SERIOUS hole in the team. Shooting sub 35% from the 3pt line EVERY SINGLE GAME makes it really hard to win games like this when you're behind in tons of other key stats. 14.7% from behind the arc AT VERIZON is pretty unbelievable.

At least they shot 78% from the foul line.

[HognotinMemphis]

I've been griping about Hogs' 3 point defense since the days of Heath. It's as bad now as it was then.

[heathtits]

Not to be a dick, but to summarize you're saying we don't play 3 pt defense, we don't rebound offensively, we are overdependent on a few players who probably wouldn't start anywhere else in the SEC and we are in serious trouble if Washington(who is leaving anyway) isn't available.

Sounds like we really are close. Just around the corner.

[rude1]

What confused me was late in the 2nd half was Pel putting Cox at PF.  I understand that Johnson isn't great and that Bryant gets confused but putting Cox at 6'3" on a 6'10" kid is a terrible matchup.    I remember Cox had the kid boxed out but the 6'10"(I can't remember his name) just reached back and took the ball before Cox could grab it and then stick it back.

Pelphrey has no clue about substitutions or spreading the minutes properly. One only has to look at Glenn Bryant getting 3 minutes to understand this. Bryant can certainly help this team with hustle, boards, and perhaps garbage points on stick backs, but he can't do it sitting on the bench watching the golfer run around out there.

[heathtits]

Pelphrey has no clue about substitutions or spreading the minutes properly. One only has to look at Glenn Bryant getting 3 minutes to understand this. Bryant can certainly help this team with hustle, boards, and perhaps garbage points on stick backs, but he can't do it sitting on the bench watching the golfer run around out there.

There has been so much roster turnover, Pelphrey forgot Glen Bryant was on the team. Seriously.

[Breems]

Pelphrey has no clue about substitutions or spreading the minutes properly. One only has to look at Glenn Bryant getting 3 minutes to understand this. Bryant can certainly help this team with hustle, boards, and perhaps garbage points on stick backs, but he can't do it sitting on the bench watching the golfer run around out there.

I agree with this actually.

[ge-erdone]

is that on our floor UAB got 9 more FTs than we did and hit them at an almost 80% rate, well above their season average.  We compensated partially by having a good night at the line ourselves.  However, the frequency that UAB went to the line was well above their season average, whereas we went to the line less frequently...on our floor.

Sadly our defense with the exception of the last play was actually one of our better efforts.  The 2-pt D and defensive rebounding were good.  The arc D was subpar as usual but wouldn't have beat us if we hadn't fouled, or been called for fouls, so often. It is worth noting that we had 3 players play over 35 minutes.  They had one.  Fatigue wasn't to our advantage in that last minute.

So I guess Pel is a genius for beating a ranked team if the last two seconds go differently and a dolt otherwise.  Fact is our margin of error is anorexic.  We are usually losing offensive rebounding by a wide margin thanks to no Orebs.  We are usually losing the arc because we turn every team we play into a collection of Larry Birds.  We aren't doing much damage on TOs.  That means we have to win the the FT line and 2-pt battle by significant margins.  Only one of those was accomplished yesterday.  If you play a lot of one-possession games, you are going to win a few (Missouri St.) and lose a few (UAB).

BTW the arc D continues to be a constant source of irritation.  Yeah, we have small guards.  However, UF has guards listed smaller than ours and are one of the best in the nation at perimeter D.  I don't understand why we have languished at around 300th in the nation for two straight years in arc D.  Just get that to NCAA average and get Washington on the floor able to contribute, and we are fine.

IMO, our biggest problems, except for Rotnei Clarke, we are not a good shooting team.

We cannot hit a majority of wide open shots, are finish on very close  shots.

I do not know what the problem is, unless it is confidence, strength on close in, or coaching and practice.

And we need some medical ball treatment, bigtime.

We loose so many balls on rebounds, not catching it on pass, or fighting for the ball, as it seems to just hit our hands and bounce off.

Practice with that heavy medicine ball for at least thirty minutes, to try to alleviate the real basketball as a hot potato to hot to handle or catch.

[Danny J]

IMO, our biggest problems, except for Rotnei Clarke, we are not a good shooting team.

We cannot hit a majority of wide open shots, are finish on very close  shots.

I do not know what the problem is, unless it is confidence, strength on close in, or coaching and practice.

And we need some medical ball treatment, bigtime.

We loose so many balls on rebounds, not catching it on pass, or fighting for the ball, as it seems to just hit our hands and bounce off.

Practice with that heavy medicine ball for at least thirty minutes, to try to alleviate the real basketball as a hot potato to hot to handle or catch.

What we need to do is what Nolan used to do which is get a smaller rim for practices. You are exactly right when you say that we only have one shooter on this team. I have said this for some time now in many other threads. If we have a team with only one person who can actually shoot the ball from mid to long range the we have to be a team that drives to the hoop. Right now we can shoot from distance or drive to the hoop. I have seen do this a couple of times a game and he usually throws up a circus shot. Even Dykes was talking about that saturday. Welsh is a senior and should know better than to drive the lane and jack up crazy circus shots. I cant remember the laswt time I saw nobles actually try to penetrate the lane while we are in a set offense. Nobles has to learn to put his head down and try to penetrate to get the offense in motion. I dont think our D is as much a problem as our offense scoring from a halfcourt set or getting offensice boards. Rebounding our misses is a HUGE problem.

[Niels Boar]

Not to be a dick, but to summarize you're saying we don't play 3 pt defense, we don't rebound offensively, we are overdependent on a few players who probably wouldn't start anywhere else in the SEC and we are in serious trouble if Washington(who is leaving anyway) isn't available.

Sounds like we really are close. Just around the corner.

Thanks for trying not to be a dick, even though you didn't succeed.  Not every thread is a grand statement on the overarching direction of the program or a summary of Pelphrey's job status. BTW I point out a two-year running problem on D and debunk a common explanation.  Buuuuut, I guess that I didn't scream about what an idiot Pel is, the thread is taken as syrupy praise of Pel.  It has become pointless to post anything of substance on this board. We should have two threads.  Fire Pel or Give Pel Another Year. Very few posters want to actually talk about the games. 

Guess what? They don't do everything poorly.  On offense Arkansas is well above NCAA average in effective FG%, 2-pt%, 3-pt %, TO rate, and getting to the line.  On defense we are among the best in the nation at 2-pt%, which keeps our effective FG% respectable even though we are among the worst in the nation at 3-pt D.  The defensive rebounding has been adequate when the frontline is reasonably healthy.  Arkansas with these strengths should be better, but the problem is their weaknesses (offensive rebounding, FT%, D-TO%, and 3-pt D) are so severe that it torpedos everything else they are doing. 

So, yes, just being bad in those categories would make a world of difference.  We are 178th in the nation in offensive efficiency even though we are in the top 80 in most offensive categories.  As I said before, there is really no excuse for not turning teams over AND not defending anybody on the perimeter.  We should be able to deny shots if we aren't denying passes.  Just getting to, say, 180th in the nation in 3-pt D isn't mission impossible.  And, yes, Pel has dug himself a hole in frontline recruiting, but the personnel isn't going to change between now and February.  Sooo, there was really no point in going off on that tangent in a post about one result.  Whether Pel and the current staff can fix any of these problems this year, I don't know.  Either they are going to get fixed and we are going to win some games this season, or they aren't and we are going to lose a bunch more games this season.  I just don't see the point of coming on here and speculating about his job status after every single game.

[The Hogfather]

This team *desperately* needs a guard who can score the basketball by taking it to the rim.

We have 2 on their way next year.  Hope Pelphrey gets to coach them.

[Niels Boar]

Pelphrey has no clue about substitutions or spreading the minutes properly. One only has to look at Glenn Bryant getting 3 minutes to understand this. Bryant can certainly help this team with hustle, boards, and perhaps garbage points on stick backs, but he can't do it sitting on the bench watching the golfer run around out there.

Pelphrey has been bad at developing a bench the last two years.  He has athletes on the bench.  They should be able to spell the starters long enough that fatigue doesn't bite us in the butt in close games down the stretch.  We've wasted 30 minutes of pretty good BB quite a few times the last two years because Pel does not trust his bench enough to get starters down to 30 minutes.

[thirtythree]

is that on our floor UAB got 9 more FTs than we did and hit them at an almost 80% rate, well above their season average.  We compensated partially by having a good night at the line ourselves.  However, the frequency that UAB went to the line was well above their season average, whereas we went to the line less frequently...on our floor.

Sadly our defense with the exception of the last play was actually one of our better efforts.  The 2-pt D and defensive rebounding were good.  The arc D was subpar as usual but wouldn't have beat us if we hadn't fouled, or been called for fouls, so often. It is worth noting that we had 3 players play over 35 minutes.  They had one.  Fatigue wasn't to our advantage in that last minute.

So I guess Pel is a genius for beating a ranked team if the last two seconds go differently and a dolt otherwise.  Fact is our margin of error is anorexic.  We are usually losing offensive rebounding by a wide margin thanks to no Orebs.  We are usually losing the arc because we turn every team we play into a collection of Larry Birds.  We aren't doing much damage on TOs.  That means we have to win the the FT line and 2-pt battle by significant margins.  Only one of those was accomplished yesterday.  If you play a lot of one-possession games, you are going to win a few (Missouri St.) and lose a few (UAB).

BTW the arc D continues to be a constant source of irritation.  Yeah, we have small guards.  However, UF has guards listed smaller than ours and are one of the best in the nation at perimeter D.  I don't understand why we have languished at around 300th in the nation for two straight years in arc D.  Just get that to NCAA average and get Washington on the floor able to contribute, and we are fine.

I totally agree with you. Now, I will read the rest of the thread.

[ErieHog]

We have 2 on their way next year.  Hope Pelphrey gets to coach them.

Eh.  Next year is next year.  I would like to see more results this year, and believe there is the talent on campus to get it done much better.

[The Hogfather]

Eh.  Next year is next year.  I would like to see more results this year, and believe there is the talent on campus to get it done much better.

I agree most of this, but I don't see enough consistent scorers on campus right now.  I just wish Fortson cared enough to get back on the floor as a Razorback.  He could certainly help a ton with this issue.

[rude1]

Thanks for trying not to be a dick, even though you didn't succeed.  Not every thread is a grand statement on the overarching direction of the program or a summary of Pelphrey's job status. BTW I point out a two-year running problem on D and debunk a common explanation.  Buuuuut, I guess that I didn't scream about what an idiot Pel is, the thread is taken as syrupy praise of Pel.  It has become pointless to post anything of substance on this board. We should have two threads.  Fire Pel or Give Pel Another Year. Very few posters want to actually talk about the games. 

Guess what? They don't do everything poorly.  On offense Arkansas is well above NCAA average in effective FG%, 2-pt%, 3-pt %, TO rate, and getting to the line.  On defense we are among the best in the nation at 2-pt%, which keeps our effective FG% respectable even though we are among the worst in the nation at 3-pt D.  The defensive rebounding has been adequate when the frontline is reasonably healthy.  Arkansas with these strengths should be better, but the problem is their weaknesses (offensive rebounding, FT%, D-TO%, and 3-pt D) are so severe that it torpedos everything else they are doing. 

So, yes, just being bad in those categories would make a world of difference.  We are 178th in the nation in offensive efficiency even though we are in the top 80 in most offensive categories.  As I said before, there is really no excuse for not turning teams over AND not defending anybody on the perimeter.  We should be able to deny shots if we aren't denying passes.  Just getting to, say, 180th in the nation in 3-pt D isn't mission impossible.  And, yes, Pel has dug himself a hole in frontline recruiting, but the personnel isn't going to change between now and February.  Sooo, there was really no point in going off on that tangent in a post about one result.  Whether Pel and the current staff can fix any of these problems this year, I don't know.  Either they are going to get fixed and we are going to win some games this season, or they aren't and we are going to lose a bunch more games this season.  I just don't see the point of coming on here and speculating about his job status after every single game.

I believe it's too early to get a real handle on their actual numbers. They have played an extremely weak schedule, and are just now getting ready to get into the meat of their schedule. I believe a lot of those numbers will fade negatively as the season progress.

[ErieHog]

I believe it's too early to get a real handle on their actual numbers. They have played an extremely weak schedule, and are just now getting ready to get into the meat of their schedule. I believe a lot of those numbers will fade negatively as the season progress.

An extremely weak schedule?

The SOS, by RPI standards, sits at 175th, to date.    Last year, despite having 2 Top 10 teams in the first 16 games, our SOS by RPI stood at 156th after the Texas game.

This schedule played is arguably the most formidable the Hogs have tackled since 1996, by standard SOS formulations, because of the depth of high-quality mid majors.

[razorpimp]

Pelphrey has no clue about substitutions or spreading the minutes properly. One only has to look at Glenn Bryant getting 3 minutes to understand this. Bryant can certainly help this team with hustle, boards, and perhaps garbage points on stick backs, but he can't do it sitting on the bench watching the golfer run around out there.

I totally agree.....Bryant out there playing bad is better than Cox on the greatest performance of his life.

[rude1]

An extremely weak schedule?

The SOS, by RPI standards, sits at 175th, to date.    Last year, despite having 2 Top 10 teams in the first 16 games, our SOS by RPI stood at 156th after the Texas game.

This schedule played is arguably the most formidable the Hogs have tackled since 1996, by standard SOS formulations, because of the depth of high-quality mid majors.

Did you check it before Baylor and UAB, it was in the mid 200s. Like I said, they are just NOW getting into the meat of their schedule.

[heathtits]

Eh.  Next year is next year.  I would like to see more results this year, and believe there is the talent on campus to get it done much better.

Erie what do you think is a bigger problem, not having guards who can take it to the rim or not having guards who can shoot?

We don't have either right now.

I feel like we are so far away right now. The only guy on the team right now who has the minerals to penetrate is leaving, not to mention he loses the ball half the time, our star big man is leaving, with no for sure replacement and we have two frosh guards coming in who are by no means certain to be impact players.

I'm sorry but please tell me how to look at it differently.

[ErieHog]

Erie what do you think is a bigger problem, not having guards who can take it to the rim or not having guards who can shoot?

We don't have either right now.

I feel like we are so far away right now. The only guy on the team right now who has the minerals to penetrate is leaving, not to mention he loses the ball half the time, our star big man is leaving, with no for sure replacement and we have two frosh guards coming in who are by no means certain to be impact players.

I'm sorry but please tell me how to look at it differently.

Not having guards who can take it to the rim.  Teams can play through shooting struggles, if they can get to the FT line consistently, and break up long scoring droughts.   Having one more shooter would be a fantastic thing, certainly-- but ultimately, the team isn't super deep either, so adding a single shooter may not have dividends in every game, especially if RC or the other shooter developed foul issues in a game-- we'd be back to square one, with one shooter and 4 guys on the floor at any given time.   Adding a true penetrator would change the quality of looks our less-than stellar shooters already get, which can only be a good thing.    Plus, if we push other teams foul situations, it'll affect our own ability to use raw and untested reserves with greater latitude, as well as change how they choose to defend the Hogs in the last minutes of ballgames.

The team isn't that far away.  It's built for a certain style of play, and it's a style that requires a point guard who can take it to the hole, and who can push the pace of a basketball game.   Right now, we are playing with a blindfold, essentially.

One of the things that has really bothered me of late, is how often our 3s and 4s are simply outmuscled and pushed out of the blocks.  Sanchez would be nice, albeit a luxury, for this team.

[jst01]

, our star big man is leaving, with no for sure replacement

Powell is thinking of leaving?

[ge-erdone]

Pelphrey has no clue about substitutions or spreading the minutes properly. One only has to look at Glenn Bryant getting 3 minutes to understand this. Bryant can certainly help this team with hustle, boards, and perhaps garbage points on stick backs, but he can't do it sitting on the bench watching the golfer run around out there.

Maybe you can take some placards to the games, and hold them up for the tv and him to see, so he will know when and what to do.

You could save our season!!

[rude1]

Maybe you can take some placards to the games, and hold them up for the tv and him to see, so he will know when and what to do.

You could save our season!!

Someone needs to. So you think not playing Bryant is the smart thing to do?

[heathtits]

Powell is thinking of leaving?

Washington.

If you think Powell can cut it as our sole big man, you didn't watch the Baylor game very closely.

Erie who do you see as taking up the role anytime soon of the penetrating guard? If it's safe to assume Fortson is gone, do you think Nobles or Peterson are going to be able to make the kind of impact you are talking about?

I do agree that Farmer gets pushed around quite a bit but at least Bryant looks like he will be able to fill his frame out pretty well, and I can only hope that Waithe is going to help add some muscle to our 3,4 spots.

[ErieHog]

Washington.

If you think Powell can cut it as our sole big man, you didn't watch the Baylor game very closely.

Erie who do you see as taking up the role anytime soon of the penetrating guard? If it's safe to assume Fortson is gone, do you think Nobles or Peterson are going to be able to make the kind of impact you are talking about?

I do agree that Farmer gets pushed around quite a bit but at least Bryant looks like he will be able to fill his frame out pretty well, and I can only hope that Waithe is going to help add some muscle to our 3,4 spots.

If Fortson doesn't return, you'll likely see minutes at the point divided 50/50 between Nobles and Peterson.  Peterson is much better with the ball than Welsh, and is a very good FT shooter by the standard of our current team.  Nobles has to get stronger, and needs to learn how to play a two man game; it'll improve his room to work and drive considerably.  Of course, the HC needs to be in his ear about taking it to the rim too.

[Niels Boar]

An extremely weak schedule?

The SOS, by RPI standards, sits at 175th, to date.    Last year, despite having 2 Top 10 teams in the first 16 games, our SOS by RPI stood at 156th after the Texas game.

This schedule played is arguably the most formidable the Hogs have tackled since 1996, by standard SOS formulations, because of the depth of high-quality mid majors.

Uh, no. Pomeroy currently lists SOS as #323 overall.  It has been weak.  We have played 4 300+ teams.  Only 1 of the other mid-majors is currently in the top 150.  The schedule Nolan played his last season is by far the toughest schedule in Arkansas BB history. It was brutal.  It will dwarf this one.  My guess is that team that got Nolan fired would be no worse than 10-4 against this schedule and probably better.  They lost a heartbreaker on the road against a very good Illinois team.

That said, in terms of quality of play you have to weight the November games by the roster depletion.  We have played better against UAB and Missouri St. than against S. Bama and ETSU.  If we played every game with every player except Fortson, we would be talking about getting on the bubble rather than firing the coach at midseason with a record around 10-4.  The staggered roster has also probably stunted our improvement.

And, yes, Pel did assemble this roster, and you can make a case that he didn't (hasn't) exactly optimize what he had to work with, especially on D.