Some Civilized thoughts after Tonight's Game

[bphi11ips]

I guess I could agree with all the negative posts if the seven games we lost were all blow outs. If no one was getting any better then I would be concerned. I don't see all this doom and gloom. IMO the measure of success is not just post season when you are rebuilding. I see slow steady progress.

I see 2 players, one project, and a bunch of role players. 

[LA Football fan]

The problem is we will have the same issues next year.  NO ONE coming in next year is talented enough to overcome the issues Mike's system places on his players.  The only hope is Beard being able to penetrate enough to get open looks for Portis or Kingsley underneath.  The problem is that teams will recognize that and make sure they have their best defender on Beard to stop it.  Now who do we have that can drive and distribute other than him next year?? 

Problem still not solved.  If we can land Monk and Allen for 2016 then I see progress being made on getting more than one player on the court that can make things happen with the ball.  Until then, we will see the same pass around the perimeter offense we are seeing now with the same results.  Getting out-rebounded and taking ill advised shots.

Missouri beat us because they put 3 ball handlers on the floor at the SAME time that could make plays inside or outside.  Our over-aggressiveness led to leaving players WIDE open for 3 point shots or a clear path to the goal with no one stopping the dribbler.  Mike will continue to struggle in this conference because ALL SEC teams have players just as athletic as us.  We are not going to out athlete anybody in this conference, in fact it appears most times we are the team getting out-athleted.  His style continues to put our players in foul trouble and the other team on the free throw line.  It is hard to win when your opponent continuously makes more free throws than you even attempt!!!

If Mike is still here, my hope is that he somehow convinces Monk and Allen to sign with us.  If he doesn't, I am afraid we will be watching 3 more years of the same frustrating play and hearing we are so close.

[Rbill]

The problem is we will have the same issues next year.  NO ONE coming in next year is talented enough to overcome the issues Mike's system places on his players.  The only hope is Beard being able to penetrate enough to get open looks for Portis or Kingsley underneath.  The problem is that teams will recognize that and make sure they have their best defender on Beard to stop it.  Now who do we have that can drive and distribute other than him next year?? 

Problem still not solved.  If we can land Monk and Allen for 2016 then I see progress being made on getting more than one player on the court that can make things happen with the ball.  Until then, we will see the same pass around the perimeter offense we are seeing now with the same results.  Getting out-rebounded and taking ill advised shots.

Missouri beat us because they put 3 ball handlers on the floor at the SAME time that could make plays inside or outside.  Our over-aggressiveness led to leaving players WIDE open for 3 point shots or a clear path to the goal with no one stopping the dribbler.  Mike will continue to struggle in this conference because ALL SEC teams have players just as athletic as us.  We are not going to out athlete anybody in this conference, in fact it appears most times we are the team getting out-athleted.  His style continues to put our players in foul trouble and the other team on the free throw line.  It is hard to win when your opponent continuously makes more free throws than you even attempt!!!

If Mike is still here, my hope is that he somehow convinces Monk and Allen to sign with us.  If he doesn't, I am afraid we will be watching 3 more years of the same frustrating play and hearing we are so close.

I disagree, I think the personnel is potentially there. We are perhaps 1 true playmaking pg away. I think the bigger problem is the offensive philosophy itself. Feed Portis and Kingsley. And the addition of 1 true playmaking pg would make a huge difference with that philosophy.

[-Blu]

I work with Willie's uncle. He just told me he would contact him and see if they are showing interest or if they have made an offer.

That's awesome man.  Keep us updated!

[-Blu]

I disagree, I think the personnel is potentially there. We are perhaps 1 true playmaking pg away. I think the bigger problem is the offensive philosophy itself. Feed Portis and Kingsley. And the addition of 1 true playmaking pg would make a huge difference with that philosophy.

Good post +1.  We're not as far off as people think.  And I agree we are about 1 or 2 guards away from being a pretty good team.  Not trying to bash, but I don't think people realize how bad our guard play is outside of Madden.  He is literally our only guard that is a threat to drive to the lane, and shoots the ball consistently.  Everybody else, you just hope they have a good game here and there.  And as hard as Portis and Kingsley work, we may not even be able to recognize them next year, because they will be so much better, and they aren't half bad now.  You can look at Madden from 1 year to the next, I mean the difference is remarkable, and he doesn't have near the "hard worker" reputation either of these guys have.

We need to get a solid JUCO guard to finish up this class.  Just a guy that can back up Madden and Beard they can give us a threat off the bench.  I also wouldn't mind us grabbing a JUCO big, like a Willie Atwood, if Harris and Williams don't want to be consistent.

[Rbill]

Good post +1.  We're not as far off as people think.  And I agree we are about 1 or 2 guards away from being a pretty good team.  Not trying to bash, but I don't think people realize how bad our guard play is outside of Madden.  He is literally our only guard that is a threat to drive to the lane, and shoots the ball consistently.  Everybody else, you just hope they have a good game here and there.  And as hard as Portis and Kingsley work, we may not even be able to recognize them next year, because they will be so much better, and they aren't half bad now.  You can look at Madden from 1 year to the next, I mean the difference is remarkable, and he doesn't have near the "hard worker" reputation either of these guys have.

We need to get a solid JUCO guard to finish up this class.  Just a guy that can back up Madden and Beard they can give us a threat off the bench.  I also wouldn't mind us grabbing a JUCO big, like a Willie Atwood, if Harris and Williams don't want to be consistent.

Well said. Exactly. The potential will be there. I just really hope we see a shift in our offensive mentality to take advantage of our personnel.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

Face it man. people know where you are coming from. you want Mike to fail, so you can say i told you so to people like me. you still can't get over the fact that your boy Pel was fired. he is not coming back. move on.

You have no clue FCJ. The problem is no set plays by MA and his staff. Players that can't put teams away. Madden, I was his biggest critic but he stepped it up and no one else did. The development isn't happening, the tactics aren't happening and he is getting paid 60,000 dollars a game. He needs to do better...

[PonderinHog]

We need bell to be sniper and play a lot of minutes.  Anderson said it in his post game, this team took a step back.  I look forward to this team improving every game and doing some things we thought they couldn't.

A sniper knows when to shoot.

I know, a day late and a dollar short.

[PonderinHog]

Reading through this thread, I've determined that the contraction "you're" isn't highly esteemed, and possibly downright frowned upon...

Your right that is. - Yoda

[Albert Einswine]

Your right that is. - Yoda

     

[Biggus Piggus]

Let's see.  We lost by 4 points.  We missed 6 free throws.  My math is we would have won had we hit our free throws.  In fact, that's this team's major problem.  We lost the Florida, Georgia, and Missouri games because of missed free throws.  There may have been another one too.

That is not how it works. Had Arkansas made free throws, would the opponents have simply stepped up and made the plays they had to make to win? The Hogs are shooting 70% at the line. Hard to expect these players to do much better. Some magic is going to make them 100% free throw shooters in clutch time? No. Anything going to make the Hogs defensive stoppers when they need to be? We're in the third straight season of Mike Anderson basketball with crappy defense. Never expected that.

[arkjay19]

You have no clue FCJ. The problem is no set plays by MA and his staff. Players that can't put teams away. Madden, I was his biggest critic but he stepped it up and no one else did. The development isn't happening, the tactics aren't happening and he is getting paid 60,000 dollars a game. He needs to do better...

Exactly.  This isn't the same as the situation with Bielema where some fans immediately disliked him because he wasn't their guy.  Most Arkansas fans wanted Anderson and the ones that didn't wanted him to still come in and succeed.

I thought that expectations needed to be tempered in the first couple of years, but I really thought Anderson to do well.  The "haters" now are folks like me who have lost that belief.  There are some really disturbing coaching trends going on this season and it makes us question if Anderson really can have the success we thought he would.

[arkjay19]

Everything I have seen points to trimming the rotation. There's a very noticeable correlation between our success with the starters or the majority of them on the court vs having 4 or usually all 5 of our players being bench players at the same time. I mean it's so obvious it's laughable. We are effective with certain people on the floor. This can be FIXED.

1) Identify the players you need on the court the most. I'll help: Madden, Gulley, Portis, Clarke, Kingsley. Coach should never look up and see any of those guys sitting on the bench unless they are sucking air. Then add the players that are going to fill out your main rotation: Qualls, Williams, Kikko, and maybe Bell.

Everybody has their guys, but I think most everybody would agree with you overall. Madden, Gulley, Portis, Clarke and Kingsley are unquestionably the top five.  It's just weird to me how Anderson avoids some personnel possibilities so much like Haydar and Madden on the court at the same time, and of course Portis with Kingsley.

I think Bell and Scott shouldn't play hardly at all.  Harris and Wade need to play sometimes to spell the starters.  Wade can also be in at the end of the game for free throws and defense.

[Karma]

Face it man. people know where you are coming from. you want Mike to fail, so you can say i told you so to people like me. you still can't get over the fact that your boy Pel was fired. he is not coming back. move on.

Joe, do you not vomit after basketball losses? I was worried about your hydration after all the vomiting in the football season.

[Johnboy]

I didn't take the loss very well.  This is the first time I have been on here in a couple days and that isn't normal for me.  I have tickets to the LSU game on Feb 15 and I am not even excited about it anymore.  I still support the team and MA, but I need something to get me excited again.  I really don't see it happening though.  Three out of four of our next games are on the road.

Portis has really been off more than normal.  Not sure if the competition being better now has him intimidated or what, but he's a talented kid that needs to get some confidence.  A couple more years he is gonna be really good.  Kingsley looks like a complete stud waiting to happen, I won't be surprised if he turns out to be a better player than Portis.

[rzrbackramsfan]

A sniper knows when to shoot.

I know, a day late and a dollar short.

Bell has been way more secretive.  He's missing wide open threes he just has to hit.