Our production from the Middle?????

[nwahogfan1]

I loved the win today and thought Our two seniors Guards were exceptional.  Amazing leadership and heart but everyone we play will be scheming to shut them down.   

So I ask can Coach find ways to get some production from our inside men?  To be honest we only have one guy worth mentioning and that is Gafford who played way beyond his years against a very big and physical players.

Here are our stats for our Bigs today and my thoughts moving forward based on what I have seen so far this year.

Trey Thompson,  2 pts, 1 reb in 13 min for a senior.  Trey has been a big disappointment. I think he probable a great teammate and person but He still loves fried chicken more than he does basketball and his teammates.  He is 15+ lbs too big and plays slow.  For a big man he does not play real physical using his over weight size to any advantage.  I will be honest he probable should have been cut 2 years ago for a player who is  more talented and wants to get better.  I see very little from Trey this year, just spotty games here or there. 

Dustin Thomas  4 pts, 7 reb in 27 min.  Pretty good but for a 5 year senior he has been a disappointment also.  I do not know if Mike knows what a good quality PF looks like?    If I was going to sign a transfer kid who is not a great shooter for the 4 position I would sign a 6'7+ 230+ kid who is a stud athlete who is physical, highly competitive, who can jump and rebound and defend.  Thomas is ok but sure not a stud.  Sure not worth 3 years of a scholarship to get 2 below average production years.

Cook 0 pts, 2 reb in 13 minutes.  Senior who provides WHAT??? I am not sure.  Another waste of 2 years of below average production.  I do not see much more going forward.   Again does Mike know what a JUCO stud PF look like??

Bailey   O, O in 5 minutes.   A SF without the skills to play the 3 so he plays the 4 for us but  is not strong enough or physical enough against the better teams to help.   Again I ask does Mike know what a decent College PF looks like?  He is a kid right now until he develops his skills with out a true position.  I see very few games against good competition where he helps.

Gafford,  15 pts, 8 reb in 33 minutes.  Without Gafford we would have nothing inside and I do not expect to see much except from Gafford this year. He is our only true 4/5 Big man with inside scoring and rebounding skills to challenge the better teams on our schedule.

Again, I love our win today against a very good and physical Tennessee team.   But I just do not see MIKE getting us very deep in the NCAAT or even in the top 4 of the SEC because of our lack of Big Men in the paint battling the middle taking pressure off our 2 VERY GOOD shooting guards.  Right now Macon and Barford will have to have All American shooting nights for us to beat the better teams on our schedule and in the SEC.   

I know I will hear a lot of crap about my comments but that is the way I see it.

I loved today because I love winning.  But looking forward to playing the bigger and physical teams in the SEC and in the NCAAT on the road I do not see us being successful. That would be expecting way too much from Macon and Barford.   I will enjoy this win and all our wins.

I am just saying to be more successful in March Mike needs to sign himself 3 or 4 true College Big MEN to battle on the boards and quit signing 6'6 190 lb big men and saying they are big.  They are not.

[TheSportsGuy]

They had bad nights.  Sometimes one or two step up in games.  Your opinion on how they are wastes of scholarships is juvenile.  Pretty ridiculous post really...  you should be proud of yourself... idiot

[SultanofSwine]

If your only criteria for value is offensive production then you should think nearly every roster in the country sucks. I thought Thomas played a really good game. He scored nearly every time he had a good opportunity, rebounded well and played pretty strong interior defense. Cook played well defensively and that is his role. Thompson's game is at the high post but that game was against a team that excels at extending the defense and clogging passing lanes. That was just a bad match up for his game. Bailey is still young and similar to Thompson was taken out of much of his game because of the TN defensive style and game plan where cutting and passing lanes are continually clogged. He was over matched physically too but that is a case of an underclassman playing against seniors.

This is the best assembly of pieces we have had in 20 years imo.

[waphill]

I thought Cook played solid D last night, especially after Thomas fouled out.

[hawgfan4life]

Wow!  We win a huge game against a top 20 opponent that deserves their ranking and your take away is how poor our bigs are as players and our coach is an idiot that doesn't know a quality 4 or 5 when he sees one.  NICE!  If your take away at this point of the season with our success and team is that poor, I bet you must have been really miserable when we were an average to below average team the past two decades.  This is the best team we have had in years, MA has the program clearly moving in the right direction.  Lastly, MA knows what those type of players looks like, but so does Adidas and every other money bag holder.  MA and Arkansas have been doing things right by all indications trying to get the few quality players that weren't steered to certain schools.  FYI, Thomas played a pretty solid game and Cook gave us some good minutes down the stretch.  TN played pretty well and shot the ball well.  They defended us as good as anyone will this year.  They have a quality level playing rotation.  WE STILL WON!

[PonderinHog]

SS, DD.   

[labb]

Big time college basketball teams are built on big time guards. We got big time guards. Oh, as and after thought, the Joe kid that is coming in next season put up 45 in his last game.

[ShadowHawg]

Just stop please. You are a broken record.

[k.c.hawg]

Production from the middle: No big unathletic guy clogging the lane, allowing Barford and Macon to get to the rim a minimum of 8 to 10 times a game. Gafford scoring in the low block 5x and coming from the FT line once and damn near ripping the backboard down. Very few teams can put a perfectly balanced line up on the floor. I will especially not bitch in a year where the Hogs have a Gafford to go with one of the best backcourts in the country.

[hawgsalot]

The whole offense theory is so flawed it's not worth responding, seriously.