Monk

[Potosihog]

I just watched the video. The kid has a ton of talent; however, the play at the 1:58 mark was extremely selfish. He was double-covered, well behind the three point line, and he had two wide open teammates, yet he took the shot. Though he made it, he won't have such opportunities in his one year playing college ball, as the defenders will be taller, faster, stronger and more skilled. He's got to learn to pass in that scenario, or that type of ego will eventually cost his team. Why does my comment feel like that scene in Top Gun where Kelly McGillis (the civilian instructor) criticizes "Maverick" and his fancy flying?

That was just one play...so I'm not knocking his body of work. The play immediately preceding the one mentioned above was awesome. It looked like a fake video, but it wasn't. He has the talent to be legendary. Let's hope he picks the Hogs because he's an immediate impact player! ....AND he comes from a good family.

Watch it again and you will notice the reason he didn't pass the ball is because all 10 players were wearing the same color uniform and he didn't want to pass it to the wrong team. :-/

[Hogg_Phan]

I think us winning has a lot to do with it. You said it yourself, he is a one and done player so why would he not want to try and join a team that has a chance to win March madness in his one year of college ball.

I don't know him and I am just thinking out loud, but if he wants to be a Hog, there is no reason right now why not. We have a good coach, a good team and a couple outstanding recruits coming in. Of course nobody wants to go to a bottom dweller but unless the NCAA changes the one-and-done rule, he will be gone no matter where he decides to go, contender or not. JMHO.

[hogcam]

If you havnt seen him play and are able to, then you need to.  He's very unselfish.  He would be the best player on the hogs right now. Best high school basketball player I've ever seen.

[TomBigBeeHog]

No way is he better than Portis and Qualls right now

[WorfHog]

Just got back from watching Bentonville take it to Rogers.  He's really good, amazing shot, distributes the ball when he needs to and can leap out of the gym. Clearly the best player on the floor most nights, but wouldn't be the best player on Arkansas' roster right now. With another year of development and he's going to be scary good.

[hogcam]

No way is he better than Portis and Qualls right now

Have you seen him play? I love both those guys. I might give you Portis even though I think he is. But in my opinion him and qualls are no where comparible and I think qualls is a great player, but there is not one part of Qualls game that is better than Monks.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

No way is he better than Portis and Qualls right now

Bobby...no. Qualls...yeah, probably.

[lefty08]

If you havnt seen him play and are able to, then you need to.  He's very unselfish.  He would be the best player on the hogs right now. Best high school basketball player I've ever seen.

WTH?

[Illinihog]

I've yet to see him but 3 people I respect have all said he would start for the hogs and every team but Kentucky in the SEC right now.

I've had a few even say he is better than Corliss when Corliss was a SR.

[hogcam]

WTH?

Are you WTH about the best player on hogs right now?  I promise it's not far off base if it's not true. Bobby only player of that caliber on team.

[lefty08]

Are you WTH about the best player on hogs right now?  I promise it's not far off base if it's not true. Bobby only player of that caliber on team.

Well since you promised.......

Let's not ruin this kid by expecting carmello like runs through the league. That's all I'm saying

[WarPig88]

Have you seen him play? I love both those guys. I might give you Portis even though I think he is. But in my opinion him and qualls are no where comparible and I think qualls is a great player, but there is not one part of Qualls game that is better than Monks.

Rebounding. Qualls is a better rebounder by far.

[HogPound]

Wish we could see him play against some real basketball talent that isn't what NWA Deems as "talent".

[ricepig]

Wish we could see him play against some real basketball talent that isn't what NWA Deems as "talent".

Watched him play in some AAU games, that's as close to his talent you will find.

[Porked Tongue]

If you havnt seen him play and are able to, then you need to.  He's very unselfish.  He would be the best player on the hogs right now. Best high school basketball player I've ever seen.

Ridiculous.

[hogcam]

Ridiculous.

I really don't see what is so ridiculous about my statement..

[Big Nasty 34]

So you think monk could be a front runner for SEC player of the year as a junior in high school?

[hogcam]

That's a good question.  Maybe I should rephrase a little.. He'd be the most basketball skilled and athletic player on our team.  I don't know if his numbers would be as good as Portis because he wouldn't average almost a double double, but like I said earlier, Portis is of the same caliber., but in my opinion  Portis is of his caliber because of his motor and how hard he plays as a big man, not necessarily because of his skills and athleticism.. So to answer you're question, probably not but I do think he could average 16 to 20 points a game right now.

[lefty08]

That's a good question.  Maybe I should rephrase a little.. He'd be the most basketball skilled and athletic player on our team.  I don't know if his numbers would be as good as Portis because he wouldn't average almost a double double, but like I said earlier, Portis is of the same caliber., but in my opinion  Portis is of his caliber because of his motor and how hard he plays as a big man, not necessarily because of his skills and athleticism.. So to answer you're question, probably not but I do think he could average 16 to 20 points a game right now.

Wow

[thebignasty]

Finkle  is Einhorn.

[mhuff]

I've yet to see him but 3 people I respect have all said he would start for the hogs and every team but Kentucky in the SEC right now.

I've had a few even say he is better than Corliss when Corliss was a SR.

Really don't know how you can compare the two unless they played the same position.

[Illinihog]

They were saying talent wise and athleticism.

[The real Hogules]

Really don't know how you can compare the two unless they played the same position.

I've yet to see him but 3 people I respect have all said he would start for the hogs and every team but Kentucky in the SEC right now.

I've had a few even say he is better than Corliss when Corliss was a SR.

Corliss was a rookie in the N B A, during what "would have been" his SR. year at Arkansas.
I seriously doubt that Monk is THAT good at the present time.

[Dominicanhog]

Finkle  is Einhorn.

Sure it's not Foghorn

[Waldron_Hog]

Corliss was a rookie in the N B A, during what "would have been" his SR. year at Arkansas.
I seriously doubt that Monk is THAT good at the present time.

I think he was referring to Sr year of high school

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Corliss was a rookie in the N B A, during what "would have been" his SR. year at Arkansas.
I seriously doubt that Monk is THAT good at the present time.

He is clearly talking about Corliss as a sr in HS

[tjhawg]

He is as talented of a HS player as I have ever seen.  Did not see Corliss in HS but saw Blake Griffin who I would imagine is similar in size and dominance.  MM has freakish athletic ability, shoots out  to 25 ft easily, finishes at the rim, good defender, rebounds well and all at 16.  By the time he is a freshman in college he has talent to start anywhere including Kentucky!  They do not have as physically gifted guard as MM right now.  JMHO  WPS!

[donk]

I saw Corliss, Sydney, Cage and pretty much every good HS player play in the last 40 years.  MM is the best and I don't think it's that close.  If you haven't seen him play then you don't need to be commenting.  The only way you know how good someone is is to watch them multiple times.  IMO he is the best and would be our best player if he was on the team now.  He's not just athletic he's a great shooter. 

[Hogsolo]

Qualls needs to stay around the rim.    He can make a nice living in the league by being an athletic rebounding machine.   When he's focused on rebounding we are a much better team than when he's trying to be Jordan.   

[michaels]

i wish i could've caught some of the pick up games Malik has played at Bud, but i've heard that he's shown out & been the best player on the court numerous times with & against our guys. The kid has a different gear offensively that very few players have. He's a very gifted scorer. I wouldn't disagree that he could possibly be putting up 15 a game right now. Only issue he'd have is defensively and weight. He needs to get bigger or he'll get pushed around, but he's completely capable of being a good defender with his athleticism if he'll dedicate himself.

I think a lot of people want to believe that there's just a lot of hype behind him, but there's no doubt that Malik is a very very special player and probably the best scorer / offensive player in his class & perhaps one of the better scorers to come out of the country in a few classes.

[The real Hogules]

He is clearly talking about Corliss as a sr in HS

Clearly?
I have seen more than one post in this thread where it's stated that Malik Monk would be the best player on our current Razorbacks team.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[Illinihog]

I guess I should Corliss in High School, but I i'll just throw common sense out of the Window.

[LJHOG]

Scored 50 points in a loss today at the tournament of champions sponsored by Bass Pro. Second most in tournament history.

who scored the most?

[Wildhog]

He is clearly talking about Corliss as a sr in HS

[The real Hogules]

I guess I should Corliss in High School, but I i'll just throw common sense out of the Window.

I saw some suggesting that he was better than Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls, so I assumed (totally my mistake) that we were comparing Monk in HS to Corliss in college as well.
Please excuse MY misunderstanding.
Corliss, in HS shared a National POY award with Jason Kidd. I'm not suggesting that Malik Monk might not be better than the Big Nasty, but Corliss wasn't exactly chopped liver coming out of HS, either.

[Illinihog]

No Corliss wasn't Chopped Liver.  Again I haven't seen Monk yet, I hope to soon.  I'm just going off of what 3 people who have watched a lot of basketball have told me.

This kid is a must get for the University.

[HogFoo]

I think Monk is a must get, next step in Mikes evolution of the Hogs.  Just further solidifies the Hogs with a player of Monks caliber.    As for the mentions earlier of him being better than Corliss at this stage.  Not sure I can agree with that.  He may have a better outside shot, but Corliss would have mauled him going to the bucket. And it wouldn't have been close.  What was Corliss about 230lbs+ and as strong as a horse.  He was an enforcer type build.  Monk is a great finesse player but he's only about 180lbs.   i'd still take him on our team right now though. ;-)  :razorback:

[clutch]

I think Monk is a must get, next step in Mikes evolution of the Hogs.  Just further solidifies the Hogs with a player of Monks caliber.    As for the mentions earlier of him being better than Corliss at this stage.  Not sure I can agree with that.  He may have a better outside shot, but Corliss would have mauled him going to the bucket. And it wouldn't have been close.  What was Corliss about 230lbs+ and as strong as a horse.  He was an enforcer type build.  Monk is a great finesse player but he's only about 180lbs.   i'd still take him on our team right now though. ;-)  :razorback:

This is why it's impossible to say who's better at this stage. They are two completely different players. Big Nasty was just too big of a load for anyone at the high school level. He never ran up on anyone who could stop him. Neither has Monk though.

Some of Monks dunks though definitely rule out that he's just a finesse player. He goes up hard and throws down on a lot of poor high school athletes. I don't think the word finesse is fitting. To me, that's the way a lot of guys are descrivbed when their game is soft or they have to rely on the smaller details to outmatch their opponents. Monk can flat out beat anyone straight up. He can dribble around them, shoot in their face, or go over the top of them. He's an unreal talent.

Big Nasty might have been the most dominant of the two, but in my opinion Monk is the better basketball player. Might not make sense to some, but it does in my head. The fact that we can compare Monk as a junior to Corliss's Sr. Year says a lot. The scary part is that Monk just keeps getting better every year. I believe that when it's all said and done he will be seen as the best player to ever come out of this state. He has all the tools to have a very successful college and NBA career. He's definitely a type of talent that doesn't come along very often. I think a lot of people think he's overhyped, but if they see him play they will change their mind. He's unreal.

[mhuff]

I saw Corliss, Sydney, Cage and pretty much every good HS player play in the last 40 years.  MM is the best and I don't think it's that close.  If you haven't seen him play then you don't need to be commenting.  The only way you know how good someone is is to watch them multiple times.  IMO he is the best and would be our best player if he was on the team now.  He's not just athletic he's a great shooter. 

Lots of truth in the post. The poster can say whatever he chooses ,but there may be little credibility in his or her opinion. I want to see a player four times before I form an opinion. The competition the young man is playing is not chopped liver. I have seen players that looked like world beaters and then not be a factor the next. I always look at fundamentals. I have not seen Monk play..... however, his form shooting a jumper in a clip in the 9th grade was better than any I can remember. Gonna break my heart if we don't get him. Next year we could have a killer recruiting class.

[mhuff]

CMA needs to give him a Wal-Mart or something to get him to come to the hill!  :razorback:

Don't be so cheap. 

[(notOM)Rebel123]

As an old geezer, I too, have seen some of the best that have come through the state over 40 years. From Sid, to Reed, Peterson, Cage, Wilson, Norton, Cutts, the list goes on & on. But this Monk kid....guys, he's something else.

[ricepig]

As an old geezer, I too, have seen some of the best that have come through the state over 40 years. From Sid, to Reed, Peterson, Cage, Wilson, Norton, Cutts, the list goes on & on. But this Monk kid....guys, he's something else.

You do remember when I played?

[grayhawg]

You do remember when I played?

When did you play, was it in the Sutton or Richardson days?

[(notOM)Rebel123]

You do remember when I played?

Yes I do. I was impressed with your knee-high socks. Did you wear #23?
As one of your teammates once said, "we may not be the best team in the district, but we have the best looking hair."

By the way, I owned Cage at Eddie Sutton BBall camp back in the late 70's. Well, I got one rebound against him.

[ricepig]

When did you play, was it in the Sutton or Richardson days?

Well, (notOM) was in Jr high, while I was in Sr high, but it was at the start of the Sutton era. I think I have our age differences correct, haha.

[ricepig]

Yes I do. I was impressed with your knee-high socks. Did you wear #23?
As one of your teammates once said, "we may not be the best team in the district, but we have the best looking hair."

You know we did! And yep, #23, I think Michael took it from me.....

[(notOM)Rebel123]

You know we did! And yep, #23, I think Michael took it from me.....

You were the original 23. Were you one of the first to wear the Orange & white UNC uni-knock off's?

[ricepig]

You were the original 23. Were you one of the first to wear the Orange & white UNC uni-knock off's?

Yep, we looked good, played bad, but looked good.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

Yep, we looked good, played bad, but looked good.

Those were some sweet uni's. Ahead of their time.

[ricepig]

Those were some sweet uni's. Ahead of their time.

Kenny knew what looked good, everything from our practice set-up, to warm ups, to uniforms. Unfortunately, the talent lacked.