I'm back to be smited

[nobballconcept]

Few things to share:

1.  MA must have athletes to play his style.  long, quick athletes that can disrupt teams.  he has never won by way of playing fundamental basketball............x's and o's is not an option for him.  Do we have those athletes?  are they coming next year?
2.  teams that recruit well every year don't need juco players.  while he signed some good ones for next year it's a sign of desperation.  i have heard others say he did it to complement Monk one and done.....but we know how that turned out.
3.  Monk will be the epic fail of a lifetime for MA career.  players of his ability have not left the state before....Moncrief, Williamson, Joe Johnson.  they are legends in this state and always will be.  Monk is the first of this caliber since Johnson....no disrespect to Portis, but its not the same IMO.  MA had one chance to change direction and that was get Monk on campus. 
4.  I believe what gets MA fired or agreed to leave will be the empty seats in Bud Walton.  It's going to be ugly again.  hard to blame Monk when the blue white game at UK is full and we have 2500 at our first home game. 
5.  arkansas is a football school again...plain and simple.   

[cmiller01]

I may not like what you're saying but you're not wrong.

No one in their right mind would pay $35 a ticket to watch this.

[beachhog]

Basically MA will not be fired for empty seats - football sales generate more money than basketball could ever make. For instance, Kentucky football generates more money from their ticket sales than Rupp could ever deliver - and their team is losing games every year.

You made some good points.  I think MA had a lazy recruitment plan this year and it shows. By the way, Monk was never a solid commitment and the other stars you mentioned committed to Arkansas very early and didn't drag things out.  If the university gives BB an open checkbook to hire his assistant coaches I would hope that MA would take that and also bring in some coaching and recruiting talent.  That's on him.  Basketball has changed and it is up to the head coach to adapt to this.

We have a blue collar team, which would be great if you had two star players mixed in. 

[PharmacistHog]

Mike could save himself by taking his JC guys and beating UK with monk next year. If we don't light the world on fire next year and monk drops 30 on us (and you know Cal will let him try) it's gonna get really ugly, real fast.

[hogsanity]

Mike could save himself by

or learning to coach against a zone

[pigroots]

Right on target with your points.Empty seats and L's do speak loudly to a AD. We are just beginning to see that. I hope I'm wrong but losing Monk is a tough blow that took the hope for a much brighter future. May not have been MA's fault but you cannot lose talent like that 15 min from your arena. Personally I hope he flops at KY but I don't believe he will

[TNhawgfan]

you won't be smited from me either. first, i don't care about applauds and smites. more importantly, i agree losing monk will hurt for years

[PharmacistHog]

or learning to coach against a zone

Well now you're just talking crazy.

[MountieDawg]

Monk scored 46 points last night as Bentonville Beat the #2 HS team in the country. Just FYI

[Letsroll1200]

You can try yo downplay the two guards coming in all you want but barring injury or unforeseen circumstances the backcourt will be very good at Arkansas.

Jaylen Barford had a offer from Louisville and Daryl Macon had some impressive offers. Jimmy Whitt will get stronger and better. I can't wait to see the Sophmore Jimmy Whitt. Michael Qualls made a huge jump from his freshman to Sophmore. Jimmy Whitt is better than Qualls as a freshman. Anton beard is a competitor and Dusty will be better playing with more talent.

Arkansas will struggle this season but it's going to make those guys better in 2016 season. By the way MA is not afraid of Cal or Kentucky. We recently beat them at Rupp arena with all those NBA guys.

[Overtheroadtruckdriver]

Few things to share:

1.  MA must have athletes to play his style.  long, quick athletes that can disrupt teams.  he has never won by way of playing fundamental basketball............x's and o's is not an option for him.  Do we have those athletes?  are they coming next year?
2.  teams that recruit well every year don't need juco players.  while he signed some good ones for next year it's a sign of desperation.  i have heard others say he did it to complement Monk one and done.....but we know how that turned out.
3.  Monk will be the epic fail of a lifetime for MA career.  players of his ability have not left the state before....Moncrief, Williamson, Joe Johnson.  they are legends in this state and always will be.  Monk is the first of this caliber since Johnson....no disrespect to Portis, but its not the same IMO.  MA had one chance to change direction and that was get Monk on campus. 
4.  I believe what gets MA fired or agreed to leave will be the empty seats in Bud Walton.  It's going to be ugly again.  hard to blame Monk when the blue white game at UK is full and we have 2500 at our first home game. 
5.  arkansas is a football school again...plain and simple.

I've got a timer on my phone and every hour I'm going to smite you.  Might not sleep too well but I don't care.  You're gonna get minus one ever hour on the hour starting now.

[ErieHog]

Winning 27 or winning 12 has little potential to move the attendance needle much.

[Hog_Swanson]

Winning 27 or winning 12 has little potential to move the attendance needle much.

The seats are still sold out.

[nwahogfan1]

I agree on so many of your points.  Mike needs more quickness and longer 1/2/3s if he wants to press.  Until they show up then why not quick fouling 30 feet from the basket by not guarding your man so closely?

I am not sure if empty seats or your big money boosters not giving being the biggest reason to want CMA gone.

[TomBigBeeHog]

Winning 27 or winning 12 has little potential to move the attendance needle much.

Sound and scoreboard upgrades might keep the crowds from dwindling further. Couple of back to back strong teams could move the needle up some. Not sure how much. So many other options for fans. Still think they need to down grade the capacity to 15 or 16 at the most. Can't ever see the demand getting back up to the level of the early 90's. For a few years, we were among the elite.

[MountieDawg]

The seats are still sold out.

Have you ever been to BWA... It holds over 20k and never sees close to that unless Big Blue Nation comes to town with a couple thousand fans.

[Hog_Swanson]

Have you ever been to BWA... It holds over 20k and never sees close to that unless Big Blue Nation comes to town with a couple thousand fans.

I have been in BWA several times.  Whether the seat are full or empty, they are still mostly sold.  Money in the bank.

[The_Iceman]

I have been in BWA several times.  Whether the seat are full or empty, they are still mostly sold.  Money in the bank.

Isn't it like 12,000+ season tickets sold?

[phadedhawg]

This season will be ugly but since so much focus is on football it will keep Mike's seat from getting too warm.  No reasonable person has many expectations for this season.  He could lose every conference game and still be coaching next season. 

I expect next season to be his last unless the incoming recruiting class pans out.

[HawgAdvocate]

The seats are still sold out.

Not exactly...there are plenty of lower bowl seats available behind the goals, and a few other areas inbetween. The upper bowl is about 90% unsold. I believe they also reallocated more lower bowl seats to the students just a few years back. I'm unsure of how many 'seats sold' fall within the student section.

That being said, for as long as we've been mediocre, selling around 10k/year is still pretty good.

[The_Iceman]

Not exactly...there are plenty of lower bowl seats available behind the goals, and a few other areas inbetween. The upper bowl is about 90% unsold. I believe they also reallocated more lower bowl seats to the students just a few years back. I'm unsure of how many 'seats sold' fall within the student section.

That being said, for as long as we've been mediocre, selling around 10k/year is still pretty good.

Since we have thousands of student passes pre-sold, do they consider the entire allotment of student seats sold out when calculating attendance?

[LR_Matt]

By the way MA is not afraid of Cal or Kentucky. We recently beat them at Rupp arena with all those NBA guys.

One win does not a season make.... Hot many NCAA tournament games did we win that year???

[bigdaddyhawg]

I've got a timer on my phone and every hour I'm going to smite you.  Might not sleep too well but I don't care.  You're gonna get minus one ever hour on the hour starting now.

While I can understand the sentiment, it seems pretty classless to talk about smiting the guy back to the stone age when you have a way to keep your smite count even stephen.

A little hypocritical, IMO.

[wheelspigharvey]

While I can understand the sentiment, it seems pretty classless to talk about smiting the guy back to the stone age when you have a way to keep your smite count even stephen.

A little hypocritical, IMO.

It's that other dude's attitude that's just...

There's an episode of the Simpsons where Lisa has a dream that she is playing a concert with a bunch of "losers" (Oates, Garfunkel, etc.) and they start playing and the crowd boos them.  She wakes up and goes "why did they come to our concert to boo us?"

That's the vibe I get from some people.  Another way to say it would be, I don't care a lot whether you love the coach or whatever but at what point are you even a fan anymore when you have absolutely nothing positive to say?  I mean, what kind of fan has NOTHING positive to say about their program, especially since it is on an overall (yes I'll say it) upswing?

Advocate (whoops) BD and others like to throw this thing around that we hired a coach that was somehow bigger than the program and from that stems a subset of the fans who treat him that way.  Maybe there's a shred of truth to the second part in some cases, but do you guys not see that your own need to be vindicated and right about everything (Hall of Fame armchair coaches abound in this forum) clouds your own vision about the status of the program? 

[HotlantaHog]

My early take:
1. This year is proving to be a middling year -- maybe will end up moderately good or moderately bad. I haven't given up on the team.
2. The two best players on last year's team had planned to come back. They didn't. It was too late to recruit top players, so we are where we are. A very good player who had planned to come here didn't make it to school. It happens.
3. For those reasons, 2016-17 looks more promising than this year, and the early signs of recruiting look good.
4. MA turned around UAB, Mizzou and now Arkansas. His history suggests it's worth looking through a middling year.
5. I would be happier if program building had occurred at a faster rate so that there wasn't a dip this year in progress, but that is where we are. And worth noting even top programs have an off year occasionally.
6. Arkansas fans cheer for a winner. There will be fewer empty seats as the performance of the team moves to a higher level with some consistency.
7. Some of the new players -- Jimmy Whitt and Dusty Hannahs come to mind -- seem pretty exciting to watch. I will be pulling for them to succeed this year and into the future.

[Atlhogfan1]

My early take:
1. This year is proving to be a middling year -- maybe will end up moderately good or moderately bad. I haven't given up on the team.
2. The two best players on last year's team had planned to come back. They didn't. It was too late to recruit top players, so we are where we are. A very good player who had planned to come here didn't make it to school. It happens.
3. For those reasons, 2016-17 looks more promising than this year, and the early signs of recruiting look good.
4. MA turned around UAB, Mizzou and now Arkansas. His history suggests it's worth looking through a middling year.
5. I would be happier if program building had occurred at a faster rate so that there wasn't a dip this year in progress, but that is where we are. And worth noting even top programs have an off year occasionally.
6. Arkansas fans cheer for a winner. There will be fewer empty seats as the performance of the team moves to a higher level with some consistency.
7. Some of the new players -- Jimmy Whitt and Dusty Hannahs come to mind -- seem pretty exciting to watch. I will be pulling for them to succeed this year and into the future.

2.  Don't believe that in the least about Qualls.  Portis maybe considered/dreamed about returning until the reality arrived. 

4.  How sustainable was what he built at UAB and Mizzou?  I only ask as we will be entering unchartered territory as far as Coach A as a head coach. 

7.  I think Bell along with Whitt and Hannahs are going to provide some entertaining offensive performances especially with the new rule emphasis keeping teams from being more physical.

[Wildhog]

-1.

[azhog10]

Monk scored 46 points last night as Bentonville Beat the #2 HS team in the country. Just FYI

What team was that? Mustang High School is not the #2 team in the country FYI.

[bvillepig]

As for me I am enjoying watching these blue collar non super star guys work hard and grow.  They will lose some but they will beat some people this year they shouldn't.

I have been a fan for 58 years through the bad and good. We might not ever be what we were in the 90's but I will enjoy each class and each individual player. These kids poor their guts out day after day with one common goal. Win and try to please and that includes us.

[bigdaddyhawg]

It's that other dude's attitude that's just...

There's an episode of the Simpsons where Lisa has a dream that she is playing a concert with a bunch of "losers" (Oates, Garfunkel, etc.) and they start playing and the crowd boos them.  She wakes up and goes "why did they come to our concert to boo us?"

That's the vibe I get from some people.  Another way to say it would be, I don't care a lot whether you love the coach or whatever but at what point are you even a fan anymore when you have absolutely nothing positive to say?  I mean, what kind of fan has NOTHING positive to say about their program, especially since it is on an overall (yes I'll say it) upswing?

Advocate (whoops) BD and others like to throw this thing around that we hired a coach that was somehow bigger than the program and from that stems a subset of the fans who treat him that way.  Maybe there's a shred of truth to the second part in some cases, but do you guys not see that your own need to be vindicated and right about everything (Hall of Fame armchair coaches abound in this forum) clouds your own vision about the status of the program? 

I was strictly talking about him smiting a guy to death, while he sits above all the smiting with his little trick he's found to keep his smites even with his applauds.

Nothing more there.

As for your post, not really sure who you're talking about specifically.  I see that some people may have a "fire Mike" agenda, but they are in the distinct minority, IMO.

Yet there is a goon squad on Jump Ball that goes after any criticism against Mike hammer and tong and use any method to defend him, even distorting the truth.  IMO that crowd, while perhaps not a majority, are certainly a much larger minority than the fire Mike crowd.

I try to just speak what I see is the truth.  Usually that is met with calls of some hidden agenda by Mike's Sycophant Army, and they try their best to drill me into the mud.  It gets old, just like Mike's loyalists get sick of seeing people wanting him fired after every loss.

The truth is somewhere between those two extreme groups, IMO.  He's not a great coach by any means, nor is he a bad coach.  I am encouraged by some things I'm seeing, but we need to see some consistency if we're really going to make some noise.

[Blutoblutarsky]

Agree, agree, ahhhhh not sure, agree, agree.

[code red]

The landscape of College Basketball is driven by the NBA.  MA better get on board.  Adapt to a style that wins and they will come.