Why has MA struggled here?

[greenEGnHAWGS]

Quick question, why has MA not been able to win consistently here? He was successful at UAB. He was successful at Mizzou. Why has Arkansas been such a struggle? Its not like the SEC is killing it in basketball other than Kentucky and Florida.

I know recruiting hasn't been his strong-suit, but even then, why? Did he not recruit well in Mizzou and UAB?

I love MA. I love his passion and love for all things AR...but...I want to know that we're gonna make it to the Big Dance consistently also...

[BigHog396]

Quick question, why has MA not been able to win consistently here? He was successful at UAB. He was successful at Mizzou. Why has Arkansas been such a struggle? Its not like the SEC is killing it in basketball other than Kentucky and Florida.

I know recruiting hasn't been his strong-suit, but even then, why? Did he not recruit well in Mizzou and UAB?

I love MA. I love his passion and love for all things AR...but...I want to know that we're gonna make it to the Big Dance consistently also...

Scratching my head about the talk about MA's success at Mizzou... he had one really good year, and other than that was average at best.  He finished better than 5th in the Big 12 once in five years.

As far as why he hasn't been successful here... he hasn't been able to recruit, and he obviously can't (or simply doesn't) coach anything about basketball fundamentals.  His entire philosophy seems to go completely against basic fundamentals, and that's why you constantly see us out of position on D (nobody within 15 feet of excellent 3-point shooters over-and-over every game), for rebounding (have lost the rebounding battle in over half of our SEC games this year), and for any kind of offensive flow.

[ShadowHawg]

Quick question, why has MA not been able to win consistently here? He was successful at UAB. He was successful at Mizzou. Why has Arkansas been such a struggle? Its not like the SEC is killing it in basketball other than Kentucky and Florida.

I know recruiting hasn't been his strong-suit, but even then, why? Did he not recruit well in Mizzou and UAB?

I love MA. I love his passion and love for all things AR...but...I want to know that we're gonna make it to the Big Dance consistently also...

Because no one is willing to admit how bad the job really was when he got here.

People have rightfully bemoaned our road woes under MA, but he won more road games in 5.5 seasons than we did the entire 10 years previous to his hire.

We only had 3 winning conference records in the 10 years prior to MA. He has never had a losing conference record.

Only Auburn and South Carolina lost more conference games than Arkansas in the 10 years prior to MA. Think about that one for a minute.

This job quit being easy 20 years ago.

[LZH]

Only Auburn and South Carolina lost more conference games than Arkansas in the 10 years prior to MA. Think about that one for a minute.

That's irrelevant. Heath and Pelphrey were average coaches. Mike was brought in to do better. He hasn't, really.

[Wild Bill Hog]

He wasn't all that good at Mizzou, and he hasn't been all that good here.  Actually, he has been pretty consistent during his Mizzou-Arkansas run.  He is consistently average in a well below average SEC.  Think about that.

[Pork Twain]

He has struggled here because he has been exposed for the coach that he really is.  This is his longest coaching tenure and he has never shown that he can achieve a high level of success and maintain it.  At UAB, he was a big fish in a little pond.  At Mizzou, he was small fish in a medium pond and here he is a small fish in a big pond and that is saying a lot, as bad as the SEC is in basketball right now.  His OoC schedule saved him in the Big-12 and SEC.  Now that we have a couple of average to above average teams on our OoC schedule, he is exposed more often.

Seriously though, based on chart below, why does anyone really expect him to compete here?  I will continue to post this in every thread that pops up, because I think trend analysis is significant and this trend is not good for us

[The_Iceman]

Recruiting:
I am not referring to the level of players he has brought in, but the types of players. To run the system Mike wants, he needs a true, facilitating point guard. In his 6 years here, the only thing close to that he has brought in is Jabril Durham, who only played at that level for one year with a terrible supporting cast. Since leadership and coaching our motion offense doesn't come from the bench, it will have to come from the point guard. Lee Mayberry, Corey Beck, Kareem Reid... that sort of player.

Player Retention:
If you aren't gonna be a 4 and 5 star level recruiter, you have to have a strong retention and development program. I'm not talking about Portis leaving (heck, Portis not having Monk or Allen's attitude is the only reason Mike is even still employed), or even Qualls. You have to have players that you bring in and develop for 4 years. Guys like Babb and Whitt can't transfer. Not because of their talent, but because you have to start all over again once they leave, setting you back. Especially at guard, where Mike's system is centered.

Energy:
Lastly, it is energy. If you fail at the two above, you have to have a coaching staff that can get the players to play with energy every single night. Mike, TJ, Scotty, and Watkins are all more reserved guys. Mike Anderson doesn't seem to have the fire he used to. These players are not terrified of what the man on the sidelines will do to them if they do not play with maximum effort. He is the wrong man for the system he runs.


Mike has failed. And it is time for this program to move on from him.

[3kgthog]

This job quit being easy 20 years ago.

What's so difficult about it? The conference is horrible. Once the BWA facelift is finished nearly all our facilities will be brand new. There's been (and continues to be) enough in-state talent to field one heck of a team. Jeff Long is one of the least demanding ADs in the country with regard to on the court success. It seems like a pretty cushy position to me.

[Wild Bill Hog]

Doesn't he have that famous practice facility?

[Biggus Piggus]

It is all recruiting + his inability to turn over the roster of guards when he arrived.

MA caused himself many problems with his early recruiting at Arkansas, but he also failed to develop + retain too many players.

2011 - G B.J. Young, G Rashad Madden, F Hunter Mickelson, F Devonta Abron.

This was the group Anderson inherited. Abron had some potential but left after one season. Mickelson and Young were gone later. The inability to develop Young was a major failure. He had great potential. Shoot-first guards who want to dominate the ball have issues in MA's system.

2012 - G-F Michael Qualls, F Coty Clarke, F Jacorey Williams, G Anthlon Bell, G Dee Wagner.

One player on this list was around for the 2015-16 season. Qualls was a success and the only true wing player that Anderson has brought in to date. He made a major difference but unwisely left school a year early. Clarke was the best four that Anderson's had. Williams's development was erratic, on and off court, and he looks like a different player at MTSU. Arkansas got one solid season out of Bell, and that's a lot of investment for such a return. Wagner was a very late reach who was instantly a non-factor. Arkansas BADLY NEEDED a point guard in the 2011-12 classes. The closest they got was Madden, who never had the ballhandling ability to contain turnovers and drive/dish, and on defense he had to guard the two/three.

2013 - F Bobby Portis, F Moses Kingsley, G Manny Watkins.

To this date, in three recruiting classes, MA had seriously lagged in guard recruiting. The only scholarship guard he had signed + retained who was SEC caliber was Madden, a Pelphrey recruit. At this point, people were happy with Portis and Kingsley; I was screaming, "Where are the guards?" Anyway, Portis had a decent freshman season, a great sophomore season, and was gone. Kingsley had one good season, and that's not this one. Watkins is what he is, role player.

2014 - G Anton Beard, G Nick Babb, G Jabril Durham, F Trey Thompson.

Trying to play catchup on guards in this class.

I looked this up re: Beard. His number of 5+ assist games per season. Freshman year - 3, all in conference play. Sophomore year - 1, 0 in conference play. Junior year - 2, 1 in conference play. That side of his game has not developed. His fault, or somebody else's?

As a frosh, Beard was effective in the first half of the SEC season then tailed badly.

In 2014-15, Arkansas badly needed guards. In conference play, Qualls and Madden got 29-31 minutes per game. Behind them, Beard got 21, Bell 16, Watkins 14, Durham 9. Babb played in 11 of 18 SEC games and got a grand total of 29 minutes.

A long list of guards got sporadic minutes because they couldn't handle more. Babb didn't even get a chance. I don't like the fact that MA put a priority on working his assistant's son into the lineup over a much, much more talented freshman. Durham also was terrible in his first season out of juco, which was a surprise and didn't reflect well on the quality of backcourt coaching.

At this point, Arkansas's still way behind the SEC curve for guard recruiting. Also no wing player other than Qualls. And other deficiencies.

2015 - G Jimmy Whitt, F Lorenzo Jenkins.

Whitt was a MA devotee from his time at Missouri. Also another shoot-first guard who wants to dominate the ball. Whitt was given regular minutes until mid-January. Then his role became sporadic. After Whitt shot 3-12 and had no assists in a 20-minute stint at Mississippi State, he got no more extended looks. Gone after one season, huge waste of potential.

Jenkins's late addition was a sad acknowledgement of the team's failure to recruit anybody else to play the Qualls role on the wing. He did not have a prayer of sticking. What's crazy is Arkansas had a chance to sign Dikembe Dixson, a 6-7 wing forward from Kentucky. Dixson went to Illinois-Chicago and averaged 20 ppg. If you're going to take a chance, don't make it a hopeless one (Wagner, Jenkins).

2016 - G Jaylen Barford, G Daryl Macon, G C.J. Jones, F Arlando Cook, F Adrio Bailey, F Brachen Hazen, G R.J. Glasper.

The long-awaited guard infusion finally arrived. MA's shown his usual difficulty working a freshman into the rotation. Jones looks like he's on the Babb-Whitt track, which is a shame, because the kid is a scoring machine. Cook is a tweener who gets overpowered. Bailey has promise but isn't big or strong + is a high school post player who needs to add basic skills. Hazen is a project. Still no true point guard (unless walk-on Glasper eventually develops) or low-post threat.

Barford and Macon will only be around for two seasons. They could be very good as seniors, if the team doesn't disintegrate between now and then.

2017 - F Daniel Gafford, G Khalil Garland, F Darious Hall.

Arkansas has signed three of the best players among all freshmen in this class. That's the first time MA has gotten three blue-chip recruits in one crop. One presumes that all three would play a lot next season, but when it comes to guards, one never knows how MA is going to bring up freshmen.

Guard recruiting in 2016-17 did not make up for past failures. I believe the team still needs more help in the backcourt.

During his time at Arkansas, Anderson has had a number of transfers from other four-year universities.

G Fred Gulley (from Oklahoma State) - effective role player as a senior.
F Alandise Harris (from Houston) - tweener forward, had a decent senior season.
F Keaton Miles (from West Virginia) - played but never made a difference.
G Dusty Hannahs (from Texas Tech) - by far the best transfer MA's received.
F Willy Kouassi (from Kennesaw State) - role player.
F Dustin Thomas (from Colorado) - underpowered power forward.

Early departures have hampered the Razorbacks' progress.

G Rotnei Clarke - fled right after MA was hired.
G Jeff Peterson - same.
F Glenn Bryant - same.
G Julysses Nobles - played one season for MA and left before his senior year.
F Devonta Abron - played one season for MA and transferred to TCU.
G B.J. Young - played two seasons for MA and went "pro."
F Marshawn Powell - same.
F Hunter Mickelson - played two seasons for MA and transferred to Kansas.
G Dee Wagner - sat on the bench two seasons and transferred to a lower level.
G Michael Qualls - went pro after junior season.
F Bobby Portis - went pro after sophomore season.
G Nick Babb - largely ignored as a freshman, transferred to Iowa State.
G Jimmy Whitt - transferred to SMU after freshman season.
F Lorenzo Jenkins - was a reach, gone in one year.
F Jacorey Williams - kicked off team before senior season.

The amount of undesirable churn on the Arkansas roster is unacceptably high. And a lot of sub-SEC-quality four-year transfers have taken up roster space. Arkansas will head into next season with the same old questions: Where's the point guard, the wing forward, and the low-post threat?

[Atlhogfan1]

Looks like this will be asked everyday.  You people asking really don't know?  You didn't realize the recruiting questions BEFORE we hired him?  I know.  The giddiness was too much to worry about any of that. 

Keep your post ready to copy and paste BP. 

[RagingHawgOn]

Scratching my head about the talk about MA's success at Mizzou... he had one really good year, and other than that was average at best.  He finished better than 5th in the Big 12 once in five years.

As far as why he hasn't been successful here... he hasn't been able to recruit, and he obviously can't (or simply doesn't) coach anything about basketball fundamentals.  His entire philosophy seems to go completely against basic fundamentals, and that's why you constantly see us out of position on D (nobody within 15 feet of excellent 3-point shooters over-and-over every game), for rebounding (have lost the rebounding battle in over half of our SEC games this year), and for any kind of offensive flow.

This, in a nutshell.

I do believe Mike has given it his best shot. But, sadly, his best shot has not moved the needle one bit. Time for change.

[Brandon72]

Quick question, why has MA not been able to win consistently here?

It's pretty simple.  He's a good guy that is just not a very good basketball coach. 

[Biggus Piggus]

Looks like this will be asked everyday.  You people asking really don't know?  You didn't realize the recruiting questions BEFORE we hired him?  I know.  The giddiness was too much to worry about any of that. 

Keep your post ready to copy and paste BP. 

Yeah, just thought I'd redo this same discussion to make it easier to recall.

If you walk through this sequence, you have to marvel at Anderson's ability to win at all. Maybe we should not be surprised that they were unable to sustain their early momentum + got exposed against good teams, then exposed by not-so-good teams.

Future recruiting could be much better, but can MA hold the team together long enough for players to arrive + can he develop the ones he has? It's something of a Catch 22. If MA could get the 2018 commits on campus next fall, Arkansas might be fine.

The 2018 commits:

F Reggie Perry - combo forward
F Ethan Henderson - power forward, needs to muscle up into the role
G Desi Sills - true point guard
G Isaiah Joe - true shooting guard

Very nice group. Plus, if the Hogs have any attrition from the ongoing roster, the state is producing other players who could be plugged in. My main issue is whether Anderson's the right coach for a program that is going to rely increasingly on young players. He has always leaned on his most experienced players.

[revolution]

Anderson is a medicre coach.  Once he got to Power 5 Conferences (Big 12 and SEC) he is 97-82 in 10+ seasons of conference play (.541).  That's an average yearly record of 9.2-7.8 in conference play, so 9-8 or so.  MEDIOCRE!  NOT UP TO ARKANSAS EXPECTATIONS OR STANDARDS!

The party line is that he's never had a losing season, but that's because his teams' out of conference schedules have generally been weak.  When he was at UAB, the conference schedule was also atrocious, so he could rack up lots of wins.

Unfortunately, in the Power 5 Conferences, Mike Anderson is out of his league when compared with the top quarter of coaches / programs.

It's time for a change!

[Atlhogfan1]

Yeah, just thought I'd redo this same discussion to make it easier to recall.

If you walk through this sequence, you have to marvel at Anderson's ability to win at all. Maybe we should not be surprised that they were unable to sustain their early momentum + got exposed against good teams, then exposed by not-so-good teams.

Future recruiting could be much better, but can MA hold the team together long enough for players to arrive + can he develop the ones he has? It's something of a Catch 22. If MA could get the 2018 commits on campus next fall, Arkansas might be fine.

The 2018 commits:

F Reggie Perry - combo forward
F Ethan Henderson - power forward, needs to muscle up into the role
G Desi Sills - true point guard
G Isaiah Joe - true shooting guard

Very nice group. Plus, if the Hogs have any attrition from the ongoing roster, the state is producing other players who could be plugged in. My main issue is whether Anderson's the right coach for a program that is going to rely increasingly on young players. He has always leaned on his most experienced players.

With no attrition, I believe this would be the roster with room to add.  You are right.  He isn't going to have experience to lean on which will force his hand.
2018-19

23 C.J. Jones G 6-5 175 JR Birmingham, AL
6-6 SG Garland #130 SO
6-2 SG Joe #145

11 RJ Glasper G 5-10 168 SO Forrest City, AR
6-2 PG Sills #116

2 Adrio Bailey F 6-6 204 JR Campti, LA
12 Brachen Hazen F 6-8 195 JR Fort Wayne, IN
6-6 SF Hall #249 SO
6-9 F Perry #33

6-8 PF Henderson #79
6-9 PF Gafford #35 SO

[mizzouman]

It is all recruiting + his inability to turn over the roster of guards when he arrived.

MA caused himself many problems with his early recruiting at Arkansas, but he also failed to develop + retain too many players.

2011 - G B.J. Young, G Rashad Madden, F Hunter Mickelson, F Devonta Abron.

This was the group Anderson inherited. Abron had some potential but left after one season. Mickelson and Young were gone later. The inability to develop Young was a major failure. He had great potential. Shoot-first guards who want to dominate the ball have issues in MA's system.

2012 - G-F Michael Qualls, F Coty Clarke, F Jacorey Williams, G Anthlon Bell, G Dee Wagner.

One player on this list was around for the 2015-16 season. Qualls was a success and the only true wing player that Anderson has brought in to date. He made a major difference but unwisely left school a year early. Clarke was the best four that Anderson's had. Williams's development was erratic, on and off court, and he looks like a different player at MTSU. Arkansas got one solid season out of Bell, and that's a lot of investment for such a return. Wagner was a very late reach who was instantly a non-factor. Arkansas BADLY NEEDED a point guard in the 2011-12 classes. The closest they got was Madden, who never had the ballhandling ability to contain turnovers and drive/dish, and on defense he had to guard the two/three.

2013 - F Bobby Portis, F Moses Kingsley, G Manny Watkins.

To this date, in three recruiting classes, MA had seriously lagged in guard recruiting. The only scholarship guard he had signed + retained who was SEC caliber was Madden, a Pelphrey recruit. At this point, people were happy with Portis and Kingsley; I was screaming, "Where are the guards?" Anyway, Portis had a decent freshman season, a great sophomore season, and was gone. Kingsley had one good season, and that's not this one. Watkins is what he is, role player.

2014 - G Anton Beard, G Nick Babb, G Jabril Durham, F Trey Thompson.

Trying to play catchup on guards in this class.

I looked this up re: Beard. His number of 5+ assist games per season. Freshman year - 3, all in conference play. Sophomore year - 1, 0 in conference play. Junior year - 2, 1 in conference play. That side of his game has not developed. His fault, or somebody else's?

As a frosh, Beard was effective in the first half of the SEC season then tailed badly.

In 2014-15, Arkansas badly needed guards. In conference play, Qualls and Madden got 29-31 minutes per game. Behind them, Beard got 21, Bell 16, Watkins 14, Durham 9. Babb played in 11 of 18 SEC games and got a grand total of 29 minutes.

A long list of guards got sporadic minutes because they couldn't handle more. Babb didn't even get a chance. I don't like the fact that MA put a priority on working his assistant's son into the lineup over a much, much more talented freshman. Durham also was terrible in his first season out of juco, which was a surprise and didn't reflect well on the quality of backcourt coaching.

At this point, Arkansas's still way behind the SEC curve for guard recruiting. Also no wing player other than Qualls. And other deficiencies.

2015 - G Jimmy Whitt, F Lorenzo Jenkins.

Whitt was a MA devotee from his time at Missouri. Also another shoot-first guard who wants to dominate the ball. Whitt was given regular minutes until mid-January. Then his role became sporadic. After Whitt shot 3-12 and had no assists in a 20-minute stint at Mississippi State, he got no more extended looks. Gone after one season, huge waste of potential.

Jenkins's late addition was a sad acknowledgement of the team's failure to recruit anybody else to play the Qualls role on the wing. He did not have a prayer of sticking. What's crazy is Arkansas had a chance to sign Dikembe Dixson, a 6-7 wing forward from Kentucky. Dixson went to Illinois-Chicago and averaged 20 ppg. If you're going to take a chance, don't make it a hopeless one (Wagner, Jenkins).

2016 - G Jaylen Barford, G Daryl Macon, G C.J. Jones, F Arlando Cook, F Adrio Bailey, F Brachen Hazen, G R.J. Glasper.

The long-awaited guard infusion finally arrived. MA's shown his usual difficulty working a freshman into the rotation. Jones looks like he's on the Babb-Whitt track, which is a shame, because the kid is a scoring machine. Cook is a tweener who gets overpowered. Bailey has promise but isn't big or strong + is a high school post player who needs to add basic skills. Hazen is a project. Still no true point guard (unless walk-on Glasper eventually develops) or low-post threat.

Barford and Macon will only be around for two seasons. They could be very good as seniors, if the team doesn't disintegrate between now and then.

2017 - F Daniel Gafford, G Khalil Garland, F Darious Hall.

Arkansas has signed three of the best players among all freshmen in this class. That's the first time MA has gotten three blue-chip recruits in one crop. One presumes that all three would play a lot next season, but when it comes to guards, one never knows how MA is going to bring up freshmen.

Guard recruiting in 2016-17 did not make up for past failures. I believe the team still needs more help in the backcourt.

During his time at Arkansas, Anderson has had a number of transfers from other four-year universities.

G Fred Gulley (from Oklahoma State) - effective role player as a senior.
F Alandise Harris (from Houston) - tweener forward, had a decent senior season.
F Keaton Miles (from West Virginia) - played but never made a difference.
G Dusty Hannahs (from Texas Tech) - by far the best transfer MA's received.
F Willy Kouassi (from Kennesaw State) - role player.
F Dustin Thomas (from Colorado) - underpowered power forward.

Early departures have hampered the Razorbacks' progress.

G Rotnei Clarke - fled right after MA was hired.
G Jeff Peterson - same.
F Glenn Bryant - same.
G Julysses Nobles - played one season for MA and left before his senior year.
F Devonta Abron - played one season for MA and transferred to TCU.
G B.J. Young - played two seasons for MA and went "pro."
F Marshawn Powell - same.
F Hunter Mickelson - played two seasons for MA and transferred to Kansas.
G Dee Wagner - sat on the bench two seasons and transferred to a lower level.
G Michael Qualls - went pro after junior season.
F Bobby Portis - went pro after sophomore season.
G Nick Babb - largely ignored as a freshman, transferred to Iowa State.
G Jimmy Whitt - transferred to SMU after freshman season.
F Lorenzo Jenkins - was a reach, gone in one year.
F Jacorey Williams - kicked off team before senior season.

The amount of undesirable churn on the Arkansas roster is unacceptably high. And a lot of sub-SEC-quality four-year transfers have taken up roster space. Arkansas will head into next season with the same old questions: Where's the point guard, the wing forward, and the low-post threat?

Whitt, for me, is a head scratcher.  Tons of talent.  He will resurface as one of the better college players.

[The_Iceman]

Great post Biggus. Mike has shown no ability to recruit, maintain, or develop a roster in his 6 years here. It is time to get a coach who can utilize and get the full potential out of our roster and future recruits.

[King Kong]

There are 1,000 reasons. But none of them matter. If he doesn't make the tournament he have to go

[Sharky]

Anderson is a medicre coach.  Once he got to Power 5 Conferences (Big 12 and SEC) he is 97-82 in 10+ seasons of conference play (.541).  That's an average yearly record of 9.2-7.8 in conference play, so 9-8 or so.  MEDIOCRE!  NOT UP TO ARKANSAS EXPECTATIONS OR STANDARDS!

This is the gist of the issue. He's a mid-level coach who doesn't have much depth. His system is great at dismantling teams that are weak on guard play, but when teams are able to break the press, we leave open lanes and easy baskets. In recent years, two things have worked against CMA: (1) reviewing tape and stats to see what works against a team like ours is much, much easier, and (2) overall guard play has improved significantly. So, teams that leave two good guards to push the ball as we leave three to trap will always be able to find an open man on their end.

Oh, I'll add a number 3 working against us: touch fouls.