Anderson will be back next year, like it or not

[Atlhogfan1]

He has a chance to deal with basketball now.

Obligation. 

Football is a bigger risk.  We know it doesn't take much to get not just exposed but steamrolled in the SEC.  Better recruiting programs than us have struggled to some degree.  Lose AA for an extended time and that record can go to darn.  This isn't SEC basketball where mediocrity and good effort can keep you from exposure.  The financial risks are of course many times that of basketball now. 

[forrest city joe]

If we have a better coach, then it may be a better year. If Mike is still here though, it will be worse.

You have no idea if it will be worse or not.it's just your opinion.which is based in no facts.

[hobhog]

Mike has never been on a timetable.  It is however long it takes.  However long till he can have success because it is most important he is the coach when our next success happens.

I honestly don't understand. We have to keep him employed until he has a good season because he has to be the coach that succeeds? Says who?

[Atlhogfan1]

I honestly don't understand. We have to keep him employed until he has a good season because he has to be the coach that succeeds? Says who?

You do realize this isn't my personal belief, right?

[hobhog]

You do realize this isn't my personal belief, right?

Did not. I feel better.

[Captain Morgan]

You have no idea if it will be worse or not.it's just your opinion.which is based in no facts.

How can it be worse than the last 2 games or the last 6 seasons of Mike "NIT" Anderson? 

[The_Iceman]

You have no idea if it will be worse or not.it's just your opinion.which is based in no facts.

There are more facts to support his opinion, that Mike Anderson will squander the talent and miss the tournament again, thank support you opinion that we will suddenly be better.

Look at 2014 and 2017. Tournament caliber teams that Mike squandered due to the inability to coach and motivate his team to beat sub-.500 teams. Look at the history of talent leaving and transferring out of the program. Look at the 2015 offseason debacle.

There is no 5-star McDonalds All American like Bobby Portis on next year's roster to bail Mike out. He will produce more of the same mediocre results.

[GuvHog]

There are more facts to support his opinion, that Mike Anderson will squander the talent and miss the tournament again, thank support you opinion that we will suddenly be better.

Look at 2014 and 2017. Tournament caliber teams that Mike squandered due to the inability to coach and motivate his team to beat sub-.500 teams. Look at the history of talent leaving and transferring out of the program. Look at the 2015 offseason debacle.

There is no 5-star McDonalds All American like Bobby Portis on next year's roster to bail Mike out. He will produce more of the same mediocre results.

Well said Iceman. Kingsley is gone after this year. All the the Hogs will have in the lane next year is Thompson, who is a decent player at best and is foul prone along with a young freshman (Gafford) who is far from ready to be an impact player in college ball. To top that off, the Hogs will lose their best shooter after this season. Next year looks bleak.

[The_Iceman]

Well said Iceman. Kingsley is gone after this year. All the the Hogs will have in the lane next year is Thompson, who is a decent player at best and is foul prone along with a young freshman (Gafford) who is far from ready to be an impact player in college ball. To top that off, the Hogs will lose their best shooter after this season. Next year looks bleak.

Not to the Mike huggers apparently.

Time to go in a new direction.

[Sivad]

Cash is in ample supply.

Just don't take any from Anderson's players (unless you check it with a pencil eraser first).

[HogBreath]

We are going to be better next year without Dusty, Watkins and Moses?

We haven't even been able to replace Jabril Durham from last year

[Justagp]

And can we dispense with the notion that Arkansas does not have the cash to can all three coaches if they so chose to do so?

Cash is in ample supply.

We need a fresh start!

[WaltKowalski]

For the same reason Beilema will be here at least 2 more years. Mike has 3 years left on his contract. That, and the recruiting class he has coming will be enough to give him one more year. He will not be fired.

I hope so man. We have the most unstable fan base in college sports and they create the most unstable programs. I will be amazed if we ever have another coach who is allowed to stick around long enough to stabilize and build a program.

[HogBreath]

I hope so man. We have the most unstable fan base in college sports and they create the most unstable programs. I will be amazed if we ever have another coach who is allowed to stick around long enough to stabilize and build a program.

Just so we all know Walt, how long does it take to do this building & stabilizing you speak of?

And you do know Mike got wiped off the map less than 2 weeks back by a first year coach, right?

[Smalltownhog95]

If Mike Anderson is the coach next year I won't waste my time watching hog basketball. I was a big supporter until the pitiful Mizzou game. I love my hogs but can't spend anymore time screaming at the TV to start guarding the perimeter and stop switching screens.

[Oklahawg]

I think (not necessarily quantifying data here) that rebuilding a basketball team is easier than rebuilding a football team. Thus, the leash is longer in football.

I haven't parsed all the commentary about the ease of making a football bowl game vs making the NCAAT in basketball. I am guessing that it is a touch easier to make a football bowl game because the only metric for OOC is that you can only count a FCS win once every so many years. You can finish well below the mid-point of the conference in football and make a bowl game.

UA is going to walk into the season with three wins in its pocket courtesy of OOC scheduling. Only need three more to go bowling.  While 6-6 and a low-tier bowl is not the goal (and MMQB would be a war zone) it leaves us ahead of where we are with basketball and women's basketball.

Women's basketball is about not deep-sixing the program by letting Dykes allow a moat to be built around it. He has strategically failed to connect with the game the way he needed to connect.  (off court stuff, if I understand it correctly)

MA's seat has to be seen as the hottest, objectively, even if it is not.

[lunchbox72703]

Why do people insist on comparing anything about these two sports?  It does not take 6-8 years to rebuild a basketball roster and turn a team around.

[ballhogger]

I am very pro Mike Anderson, but if we trend in this same direction to end the season I would think that it might just be time to part ways.  We would have some good players returning, a good class coming in for the next two cycles.  It would be very appealing for a good coach to come in.  Even if Mike does not return he would have left the program in better shape than he found it.

[TNhawgfan]

I'm all for giving coach B another year to see if our defense is improved with new coaches. Mike's stable of do nothing coaches has been here too long for me to believe they'll ever be better than mediocre

[riccoar]

Why do people insist on comparing anything about these two sports?  It does not take 6-8 years to rebuild a basketball roster and turn a team around.

In common knowledge theory, you are correct.  In lawyer theory, you are wrong. 

[Pork Twain]

I think (not necessarily quantifying data here) that rebuilding a basketball team is easier than rebuilding a football team. Thus, the leash is longer in football.

I haven't parsed all the commentary about the ease of making a football bowl game vs making the NCAAT in basketball. I am guessing that it is a touch easier to make a football bowl game because the only metric for OOC is that you can only count a FCS win once every so many years. You can finish well below the mid-point of the conference in football and make a bowl game.

UA is going to walk into the season with three wins in its pocket courtesy of OOC scheduling. Only need three more to go bowling.  While 6-6 and a low-tier bowl is not the goal (and MMQB would be a war zone) it leaves us ahead of where we are with basketball and women's basketball.

Women's basketball is about not deep-sixing the program by letting Dykes allow a moat to be built around it. He has strategically failed to connect with the game the way he needed to connect.  (off court stuff, if I understand it correctly)

MA's seat has to be seen as the hottest, objectively, even if it is not.

Agreed...  When you do look at the two sports independently of each other and the time it would realistically take to turn them around and the strength of the competition they are facing, the nod has to go to football when it comes to having the most patience.  The reason the two should never be directly compared, all of the differences between the two are the exact reasons why the two must be treated differently when long-term planning.

You can conceivably turn a basketball program around in a couple of years with a completely new roster, Kentucky is doing it every year.  That is true for a couple of reason.  First the roster only contains 13 scholarship players and you would only need to sign 3-4 players a year to overhaul the roster.  A college freshmen can make an immediate impact at every position and often are "capable" of jumping straight from high school to the pro level.

Football is a much slower process, mainly due to the time it takes to build relationships and turn over a roster.  Even signing 25 players a year, it would take 4 years to completely overhaul an 85 man roster.  Rarely does a college freshmen come onto the college scene and change the game and they are not allowed to jump straight to the pro level, because of developmental issues.  I know it happens, but it is rare overall.

I am NOT saying freshmen and sophomores do not make an impact in each sport, but when you look at each, it is clear that new blood can be more quickly injected into a basketball team.

[Biggus Piggus]

Well said Iceman. Kingsley is gone after this year. All the the Hogs will have in the lane next year is Thompson, who is a decent player at best and is foul prone along with a young freshman (Gafford) who is far from ready to be an impact player in college ball. To top that off, the Hogs will lose their best shooter after this season. Next year looks bleak.

Gafford will be more effective than Kingsley is this season. That's not a worry. Gafford has the ability to catch a pass and do the right thing with the ball.

The lack of a point guard is an issue. The fact that Garland is a wing player who wants to be a point guard is a problem. But hey, maybe he will improve the offense simply by being there and willing to pass the ball.

I can see Gafford, Hall and Garland on court together, often. With two guards. That would be a better team.

[The_Iceman]

If Jeff Long makes the dumb decision to keep Mediocre Mike next year, then it should be with the stipulation to make another change on his coaching staff. If it means replacing Watkins, so be it. We ask that of our football coaches after underachieving years, so why not basketball?