Don't act like nothing has happened

[azhog10]

Hogsanity on Hog basketball: Here let me take an overview of only the negatives and pretend there's no specifics that exist in this entire world.

Hogsanity on Hog football: Here let me look at all the specific reasons for things happening in the world and only look at the positive.

[LA Football fan]

Everyone sees changes happening.   We don't know whether to like it or not until the results are in next year.  It
APPEARS promising on the outside looking in but you have an unproven individual hired as an assistant coach that has no history to judge one way or the other.   Thinking positive is in no way any more accurate than thinking negatively at this point.  I am pulling for Mike to make this thing work though so I will not bash the hire just because things have been below expectations overall.  Scotty deserves the chance to prove himself without the baggage of Mike's shortcomings thus far.

This program needs the positive recruiting news we have seen this year and hopefully it shows up on the court next year.  We need to get through this off season with no issues, all recruits need to make it to campus, and I really do believe Mike will have assembled the kind of talent that could turn this thing around finally.  Until it plays out on the court however, I am in wait and see mode.   Mike has a history of struggling winning on the road no matter how much talent he has on hand so even though the talent should no doubt be better overall next year,  will it translate to wins on the road??   To me that is going to be the determining factor on his remaining here after next year or not.  He has to find a way to overcome that liability in his coaching style or I am afraid next year could be his last here.   Things are looking up overall right now and I am not afraid to admit it.  Mike and this program needs a run of NCAA tourney appearances to overcome the last 20 years of mediocrity at best.  I applaud his work ethic, I applaud how he represents this state and university, and I truly believe he is doing his best to return Hog basketball to relevance again.  Go Mike and Go Hogs!  Pulling for this thing to come together next year.

[nwahogfan1]

I was referring to biggus little line about "The program will continue to win at a rate that is not as good as some yahoos want it to be."

So, does thinking they should have been to 2 or 3 NCAAT the last 5 years make someone a yahoo?   I do not think it should have been 5 or even 4, but it should have been at least 2 and probably 3. Seems reasonable to me.

You speak the truth Hogsanity and Biggus says what ever comes off the top of his head. I totally agree with you that Mike should have us going to more NCAATs and winning a higher pct. of our games.  He has had 5 years to build a program.  Right now he has assembled a very good JUCO group of 3 players.  All 3 should help us next year with Barford probably being a 12+ ppg stud.  I hope Barford is the real deal because we need a 6'5 athletic scorer in our line up badly next year.  If Moses comes back we will be ok in the middle but we need more depth there and I know the coaches are trying to address this shortage.  It seems like we are offering more kids and recruiting harder and this is a very good sign someone has made this a higher priority.  Signing enough of the right players is the life  blood of your program so I hope our staff will get the job done.

[WilsonHog]

You speak the truth Hogsanity and Biggus says what ever comes off the top of his head.

😂😂😂😂

If Biggus was the only sumbitch posting on Hogville, that alone would make it worth reading.

He is one of the few posters whose comments I log on to read. Irwin was in that group too, until he decided he had all he wanted of the crap constantly floating to the top of the bowl in Jump Ball.

Intelligence and the ability to frame and write an argument still matters. That's why I always laugh when morons use the phrase "smartest man in the room" derisively. The guys who fit that description need to talk while everyone else shuts the hell up and pays attention.

[Knot2brite]

I will take a shot at replying to what the OP said...lots of things have happened. There are changes aplenty, but just because things are happening and changes are occurring does not mean that they are doing things differently. Now before you bust a lug nut pushing the respond button let me justify what I am saying. 1. On paper....we should have a better class of athlete attending the University of Arkansas next year. I see athletic guards and bigger SF's and maybe a post player type in the mix. But the problem with recruits on paper is that they sometimes fall apart and never produce. Plus, there are several of them which at JUCO players and there is a small window of opportunity with several of those players. Changes? Yes. Upgrades? No so sure...won't know until 10 months from now.
2. The coaching change that was made was far from being a major juggle. It was a guy that played here 20 years ago, worked in the basketball program and was the color analysis for the university. It wasn't like MA went out and found the best recruiter or position coach in America. He found a guy that he knew, trained and trusted to be on his bench. That doesn't mean anything changed except where Scotty had a office. Zim, however, will have to change offices more than likely. That happened...but what really happened? Not much. Again, to see if anything truly happened we will have to wait until March of next year.

The fans are mainly set into three groups. The diehard love Mike people...the diehard hate the way Mike coaches and wants immediate change ...and the This better work before I join the get rid of him group. None of the people want the Hogs to do anything but win. There is a case for waiting and letting things get better....there is a case for immediate gratification ...and there is a case for this is the last time I get my hopes up with MA as a coach....I have never backed away from the fact that I did not want MA hired. Until recently I thought there was no way on the green earth that he would be fired before 2020. I now am aware that time is slipping through the hourglass for MA and he has to produce soon. All I want is wins...lots of them...and a big trophy again one of these days soon...

[HogBreath]

Mike's here for the long run..if we don't do well next year, the excuse will be....it takes a year for jucos to acclimate, the next year, the excuse will be..... we lost Kingsley & Hannahs, and those are some big shoes to fill, then the following year we'll have about 10 players to replace, and that's a tall order for even the new refocused CMA.

[Nipsey Mussle]

You speak the truth Hogsanity and Biggus says what ever comes off the top of his head.

LOL, I stopped reading after that line. You lost all credibility

[Breems]

Hogsanity on Hog basketball: Here let me take an overview of only the negatives and pretend there's no specifics that exist in this entire world.

Hogsanity on Hog football: Here let me look at all the specific reasons for things happening in the world and only look at the positive.

[Kevin]

looking forward, the program should be in the big dance every year

[Deep Shoat]

We'll make enough of a jump in the next two years to guarantee CMA a job until he retires.  But we won't be where we should be.

So sure, things have happened. 

[Biggus Piggus]

We'll make enough of a jump in the next two years to guarantee CMA a job until he retires.  But we won't be where we should be.

So sure, things have happened. 

That is a loaded statement. "Where we should be" is the place where Arkansas fans tend to fail most often.

"Where we should be" was far, far different in 1999 than it is in 2016.

[hogsanity]

Once you have mulled the same question over again in your head for the 1,000th time, I expect you to base your opinion on forward-looking expectations. And yours will be hopeless, and who knows - you might be right. But I see changes happening and like it.

Right - forward looking expectations. In other words, don't act like nothing has happened, BUT act like the last 5 years did not happen.

I think they will be much better next season, with or without MK. They have signed enough guard talent to get to the ncaa bubble even if MK does not come back, assuming that talent gets up to speed quickly. But it just goes along with how the program is going to be as long as Mike is here, a good year or two, followed by a couple down years due to rater imbalances and being unprepared for player departures.

[The_Iceman]

So far, this has been a pretty good offseason for Mike Anderson. Losing Whitt wasn't good, but the 7 additions (Barford, Macon, Jones, Thomas, Hazen, Bailey, and Cook) all seem like solid additions. Shouldn't be any Doobie Jenkins' in that group.

There is still one more domino that could fall to turn this from a good offseason to another disaster, and that is Moses Kingsley. If Moses returns, I believe the Hogs will be looking at a Top 4 in the SEC type year, an NCAA tournament bid, and possibly looking at a top 25 ranking at some point. If he leaves, we will be fighting for the NIT again.

[Biggus Piggus]

Right - forward looking expectations. In other words, don't act like nothing has happened, BUT act like the last 5 years did not happen.

HE CAN BE TAUGHT!

I am in the forecasting business. Sometimes, the historical data actually are useless as a basis for forecasting. Sometimes, you get to the point where you have to base your expectations on the current situation.

Some things have changed for the better. I hope.

[hogsanity]

HE CAN BE TAUGHT!

I am in the forecasting business. Sometimes, the historical data actually are useless as a basis for forecasting. Sometimes, you get to the point where you have to base your expectations on the current situation.

Some things have changed for the better. I hope.

I love looking forward. I look forward to what my kids will do as they get older, what my wife and I will do when the kids are gone from home, how will my son do his 1st year playing football next fall, BUT I also do not ignore things that have happened, as a lot can be learned from that as well.

[majp51]

Let's correct this statement. More like: The program will continue to win at a rate that is not as good as some yahoos want it to be. Eventually, a change will be made at the top, and the same thing will happen again.

Uhm Bigguss, are you telling me that 1 year of NCAA's in 5 is an acceptable goal?

The poster you are quoting may have gone over the top, but certainly you can see that you went as far over the top in the other direction as he did.

[azhog10]

Uhm Bigguss, are you telling me that 1 year of NCAA's in 6 is an acceptable goal?

The poster you are quoting may have gone over the top, but certainly you can see that you went as far over the top in the other direction as he did.

How's that? Biggus isn't saying the past didn't happen and CMA should be excused from it. What he's saying is that we have all been bitching and moaning about needing something to happen with the staff and recruiting. When it finally did, people are still complaining or acting like nothing happened. Give credit where it is due, but we all understand the proof will be in the pudding come November. But for now CMA has had his best recruiting spring period, and possibly best fall and spring signing periods back to back that he's had since he's been here. Add to that where we are with the '17 and '18 classes already having commits and recruiting has turned around a bit. That's all he's trying to say, he isn't really trying to bring up the past at all as something that should be talked about, or forgotten. It wasn't part of his post really at all.

[Biggus Piggus]

Uhm Bigguss, are you telling me that 1 year of NCAA's in 5 is an acceptable goal?

The poster you are quoting may have gone over the top, but certainly you can see that you went as far over the top in the other direction as he did.

No. Not at all. You disappoint me, you puppy.

[Nipsey Mussle]

So far, this has been a pretty good offseason for Mike Anderson. Losing Whitt wasn't good, but the 7 additions (Barford, Macon, Jones, Thomas, Hazen, Bailey, and Cook) all seem like solid additions. Shouldn't be any Doobie Jenkins' in that group.

There is still one more domino that could fall to turn this from a good offseason to another disaster, and that is Moses Kingsley. If Moses returns, I believe the Hogs will be looking at a Top 4 in the SEC type year, an NCAA tournament bid, and possibly looking at a top 25 ranking at some point. If he leaves, we will be fighting for the NIT again.

Very good post

[Nipsey Mussle]

I love looking forward. I look forward to what my kids will do as they get older, what my wife and I will do when the kids are gone from home, how will my son do his 1st year playing football next fall, BUT I also do not ignore things that have happened, as a lot can be learned from that as well.

So, let's just say, in two years your son is looking like he has improved greatly heading into his 3rd year of football. Are you going to be reminding him repeatedly (and I do mean REPEATEDLY) that he missed lots of tackles his previous years in football?

I'll break it down for you: You don't dislike MA b/c you're a racist (some think that, but it's not true). You dislike MA b/c you predicted he wouldn't do well from the start and you have this fixation with proving that to be accurate. Like it or not, deny it or not, you and Kevin both have done that.

[Atlhogfan1]

I will take a shot at replying to what the OP said...lots of things have happened. There are changes aplenty, but just because things are happening and changes are occurring does not mean that they are doing things differently. Now before you bust a lug nut pushing the respond button let me justify what I am saying. 1. On paper....we should have a better class of athlete attending the University of Arkansas next year. I see athletic guards and bigger SF's and maybe a post player type in the mix. But the problem with recruits on paper is that they sometimes fall apart and never produce. Plus, there are several of them which at JUCO players and there is a small window of opportunity with several of those players. Changes? Yes. Upgrades? No so sure...won't know until 10 months from now.
2. The coaching change that was made was far from being a major juggle. It was a guy that played here 20 years ago, worked in the basketball program and was the color analysis for the university. It wasn't like MA went out and found the best recruiter or position coach in America. He found a guy that he knew, trained and trusted to be on his bench. That doesn't mean anything changed except where Scotty had a office. Zim, however, will have to change offices more than likely. That happened...but what really happened? Not much. Again, to see if anything truly happened we will have to wait until March of next year.

The fans are mainly set into three groups. The diehard love Mike people...the diehard hate the way Mike coaches and wants immediate change ...and the This better work before I join the get rid of him group. None of the people want the Hogs to do anything but win. There is a case for waiting and letting things get better....there is a case for immediate gratification ...and there is a case for this is the last time I get my hopes up with MA as a coach....I have never backed away from the fact that I did not want MA hired. Until recently I thought there was no way on the green earth that he would be fired before 2020. I now am aware that time is slipping through the hourglass for MA and he has to produce soon. All I want is wins...lots of them...and a big trophy again one of these days soon...

I think to sum up, we have to see what the actual degree of change has been recently and if it will carry forward.  There are reasons to be unsure or doubt it.  The staff's m.o. is still there in some ways even with this class seemingly being better.  And the most recent change to Scotty will take more longer term results to know its effect.  Since his promotion, we have a commit from a +250 high school recruit and a +125 2017 in state recruit.  What makes the Hazen commit a little different vs recent recruiting is he is out of state with no known connections and was actually receiving interest from P5 programs.  The staff actually seems to have successfully recruited someone not connected and who had comparable options in the late period.  Plus it was a need position filled just as with the rest of this class fills voids.  We can be optimistic I suppose as the extremely low bar they set appears to be surpassed for now.  Like BP, I do fcst as well and if I were to fcst this, I would project improvement coming based on the limited information we have right now.

I also think we have to remember what college basketball is right now.  The competition just isn't the same as it was.  And when you factor in our conference, upward mobility can be achieved with the influence of just a player or two or in our case a group of the right players perhaps fitting the roles needed - bigger guards who can defend, more guard depth, wing players.  If who is signed makes it to campus, we may finally see the teams we expected. 

After what has happened the first 5 seasons in discussions, I don't think you can expect fans to just suddenly forgive and forget.  This thread was going to be painful from the start.  It will be a process for MA to win back the trust and prove he will be successful. 

[HoopS]

I keep reading quotes about the past and making it sound like his first 5 years here were horrific. The truth is we improved the first 4 years culminating in a 27 win season; the best since the 90's. Then we had two players leave early for the pros. But he needs to be forgiven? What? For what? Improving the dang program? Year 5 stunk but we all know it wouldn't have if our two pro's stayed. Quit acting like we have strung together 5 years of 8 wins. The win chart climbed each season until last. It'll trend right back up this season too.

It needs to be NCAAT consistently. I believe it will. If it isn't then I would agree we look another direction.

[Nipsey Mussle]

Btw, none of the MA doubters had any issue at all with forward thinking heading into last season.

[Nipsey Mussle]

I keep reading quotes about the past and making it sound like his first 5 years here were horrific. The truth is we improved the first 4 years culminating in a 27 win season; the best since the 90's. Then we had two players leave early for the pros. But he needs to be forgiven? What? For what? Improving the dang program? Year 5 stunk but we all know it wouldn't have if our two pro's stayed. Quit acting like we have strung together 5 years of 8 wins. The win chart climbed each season until last. It'll trend right back up this season too.

Good point! It doesn't align with Hogsanity's narrative though, so he has to pretend otherwise.

[nwahogfan1]

So far, this has been a pretty good offseason for Mike Anderson. Losing Whitt wasn't good, but the 7 additions (Barford, Macon, Jones, Thomas, Hazen, Bailey, and Cook) all seem like solid additions. Shouldn't be any Doobie Jenkins' in that group.

There is still one more domino that could fall to turn this from a good offseason to another disaster, and that is Moses Kingsley. If Moses returns, I believe the Hogs will be looking at a Top 4 in the SEC type year, an NCAA tournament bid, and possibly looking at a top 25 ranking at some point. If he leaves, we will be fighting for the NIT again.

Good off season recruiting needs for Mike. Mike needs to hit a HR and keep Moses if he wants to make a serious run at the SEC and going deep in the NCAAT.  It may be me but I still think they need more depth in the middle.  I am hoping for a transfer big man who gives us immediate back up down low and/or a freshmen big who could use 2016 to develop. 

[Tusks]

Uhm Bigguss, are you telling me that 1 year of NCAA's in 5 is an acceptable goal?

The poster you are quoting may have gone over the top, but certainly you can see that you went as far over the top in the other direction as he did.

An acceptable goal, No.  A fire-able underachievement, No.

MA won't get that long but obviously if he was coach for 5 more years and only went to the NCAA 1 time, he will no longer be the HC.  If his hog teams make the NCAA 3, 4, or 5 of the next 5 years then that is an acceptable goal and an acceptable achievement.

[Atlhogfan1]

I keep reading quotes about the past and making it sound like his first 5 years here were horrific. The truth is we improved the first 4 years culminating in a 27 win season; the best since the 90's. Then we had two players leave early for the pros. But he needs to be forgiven? What? For what? Improving the dang program? Year 5 stunk but we all know it wouldn't have if our two pro's stayed. Quit acting like we have strung together 5 years of 8 wins. The win chart climbed each season until last. It'll trend right back up this season too.

If you are referring to my post, you need to slow down and stop being so emotional.  It isn't MA I was referring to when I used the word forgive.  It is each other - the fans forgiving each other for what has been said and discussed no matter which "side" one may have been on.  This will take time.  The success or failure of the teams will affect how this goes.  Your post will bring nothing but an argument. 

[HoopS]

If you are referring to my post, you need to slow down and stop being so emotional.  It isn't MA I was referring to when I used the word forgive.  It is each other - the fans forgiving each other for what has been said and discussed no matter which "side" one may have been on.  This will take time.  Your post will bring nothing but an argument. 

ok.

Then I do agree and what I want most is our program to be what we all want and that we enjoy the ride together.

[Atlhogfan1]

Btw, none of the MA doubters had any issue at all with forward thinking heading into last season.

The problem we had over these first 5 seasons is we didn't get anything definitive.  It was too much of a mix of good and bad.  The program needs one or the other and of course good is preferred.  If you get one, you can get mostly a consensus and move forward.  If not, you end up with division and infighting and a program treading water which IMO is one of the worst places you can be if it goes on too long. 

[The_Iceman]

Good off season recruiting needs for Mike. Mike needs to hit a HR and keep Moses if he wants to make a serious run at the SEC and going deep in the NCAAT.  It may be me but I still think they need more depth in the middle.  I am hoping for a transfer big man who gives us immediate back up down low and/or a freshmen big who could use 2016 to develop. 

Depth will improve at Center next year if Moses returns, because of Trey Thompson. Kinglsey and Thompson is a solid 1-2 punch at center. Inside depth next year:

True 5's: Kingsley / Thompson
4-5 combo: Cook
3-4 combo: Thomas / Hazen / Bailey

That's a pretty good collection of forwards.

[azhog10]

The problem we had over these first 5 seasons is we didn't get anything definitive.  It was too much of a mix of good and bad.  The program needs one or the other and of course good is preferred.  If you get one, you can get mostly a consensus and move forward.  If not, you end up with division and infighting and a program treading water which IMO is one of the worst places you can be if it goes on too long.

I'm not buying this good and bad and needing something definitive. If you are talking you want something definitive over 3 or 4 seasons then okay. But if you are talking over the course of a season then this is BS. We had a 27 win season, and of course teams are going to lose games but I'm not sure how one could be upset with a 27 win season, the most wins in over 20 years but we did here on hogville. Each year until this last the good continued to get better, and the bad we saw less and less. There's no excusing the offseason that led to this last season, but no one can go back and change it. CMA and staff have done a great job trying to make sure that doesn't happen again by having a pretty full class (it's full unless you pull Manny's scholarship) and having guys already committed in the next class. Bottom line is he has to get to the NCAAT or he's out, and that's the bar that's been set for every season going forward.

[azhog10]

Depth will improve at Center next year if Moses returns, because of Trey Thompson. Kinglsey and Thompson is a solid 1-2 punch at center. Inside depth next year:

True 5's: Kingsley / Thompson
4-5 combo: Cook
3-4 combo: Thomas / Hazen / Bailey

That's a pretty good collection of forwards.

I think you could add Thompson as a 4-5 combo as he played a lot at the 4 this last season. Not sure what his true position is, but he can definitely play the 4 if needed.

[Atlhogfan1]

I'm not buying this good and bad and needing something definitive. If you are talking you want something definitive over 3 or 4 seasons then okay. But if you are talking over the course of a season then this is BS. We had a 27 win season, and of course teams are going to lose games but I'm not sure how one could be upset with a 27 win season, the most wins in over 20 years but we did here on hogville. Each year until this last the good continued to get better, and the bad we saw less and less. There's no excusing the offseason that led to this last season, but no one can go back and change it. CMA and staff have done a great job trying to make sure that doesn't happen again by having a pretty full class (it's full unless you pull Manny's scholarship) and having guys already committed in the next class. Bottom line is he has to get to the NCAAT or he's out, and that's the bar that's been set for every season going forward.

Yes az.  More than one season.

NIT - bad end of season losses to 27 wins and NCAAT win to .500 season.  And lots of good and bad during this. 

Do you really want to rehash the failures and successes of the first 5 seasons?  Success didn't come close to outweighing failure enough.  It was good enough of course.  Otherwise, we wouldn't be moving on with MA now.  But it wasn't near enough to be definitive.

[hogsanity]

Good point! It doesn't align with Hogsanity's narrative though, so he has to pretend otherwise.

My narrative on Mike has always been that he would have a good year or two followed by a couple down seasons as his lopsided roster management will always be a problem.Most of his season will be like his 3rd, on the bubble for the ncaat, needing wins late to get in. The only question then is how do they close seasons. They will have the occasional 25+ win year and the occasional 18 or fewer wins year, but most will be in the 19-22 range, which puts them square on the bubble. Many people will be happy with that as long as it is Mike coaching, but if it were anyone else, that type of record would be unacceptable to them. 

[HogsRule1]

I'm excited to see this upgraded roster play some basketball. I'd watch 'em play pickup games.

The best Arkansas basketball teams in history had loads of basketball skill. This team has accumulated a lot of skilled players. The team is talented and diverse enough that we should enjoy sitting back and letting them play. Give them a chance to surprise us.

I'm pleased that Mike Anderson has shaken up his coaching staff and has stepped up overall recruiting activity. He seems to be really going for "it" now. A strong flow of in-state talent is the bedrock for this move. MA isn't settling for Arkansas-born players alone, but they make a great base for elevating everything.

MA already has done things I did not expect to see. I don't want to go back to the position we were in during late Nolan days. We had a subset of fans who hated Nolan, wanted the Hogs to lose so Nolan could be fired, were disappointed when anything good happened and did everything they could to diminish the significance of good developments.

I guess we fans starting thinking we had something to do with firing coaches back when Nutt was football coach. Banners, T-shirts and darn. Well, let's just sit back and see how this plays out. MA really is fighting to improve the Razorbacks. I can see it, and it took a lot to persuade me. Next season is going to be good, I'm guessing.

Very nice work. Makes me excited for next season. Thanks for the pump up.

[Nipsey Mussle]

My narrative on Mike has always been that he would have a good year or two followed by a couple down seasons as his lopsided roster management will always be a problem.Most of his season will be like his 3rd, on the bubble for the ncaat, needing wins late to get in. The only question then is how do they close seasons. They will have the occasional 25+ win year and the occasional 18 or fewer wins year, but most will be in the 19-22 range, which puts them square on the bubble. Many people will be happy with that as long as it is Mike coaching, but if it were anyone else, that type of record would be unacceptable to them.

MA's success here is worth debating but this perceived deference he gets is so overblown in you and Kevin's mind. No coach, at all, would've had MA's 5 years here and been fired. 4 years of improvement and 1 year of back sliding equals being fired, in a program that was in the dumps? This is exactly like all the people who said BA wouldn't start at QB for any coach but BB. That enters someone's head and then just keeps building, just like this MA deference you guys have dreamed up. 
Until it's blatant that MA needs to be fired and isn't fired, drop that non sense.

[hogwood]

We won 27 games and the roster was set up to have another very good season but for two NBA declarations. Of course there was a down season due to that. And we've quickly reloaded and we will see how well we blend this group together. NCAAT is the expectation. I believe we do that and we see our program become what we hoped it would. Or he will be gone. Simple as that.

This coming season our roster is deeper than 14-15 IMO. We don't have a Portis/MCDAA but for the first time we will have two (if Kingsley indeed returns) senior stars who are proven. We are also adding talented pieces who are expected to contribute (Barford and Macon). Beard, Thompson, Thomas, and Cook also have potential to be strong contributors. That gives us at least 5-6 players that should be reliable. IMO in 14-15' we only had about 3-4 reliable players per game varying between the consistency of Portis and Qualls plus a rotation of one or two of Harris, Madden, and Beard. After those players I would say our roster will be deeper than 14-15's lower 5-6 bench players. We should be able to count on Kinglsey and Hannahs every game. Barford should also be consistent. If they can perform then rotate Beard, Thompson, Cook, Macon, and Thomas as reliable contributors and I think we have more threats and depth overall than 14-15'. I'm excited for next year and the positive recruiting news we've seen lately has me excited for beyond that as well. Go Hogs!

[The_Iceman]

I think you could add Thompson as a 4-5 combo as he played a lot at the 4 this last season. Not sure what his true position is, but he can definitely play the 4 if needed.

Thompson is 6'9" and 260lbs. At Arkansas an in Mike's system, he shouldn't play the 4. He's a 5 for sure and only played there this year out of necessity.

[hogsanity]

MA's success here is worth debating but this perceived deference he gets is so overblown in you and Kevin's mind. No coach, at all, would've had MA's 5 years here and been fired. 4 years of improvement and 1 year of back sliding equals being fired, in a program that was in the dumps? This is exactly like all the people who said BA wouldn't start at QB for any coach but BB. That enters someone's head and then just keeps building, just like this MA deference you guys have dreamed up. 
Until it's blatant that MA needs to be fired and isn't fired, drop that non sense.

4 years of improvement is what is overblown. You can have 4 years of improvement and still be horrible. You could go from 1 win to 4 to 6 to 8 to 10. That's 4 years of improvement and your team is still terrible. Pelphrey's last season the Hogs were 18-13, Mikes 5 years have been 18-14, 19-13, 22-12, 27-10, 16-16. outside of the year he had the secpoty and 1st round draft pick in BP, and possibly the most exciting player in the league in MQ, his records have not been any better than what we had the year before he came, and he has done it in a putrid SEC.

[azhog10]

Yes az.  More than one season.

NIT - bad end of season losses to 27 wins and NCAAT win to .500 season.  And lots of good and bad during this. 

Do you really want to rehash the failures and successes of the first 5 seasons?  Success didn't come close to outweighing failure enough.  It was good enough of course.  Otherwise, we wouldn't be moving on with MA now.  But it wasn't near enough to be definitive.

Just saying before the .500 season, the continuous improvement that led to the eventual 27 win season wasn't enough. That's why I don't buy the whole more good than bad argument. It's easy to throw that out now bc of the .500 win season, but some had the same tone after a 27 win season.

[azhog10]

Thompson is 6'9" and 260lbs. At Arkansas an in Mike's system, he shouldn't play the 4. He's a 5 for sure and only played there this year out of necessity.

I disagree and mainy because of his passing ability from outside. Defensively he could guard the 5 while kingsley who is a little more agile could guard a 4, and if we are in a zone it's even better for playing both. I think Thompson is a guy that will see time at the 4 just like he did this last season, but will see most at the 5.

[azhog10]

4 years of improvement is what is overblown. You can have 4 years of improvement and still be horrible. You could go from 1 win to 4 to 6 to 8 to 10. That's 4 years of improvement and your team is still terrible. Pelphrey's last season the Hogs were 18-13, Mikes 5 years have been 18-14, 19-13, 22-12, 27-10, 16-16. outside of the year he had the secpoty and 1st round draft pick in BP, and possibly the most exciting player in the league in MQ, his records have not been any better than what we had the year before he came, and he has done it in a putrid SEC.

Yeah, it's not like when we had those two at their best there wasn't a team in our league with 5-6 players who were drafted in the first round of the NBA. Also 8 and 10 wins is a lot different from 22 and 27.........

[1highhog]

I'm excited to see this upgraded roster play some basketball. I'd watch 'em play pickup games.

The best Arkansas basketball teams in history had loads of basketball skill. This team has accumulated a lot of skilled players. The team is talented and diverse enough that we should enjoy sitting back and letting them play. Give them a chance to surprise us.

I'm pleased that Mike Anderson has shaken up his coaching staff and has stepped up overall recruiting activity. He seems to be really going for "it" now. A strong flow of in-state talent is the bedrock for this move. MA isn't settling for Arkansas-born players alone, but they make a great base for elevating everything.

MA already has done things I did not expect to see. I don't want to go back to the position we were in during late Nolan days. We had a subset of fans who hated Nolan, wanted the Hogs to lose so Nolan could be fired, were disappointed when anything good happened and did everything they could to diminish the significance of good developments.

I guess we fans starting thinking we had something to do with firing coaches back when Nutt was football coach. Banners, T-shirts and darn. Well, let's just sit back and see how this plays out. MA really is fighting to improve the Razorbacks. I can see it, and it took a lot to persuade me. Next season is going to be good, I'm guessing.

Great post Biggus.  I'll start off and say I didn't want to see MA hired as our basketball coach, not to say that he wasn't qualified, but just because fans were going to think he was the 2nd coming of Nolan and lead us to the promised land and play the same exact style that Nolan played in his early years.  That was a sure fire way for a huge letdown for would be basketball knowledgeable fans right off.  Mike is not Nolan, meaning, every Coach has a different demeanor, and style about them as far as Coaching and reaching their players as far as teaching.  REMEMBER: the NCAA changed the rules of basketball because of the way Nolan Richardson's teams played, actually, that's a huge compliment in a backhanded way.  With athletes, not McDonalds All Americans like Duke, N. Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky always had, Nolan could bring in his five and run their starting 5 out of the building, a frantic 40 minutes of hell never seen before, starting with defense.  It was that defense that the NCAA tampered with that gave these other schools finally a chance to catch up to Nolan.  With the rules today, the one and dones, the NCAA overlooking and protecting these type teams when they blatantly violate rules, Mike has it hard competing with players that he has to develop and try to keep from turning Pro early on, the money is there so early these days and if we were in these players shoes and had that type of opportunity it would be hard to turn down guaranteed money like what Portis had, but I'm thankful Portis gave us those two years.  Mike is a good Coach, and what I was afraid of has happened, especially last Season when we lost two players to the draft, Qualls unexpectedly, and others to lets just say other things.  This left Mike short handed, We lost at least 7-10 games by 5 points or less that could have made our season a lot more manageable, but they gave out and finally gave in toward the end.  This was not Mikes fault.  I have thought over the past few seasons that Mike needed to shake his staff up some, but other than that I think he's done a descent job and hopefully with this coming season he can right the ship and get things going again.

[King Kong]

Thompson is 6'9" and 260lbs. At Arkansas an in Mike's system, he shouldn't play the 4. He's a 5 for sure and only played there this year out of necessity.

I agree with this. I suspect Thompson will almost exclusively play the 5 next season.

[Atlhogfan1]

Just saying before the .500 season, the continuous improvement that led to the eventual 27 win season wasn't enough. That's why I don't buy the whole more good than bad argument. It's easy to throw that out now bc of the .500 win season, but some had the same tone after a 27 win season.

There is a lot more than just 27 wins or the .500 season.  You seem hell bent on wanting to drag it back up.  I'm trying hard not to get back into the same discussions we have had ie "27 wins".  But if you want to dig back into what has happened over the first 5 seasons - good and bad - I guess we can.  Kind of the intention of the thread was to try and move on from it.

I don't understand what you are disagreeing with the on whole more good than bad argument. 

[azhog10]

There is a lot more than just 27 wins or the .500 season.  You seem hell bent on wanting to drag it back up.  I'm trying hard not to get back into the same discussions we have had ie "27 wins".  But if you want to dig back into what has happened over the first 5 seasons - good and bad - I guess we can.  Kind of the intention of the thread was to try and move on from it.

I don't understand what you are disagreeing with the on whole more good than bad argument.

Not trying to re-hash the 27 wins or .500 win season other than to point out that when you say "If you get one, you can get mostly a consensus and move forward." I'm not buying it. Because after year 4, we had four years of continuous improvement seeing post season tournaments in the last two with a 27 win season capping it all off. We had plenty of posters that weren't "moving forward" and instead were continuing the same rhetoric we see today. Obviously the .500 win season added more fuel to that fire. But this idea that if we show consistency in a good way. That we will all move forward. That won't happen and we've already seen that. I'm not arguing that we have had good and bad in the last 5 seasons.

[The_Iceman]

I disagree and mainy because of his passing ability from outside. Defensively he could guard the 5 while kingsley who is a little more agile could guard a 4, and if we are in a zone it's even better for playing both. I think Thompson is a guy that will see time at the 4 just like he did this last season, but will see most at the 5.

A 6'9", 260lb player with no jump shot and can't guard at the top of the press and is most effective in the paint (except when passing the ball from up top), is a Center. Not a PF, especially in Mike's system.

[Atlhogfan1]

Not trying to re-hash the 27 wins or .500 win season other than to point out that when you say "If you get one, you can get mostly a consensus and move forward." I'm not buying it. Because after year 4, we had four years of continuous improvement seeing post season tournaments in the last two with a 27 win season capping it all off. We had plenty of posters that weren't "moving forward" and instead were continuing the same rhetoric we see today. Obviously the .500 win season added more fuel to that fire. But this idea that if we show consistency in a good way. That we will all move forward. That won't happen and we've already seen that. I'm not arguing that we have had good and bad in the last 5 seasons.

What needs to happen is for consistent winning to begin resulting in NCAAT's.  Avoid the road embarrassments.  Continue recruiting and signing priority recruits and stop getting into situations where reaches are taken.  Start making seasons where the NCAAT is missed or even a bubble team a rarity.  Looks like this next season's team could finally be the start.  2015 27 wins wasn't.

[azhog10]

Because winning 27 games didn't negate or wasn't so superlative as to make the view going forward overwhelmingly positive just as the .500 season wasn't so awful as to give us any long term negative visions either.  It is why I went beyond that even in a very short reply.  I thought we settled it earlier that I wasn't talking about one season.  When I said "one" it was clear I was saying either success as one or failure as one.  We have gotten neither over any extended time. 

I know you are coming from a position of someone who didn't just support the hire.  And I am sure from your point of view, 27 wins should have been a no doubt, shut the hell up everyone achievement and we should have all been 100% on board that this program was ready to consistently compete at a high level. 

The 27 wins came nowhere near being enough to make a consensus.  First of all, the 27 was just a number.  A number partially created by the schedule which was one of the easiest in all of the P5 conference and the in conference schedule was the easiest.  Nothing truly remarkable happened at any point that season.  The team won a couple of games where it was an underdog - at OM and at UGa.  It lost a few where it was favored.  In the non conference, it lost to both ISU and Clemson in two of its only challenges.  The SECT brought a Tenn team depleted and done since the end of Jan and a UGa team holding out players preparing the NCAAT.  So, yes with Portis and Qualls it was able to navigate this schedule and mostly avoid any bad losses and got to 27 wins without really accomplishing anything remarkable. 

This doesn't negate the recruiting that has happened.  The lack of guard depth and guards needed to play how we want to play or the lack of wing players.  It doesn't negate the end of the 14 season and the embarrassing losses to Bama and SC and that debacle of a first half vs Cal in the NIT.  The 15 season was better than the previous seasons.  But there were also no signs in it that what was happening was sustainable.  Then we got to the offseason and Babb's departure, the arrests and Kapita's failure to make it.  The 27 wins was not enough to completely negate these events.  Plus the offseason arrests blew away that discipline thing with Anderson even though some of us had our doubts before this with events like with Harris and Qualls. 

What would have brought more of a consensus was not the 27 wins or win total increases against a relatively weak P5 conference schedule.  It would have been not scheduling so poorly in 2014 and then not falling apart at the end and wasting wins like vs UK and the OM win in BWA and making the NCAAT.  Instead, we had to go on the road in our second NIT game.  Not horrible but not some great achievement that was going to remove doubt.  Then we had the 27 win season and close win vs Winthrop.  Perhaps beating one of the actual really good teams on that schedule instead of losing to all of them would have brought more of a consensus.  What it was was a good season.   Nothing more. 

What needs to happen is for consistent winning to begin resulting in NCAAT's.  Avoid the road embarrassments.  Continue recruiting and signing priority recruits and stop getting into situations where reaches are taken.  Start making seasons where the NCAAT is missed or even a bubble team a rarity.  Looks like this next season's team could finally be the start.  2015 27 wins wasn't.

I understand what you are saying. It's clear you don't understand what I'm saying so we will move on. I can't try to put it any clearer and I can't continue to read the same thing resposted in a much longer format.

[Swinesong1]

There are plenty of negative posts on the daily in here.  Why pollute this one?