Myths Dispelled This Season

[hawgmasta]

Do you think shortening the game clock and reducing timeouts would help our style? I know many fans and national pundits would like to because the college basketball game has gotten to be a much more boring product than it was 15+ years ago.

[urkillnmesmalls]

All week long all of the radio talk shows have been discussing how our team went from a final four contender to NIT level.  It just emphasizes how important recruiting is, and the uphill battle we face.   

In my 40 years of being a Razorback fan, one thing has always been consistent across all sports other than track, and lately...baseball.  We contend at a high level about one out of every four or 5 years, and it's when we have a group of upper classmen who are playing at a much higher level than the one they entered college in.  It makes up that talent gap somewhat, and with a few difference makers, we can play above our typical level.  Wisconsin was a PERFECT example of that this season.      

The harsh reality is, to compete in basketball now, you almost have to have the kids that are good enough to go to the NBA after one or two seasons.  We just had it happen to us, and it makes it very obvious that to stay relevant, you have to recruit at a very high level and EXPECT this to happen. 

It's why some in other threads have argued that basketball is losing parity, because only a handful of teams can have teams full of those kids.  The rare exception...will be a team like the one we would have had next year when a few guys from a team are that good, but they stay in school and have a good supporting cast.  Our kids left, and it completely changes the outlook. 

The myth in college basketball is that one and done is hurting teams, like Cal and some others continue to pretend.  It's helping the teams that foster that to attract a higher level of talent, and the ability to withstand early departures.  Had our stars stayed, we could have been one of the teams that supports the idea that the top kids can go anywhere, and still end up in the NBA, and that it's not only 5 schools that dominate the landscape.  I think it will continue to be like it is....the top programs, with a few teams with enough talent to compete with them.   

The proposed rule changes will help MA's style.  That's the good news.  The bad news is...we need to have more than 2 NBA caliber talent guys on our team to compete, because when you lose them, you can't afford to drop that much and stay relevant.  I hope he finds a way to get the talent he has to play well next year and keep it going.