I just want to thank Mike Anderson

[porkinsons disease]

You're the one that brought it up that you have a conversation with him.  I didn't tell you to say that.  I tried to present facts to you since you conveniently left out every single one of his accomplishments at Arkansas, when talking about him. And you completely ignored that post and started talking about how you've talked to him for 20 minutes and he's nice, but can't coach.  I'm just trying to figure out why you felt the need to share that and why you felt is was relevant information.

I saw that one of your "facts" was that Mike was penalized by playing in a conference that was at its lowest point. You said that he "could not get quality wins" due to the league being a 3-4 invite league until last year. Logic would suggest that it would be easier to get more wins if you are playing in a league that was down. I am sure that you agree.

I never said that Mike was a bad coach. I merely said that his results so far have been mixed and less than what most expected since he was hired. Anyway we will never agree on this so I am done.

Woo Pig!

[latrops]

So we should ignore the fact that we're almost certain to go this year and quite possibly next year if Gafford stays, which would make 4 of the last 5 years - a quite probable scenario.  It's sad that we're finally good, and we have so many fans who still hope we lose so that we can fire the coach and all wallow in misery.  Sometimes I think there's just something wrong with our fans.  They seem to hope for disaster and suffering.

It isn't a fact until it happens.  The problem is we have many around here that don't want to give Anderson credit for what he has done here, and others that want to give him more credit than he has earned.  His record here is mixed.  It just is.  There is both cause for optimism and cause for concern. 

A big thing is that there is a divide on what constitutes a satisfactory season.  Some expect Nolan/Sutton results where deep tournament runs are reasonably expected.  Others are content to just be in the tournament discussion and make it half the time given how infrequently we have been in over the last 20 years. 

[ShadowHawg]

Yes arguably... 2 tournament appearances in 6 years is legendary.......Allen, Iba,Wooden, Anderson....the Mt. Rushmore of college basketball....enjoy your fantasy world

You should check out Iba's actual record season by season. If you think Anderson is blah, you will absolutely hate Iba.

[Fan701]

It isn't a fact until it happens.  The problem is we have many around here that don't want to give Anderson credit for what he has done here, and others that want to give him more credit than he has earned.  His record here is mixed.  It just is.  There is both cause for optimism and cause for concern. 

A big thing is that there is a divide on what constitutes a satisfactory season.  Some expect Nolan/Sutton results where deep tournament runs are reasonably expected.  Others are content to just be in the tournament discussion and make it half the time given how infrequently we have been in over the last 20 years.

I'd say the quality of this year's team is a fact.  Granted, next year we get more speculative.  Will Gafford stay? Will Garland be able to play?  How good will the new players be their first year?  Next year we could be anywhere from re-building and not so good to very good and tournament quality. We'll see.

[AlmaHog2011]

Great topic! Mike is getting it done and I am happy to ride with him..

Easily should have been in the 3rd round last year but the officials decided to help NC...
Fun to watch and let me know we get past that game we could have make it all the way to the final 4.

[Fan701]

What do you base this on?  Let's look at the record to date and for ease of reference, click here.

Despite the fact that it appeared at the outset of this season that the Arkansas OOC schedule was markedly improved, the only game against a currently ranked team is the loss to UNC.  Oklahoma is just outside the Top 25 at present as is Houston. 

It is worth repeating this year's OOC schedule is better (as the cupcake quotient is lower than previous years) but through no fault of Arkansas' the name teams (as a whole) are not having the quality of year one might expect.  There is evidence for optimism this season - but at the same time there is the expectation that Arkansas MUST do better this season. 





























There is a still a lot to play out this season before one can measure the level of quality for this team.  Patience....Vigilance.

Sorry, messed this up.  Reply is below.

[Fan701]

What do you base this on?  Let's look at the record to date and for ease of reference, click here.

Despite the fact that it appeared at the outset of this season that the Arkansas OOC schedule was markedly improved, the only game against a currently ranked team is the loss to UNC.  Oklahoma is just outside the Top 25 at present as is Houston. 

It is worth repeating this year's OOC schedule is better (as the cupcake quotient is lower than previous years) but through no fault of Arkansas' the name teams (as a whole) are not having the quality of year one might expect.  There is evidence for optimism this season - but at the same time there is the expectation that Arkansas MUST do better this season. 

There is a still a lot to play out this season before one can measure the level of quality for this team.  Patience....Vigilance.

You're right.  The evidence of my own eyes must deceive me.  I watch them play this year, and I think, "Holy cow, we're so much better now than we've been in a while."  But rather than trust my own eyes, I should listen to you, who tells me we aren't anything special really.  You seem to say we've beaten mostly cupcakes like then #14 Minnesota and that OU is an unranked team (#24 in coaches' poll last week and will tomorrow be ranked in both polls, maybe pretty high).  If you're an Arkansas fan it seems you should always assume that anyone we beat must not have been very good, any losses show how pitiful we are, especially if we lose a game we were supposed to win.  We should always be ready to fire our coach if he doesn't win every game and the NC.  We should indulge in all sorts of fantasies about how Mark Few and Gregg Marshall can't wait to get the call to Fayetteville, maybe even Bill Self or Coach Cal himself.  Who knows? Why not Coach K?  It's the same old whining and self-pity year after year.  Even when we're probably the best we've been since 1995, some of our fans can't do a whole lot more than gripe and wait for the inevitable bad loss to demand that heads roll.  To write that "Arkansas MUST do better this season" would lead me to think we're coming off a really bad season and our coach's back is to the wall as the losses mount. Funny how instead I see a coach who's got a really good team on the court, a team I think could beat any team in the country on a given day if our guards are hitting shots and if Gafford stays out of foul trouble (maybe a big "if").

[FineAsSwine]

You're right.  The evidence of my own eyes must deceive me.  I watch them play this year, and I think, "Holy cow, we're so much better now than we've been in a while."  But rather than trust my own eyes, I should listen to you, who tells me we aren't anything special really.  You seem to say we've beaten mostly cupcakes like then #14 Minnesota and that OU is an unranked team (#24 in coaches' poll last week and will tomorrow be ranked in both polls, maybe pretty high).  If you're an Arkansas fan it seems you should always assume that anyone we beat must not have been very good, any losses show how pitiful we are, especially if we lose a game we were supposed to win.  We should always be ready to fire our coach if he doesn't win every game and the NC.  We should indulge in all sorts of fantasies about how Mark Few and Gregg Marshall can't wait to get the call to Fayetteville, maybe even Bill Self or Coach Cal himself.  Who knows? Why not Coach K?  It's the same old whining and self-pity year after year.  Even when we're probably the best we've been since 1995, some of our fans can't do a whole lot more than gripe and wait for the inevitable bad loss to demand that heads roll.  To write that "Arkansas MUST do better this season" would lead me to think we're coming off a really bad season and our coach's back is to the wall as the losses mount. Funny how instead I see a coach who's got a really good team on the court, a team I think could beat any team in the country on a given day if our guards are hitting shots and if Gafford stays out of foul trouble (maybe a big "if").

[latrops]

You're right.  The evidence of my own eyes must deceive me.  I watch them play this year, and I think, "Holy cow, we're so much better now than we've been in a while."  But rather than trust my own eyes, I should listen to you, who tells me we aren't anything special really.  You seem to say we've beaten mostly cupcakes like then #14 Minnesota and that OU is an unranked team (#24 in coaches' poll last week and will tomorrow be ranked in both polls, maybe pretty high).  If you're an Arkansas fan it seems you should always assume that anyone we beat must not have been very good, any losses show how pitiful we are, especially if we lose a game we were supposed to win.  We should always be ready to fire our coach if he doesn't win every game and the NC.  We should indulge in all sorts of fantasies about how Mark Few and Gregg Marshall can't wait to get the call to Fayetteville, maybe even Bill Self or Coach Cal himself.  Who knows? Why not Coach K?  It's the same old whining and self-pity year after year.  Even when we're probably the best we've been since 1995, some of our fans can't do a whole lot more than gripe and wait for the inevitable bad loss to demand that heads roll.  To write that "Arkansas MUST do better this season" would lead me to think we're coming off a really bad season and our coach's back is to the wall as the losses mount. Funny how instead I see a coach who's got a really good team on the court, a team I think could beat any team in the country on a given day if our guards are hitting shots and if Gafford stays out of foul trouble (maybe a big "if").

Our own eyes do deceive us.  What we see is typically processed through a prism of existing biases.

We looked great against UCONN and Minnesota, and not so good against UNC and Houston. Overall we look good...but not sure yet if we will be better or even equal to our last two tournament teams.

[Fan701]

• I agree there is potential with this year's team.
• That Arkansas is better than they have been for (quite) a while illustrates the depths to which the program sank for far too long.
• As coach, Mike Anderson had to deal with both the on court and off court (mainly academic) issues he inherited.  The time required to deal with those issues took longer than all of us would have liked (and I'd venture to say that Mike Anderson would agree with that).
• I don't think it is much of a stretch to say this should be Mike Anderson's best team during his time as HC at Arkansas.  The flip side of that realization is this does put some pressure on this team to perform up to that expectation.
• As I said previously, the OOC schedule has improved this year but the fact that some of the name teams on the schedule aren't playing as well as they have in the near past does take some of the luster off the improved schedule.  This is certainly NOT Mike Anderson's fault.

I believe you and I would agree on the majority of the points noted above.  To expand on a couple of your points:

• Minnesota has dropped over the past few weeks.  Oklahoma too but it does appear they are on the cusp of returning to the Top 25.  Any measure of the overall quality of Arkansas' OOC schedule is always a changing result.  The last few weeks have not been kind to that measure.  The next few weeks may be different - we shall see.
• I've said previously, and I still maintain what matters is titles.  That's the standard at Arkansas.  Conference titles, conference tournament titles, DEEEP runs in the NCAA.  Those are the measurable goals I as a fan have for this program.  To this point in his career, Mike Anderson has fallen short of those goals.  I hope this year is different - it might be and time will tell.

Yes.  You and I agree on a lot of things.  Not on everything, unsurprisingly.  Minnesota lost a Big 10 road game at Nebraska, then got waxed by us, which dropped them out of the rankings.  I would not at all be surprised to see them back in the rankings later in the season.  They seemed to have a superb starting five, though not much depth.  I can't but still think that was a high quality win for us.  I very strongly disagree that OU has dropped in the past few weeks.  On the contrary, they are one of the hottest teams in the nation, with Trae Young being recognized as a real sensation and lottery pick.  OU was #24 in last week's coaches' poll and who knows how high they might be after winning @#3 Wichita State.  How you could call them a team that has been dropping is puzzling.  As for your goals for the team, they are also my goals.  Firing MA, as some want, would, in all likelihood, only put those goals farther out of reach.  After our two previous hires, Heath and Pelphrey, it's strange to me that some fans just assume that the next hire is going to be some superstar coach.  The evidence of our previous two hires suggests that it is just as likely or maybe more likely that we'd take a big step backwards.  Why would anyone want to take that risk when our program is, IMO, clearly on the rise is a mystery to me.  BTW, the only big name team we've beaten that is perhaps not the power they once were is UConn, and we gave them the worst beating they've had since 1977.

[ricehog43]

He is a class act...for sure.

100%.