Close games

[Thepigdoctor]

Hogs have seven games this season decided by 8 or fewer points. Overall we are 5-2, including 3-2 on the road. I felt like last year we were a very underrated team, as we were competitive in almost every game, but just couldn't close out wins. While I still get extremely nervous during the final couple minutes of close games, it's starting to feel more like the team believes they will win. These close games will only continue to make us better down the stretch and come tourney time, as there are few things that increase confidence like winning close games, especially close road games.

Speaking of road games, we are now 6-6 in our last 12 road games dating back to last season (including the NIT game @Cal). We've had a number of close wins, but also a 1 point loss @Mizzou last year, 3 pt OT loss @clemsom, and 5 pt loss @Tenn in a game that could have gone to OT; which shows that at least 3/4 of the time, we are very competitive not just at home, but also on the road. I still feel like our win @UK last year was very underrated seeing the way they played down the stretch. Oh and that wonderfully coached UK team, with all their NBA talent...we've gone 4-1 in our last five against them....

WPS! Go Hogs  :razorback:

[Thepigdoctor]

Add in another. The team keeps finding ways to win.

This is the toughest point in our season, 3 games in 6 days, with physically and emotionally draining games back to back to back. Really proud of our guys for the way they continued to fight all night.

It was sloppy, but keep in mind, 3 games in 6 days, including an OT game, and road trip (although just to Mizzou, so not the farthest trek).  You can bet this team is physically and mentally fatigued, which was pretty evident tonight, but they never gave up and did what they had to do to get the win.

[heatmiser]

We need to get better defensively.

[Atlhogfan1]

You bring up legit, positive, optimistic views and are correct. 

These close wins could pay off as the season goes on. 

The Hogs didn't close out the last 3 very well but did win.  Dumb foul sent Bama into OT, sent Mizzou to the line with 3 sec with a chance to win and Vols got an open 3 to send tonight into OT. 

This was a tough stretch physically and with key players playing a large number of minutes.  The bench isn't very deep.  The toughest stretch is still likely those 6 games in late Feb from a competition standpoint.  This was the "easy" half of the conference schedule. 

The core group of our players is veteran for today's college basketball and it may be showing in these close games.  Madden hit the biggest shot of the game tonight. 

UK was ridiculously easy to defend when we played them at Rupp last season and were playing very badly in that stretch.  Any win at Rupp though is a good win.

The abominations at Tuscaloosa and Berkeley in addition to the SC loss in the SECT happened and must be mentioned.  The team was what it was- inconsistent and not quite good enough for the NCAAT or to even make an NIT run.

[HSVhogfan2]

AR must do a better job of extending their runs, especially at home. They will go on a 5 or 6 point mini-run and it will get killed by a bad shot, turnover, or dumb foul. Poor shot selection, IMO, is the main culprit. Still some veteran players that don't seem to have a feel for the flow of games,who take bad shots and pass up open looks.

[bigred223]

We are having a rough stretch, but we are winning. It will absolutely pay dividends as I expect us to play much better down the stretch.

[PonderinHog]

Three games in five days, if you wanna get technical about it.  Glad it's over. 3-0  :razorback:

[Atlhogfan1]

AR must do a better job of extending their runs, especially at home. They will go on a 5 or 6 point mini-run and it will get killed by a bad shot, turnover, or dumb foul. Poor shot selection, IMO, is the main culprit. Still some veteran players that don't seem to have a feel for the flow of games,who take bad shots and pass up open looks.

That has been missing.  We were close tonight early in the second half of going on a run fed by the defense. 

Harris and Madden are the most veteran players and the good will come with some bad.  Good has helped in the end the last two games more than the bad has cost us. 

[Danny J]

Clearly we are not even close to playing our best basketball yet we are still winning. That is a good thing. It is all about peaking at the right time. The only thing I worry about is closing the season at UK then at USCe.

[Thepigdoctor]

You bring up legit, positive, optimistic views and are correct. 

These close wins could pay off as the season goes on. 

The Hogs didn't close out the last 3 very well but did win.  Dumb foul sent Bama into OT, sent Mizzou to the line with 3 sec with a chance to win and Vols got an open 3 to send tonight into OT. 

This was a tough stretch physically and with key players playing a large number of minutes.  The bench isn't very deep.  The toughest stretch is still likely those 6 games in late Feb from a competition standpoint.  This was the "easy" half of the conference schedule. 

The core group of our players is veteran for today's college basketball and it may be showing in these close games.  Madden hit the biggest shot of the game tonight. 

UK was ridiculously easy to defend when we played them at Rupp last season and were playing very badly in that stretch.  Any win at Rupp though is a good win.

The abominations at Tuscaloosa and Berkeley in addition to the SC loss in the SECT happened and must be mentioned.  The team was what it was- inconsistent and not quite good enough for the NCAAT or to even make an NIT run.

Very impressed with this post, I know how you've felt about the coaching, and I can't argue with many of your concerns, but very refreshing to see this. You are right though, our toughest competition is yet to come, but this little stretch is the kind of thing that helps come March when you play every other day and are being pushed beyond normal mental/physical limits. We've got a real nice opportunity to fix some key concerns in the next couple weeks against the bottom feeders, and with a couple of those games on the road, prove that we can play consistent basketball regardless of the venue.

I see a lot of positive in the last three games following the back to back losses, but those are mainly about the teams toughness and will to win. I'm willing to excuse some of tonight's sloppy play based on fatigue (although it seemed very much like the version @Tenn), but I've got some real concerns with our defense, our substitutions/pairings/starting lineup changes, and how lost the team looks at times. Some of these things can be fixed, others I feel have to do with not truly having a solid 10 players that truly "get" what we're trying to do.

Fact is, we're 16-4 and as Danny said, haven't even come close to playing our best basketball. Good teams find a way to win and I started the season feeling like this was a good team, so I'm encouraged. Recent history has us all prepared for a crash, which I feel some of these ugly games lately have folks on high alert for.

[Atlhogfan1]

Clearly we are not even close to playing our best basketball yet we are still winning. That is a good thing. It is all about peaking at the right time. The only thing I worry about is closing the season at UK then at USCe.

Handle business by beating bottom feeders and winning at home and those are for seeding.