Starting 5

[UNCLE BACK]

Durham, Whitt, Bell, Koussi and Kingsley? Would Mike start the two big guys? Just wants your thoughts...

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

I personally think it would be this

Durham Whitt Bell Miles and Kingsley. Hannahs may start over Bell if he is better.

[-Blu]

Still a lot of unanswered questions but as of right now with current roster, I think this would be starting lineup.

Whitt
Bell
Watkins
Thompson
Kingsley

Been hearing good things about Thompson, that's why I got him there, although I could see Miles starting as well.

[Big Nasty 34]

Durham
Bell
Whitt
Miles
Kingsley

[hogsanity]

Still a lot of unanswered questions but as of right now with current roster, I think this would be starting lineup.

Whitt
Bell
Watkins
Thompson
Kingsley

Been hearing good things about Thompson, that's why I got him there, although I could see Miles starting as well.

Wow, that is just a offensively challenged lineup. Even if Whitt puts up Qualls like numbers, which is not likely as a FR, that lineup is not going to put fear into anyone.

[-Blu]

Wow, that is just a offensively challenged lineup. Even if Whitt puts up Qualls like numbers, which is not likely as a FR, that lineup is not going to put fear into anyone.

While I would agree that's not a lineup that's going to strike much fear into people on paper, people act is if a CMA team isn't going to score, He's never had a team average less than 72 PPG and he's had worse teams on paper than this team, even with the suspensions.  In this system it creates so many easy buckets, scoring won't be a problem, having quality depth and being able to stop the other teams from scoring will be our problem.

[Dominicanhog]

While I would agree that's not a lineup that's going to strike much fear into people on paper, people act is if a CMA team isn't going to score, He's never had a team average less than 72 PPG and he's had worse teams on paper than this team, even with the suspensions.  In this system it creates so many easy buckets, scoring won't be a problem, having quality depth and being able to stop the other teams from scoring will be our problem.

Durham
Witt
Manny
Miles
Moses

[hogsanity]

Durham
Witt
Manny
Miles
Moses

that looks like about 40ppg, and that is IF Whitt gets 15ppg by himself. Watkins never saw a shot he would not pass up, Moses is not a 15ppg guy, no idea on Miles.

[ArkansasI]

We have 9 players ready to play.  Yikes!  I just pray nobody gets injured.  Starting will barely matter in this group.  They're all going to play a lot.

They should be excited - it will be fun for them!  I hope they head to Cleveland hill and get themselves in shape.  This should be a tremendous experience for all of them.

I'd start with Durham Whitt Hannahs Thompson and Kingsley.  Watkins is top 5 in my book, but I'd want somebody out there to lead the second unit.

At 4 to 5 minutes I'd bring in Watkins Bell Miles and Kouassi, and probably leave Durham, the senior, on the floor.  Might leave Whitt, probably doesn't matter much.

Next 4 to 5 minutes I'd rotate 4 again, and probably leave Watkins on the floor.

If Whitt is as good as we hope he is, my 3 rotational guys are Whitt, Watkins and Durham.  Wouldn't want to play many minutes without at least one of these guys on the floor.

I think it will be interesting to learn how much the decrease in our numbers impacts the way we defend.  I have to believe that backing in will make a little more sense now just to avoid fouling so much.

[hogsanity]

I think it will be interesting to learn how much the decrease in our numbers impacts the way we defend.  I have to believe that backing in will make a little more sense now just to avoid fouling so much.

The entire system is predicated on pressure defense, disrupting, getting int passing lanes and deflecting balls. The can't back it in on D, they have to have easy baskets off turnovers, and off bad shots that the pressure forces teams into.

[wheelspigharvey]

Watkins never saw a shot he would not pass up

Who had the highest FG% last year?

[hogsanity]

Who had the highest FG% last year?

Watkins did, but he only shot 68 times. Portis was 2nd, about 11/2 % behind Watkins, and he shot 466 times. Watkins scored 93 points, 17 of those from the ft line, went 0-7 from 3pt range, and had 28 turnover and 39 assists.

[wheelspigharvey]

Watkins did, but he only shot 68 times. Portis was 2nd, about 11/2 % behind Watkins, and he shot 466 times. Watkins scored 93 points, 17 of those from the ft line, went 0-7 from 3pt range, and had 28 turnover and 39 assists.

I think what you're saying about Watkins being shot happy is off, I mean only 7 3's all season and he played almost every game.  I think he'll struggle to put up points but not because he's Jacorey, if anything he might be too careful.  (I do agree that he'll have to put in lots of work if he's expected to be a bulk of the scoring.)

Ed:  7 3 pt attempts

[hogsanity]

I think what you're saying about Watkins being shot happy is off, I mean only 7 3's all season and he played almost every game.  I think he'll struggle to put up points but not because he's Jacorey, if anything he might be too careful.  (I do agree that he'll have to put in lots of work if he's expected to be a bulk of the scoring.)

Ed:  7 3 pt attempts

re-read my post, I said he never saw a shot he would NOT pass up.  He won't shoot. Last year teams dared him to shoot from 15-20 ft, and he just won't do it. Most guys that WON"T shoot, do so because the CAN'T shoot.

People are putting him in as a starter, this team is going to struggle to score, and his presence, unless he has just been hiding his offensive prowess, is not going to help.

[wheelspigharvey]

re-read my post, I said he never saw a shot he would NOT pass up.  He won't shoot. Last year teams dared him to shoot from 15-20 ft, and he just won't do it. Most guys that WON"T shoot, do so because the CAN'T shoot.

People are putting him in as a starter, this team is going to struggle to score, and his presence, unless he has just been hiding his offensive prowess, is not going to help.

Whoops you're right.

But I am still glad we have him, he plays D and he can score at opportune times.

[UNCLE BACK]

I'm just hoping the practice facility improves the games of some of our guys...
Im going to predict scoring averages just for fun...
  Whitt  15.5
    Bell   12.0
   Kingsley 8.5
  Hannahs  8.5
  Durham 8.0
Watkins  5.5
  Miles    4.5
  Thompson 4.0
   Koussi   3.5


That's 70 pts, If we get Beard back ( I don't think we will but ya never know )
This team would avg closer to 75 pts. Taking a few away from others but Beard overall making us better...

To be fair, you have to consider that guys get better when they are forced to sometimes. I feel like what I put is probably as close to best case scenario as we can get.

[hogsanity]

I'm just hoping the practice facility improves the games of some of our guys...
Im going to predict scoring averages just for fun...
  Whitt  15.5
    Bell   12.0
   Kingsley 8.5
  Hannahs  8.5
  Durham 8.0
Watkins  5.5
  Miles    4.5
  Thompson 4.0
   Koussi   3.5


That's 70 pts, If we get Beard back ( I don't think we will but ya never know )
This team would avg closer to 75 pts. Taking a few away from others but Beard overall making us better...

To be fair, you have to consider that guys get better when they are forced to sometimes. I feel like what I put is probably as close to best case scenario as we can get.

That would put Whitt as a FR at 3 or 4 ppg above what Portis produced as a FR.

[Bacon_Bitz]

That would put Whitt as a FR at 3 or 4 ppg above what Portis produced as a FR.

The appropriate comparison is BJ Young.

[Porked Tongue]

I don't think it matters who starts.

They will cycle in and out each game with regularity.  Each game will likely see a different combo gel and they'll ride out that one game for the bulk of the minute.

I will say I expect Whitt and Watkins to click and be primarily in charge of the ball.

[-Blu]

I don't think it matters who starts.

They will cycle in and out each game with regularity.  Each game will likely see a different combo gel and they'll ride out that one game for the bulk of the minute.

I will say I expect Whitt and Watkins to click and be primarily in charge of the ball.

We usually aren't at our best when there's a variety of different starting lineups.  That usually means we got guys that aren't being consistent.  We were at our best and most consistent last year when we had guys set themselves apart and held their starting spots.

If CMA has to sell us with he has 8 or 9 starters this year, with 9 guys on the team, that's definitely not a good sign.

[Danny J]

Whitt NEEDS TO START FROM DAY ONE!!!!! No doubt in my mind that he won't be and that is frustrating. Good luck trying to sign kids like Allen and Monk when you have shown from day one that you won't start freshman from the jump unless you have no other choice(Portis). Goes hand in hand with the other 1990 philosophy of not wanting to deal with handlers and other AAU scum. At some point CMA is going to have to give in or we will never get to where we want to be which is consistently a top 15 program year after year.

[hogsanity]

The appropriate comparison is BJ Young.

Alrighty then, if Whitt puts up the same number BJ did as  FR, which was 15 ppg, at a 50% shooting clip, that almost replaces Qualls points. Where are Potis numbers going to come from?

[yraciv]

People act like by sheer last year's number we're going to not score this year.  People move on and people step up.  Yes I expect Whitt to be on one of our go to scorers, but I also expect Bell to get double digits, Kingsley to get 7-10, Hannahs to score 7-10, Durham to get more than 1, etc. Just cause they didn't shoot last year doesn't mean they won't shoot this season. I don't know where the points will come from yet, but we're still going to play quick and get a lot of shots up.  May not be as efficient, but I can't see us dropping below 65 a game.  The style doesn't allow it!

[WarPig88]

That would put Whitt as a FR at 3 or 4 ppg above what Portis produced as a FR.

Portis wasn't a guard and as such handled the ball a lot less than Whitt will. Scotty Thurman had his highest scoring season as a freshman at 17 per.

15 isn't a crazy number at all.

[nwahogfan1]

While I would agree that's not a lineup that's going to strike much fear into people on paper, people act is if a CMA team isn't going to score, He's never had a team average less than 72 PPG and he's had worse teams on paper than this team, even with the suspensions.  In this system it creates so many easy buckets, scoring won't be a problem, having quality depth and being able to stop the other teams from scoring will be our problem.

I hope you are right with us scoring over 72 ppg.  I am less optimistic.   I am expecting us to score somewhere in the mid 60s but just a guess.  I am also expecting us winning only about 50% of our games which I also hope I am wrong.  I know this will be new ground for CMA.  But he can turn this around very quickly with a couple of the right studs.  If he signs good kids  but not great kids then it will take longer. 

[Danny J]

Portis wasn't a guard and as such handled the ball a lot less than Whitt will. Scotty Thurman had his highest scoring season as a freshman at 17 per.

15 isn't a crazy number at all.

Yeah...I think he would avg 15 if he gets extended minutes from the get go...which he needs. He will instantly be the best player on the team from a scoring stand point and also plays really good D as well. Those long arms are a perfect fit for getting into the passing lanes and out front on the press.

[Foshodo]

I think Manny steps up...

Whitt- 15.8
Bell- 9.3
Manny- 10.4
Koassi- 4.7
Moses- 8.2

Durham- 4.2
Hannahs- 6.5
Miles- 5.5
Thompson- 8.1

[-Blu]

I am expecting us to score somewhere in the mid 60s but just a guess.  I am also expecting us winning only about 50% of our games which I also hope I am wrong.  I know this will be new ground for CMA.

What would lead you to believe that?  Nothing in CMA's 13-year history agrees with any of those thoughts.  His first year here at Arkansas the roster was shorthanded and we had a ton of guys that didn't fit the system, and the best player got hurt at the beginning of the season.  And we still were in the 70s in scoring.

And it's not just you, but people act like players can't progress.  The players you seen last year are going to be better this year.  I remember when we lost Young and Powell, we listened to people all summer say how bad we would be without them and how we would struggle to score.  Ky Madden, who a lot of people gave up on, lead us in scoring the next year and we improved.  We also seen Qualls step up, Coty Clarke stepped up, Alandise Harris came in and scored off the bench, and of course a rookie Bobby Portis played well.

There's no reason to believe guys like Kingsley, Watkins, Bell, and Durham can't improve, I mentioned all of these guys because each one of them showed some bright spots last year.  Then you have guys like Dusty Hannahs and Jimmy Whitt being added.  Both of these guys have shown they can score.  We'll be alright in the scoring department.  Like I said the problem we're looking at right now is having depth.  I know CMA will have them competitive, that's what he does, and that's all he has ever done. But, the thing is as of right now, if guys stay suspended, will they run out of gas because we don't have enough guys?  I could see a situation similar to what Tennessee looked like last year.  If you guys remember them they had a worse roster than we do right now on paper.  Their best player Josh Richardson who was a 3 star, that was a role player the year before.

[ArkansasI]

The entire system is predicated on pressure defense, disrupting, getting int passing lanes and deflecting balls. The can't back it in on D, they have to have easy baskets off turnovers, and off bad shots that the pressure forces teams into.

Well, that was sorta my point. Will the lack of numbers change our system. When Hawgball was operating at full tilt, we outnumbered and outran our opponents with more or better players.

Arkansas stopped being competitive when we lost depth, and later talent. Seems that 2015-16 is coming in pretty short on both.

Might be wise to adjust the system for a year.

[Jonteviosk]

I would agree with some of what all of you are saying but all of you have failed to mention someone. 6'1 160 JUCO ALL AMERICAN G-Darryl Macon. If I had to choose the current starting lineup I would go:

PF - Willie Kouassi 4.5 pts. 5.0 reb
G/F - Dusty Hannahs 12.3 pts
C- Moses Kingsley 11.3 pts 8.0 reb 2.7 bl
G- Darryl Macon 13.5 pts.
G- Jabril Durham 7.5 pts 4.2 asst.

bench

F-Keaton Miles 2.2 pts.
G-Manny Watkins 3.5pts
C-Trey Thompson 4.5pts 4.0reb
G-Anthlon Bell 8.6pts.
G-Jimmy Whitt 10.5pts 2.5 asst

A couple might be wishful thinking yes but that would put us at 78 pts a game similar to last two years. As for certain players stepping up I would remind people of Pelphreys lasy year.  Powell gets injured and not other consistent player other than Clarke. Delvon Johnson who in 3 college basketball seasons never average more than 2.5 pts a game came through. 9.6pts. 7.8 reb and 2.7 bl whoile shooting 56% from the field. We wernt great that year but how bad would we have been without Delvon? He shocked all of us with how well he played. Durham was also a JUCO ALL AM. WE Only have 6 guards but all of them can play. Our bigs well Kuwassi and Miles are defensive specialist but Thompson was noted at being a traditional back to the basket scorer with a fairly high ceiling. So if he and Kinglsley live up to their potential and steal minuted with Koussi and Miles Arkansas could still dance. Out guards are definitely good enough. QUESTION has anyone heard any news about Jaylen Barford, Arlando Cook, or Dimario Rivers?

[Big Nasty 34]

I would agree with some of what all of you are saying but all of you have failed to mention someone. 6'1 160 JUCO ALL AMERICAN G-Darryl Macon. If I had to choose the current starting lineup I would go:

PF - Willie Kouassi 4.5 pts. 5.0 reb
G/F - Dusty Hannahs 12.3 pts
C- Moses Kingsley 11.3 pts 8.0 reb 2.7 bl
G- Darryl Macon 13.5 pts.
G- Jabril Durham 7.5 pts 4.2 asst.

bench

F-Keaton Miles 2.2 pts.
G-Manny Watkins 3.5pts
C-Trey Thompson 4.5pts 4.0reb
G-Anthlon Bell 8.6pts.
G-Jimmy Whitt 10.5pts 2.5 asst

A couple might be wishful thinking yes but that would put us at 78 pts a game similar to last two years. As for certain players stepping up I would remind people of Pelphreys lasy year.  Powell gets injured and not other consistent player other than Clarke. Delvon Johnson who in 3 college basketball seasons never average more than 2.5 pts a game came through. 9.6pts. 7.8 reb and 2.7 bl whoile shooting 56% from the field. We wernt great that year but how bad would we have been without Delvon? He shocked all of us with how well he played. Durham was also a JUCO ALL AM. WE Only have 6 guards but all of them can play. Our bigs well Kuwassi and Miles are defensive specialist but Thompson was noted at being a traditional back to the basket scorer with a fairly high ceiling. So if he and Kinglsley live up to their potential and steal minuted with Koussi and Miles Arkansas could still dance. Out guards are definitely good enough. QUESTION has anyone heard any news about Jaylen Barford, Arlando Cook, or Dimario Rivers?

I will be a nice guy and politely tell you that Macon is a 2016 commit and sadly will not be playing next season for the Hogs. Wish he could suit up, we could use him!

[Jonteviosk]

damn 9 scholarship players then ok

[Jonteviosk]

Any news of poosible JUCO players who could come in and help this year?

[rzrbackramsfan]

Any news of poosible JUCO players who could come in and help this year?

No dog, unfortunately not, just Whitt Hannah's and kouassi coming in

[nwahogfan1]

What would lead you to believe that?  Nothing in CMA's 13-year history agrees with any of those thoughts.  His first year here at Arkansas the roster was shorthanded and we had a ton of guys that didn't fit the system, and the best player got hurt at the beginning of the season.  And we still were in the 70s in scoring.

And it's not just you, but people act like players can't progress.  The players you seen last year are going to be better this year.  I remember when we lost Young and Powell, we listened to people all summer say how bad we would be without them and how we would struggle to score.  Ky Madden, who a lot of people gave up on, lead us in scoring the next year and we improved.  We also seen Qualls step up, Coty Clarke stepped up, Alandise Harris came in and scored off the bench, and of course a rookie Bobby Portis played well.

There's no reason to believe guys like Kingsley, Watkins, Bell, and Durham can't improve, I mentioned all of these guys because each one of them showed some bright spots last year.  Then you have guys like Dusty Hannahs and Jimmy Whitt being added.  Both of these guys have shown they can score.  We'll be alright in the scoring department.  Like I said the problem we're looking at right now is having depth.  I know CMA will have them competitive, that's what he does, and that's all he has ever done. But, the thing is as of right now, if guys stay suspended, will they run out of gas because we don't have enough guys?  I could see a situation similar to what Tennessee looked like last year.  If you guys remember them they had a worse roster than we do right now on paper.  Their best player Josh Richardson who was a 3 star, that was a role player the year before.

Hope you are right but I don't see the talent to score.  Who is your go to guy?  Who will create in the later minutes of the game?  Don't say Whitt because he is unproven.  No inside scoring at all. No 3 man who can create plus get to the rim.

I see frustration and desperation late and lots of unhappy fans.

But what I hope to see to fire up the fan base again is 4-6 studs signed in November with 3 being JUCOs and 3 being highly ranked 3/4/5 star kids.

[-Blu]

Hope you are right but I don't see the talent to score.  Who is your go to guy?  Who will create in the later minutes of the game?  Don't say Whitt because he is unproven.  No inside scoring at all. No 3 man who can create plus get to the rim.

I think your worrying yourself about nothing, CMA's teams have never struggled to score.  Think about that in 13 years he's never had a team average less than 72 PPG.  And that's not even taking the new shot clock rule into consideration. And has had much worse teams on paper than what we have now.  You think the first roster at UAB and Mizzou looked better than we do now?  You can even look at his first year at Arkansas, we were shorthanded and lost our best player in the first few games.  Our starting lineup was Julysses Noble, Ricky Scott, Madracus Wade, Devonte Abron, and Mike Sanchez.  No disrespect to any of those guys, but if CMA can get a winning season out of them and 70+ points a game, he should be able to do the same with guys he actually recruited that are better equipped to play in this system.

I think our problem this year will be depth more than anything.  I used Tennessee last year as an example.  They played well to start off and their style of play helped them get some upsets, but ultimately they ran out of gas.  I could see a very similar situation happening to us this year.

And I agree a big start to recruiting in 2016 and nice fall signing class is going to be key for CMA and staff moving forward.

[MountieDawg]

Wow, that is just a offensively challenged lineup. Even if Whitt puts up Qualls like numbers, which is not likely as a FR, that lineup is not going to put fear into anyone.

It has already put the fear in many fans.

[WorfHog]

Hope you are right but I don't see the talent to score.  Who is your go to guy?  Who will create in the later minutes of the game?  Don't say Whitt because he is unproven.  No inside scoring at all. No 3 man who can create plus get to the rim.

I see frustration and desperation late and lots of unhappy fans.

But what I hope to see to fire up the fan base again is 4-6 studs signed in November with 3 being JUCOs and 3 being highly ranked 3/4/5 star kids.

I'm going to say Whitt, these kids come in all the time and light it up. No reason Whitt can't here.

[Jonteviosk]

I hate to say it then we really need Beard and Williams back. If only for depth purposes plus I predicted Beard to be out leading scorer this year lol. I don't know who penetrates but right now, Whitt, Bell, Hannahs, Miles and Kingsley. Kingley will give us inside scoring this year. He was talked into coming here by Bobby Portis and Bobby believes he can do it so who am I to disagree? Plus two years of practicing everyday against Portis oh yeah. I think he will be a beast this year.

[Hogimus Prime]

I think this team will put up around 72 ppg.  This team will scrap and claw its way through the season. It'll go down as team we fans will look back on and enjoy the heart and hustle they played with

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

I think this team will put up around 72 ppg.  This team will scrap and claw its way through the season. It'll go down as team we fans will look back on and enjoy the heart and hustle they played with

This is the type of attitude fans should have and the support the players need. 

[hawginbigd1]

Bell is your leading scorer, mark it down! Kingsley and Whitt will be a couple points behind. The starting 5 initially will be Durham, Bell, Watkins, Kouassi, Kingsley. Later in the season Whitt will take over for Durham or Watkins. We will play 9 for sure, If Miles is any count at all, which nothing we have seen shows that to be the case, he may start over K.

No doubt team will be entertaining to follow, but unless there are 2 or 3 OMG improvements the record will be on par with year 1.

[nwahogfan1]

Bell is your leading scorer, mark it down! Kingsley and Whitt will be a couple points behind. The starting 5 initially will be Durham, Bell, Watkins, Kouassi, Kingsley. Later in the season Whitt will take over for Durham or Watkins. We will play 9 for sure, If Miles is any count at all, which nothing we have seen shows that to be the case, he may start over K.

No doubt team will be entertaining to follow, but unless there are 2 or 3 OMG improvements the record will be on par with year 1.

I see no way Willy and Moses play together .  Neither can score and both their games are mostly defense.   I see them as Willy as a rim protector when we full court press.   

[nwahogfan1]

I think your worrying yourself about nothing, CMA's teams have never struggled to score.  Think about that in 13 years he's never had a team average less than 72 PPG.  And that's not even taking the new shot clock rule into consideration. And has had much worse teams on paper than what we have now.  You think the first roster at UAB and Mizzou looked better than we do now?  You can even look at his first year at Arkansas, we were shorthanded and lost our best player in the first few games.  Our starting lineup was Julysses Noble, Ricky Scott, Madracus Wade, Devonte Abron, and Mike Sanchez.  No disrespect to any of those guys, but if CMA can get a winning season out of them and 70+ points a game, he should be able to do the same with guys he actually recruited that are better equipped to play in this system.

I think our problem this year will be depth more than anything.  I used Tennessee last year as an example.  They played well to start off and their style of play helped them get some upsets, but ultimately they ran out of gas.  I could see a very similar situation happening to us this year.

And I agree a big start to recruiting in 2016 and nice fall signing class is going to be key for CMA and staff moving forward.

Lets say Coach finds ways to score the ball over 70 PPG by pressing and running.  Now my question is how many points will we give up???  I say if we have to speed up the tempo enough with gambling type defenses then we will allow over 80 PPG because of our lack of depth and athleticism to stop the really good teams. 

Another question is  What will our record be against the top half of the league?

[HoopS]

So hard to know until we know the fate of Beard and Williams.

But assuming they're not on the team...

Durham
Whitt
Hannahs
Miles
Kingsley

I could see Watkins and Bell starting. I expect to see Manny step up a couples notches. I also think Whitt has a very solid freshman season. We need to see Kingsley step his offense up. I've heard good things about Hannahs and Thompson. Also don't overlook Kouassi.

I know this isn't where we hoped to be right now but I also don't write this team off just yet.

[-Blu]

Lets say Coach finds ways to score the ball over 70 PPG by pressing and running.  Now my question is how many points will we give up???  I say if we have to speed up the tempo enough with gambling type defenses then we will allow over 80 PPG because of our lack of depth and athleticism to stop the really good teams. 

I could definitely see that scenario, with our lack of depth right now, it's bound to cause problems on defense especially with the way we play.  I wouldn't be surprised at all to see us give up a lot of points.

And I have no idea what our record will be, I'd have to see the whole schedule, and who's eligible to play.  And it looks like the staff is still trying to add players as well.  So there's a lot of unknowns.  Only thing I was saying is a CMA coached team has not scored less than 72 PPG or had a losing season in his 13 years, and I don't see that trend ending this year.  You don't have to be a very good team to be over .500 and score 70 points.

[UNCLE BACK]

This year could be similar to Mikes first year...

[JayBell]

I'm thinking it will have to be either:

Whitt
Bell
Hannahs
Miles
Kingsley

Or:

Durham
Whitt
Bell
Miles
Kingsley

Either way, if Beard and Williams can't come back, you're likely looking at more of an 8 or 9-man rotation instead of Anderson's usual 10-12.  With that roster, he's just going to have to have Whitt, Miles and Kingsley on the floor more than he wants to if they are going to compete.  Those three are crucial to playing Anderson's style because no one else on the team can score like Whitt.  The other post options aren't as athletic as Miles and Kingsley.

[JayBell]

If, and it's a huge IF, Bell and Hannahs can prove to be consistent outside shooters, Arkansas could live and die by the 3-ball this year.  Durham shot 36% last year and Bell shot 35%.  Hannahs shot 37% at Texas Tech.  I think Whitt shot 30-35% in high school.

If Arkansas commits to spreading the floor for outside shots and all of those percentages get up closer to 40%, Arkansas could surprise some people.  You'd see them win some games they wouldn't be expected to.  Of course, you'll also see them lose some games they weren't supposed to.

[JayBell]

Another question is  What will our record be against the top half of the league?

It's not going to be pretty.  Remember all of those lovable, shiny new road wins we got last year?  Those are going to disappear.

Anderson's road record is about to tank.....again.