UNC is going to be tough

[phadedhawg]

Game is not til Sunday but I saw on CBS Sports that North Carolina is already out to an 11 pt lead.  Here's hoping we can cut into that after tip off.

[jesterzzn]

UCLA is a better team than North Carolina this year.  If they had been the 1 seed we would have had no chance.  We have a chance against UNC.

[GoHogs1091]

Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and UCLA are not "mediocre" teams.  They belong in that group you listed.  The four you listed and the four I listed are the only ones I can see winning it all this year.

Kentucky is basically only Fox and Monk.  Going to be tough to win it all with basically only 2 players.

Kansas' players can't seem to stay out of trouble off the court.

Duke is inconsistent.

UCLA can score points, but their Defense can be atrocious.

[rtr]

We wont beat NC.  That's a fact.

Not a fact, has not even happened.  Stay tuned.

[Hogz87]

Kentucky is basically only Fox and Monk.  Going to be tough to win it all with basically only 2 players.

That Bam Adebayo guy seems to be pretty good, too.

Kansas' players can't seem to stay out of trouble off the court.

Unless Kansas' players plan on going out and getting in a lot of trouble the next two weeks, I'm not sure why this is even relevant right now.

Duke is inconsistent.

Sure, but they're also riddled with NBA talent.  Tatum, Kennard, Allen, Giles, Bolden, and Frank Jackson all will either be 1st round picks or, at the very least, be drafted and get a shot in the NBA.  They also won the ACC tournament by beating two teams that are currently a one and two seed in the NCAA tournament. 

UCLA can score points, but their Defense can be atrocious.

This is the only one I somewhat agree with.  However, UCLA has some high end, elite offensive firepower.  It's not out of the realm of possibility to think they can harness it for a three weekend stretch, two games at a time, and win it all.  I mean I do agree that their sub-par defense will be their downfall, but they are great enough offensively that they deserve to be in the group of "true" contenders.

[Locutus_of_Boar]

I'll say this in a way even you can understand. We beat Kentucky at both our place and Rupp.

"It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia." - Frank Zappa

Sunday is one more opportunity to resist the suffocating nostalgia that is what has become of Arkansas Basketball.

[upperdeck_hawg]

I not scare. We beat a team that took Villanova to the wire.

[GoHogs1091]

That Bam Adebayo guy seems to be pretty good, too.

Possibly, provided the other Kentucky players pass the ball to Adebayo.

After they won last Saturday in the SEC Tournament, Calipari told the Media that he told players that he was going to start sitting them if they didn't pass the ball to Adebayo.

Voila, the next day Adebayo scored some points against our 1 man inside presence (Kingsley Moses).

[ShadowHawg]

"It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia." - Frank Zappa

Sunday is one more opportunity to resist the suffocating nostalgia that is what has become of Arkansas Basketball.

You are mental if 3 years is nostalgic, or maybe you are 9 years old.

[nchogg]

I want to see us win. NC is playing some good ball. At this point the team that wants it the most will win. Not that both teams don't want the win. Our mental attitude will be one of the biggest factors. We all know it's already a lose according to the talking heads. I like that we have a chip on our shoulder. I want to see a hard fought close game. Go Hogs! :razorback:

[hawgmasta]

The main thing that scares me with NC is they are an absolutely dominant rebounding team. With the amount of second chances we have Seton Hall I imagine NC will get 2-3 times that amount. I hope that our bench and dusty have way better scoring opportunities.

Annnd my main hope is that with this being such a tough bracket they assume that they are going to roll us and look forward to the next games. Our guys are playing with fire and want it, we CAN win!

[lc480]

That why you play the game. The best team doesn't always win!

[FineAsSwine]

No ish Sherlock. Water is wet, fire is hot and ice is cold. What else you got? 

[PonderinHog]

No ish Sherlock. Water is wet, fire is hot and ice is cold. What else you got? 

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things...

[razorbackfan4life]

They are a good 3 pt shooting team.  We have to run them off the 3pt line and force them into Moses. 

I would rather them beat us in the paint than from behind the arc. 

[Hogz87]

They are a good 3 pt shooting team.  We have to run them off the 3pt line and force them into Moses. 

I would rather them beat us in the paint than from behind the arc. 

UNC is more prone to having bad 3P shooting nights than just about anything else.  They have two elite 3P shooters in Berry and Jackson and two guys who are below average 3P shooters but are capable of a random good 3P shooting game once every 10 games in Pinson and Britt.  Usually, though, if one of Jackson or Berry are cold from three, then UNC isn't going to hurt you from three with the rest of their team. 

UNC prefers to play inside-out.  Meeks and Hicks are probably better than Moses or, at the very least, on his level and the freshman big man they bring off the bench (Tony Bradley) is actually more talented and has more potential than Hicks and Meeks.  Luke Maye is their fourth big and he'd start for us at PF. 

[Timfromlittlerockhog]

UNC is more prone to having bad 3P shooting nights than just about anything else.  They have two elite 3P shooters in Berry and Jackson and two guys who are below average 3P shooters but are capable of a random good 3P shooting game once every 10 games in Pinson and Britt.  Usually, though, if one of Jackson or Berry are cold from three, then UNC isn't going to hurt you from three with the rest of their team. 

UNC prefers to play inside-out.  Meeks and Hicks are prboably better than MOses or, at the very least, on his level and the freshman big man they bring off the bench (Tony Bradley) is actually more talented and has more potential than Hicks and Meeks.  Luke Maye is their fourth big and he'd start for at PF.

Which is why I'd like to play a solid half court game. Let's not trap and give up open three's and get them hot early. And lets forget trying to get to their legs and instead of trying to run out every play put a body and get rebound. I just don't think we can win running with them.

[FrankCourtneyNicodemus]

Maybe off topic, but what's the team schedule today?

[alohawg]

The main thing that scares me with NC is they are an absolutely dominant rebounding team. With the amount of second chances we have Seton Hall I imagine NC will get 2-3 times that amount. I hope that our bench and dusty have way better scoring opportunities.

Annnd my main hope is that with this being such a tough bracket they assume that they are going to roll us and look forward to the next games. Our guys are playing with fire and want it, we CAN win!

Carolina may break the tourney record for rebounds, seriously. The hogs have given absolutely no reason to hope or think they can be even average at rebounding. How many times do we watch one guy grab a rebound surrounded by multiple hogs? There was a critical possession yesterday where SH hit a 3 after two offensive rebounds that never should have happened, unacceptable.
Arkansas players more often than not just stand flat footed wherever they happen to be when a shot goes up and watch the other team rebound.
This is my single biggest gripe and it cost easily 10+ pts. yesterday.

[Hogz87]

Carolina may break the tourney record for rebounds, seriously. The hogs have given absolutely no reason to hope or think they can be even average at rebounding. How many times do we watch one guy grab a rebound surrounded by multiple hogs? There was a critical possession yesterday where SH hit a 3 after two offensive rebounds that never should have happened, unacceptable.
Arkansas players more often than not just stand flat footed wherever they happen to be when a shot goes up and watch the other team rebound.
This is my single biggest gripe and it cost easily 10+ pts. yesterday.

I know which one you're talking about from the second half, but the same thing happened once or twice in the second half, too.  Two or three times yesterday Seton Hall ended a possession on a three after getting two or three offensive rebounds.  That's inexcusable but it routinely happens against us because we routinely get killed by teams on the offensive glass.  The main reason Ole Miss kept hanging around and almost beat us in the SEC tournament (other than a hot 3P shooting first half) is because they kept getting offensive rebounds.

I'm not down on Mike Anderson.  I think he did a great job this year, but maybe the most frustrating thing about being an Arkansas fan in the Mike Anderson era is that you can check the boxscore after an Arkansas game, see that Arkansas shot around 50% and our opponent shot 30-something percent and it was still a close game.  Then you check the FGA column and see our opponent had 10-15 more FGA than us and around 15, maybe even 20 offensive rebounds and it makes perfect sense as to why it was a close game.

[alohawg]

You would think after a while the players themselves would recognize and adjust, you would think....