went to basketball yesterday...some observations

[TheSportsGuy]

ronnie has buffed up and he looks very solid.  even his outside shooting.  he's ready for bigger and better things.  mcurdy ran the point very well ( think of a slightly slower, buffer luke ridnour).  he has been hampered by an ankle sprain (not high).  he shoots well (very nice form), has good vision, has a basketball mind, sees the court, but can be beat with a quick step on defense (has a cockniess which you need at pg or even sg).  modica has his cockniess back (players got into with him on numerous occasions).  looked really solid (literally and figuratively).  him and brewer went at each other and about broke even.  shot the ball really well. attacked the basket and handled ball better than i've ever seen..  dontell is a new player.  shot has really come along.  better ball-handling.  has confidence.  saw the court really well.  has developed a great pull-up jumper inside 15 ft.  steven hill has developed a couple nifty moves inside on offense.  pretty solid on defense.  ran the court well.  just wish he would be more hyped up.  way too mellow and nice ( don't know if he is capable of getting a mean streak).  charles thomas has lost weight and really toned up..  game has majorly improved.  has a great shot from behind the arc (slightly suprised).  very nice court vision and soft touch inside.  vincent has toned up a little.  he's a little trigger-happy.  still needs work but has the raw talent (will he ever reach his potential??).  has mentally moved past shoulder injury.  darian has toned up. very good thick frame.  still was showing that great touch that wasn't expected of him last year.  that will be his meal ticket ( he can even shoot the 3 folks).  he even played a little more defense.  cyrus will suprise some folks.  great frame to keep adding weight.  very sleek-looking.  and still wiry strong (extremely long arms).  has good-looking form on his shot.  more importantly, i saw confidence in him for the first time yesterday that he can play with the big boys.  started knocking down threes and playing with authority.  ferguson is seasoned.  has a charles tatum quick realease which is streaky.  will be a good veteran leader which is vital this year.  team has been succesfully made over

[whatsshakinbacon]

Thanks for this update - right now I need to hear something good about our bball team.  Can all of these players play right away or do any have to sit out a bit?

Bacon out...

[corndo]

Did you see any negatives?

[Patch]

thanks for the update, but there are a few things you mentioned such as "team has been successfully made over" that no one will know the answer to until we reach either Maui, or SEC play.

[Porky Pig]

Did you see any negatives?

Typical of today's Arkansas fans. Give me some negatives so I can bitch. Good post sports guy, enjoyed the info.

[corndo]

Not trying to bitch, just wanted to see what strengths and weaknesses he saw. Next time you concentrate on your own post and I'll worry about mine. No need to get all sensitive, it will be ok.

[hogballs]

Talk about sunshine pumping. I'm sure your probably a HDN darksider to boot.  This team hasn't shown anything in 3 years.  Wait until the first zone defense is slapped on them and see how "made over" this team looks. 

[lunchbox72703]

Corndo wasn't b*tching, HogBalls was  HAHA

[RBLtoHOG]

haha Why are u jumping all over corndo? He is just trying to get an idea of how the team is gonna be.

[_Collin1]

charles thomas has lost weight and really toned up.. game has majorly improved. has a great shot from behind the arc (slightly suprised).

Trust me, all of them can shoot from 15 feet and suprise you.  At practice and at the HPER they do it all the time.  When I was going up against Alonzo Lane and Derek Hood at the HPER when I was in college, they frequently shot outside the free throw line and made it.

Do that in an SEC game and your a$$ will get benched if you dont have the green light.

[Biggus Piggus]

ronnie has buffed up and he looks very solid. even his outside shooting. he's ready for bigger and better things.
mcurdy ran the point very well ( think of a slightly slower, buffer luke ridnour).
modica has his cockniess back (players got into with him on numerous occasions).
dontell is a new player. shot has really come along. better ball-handling. has confidence.
steven hill has developed a couple nifty moves inside on offense. pretty solid on defense.
charles thomas has lost weight and really toned up.. game has majorly improved.
vincent has toned up a little. he's a little trigger-happy.
darian has toned up. very good thick frame. still was showing that great touch that wasn't expected of him last year.
cyrus will suprise some folks. great frame to keep adding weight. very sleek-looking. and still wiry strong (extremely long arms).
ferguson is seasoned. has a charles tatum quick realease which is streaky.
team has been succesfully made over

With Brewer, Modica and Townes, Arkansas has three all-SEC players.  If Heath can't win with this, he's a complete bum.

The guy who wrote "The Miracle of St. Anthony" insists that McCurdy is not a point guard.  Heath is going to try to turn McCurdy into one.  Doesn't have much choice.

Jefferson thrives in a loose environment like pickup games.  Last year he looked fine till he got into structure.

If Thomas can do anything, that would be a great thing.

They're counting on Hunter a lot more than they're counting on Thomas.

You're the first person who has come away with good things to say about McGowan.  He needs a lot of coaching.

It bugs me that Heath still wants Ferguson to shoot the ball.  He is a decent spot-up shooter if left wide open.  He has not been able to get off decent shots in SEC play his entire career.  Good D and his scoring evaporates, but he doesn't quit shooting, which wrecks the offense.

Despite our shortage of guards, I see double-digit SEC wins in reach.  Brewer and Modica are more ready to shoulder the guard burden than they've ever been.  Upside between now and March depends on the road and Maui.  Play well in Maui and we're back.  It's a chance to leap into the top 25 and stay there all season long, which would provide a great boost come Selection Sunday.  Being in the poll all year is a great benefit to seeding.

Road games in SEC:

Sat, Jan 7 at Mississippi State.  Not great to catch them in their home SEC opener, but this is a big opportunity.  They will be very young, still talented but young.  We should have an advantage in the paint.

Wed, Jan 18 at Alabama.  Midweek road games suck.  This one sucks more.  Our first four SEC games are against four of the league's better teams, capped with this.

Sat, Jan 21 at Auburn.  Back-to-back trips to Alabama.  They made us look sick last time we were there, as that was part of our season-end rollover.  Surely we need to make up for that.

Sun, Jan 29 at Kentucky.  Noon CBS game.  This is not Super Bowl Sunday but the week before.  The Cats are not at an optimal talent level.  It will be size vs. speed.

Wed, Feb 8 at LSU.  Begins the second half of the SEC slate.  This may be a pivotal game in the West chase.

Wed, Feb 15 at Ole Miss.  Midweek road games on consecutive weeks.  Don't be surprised if we look like crap.  Plus, Heath's record after Valentine's Day is frightful.

Sat, Feb 25 at Tennessee.  This is a must-win game for the Hogs to get to double-digit SEC victories.

Sun, Mar 5 at Georgia.  Our last SEC game in the regular season is on the road.  My hope is we'll be playing for our 11th or 12th SEC victory and 21st to 24th win for the full season.

After Maui, the nonconference schedule has some good games.  Texas Tech in Dallas around Christmas vacation time is a biggie.  Missouri in Fayetteville, Missouri State (tricky, right after finals break) in Fayetteville should be competitive.  December schedule is vastly improved.

[Jim Harris]

This post gets recycled every October. "All of them are improved. Better shooters. Really toned up. More confidence. Outside shot is falling." However, the same scenario gets recycled every November thru March - they lose often and ugly. Until this trend changes, pardon me if I don't get a squishy inside when I read about this team's "transformation."

He left out that Gomez is toned up too and really shooting the rock. Nobody can stop him during the pickup games.

[Buff]

my biggest gripe about last year was simply that no one passed the ball to Hill in the paint enough.  oh yeah, plus the losing, but that'll get better eventually.  still........any negatives to watch out for?

[three]

Bottom Line:  He didn't add anybody.  Unless McCurdy and Cyrus "the Virus" are superstarts in waiting, (which is a possibility, not a liklihood, judging from some of the raw talent they've displayed) this team should still struggle against the zone.  My hope is that Townes is a go-to guy in the post his second year, not a complimentary post player.  And if Modica is back to that cocky arrogant SOB he once was (and that's what great ones are) then this team does have POTENTIAL. But they had that last year, too. 

Ronnie is great, reminds me a lot of former ACC player of the year Josh Howard (Wake Forest, Dallas Mavericks).  A guy who is an All-star SECOND OPTION.  Ronnie does everything well, as does Howard, as did Scottie Pippen, but he's not Michael Jordan or Dirk Nowitzki.  He's not going to single handedly lead your team to the promised land.  If Townes and Modica can each be good for 15+ per contest, Brewer will be SEC player of the year and one of the front runners for Naismith.  If not, he'll be a great player on a mediocre team, much like he was last year, much like Howard was his entire career.  He doesn't have the ability to take over a game like Scotty Thurman did, yet I don't think anyone here would argue Thurman was better than Ronnie.  Scotty was a scorer, Ronnie is a do-everything-er.  That's why it's so imparative Townes and Modica get better, or if there's someone else waiting in the wings they need to step up.  You need a go-to scorer, Townes and Modica have that potential.  Ronnie's the guy you want defending the opposition's best, penetrating the zone and dishing, causing havoc in the open court.  He does so many things well, you don't want him wasting ALL his energy trying to score.  Ronnie's a guy who could average damn near a triple double per game.  This team will have success if and only if someone else steps up to average near 20.  Ronnie needs to be in the vicinity of 16-20 ppg, with 6-8 rpg, 4-6 apg, and 1-2.5 spg.  When he has to score 20+, the rest of the team will struggle, consequently the outcome may not be a win.  When he's able to do everything, this team will thrive, and there will not be many teams who can stop them.

There's no doubt Ronnie will be better. The question is, will everyone else be that much better?  The season's success rides not on Ronnie Brewer's success, but on the emergance of other great scorers and one more great defender (which should be Hill or Townes in the post).  Don't get caught up relying on Ronnie.  It's the others who need to step up.

[Lando Calrissian]

my biggest gripe about last year was simply that no one passed the ball to Hill in the paint enough.

They didn't throw the ball into the post enough last year, period.

If I had a dollar for everytime we came down against a zone defense and swung the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds...I'd be a very very rich man.

I think this team has very, very good talent.  Not top 15 talent I don't think, but certainly enough to be a legit/consistent top 25 team.

And yes, it's Heath's job to make or break it.  I think we can all agree with that.  If he doesn't make the Tournament with this squad then he's finished.  I think we can all agree with that too.

Sidenote:  Part of me thinks this team will be a lot better WITHOUT Olu.

[Buck Ocean]

Typical of today's Arkansas fans. Give me some negatives so I can bitch.

Hillariously true dude.

Jefferson thrives in a loose environment like pickup games.  Last year he looked fine till he got into structure.

Need to reinforce this comment again and again. 

He left out that Gomez is toned up too and really shooting the rock. Nobody can stop him during the pickup games.

My Lord that is the funniest post of this thread!!

Cyrus "the Virus"

That is the best nickname ive heard today

Sidenote:  Part of me thinks this team will be a lot better WITHOUT Olu

Oh yeah? well every part of me says that this team will be better w/o Olu

[Inigo Montoya]

He left out that Gomez is toned up too and really shooting the rock. Nobody can stop him during the pickup games.

Had a basic MS Office computer class with Gomez once in college, no kidding.  Had to show him how to save a document in word.   

[Lando Calrissian]

Sidenote:  Part of me thinks this team will be a lot better WITHOUT Olu.

Oh yeah? well every part of me says that this team will be better w/o Olu.

So I guess that means we agree?

[Lando Calrissian]

I'd feel better dumping it in to Hill if I had any confidence whatsoever that he might actually have acquired the skill of making the ball go through the hoop. Never saw him do too much of that the few times he did touch the ball and attempt that feat.

That's the thing though, if Hill has acquired any sort of remedial offensive skills over the past few months, then that opens the entire thing up.

If the perimeter players ever figure out that throwing the ball to the post (Townes, Hill, whoever) actually gives them (the perimeter players) a better look at the rim, then we'll have taken a big first step into a larger world.

Just because the ball is thrown into the post does not mean the post player has to shoot it.  It does mean that the defense has to put a little bit of effort into it, instead of standing there watching us swing it around the perimeter for 30 seconds like last season.

You might as well be playing 3 on 5 if that's the case.  I don't care if he can score everytime or not.  That's not the point of throwing it in there.  The point is to get the other team out of whack. 

It's not as if the 2-3 zone is some magical defense.  Hopefully Heath has taken the time over the Summer to break down the intricacies of this mystic defense which is literally taught to 2nd graders.

[Biggus Piggus]

Get the post players involved in the possibilities, that's only part of it.

If you have three legit perimeter shooters, the low post player has all these options that stretch the defense.  If he can go to the high post, there's another threat.  If he can drop step and flush it, another.  If he can wheel and hook, another.  And so on.

I really think Modica, Brewer and Townes will be potent offensive weapons.  Will they share the basketball?  That is the question.  Last year, Townes was a black hole.  You guys complain about how often the ball went into the post, and that's fair, but it did not go in at times because Townes chucked a shot every chance he got, without respect for system or teammates.

[TheSportsGuy]

darian did hog it last year because i think he was even surprised that he was so good offensively inside.  it drove me crazy at times, but what else could we do when we couldn't throw it in the ocean standing on the beach (he probably thought the same).  when steven made those two offensive moves inside, my eyes shot wide open.  you could tell it was a developed move but it worked and it looked good.  everybody was hoopin and hollerin after he made those moves because the players knew it was a big deal also.  its something to hope for at least.  but these players didn't look like or carry themselves like they have the last couple of years.  i just have a different feeling this year and it comes straight from the gut. i ain't saying were perfect by any means. i'm a devil's advocate just like most of you.

[Nutt_Hate_Me]

What worries me is after this year what have we got.  If we have a good year, Brewer is probably gone, and Modica graduates.  If we have a really good year, Townes might be gone as well.  Then we will be back to rebuilding instead of reloading.  So basically all we can expect of Heath is 1 good year every 4.

Will the Nutt apologists be there for Heath like they are for Dale. 

[merccedes]

Anybody making the trip to Hawaii?

[_Collin1]

He left out that Gomez is toned up too and really shooting the rock. Nobody can stop him during the pickup games.

Had a basic MS Office computer class with Gomez once in college, no kidding. Had to show him how to save a document in word.

Inigo....

That isnt as good as the time Jason Jennings showed up to my Calculus 3 class the first day of Class (Monday).  By the time Friday rolled around he finally said in class "My book doesnt have the third dimension derivatives and integrals that was assigned for homework".

Took him 3 full days of Calculus 3 to realize he had been showing up to the wrong class, and Survey of Calculus was across the hall.

[mopork]

I think the basketball team is going to surprise a lot of people this year.  I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see us win 25.  Stan Heath will win an SEC championship before HDN.  Mark it.

[mikeirwin]

Have you looked at the Nov-Dec schedule ?

[_Collin1]

Mike

You gotta believe 18 would get us in with that schedule.  And who is to say if we get seeded right and avoid Kentucky to the finals of the SEC Tourney we couldnt clinch.  I have already bought my season tickets and the last 5 home games will be HUGE in getting us to the dance.  Should be exciting.

[mikeirwin]

I'm assuming nothing.

[_Collin1]

I'm assuming nothing.

Can someone explain to me why they put the good non conference games in Little Rock?  We have Texas Tech in Dallas this year but Little Rock the next.  Can someone explain to me why the General isnt coming to Fayetteville?  (If he is still TT's coach)  In the past we have always played top ranked Illinois down there....

[jblack19]

Heath will do well this year. I predict we will be the SEC Champ!  :razorback:

[Inigo Montoya]

He left out that Gomez is toned up too and really shooting the rock. Nobody can stop him during the pickup games.

Had a basic MS Office computer class with Gomez once in college, no kidding. Had to show him how to save a document in word.

Inigo....

That isnt as good as the time Jason Jennings showed up to my Calculus 3 class the first day of Class (Monday). By the time Friday rolled around he finally said in class "My book doesnt have the third dimension derivatives and integrals that was assigned for homework".

Took him 3 full days of Calculus 3 to realize he had been showing up to the wrong class, and Survey of Calculus was across the hall.

Yikes!  Stupid is as stupid does.  I guess as long as they can run a zone that's all that matters in life.   

[hogfan98]

I'm assuming nothing.

Can someone explain to me why they put the good non conference games in Little Rock? We have Texas Tech in Dallas this year but Little Rock the next. Can someone explain to me why the General isnt coming to Fayetteville? (If he is still TT's coach) In the past we have always played top ranked Illinois down there....

they main reason is to bring games back to central arkansas that will draw a lot of fans.  the reason they quit playing in little rock to begin with is because there wasn't a place to play comparible to bud walton.  since alltel was built, it allows games to come back to central arkansas without losing 10,000 seats.  bud walton will always be pretty full, but to pack out alltel you need to bring in an appealing matchup.

[whatsshakinbacon]

I'm assuming nothing.

Can someone explain to me why they put the good non conference games in Little Rock? We have Texas Tech in Dallas this year but Little Rock the next. Can someone explain to me why the General isnt coming to Fayetteville? (If he is still TT's coach) In the past we have always played top ranked Illinois down there....

Generally these games have been during the Christmas break, thus meaning no or little student attendance.  That said, I don't know about this year or next year's date for these games. 

But to have a game in LR goes some distance to appease us here in Central Arkansas and helps keep the NWA v Central Arkansas debate calmed a bit.  By the way, if you've been to these games you'd agree that the crowd atmosphere for them has been raucous.  Give us a decent team with a chance to beat a top 25 TTech and ALLTEL arena will be lit up.

Bacon out...

[merccedes]

TTU doesn't come to Bud Walton cause we don't go to Lubbock its considered a neutral place for both team and you have to figure playing in Dallas then LR is better than Lubbock and Fayetteville

[Jim Harris]

I'm assuming nothing.

Can someone explain to me why they put the good non conference games in Little Rock? We have Texas Tech in Dallas this year but Little Rock the next. Can someone explain to me why the General isnt coming to Fayetteville? (If he is still TT's coach) In the past we have always played top ranked Illinois down there....

they main reason is to bring games back to central arkansas that will draw a lot of fans. the reason they quit playing in little rock to begin with is because there wasn't a place to play comparible to bud walton. since alltel was built, it allows games to come back to central arkansas without losing 10,000 seats. bud walton will always be pretty full, but to pack out alltel you need to bring in an appealing matchup.

Man, outside of the SEC games and premier matchups with O-State or OU, have you noticed the December crowds at Bud Walton. We're starting to look like Georgia, Alabama, Florida and the like for non-support during December with the creampuffs.

[Jim Harris]

Heath will do well this year. I predict we will be the SEC Champ! :razorback:

I think the irony is there (as I posted about the Nutt-Vanderbilt deal a few weeks ago) that Heath could win it, and more egg on Frank "You're Fired" Broyles' face. I mean, the guy wanted to shitcan him and without the BOT saying, "no," it would have happened. So, this year, Heath puts it back in his face. At least I'm certain Heath will not make it an issue for his career with Broyles like Nolan did with Frank all those  years, beginning with that SWC title his fourth year all the way to the NCAA title, then just saying "Frank it."