The Good and Bad from Tonight

[-Blu]

This game was a roller coaster ride to say the least.  It was exciting watching Portis break the freshman scoring record for Arkansas, and then it was soooo depressing watching us fail to be able to make layups and shoot the ball.

The Good

-Bobby Portis is really starting to assert himself as a leader on this team.  He was demanding the ball, playing with confidence, pumping up the other players, and basically put on a 1 man show to win the game for us.  This was arguably the greatest performance of a freshman in Arkansas history.

-Even with our poor shooting, we showed that we could still pull out a close game.  This is big, because we will struggle to shoot on the road more often than not, it's good to see that instead of continuing to force 3 pointers or jump shots like we normally do, we got the ball in the paint, whether it be with Portis or Harris and we either got an easy shot or got to the free throw.  If we do this on the road, and get Harris to give us 8 points a night in SEC play from the bench we'll beat Vandy, Miss State, and Alabama on the road.

-Everyone had good body language during the entire game.  You looked on the bench and everyone including Qualls was engaged and rooting for the team.  Even when we struggled with shots, everyone still kept their heads up and played hard.  Was good to see Harris get back to his roots on just bulldozing in the lane.... yea that may not work all the time, but against bad teams it will, and there's enough bad teams in the SEC for him to do that to.

The Bad

-The shooting was atrocious from everyone but Bobby Portis.  Guys have to go be able to hit open shots plain and simple.  For us to get back into the mix of things we're going to have to have a few games where guys step up and shoot lights out.

-We let Alabama have a lot of open looks, luckily they shot the ball just as bad as we did, so it didn't come back bite us.  It's troubling because some guys are still confused on defense, I seen Madden yelling a few times at guys because they were either in the wrong defense or out of position.  We can't have mental mistakes like that from guys, especially with the chaotic style of defense we play, everyone has got to know their role.

-Late game execution again was a disappointment, against a good team, we probably would have lost.  No reason we come out of a timeout, and the best shot we get is Madden attempting to draw a foul on a last second 3 point heave.  Also, no reason JaCorey Williams should have been in the game in the last minute when it was clear Alabama was going to foul.  One of the assistants has got to grab coach Anderson and notify him that JaCorey is a 64% free throw shooter, and hasn't played a lot especially in late game situations.  This could have really come back to haunt us.  He missed the one/one and had Alabama not completely broke down on their next possession, they could have had an opportunity to tie and send it to OT with Alabama having momentum.

[S.A.D.C]

I think another good thing is we played our best basketball down the stretch.  (Easy to do when you stink for 35 minutes but still).  This team has struggled to close games out.  Did it tonight.

[Deeznutts]

No basketball players on this team except Portis, Kingsley and Madden. And the coaching of the players is mind-blowing. With a gun.

[High Octane Hog]

This game was a roller coaster ride to say the least.  It was exciting watching Portis break the freshman scoring record for Arkansas, and then it was soooo depressing watching us fail to be able to make layups and shoot the ball.

The Good

-Bobby Portis is really starting to assert himself as a leader on this team.  He was demanding the ball, playing with confidence, pumping up the other players, and basically put on a 1 man show to win the game for us.  This was arguably the greatest performance of a freshman in Arkansas history.

-Even with our poor shooting, we showed that we could still pull out a close game.  This is big, because we will struggle to shoot on the road more often than not, it's good to see that instead of continuing to force 3 pointers or jump shots like we normally do, we got the ball in the paint, whether it be with Portis or Harris and we either got an easy shot or got to the free throw.  If we do this on the road, and get Harris to give us 8 points a night in SEC play from the bench we'll beat Vandy, Miss State, and Alabama on the road.

-Everyone had good body language during the entire game.  You looked on the bench and everyone including Qualls was engaged and rooting for the team.  Even when we struggled with shots, everyone still kept their heads up and played hard.  Was good to see Harris get back to his roots on just bulldozing in the lane.... yea that may not work all the time, but against bad teams it will, and there's enough bad teams in the SEC for him to do that to.

The Bad

-The shooting was atrocious from everyone but Bobby Portis.  Guys have to go be able to hit open shots plain and simple.  For us to get back into the mix of things we're going to have to have a few games where guys step up and shoot lights out.

-We let Alabama have a lot of open looks, luckily they shot the ball just as bad as we did, so it didn't come back bite us.  It's troubling because some guys are still confused on defense, I seen Madden yelling a few times at guys because they were either in the wrong defense or out of position.  We can't have mental mistakes like that from guys, especially with the chaotic style of defense we play, everyone has got to know their role.

-Late game execution again was a disappointment, against a good team, we probably would have lost.  No reason we come out of a timeout, and the best shot we get is Madden attempting to draw a foul on a last second 3 point heave.  Also, no reason JaCorey Williams should have been in the game in the last minute when it was clear Alabama was going to foul.  One of the assistants has got to grab coach Anderson and notify him that JaCorey is a 64% free throw shooter, and hasn't played a lot especially in late game situations.  This could have really come back to haunt us.  He missed the one/one and had Alabama not completely broke down on their next possession, they could have had an opportunity to tie and send it to OT with Alabama having momentum.

IMHO I believe player rotations are staged in a way to hopefully help players with certain issues. In Jacorey's case maybe a little confidence booster was needed. I believe he gained some with those two free throws he knocked down at the end. I love this kid, he has a problem I have.....his tranny is stuck in high gear and this causes his butt to outrun his brain!

[Deeznutts]

So you just wanted to argue but really agree with me. So funny. I call it like it is and your retard arse wraps a turd in sugar. Nice.

[-Blu]

IMHO I believe player rotations are staged in a way to hopefully help players with certain issues. In Jacorey's case maybe a little confidence booster was needed. I believe he gained some with those two free throws he knocked down at the end. I love this kid, he has a problem I have.....his tranny is stuck in high gear and this causes his butt to outrun his brain!

No doubt Jacorey played well.  He does a lot of stuff that doesn't show in the box score.  He brings energy, get hands on lose balls, rebounds well, runs hard on fast breaks, and is a pretty decent slasher to the basket.

With that said I'd prefer Qualls or Kikko in the game when we have the game in hand and Alabama is going to foul.  We can't have a 64% FT shooter in a position to get the ball on a one/one situation when we're only up 3 points.  That really could have turned out bad.

[-Blu]

So you just wanted to argue but really agree with me. So funny. I call it like it is and your retard arse wraps a turd in sugar. Nice.

What?    I don't even know what to say.  I'm done for tonight.

[Rooster Hogburn]

What?    I don't even know what to say.  I'm done for tonight.

Good decision, don't argue with that fool. He's obviously on drugs.

[Atlhogfan1]

The good was Portis.  Great is more accurate.  14-17 35pts and didn't score for over 10 min in the second half.  Could have gotten to 40.  Now it wasn't against top 10 teams like Huery vs KU or Scotty multiple times as a freshman.  But in this era, it was impressive.  I wonder if he had missed that first 17 ft shot if he would have kept shooting as he missed from that range the last few games early and then took his game to the post.  He made the first and kept firing.

The bad: defense, substitutions, shot selection, decision making, Bama on their offensive end.  They are one of the worst offensive teams the league has seen in a while.  Never felt as though they had the shotmakers to win this in the end as some of our other opponents have. 

[Rbill]

This game was a roller coaster ride to say the least.  It was exciting watching Portis break the freshman scoring record for Arkansas, and then it was soooo depressing watching us fail to be able to make layups and shoot the ball.

The Good

-Bobby Portis is really starting to assert himself as a leader on this team.  He was demanding the ball, playing with confidence, pumping up the other players, and basically put on a 1 man show to win the game for us.  This was arguably the greatest performance of a freshman in Arkansas history.

-Even with our poor shooting, we showed that we could still pull out a close game.  This is big, because we will struggle to shoot on the road more often than not, it's good to see that instead of continuing to force 3 pointers or jump shots like we normally do, we got the ball in the paint, whether it be with Portis or Harris and we either got an easy shot or got to the free throw.  If we do this on the road, and get Harris to give us 8 points a night in SEC play from the bench we'll beat Vandy, Miss State, and Alabama on the road.

-Everyone had good body language during the entire game.  You looked on the bench and everyone including Qualls was engaged and rooting for the team.  Even when we struggled with shots, everyone still kept their heads up and played hard.  Was good to see Harris get back to his roots on just bulldozing in the lane.... yea that may not work all the time, but against bad teams it will, and there's enough bad teams in the SEC for him to do that to.

The Bad

-The shooting was atrocious from everyone but Bobby Portis.  Guys have to go be able to hit open shots plain and simple.  For us to get back into the mix of things we're going to have to have a few games where guys step up and shoot lights out.

-We let Alabama have a lot of open looks, luckily they shot the ball just as bad as we did, so it didn't come back bite us.  It's troubling because some guys are still confused on defense, I seen Madden yelling a few times at guys because they were either in the wrong defense or out of position.  We can't have mental mistakes like that from guys, especially with the chaotic style of defense we play, everyone has got to know their role.

-Late game execution again was a disappointment, against a good team, we probably would have lost.  No reason we come out of a timeout, and the best shot we get is Madden attempting to draw a foul on a last second 3 point heave.  Also, no reason JaCorey Williams should have been in the game in the last minute when it was clear Alabama was going to foul.  One of the assistants has got to grab coach Anderson and notify him that JaCorey is a 64% free throw shooter, and hasn't played a lot especially in late game situations.  This could have really come back to haunt us.  He missed the one/one and had Alabama not completely broke down on their next possession, they could have had an opportunity to tie and send it to OT with Alabama having momentum.

Well Put. I get the feeling everyone might understand now that Portis is our most important player. Madden/Gulley/Kikko are all serviceable guards that can feed the big man and hit shots when they are wide open. Everyone else can have a spot in the rotation if they hustle, rebound, and don't take shots away from Portis. And don't miss open layups.

[mizzouman]

The bottom line is that there's really nothing bad about a win..

[HognotinMemphis]

Home game and a win over a sub .500 bad Alabama team. Woo hoo!

[HF#1]

subpar performance against a subpar team at home.  It's a win but aside from Portis, I'm not sure how many guys we have that actually want to play basketball.

[RazorPiggie]

Good PORTIS

Bad REST OF THE TEAM.

[Kevin]

i love jacory's energy, but why won't they tell him to stop shooting.

good & bad: alabama, good thing they played has bad as they did.

[DeltaBoy]

Alabama still hasn't won away from home in nearly a year. Per the Bama Paper!

[Mick Hogger]

i love jacory's energy, but why won't they tell him to stop shooting.

Agreed. He was horrible under the goal. Love his energy and defense though.

[HognotinMemphis]

subpar performance against a subpar team at home.  It's a win but aside from Portis, I'm not sure how many guys we have that actually want to play basketball.

Or CAN play basketball. This is not a basketball team. Far from it.

[HF#1]

Or CAN play basketball. This is not a basketball team. Far from it.

I agree.  Nothing between the ears from a basketball standpoint.