POLL: Hoop Hogs are 7-1, #7 RPI...what will fairweather fans complain about now?

[fourthcrusade]

Whine, whine, whine - all you people do is complain!

Keep it up!  The more you complain, the better we do!  At this rate, we will win 30 games and go to the final four.



(courtesy espn.com, AP Photo/April L. Brown)

[hogfan064]

 "We should have hired Mike Anderson, his teams are exciting" (UAB never scored 100, scored over 90 once, and scored 37 last year; we have 100+ once, and 90+ three times)

You keep bringing this point up, but forget to leave out that Anderson beat Heath by 20.

When your RPI is 7th after 8 games its not that big of a deal.  What matters is how you do in the postseason and Heath has done nothing at Arkansas in the postseason.   Stan beat a 4-4 CMU team last night and beat a UMKC team by 10 points on Saturday.  Are these things to be proud of?  Not exactly, Heath has to win these games.   When he quits losing on the road to teams like MSU and Ole Miss then I'll be happy.  When he wins 1 postseason game I'll be happy, but he hasn't done that yet.  He hasn't proved anything at this point other than he's a decent recruiter.

[fourthcrusade]

"We should have hired Mike Anderson, his teams are exciting" (UAB never scored 100, scored over 90 once, and scored 37 last year; we have 100+ once, and 90+ three times)

You keep bringing this point up, but forget to leave out that Anderson beat Heath by 20.

When your RPI is 7th after 8 games its not that big of a deal.  What matters is how you do in the postseason and Heath has done nothing at Arkansas in the postseason.   Stan beat a 4-4 CMU team last night and beat a UMKC team by 10 points on Saturday.  Are these things to be proud of?  Not exactly, Heath has to win these games.   When he quits losing on the road to teams like MSU and Ole Miss then I'll be happy.  When he wins 1 postseason game I'll be happy, but he hasn't done that yet.  He hasn't proved anything at this point other than he's a decent recruiter.

Stan has been to the Elite 8, farther than Mike Anderson.

IF you get to use Mike anderson's UAB 'success, then I get to use Stan's kent state success.

Stan > MIke in terms of ncaa so far.  We don't know how mizzou will do in the tourney, if they even get there this year (i think they do).
\
"Are these things to be proud of?" YOU BET.  OBVIOUSLY YOU DON'T FOLLOW COLLEGE HOOPS.  LAST YEAR, we were plagued with an RPI of like 60, and got stuck with low projections & low NCAA seeding.  why a low rpi?  because our nonconference teams were like "texas pan american, 0-12" and "1-10".  do you even REALIZE what an advantage we have?  our worst nonconference team was 4-4???  this is AMAZING.  this is AWESOME.  we will enter SEC play with an RPI of top 10, and play teams like florida, bama, and LSU early. 

If you followed college hoops at all, you might see how RPI really really relaly does matter, even though it shouldn't.  Come tourney time, we could win 18 games and still get in with a top 10 rpi.  This is Huge.

But alas, you are made because we "only" won by 16 last night (NEWS FLASH - we were up by 25 and then benched the starters!~!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[sooie dog]

Let me know when we win a tournament game.  By the way Fire Heath!

[hogfan064]

"We should have hired Mike Anderson, his teams are exciting" (UAB never scored 100, scored over 90 once, and scored 37 last year; we have 100+ once, and 90+ three times)

You keep bringing this point up, but forget to leave out that Anderson beat Heath by 20.

When your RPI is 7th after 8 games its not that big of a deal.  What matters is how you do in the postseason and Heath has done nothing at Arkansas in the postseason.   Stan beat a 4-4 CMU team last night and beat a UMKC team by 10 points on Saturday.  Are these things to be proud of?  Not exactly, Heath has to win these games.   When he quits losing on the road to teams like MSU and Ole Miss then I'll be happy.  When he wins 1 postseason game I'll be happy, but he hasn't done that yet.  He hasn't proved anything at this point other than he's a decent recruiter.

Stan has been to the Elite 8, farther than Mike Anderson.

IF you get to use Mike anderson's UAB 'success, then I get to use Stan's kent state success.

Stan > MIke in terms of ncaa so far.  We don't know how mizzou will do in the tourney, if they even get there this year (i think they do).
\
"Are these things to be proud of?" YOU BET.  OBVIOUSLY YOU DON'T FOLLOW COLLEGE HOOPS.  LAST YEAR, we were plagued with an RPI of like 60 - why?  because our nonconference teams were like "texas pan american, 0-12" and "1-10".  do you even REALIZE what an advantage we have?  our worst nonconference team was 4-4???  this is AMAZING.  this is AWESOME.  we will enter SEC play with an RPI of top 10, and play teams like florida, bama, and LSU early. 

If you followed college hoops at all, you might see how RPI really really relaly does matter, even though it shouldn't.  Come tourney time, we could win 18 games and still get in with a top 10 rpi.  This is Huge.

But alas, you are made because we "only" won by 16 last night (NEWS FLASH - we were up by 25 and then benched the starters!~!!!!!!!!!!!!)

NEWS FLASH ANDERSON KILLED HEATH LAST THURSDAY(I can use caps too)

I watched all of last night's game and  yeah we dominated 90% of the game.  Big deal it was Central Michigan.  Do you want me to get excited with a win over a team with a RPI in the 200s? 

[fourthcrusade]

NEWS FLASH ANDERSON KILLED HEATH LAST THURSDAY(I can use caps too)

I watched all of last night's game and  yeah we dominated 90% of the game.  Big deal it was Central Michigan.  Do you want me to get excited with a win over a team with a RPI in the 200s? 

No, I want you to support a team, a coach, and a program worth supporting.  And the rpi in the 200s is light years better than last year, when playing texas pan american and another 300rpi'er KILLED us, i mean KILLED us in rankings.... the 'six game streak' wouldn't have been necessary last year if we hadnt played pan-am. 

Will you whine if we are 12-1, or 13-2 near the beginning of sec play?  will you stop whining then?

[hogfan064]

NEWS FLASH ANDERSON KILLED HEATH LAST THURSDAY(I can use caps too)

I watched all of last night's game and  yeah we dominated 90% of the game.  Big deal it was Central Michigan.  Do you want me to get excited with a win over a team with a RPI in the 200s? 

No, I want you to support a team, a coach, and a program worth supporting.  And the rpi in the 200s is light years better than last year, when playing texas pan american and another 300rpi'er KILLED us, i mean KILLED us in rankings.... the 'six game streak' wouldn't have been necessary last year if we hadnt played pan-am. 

Will you whine if we are 12-1, or 13-2 near the beginning of sec play?  will you stop whining then?

I'm not whining.  You're the one who started this post.  I'm just giving you an opinion.  My opinion is that Heath will never lead us to the final 4 and that's not good enough for me.  If we're 13-1 entering SEC play I still won't be impressed.  That means nothing.  Until Heath wins some postseason games at Arkansas he has accomplished nothing.  And Heath has to get to 13-1 first, he hasn't done it yet.  I would like Heath to do well, but he hasn't and I don't believe he can.  I will continue to support the Hogs just like you, but my expectations are much higher.  I don't accept mediocre Hogball like we've seen the last 5 years now.  I didn't like it in Nolan's last years and I don't like it now.  A fanbase as good and loyal as ours deserves more. 

If Heath was coaching a program like South Carolina or Auburn then his progress would be acceptable.  Unfortunately for him he took a job where tradition and history is above 98% of the programs in D-1.  Arkansas is a top notch program and Heath has yet to prove he's a top notch coach.

[TRUHOG718]

Our players are young and we have a whole new backcourt learning the offense and to play together. Relax we will be ok. Missouri caught us on a mental high and I'd rather that happen now than later. Almost all the ranked teams have lost already many against teams far below Missouri so what makes us so damn special. Should we fire all of their coaches too. Now we know we havent arrived yet and the team is responding in practice and transitioning this play on the court. In the past Heath did not have the type of players to play his style of play.  Im pleased thus far with our progress. You dont just restructure your team and all of the sudden your great unless your stacked with phenoms. It takes time. We still have room to grow. We will only continue to get better. Once Washington matures and starts cutting into Hill and Hunters minutes we will be awesome because their just not tough enough for the SEC. Trust me on this one Washington will be the X factor this year and noone will want to play this Razorback team come mid January. WPS

[hogfan064]

Our players are young and we have a whole new backcourt learning the offense and to play together. Relax we will be ok. Missouri caught us on a mental high and I'd rather that happen now than later. Almost all the ranked teams have lost already many against teams far below Missouri so what makes us so damn special. Should we fire all of their coaches too. Now we know we havent arrived yet and the team is responding in practice and transitioning this play on the court. In the past Heath did not have the type of players to play his style of play.  Im pleased thus far with our progress. You dont just restructure your team and all of the sudden your great unless your stacked with phenoms. It takes time. We still have room to grow. We will only continue to get better. Once Washington matures and starts cutting into Hill and Hunters minutes we will be awesome because their just not tough enough for the SEC. Trust me on this one Washington will be the X factor this year and noone will want to play this Razorback team come mid January. WPS

The youth excuse was used in Heath's first 3 years.  Last year we were experienced and couldn't even win a NCAA tourney game.  So this year we're rebuilding with youth again and should expect a worse season than last year?  Sorry the youth excuse won't work this year.

[311Hog]

We have non conference games against Texas Tech, Texas, and Oral Roberts coming up back to back to back.


We will find out alot about this years team after those games.  Personally i do think the attendance is a problem it shows apathy, i dont subscribe to the "boringness" of the play more to the sloppiness of it at times. I mean you watch Hill play aggressive with a midget guarding him, but when a player of any remote size or skill and he fades away on the offensive end. Our bigs dont pass out of double teams well at all. There is still alot of work to be done before conference season begins.

I think Heath is doing a commendable job so far i really do, constant improvement sets the bar pretty high for this year.  And the Missouri loss i believe is an aberration, mainly because it was the 4th game in 6 days they played 4 teams with completely different styles and that is difficult if not impossible for a team with young guards, and the team isn't exactly in the best "shape" either and having the "pressing 94 feet team" last I'm sure their legs were dead.

I can forgive that, but it needs to be addressed. I know these are excuses, but at this point they are all viable.

[hogfan064]

We have non conference games against Texas Tech, Texas, and Oral Roberts coming up back to back to back.


We will find out alot about this years team after those games.  Personally i do think the attendance is a problem it shows apathy, i dont subscribe to the "boringness" of the play more to the sloppiness of it at times. I mean you watch Hill play aggressive with a midget guarding him, but when a player of any remote size or skill and he fades away on the offensive end. Our bigs dont pass out of double teams well at all. There is still alot of work to be done before conference season begins.

I think Heath is doing a commendable job so far i really do, constant improvement sets the bar pretty high for this year.  And the Missouri loss i believe is an aberration, mainly because it was the 4th game in 6 days they played 4 teams with completely different styles and that is difficult if not impossible for a team with young guards, and the team isn't exactly in the best "shape" either and having the "pressing 94 feet team" last I'm sure their legs were dead.

I can forgive that, but it needs to be addressed. I know these are excuses, but at this point they are all viable.

Yeah we all know how important fresh legs are.

[jkcrunch]

It is tough to watch Heath learn as he goes.  Be honest his major weakness is he still learning how to coach during a game, work the crew, so on.   He is a very good recruiter and has built a good recruiting staff.  Rival or Scout has Talifarri (sp?) ranked in the top 20 of recruiters.  Classic point when the game he still in hand at Missouri he failed to get the officiating crews attention, He needed a T about 7 minutes into the game.   We all watch hog ball and we all know that when you play that style you foul alot.  We should have been in the bonus by the 14 min mark but we werent.

I would question his practices but I have never seen one.

[TRUHOG718]

Our players are young and we have a whole new backcourt learning the offense and to play together. Relax we will be ok. Missouri caught us on a mental high and I'd rather that happen now than later. Almost all the ranked teams have lost already many against teams far below Missouri so what makes us so damn special. Should we fire all of their coaches too. Now we know we havent arrived yet and the team is responding in practice and transitioning this play on the court. In the past Heath did not have the type of players to play his style of play.  Im pleased thus far with our progress. You dont just restructure your team and all of the sudden your great unless your stacked with phenoms. It takes time. We still have room to grow. We will only continue to get better. Once Washington matures and starts cutting into Hill and Hunters minutes we will be awesome because their just not tough enough for the SEC. Trust me on this one Washington will be the X factor this year and noone will want to play this Razorback team come mid January. WPS

The youth excuse was used in Heath's first 3 years.  Last year we were experienced and couldn't even win a NCAA tourney game.  So this year we're rebuilding with youth again and should expect a worse season than last year?  Sorry the youth excuse won't work this year.

Why should we be worse? What good is experience if you cant put the ball in the hole?Last year we had athletes and no shooters. This year we have athletes who are shooters. We should be better. WPS

[fourthcrusade]

It is tough to watch Heath learn as he goes.  Be honest his major weakness is he still learning how to coach during a game, work the crew, so on.   He is a very good recruiter and has built a good recruiting staff.  Rival or Scout has Talifarri (sp?) ranked in the top 20 of recruiters.  Classic point when the game he still in hand at Missouri he failed to get the officiating crews attention, He needed a T about 7 minutes into the game.   We all watch hog ball and we all know that when you play that style you foul alot.  We should have been in the bonus by the 14 min mark but we werent.

I would question his practices but I have never seen one.

um, wahhhht?  you think we should have had more fouls against us?  or against them?  t as in timeout or technical foul to fire them up?

sorry, i don't get it.   the whole "cant coach during a game is baloney".  we lost like 6 games by 15 points last year, missing FTs in  every one.  they had a 17 point comeback against LSU that fell short due to mccurdy missing FTs, came back against bama, tennessee, beat national champ florida....  none of that is coaching?  why do his current players like him so much?
how is it that now we make FTs when last year we always missed them?  does any credit go to heath for making them shoot FTs?  

GIve me a break.  your things are opinions.  "in game coaching"  ha.  laughable.  heath called 3 timeouts in the first half against mizzou, some i thought too early.  you see things as you want, not FACTS as they are!

[fourthcrusade]

Our players are young and we have a whole new backcourt learning the offense and to play together. Relax we will be ok. Missouri caught us on a mental high and I'd rather that happen now than later. Almost all the ranked teams have lost already many against teams far below Missouri so what makes us so damn special. Should we fire all of their coaches too. Now we know we havent arrived yet and the team is responding in practice and transitioning this play on the court. In the past Heath did not have the type of players to play his style of play.  Im pleased thus far with our progress. You dont just restructure your team and all of the sudden your great unless your stacked with phenoms. It takes time. We still have room to grow. We will only continue to get better. Once Washington matures and starts cutting into Hill and Hunters minutes we will be awesome because their just not tough enough for the SEC. Trust me on this one Washington will be the X factor this year and noone will want to play this Razorback team come mid January. WPS

The youth excuse was used in Heath's first 3 years.  Last year we were experienced and couldn't even win a NCAA tourney game.  So this year we're rebuilding with youth again and should expect a worse season than last year?  Sorry the youth excuse won't work this year.

Why should we be worse? What good is experience if you cant put the ball in the hole?Last year we had athletes and no shooters. This year we have athletes who are shooters. We should be better. WPS

We are going to be better.  We've already beaten quality opponents.

[jamie72921]

We have had good non conference records for 3 straight seasons now.

One of those seasons ended without even a berth in the NIT. So far, we have lost the toughest matchup on the schedule. Granted there will be others very soon.

But to act like things are rosy right now, is as ludicrous as claiming the sky is falling.

Be patient, it will all come out soon enough.

[hogfan064]

Our players are young and we have a whole new backcourt learning the offense and to play together. Relax we will be ok. Missouri caught us on a mental high and I'd rather that happen now than later. Almost all the ranked teams have lost already many against teams far below Missouri so what makes us so damn special. Should we fire all of their coaches too. Now we know we havent arrived yet and the team is responding in practice and transitioning this play on the court. In the past Heath did not have the type of players to play his style of play.  Im pleased thus far with our progress. You dont just restructure your team and all of the sudden your great unless your stacked with phenoms. It takes time. We still have room to grow. We will only continue to get better. Once Washington matures and starts cutting into Hill and Hunters minutes we will be awesome because their just not tough enough for the SEC. Trust me on this one Washington will be the X factor this year and noone will want to play this Razorback team come mid January. WPS

The youth excuse was used in Heath's first 3 years.  Last year we were experienced and couldn't even win a NCAA tourney game.  So this year we're rebuilding with youth again and should expect a worse season than last year?  Sorry the youth excuse won't work this year.

Why should we be worse? What good is experience if you cant put the ball in the hole?Last year we had athletes and no shooters. This year we have athletes who are shooters. We should be better. WPS

I'm not saying we will be worse.  If we make it to the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney I'll be ok with Heath, but I'm tired of people blaming the Mizzou loss on youth.  In year 5 youth shouldn't be an issue and if it is that youth should be good youth

[fourthcrusade]

We have had good non conference records for 3 straight seasons now.

One of those seasons ended without even a berth in the NIT. So far, we have lost the toughest matchup on the schedule. Granted there will be others very soon.

But to act like things are rosy right now, is as ludicrous as claiming the sky is falling.

Be patient, it will all come out soon enough.

NONE of those NC schedules before had quality opponents.  the only people we played were illinois (all losses), oklahoma teams (losses again), and hawaii last year (lost to uconn, maryland, beat kansas).  this is different because we are playing GOOD (rpi) nonconference teams!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dmcneil]

NEWS FLASH ANDERSON KILLED HEATH LAST THURSDAY(I can use caps too)

I watched all of last night's game and  yeah we dominated 90% of the game.  Big deal it was Central Michigan.  Do you want me to get excited with a win over a team with a RPI in the 200s? 

No, I want you to support a team, a coach, and a program worth supporting.  And the rpi in the 200s is light years better than last year, when playing texas pan american and another 300rpi'er KILLED us, i mean KILLED us in rankings.... the 'six game streak' wouldn't have been necessary last year if we hadnt played pan-am. 

Will you whine if we are 12-1, or 13-2 near the beginning of sec play?  will you stop whining then?

Will you stop whining about people having a different opinion than yours?

[cmakrzrbak]

There is a 50/50 chance we make the tourney right now judging on overall performance.  That isn't good enough to cut it.  Tell me, how do you think we'd match up with Florida or LSU right now?  I think we'd get blown out of the gym.  We've got a long way to go, and things can progress and get better, but nothing we've seen so far indicates a team destined for big things.  Right now we are a NIT Final Four team at best.  We'll see where we are heading in to conference play.

[hogfan064]

There is a 50/50 chance we make the tourney right now judging on overall performance.  That isn't good enough to cut it.  Tell me, how do you think we'd match up with Florida or LSU right now?  I think we'd get blown out of the gym.  We've got a long way to go, and things can progress and get better, but nothing we've seen so far indicates a team destined for big things.  Right now we are a NIT Final Four team at best.  We'll see where we are heading in to conference play.

Great point.  I'm sick of being a bubble team. 

[jkcrunch]

It is tough to watch Heath learn as he goes.  Be honest his major weakness is he still learning how to coach during a game, work the crew, so on.   He is a very good recruiter and has built a good recruiting staff.  Rival or Scout has Talifarri (sp?) ranked in the top 20 of recruiters.  Classic point when the game he still in hand at Missouri he failed to get the officiating crews attention, He needed a T about 7 minutes into the game.   We all watch hog ball and we all know that when you play that style you foul alot.  We should have been in the bonus by the 14 min mark but we werent.

I would question his practices but I have never seen one.

um, wahhhht?  you think we should have had more fouls against us?  or against them?  t as in timeout or technical foul to fire them up?

sorry, i don't get it.   the whole "cant coach during a game is baloney".  we lost like 6 games by 15 points last year, missing FTs in  every one.  they had a 17 point comeback against LSU that fell short due to mccurdy missing FTs, came back against bama, tennessee, beat national champ florida....  none of that is coaching?  why do his current players like him so much?
how is it that now we make FTs when last year we always missed them?  does any credit go to heath for making them shoot FTs?  

GIve me a break.  your things are opinions.  "in game coaching"  ha.  laughable.  heath called 3 timeouts in the first half against mizzou, some i thought too early.  you see things as you want, not FACTS as they are!

Technical foul and we should have been in the bonus meaning that Mizzou was fouling us every time we inbounded the ball.  Watch Mizzou play more experienced coaches Mizzou will struggle with foul trouble.  Whether you want to believe it or not coaches can influence officiating

No that you have me on a roll we turn the ball over way too many times that means to me that in practice he allows certain tendencies to un corrected.  We were happy last night to only have 14 against a team that did not put any pressure on us a at all.

Also show me where I said he could not coach in a game?   I said it was tough to watch him learn as he goes, it is a weakness for him.  fyi he has only been a head coach for six years now

[fourthcrusade]

NEWS FLASH ANDERSON KILLED HEATH LAST THURSDAY(I can use caps too)

I watched all of last night's game and  yeah we dominated 90% of the game.  Big deal it was Central Michigan.  Do you want me to get excited with a win over a team with a RPI in the 200s? 

No, I want you to support a team, a coach, and a program worth supporting.  And the rpi in the 200s is light years better than last year, when playing texas pan american and another 300rpi'er KILLED us, i mean KILLED us in rankings.... the 'six game streak' wouldn't have been necessary last year if we hadnt played pan-am. 

Will you whine if we are 12-1, or 13-2 near the beginning of sec play?  will you stop whining then?

Will you stop whining about people having a different opinion than yours?

of course.  but you guys should stop pretending that 'the whole fan base' is fed up with arkansas basketball.  wins make people happy.

and again, media coverage of the hogs has been nonexistant.  they won 3 games in a half week, won a national tournament?  NO PICTURES in the demo-gaz.  just a few stories.  instead, we see Connecticut's Doug Wiggins on the front page.  perhaps better advertising (like today's front page of sports) can remind people "oh yeah, hoops season has started , and we are actually good!")

[311Hog]

Yeah because LSU is unbeatable right now, o wait Wichita State beat them ....


Please no one watches basketball or cares about basketball until the first of the year.

[LA HAWG]

What in the HECK has Heath done to deserve any praise or support?  You Heath Huggers are just as bad as Nutt Huggers.

[fourthcrusade]

There is a 50/50 chance we make the tourney right now judging on overall performance.  That isn't good enough to cut it.  Tell me, how do you think we'd match up with Florida or LSU right now?  I think we'd get blown out of the gym.  We've got a long way to go, and things can progress and get better, but nothing we've seen so far indicates a team destined for big things.  Right now we are a NIT Final Four team at best.  We'll see where we are heading in to conference play.

Great point.  I'm sick of being a bubble team. 

Me too , which is why our RPI high now helps us in march (see our seed vs. tennessee's seed last year....  same wins, HUGELY different RPIs)

[fourthcrusade]

Yeah because LSU is unbeatable right now, o wait Wichita State beat them ....


Please no one watches basketball or cares about basketball until the first of the year.

At HOME no less!  The horror!

FIRE JOHN BRADY!

[fourthcrusade]

What in the HECK has Heath done to deserve any praise or support?  You Heath Huggers are just as bad as Nutt Huggers.

I'm not a "Hugger", i just don't want to have heath learn as a coach, get his 'training' here, improve EACH YEAR, then go somewhere else and have great success.  Do you?  IF we sit through 02 & 03, why don't we want to reap the benefits in 07 08 09?   

But never fear, as long as nutt has a job here, HEATH has a job.

[hogfan064]

There is a 50/50 chance we make the tourney right now judging on overall performance.  That isn't good enough to cut it.  Tell me, how do you think we'd match up with Florida or LSU right now?  I think we'd get blown out of the gym.  We've got a long way to go, and things can progress and get better, but nothing we've seen so far indicates a team destined for big things.  Right now we are a NIT Final Four team at best.  We'll see where we are heading in to conference play.

Great point.  I'm sick of being a bubble team. 

Me too , which is why our RPI high now helps us in march (see our seed vs. tennessee's seed last year....  same wins, HUGELY different RPIs)

Our RPI won't mean anything if we continue to lose on the road.

[Pork Twain]

What in the HECK has Heath done to deserve any praise or support?  You Heath Huggers are just as bad as Nutt Huggers.

I'm not a "Hugger", i just don't want to have heath learn as a coach, get his 'training' here, improve EACH YEAR, then go somewhere else and have great success.  Do you?  IF we sit through 02 & 03, why don't we want to reap the benefits in 07 08 09?  

But never fear, as long as nutt has a job here, HEATH has a job.

Dear Stan,
You are right you are not a Hugger.  That term is reserved for HDN and I have never heard a hugger cry as much as you or be as rude to his fellow fans.

[fourthcrusade]

There is a 50/50 chance we make the tourney right now judging on overall performance.  That isn't good enough to cut it.  Tell me, how do you think we'd match up with Florida or LSU right now?  I think we'd get blown out of the gym.  We've got a long way to go, and things can progress and get better, but nothing we've seen so far indicates a team destined for big things.  Right now we are a NIT Final Four team at best.  We'll see where we are heading in to conference play.

Great point.  I'm sick of being a bubble team. 

Me too , which is why our RPI high now helps us in march (see our seed vs. tennessee's seed last year....  same wins, HUGELY different RPIs)

Our RPI won't mean anything if we continue to lose on the road.

again, you're wrong.  1 home loss = 2+ road losses.    3 home losses = 7 road losses.  if we minimize road losses, even if we only lose, say 5 on the road, we will be fine.  5 road losses = 3 "real"losses (0.60 factor).

*RPI is hurt more by LOSING to teams at HOME than anything else.*  (we have florida away this year, so that helps)

[cmakrzrbak]

Yeah because LSU is unbeatable right now, o wait Wichita State beat them ....


Please no one watches basketball or cares about basketball until the first of the year.

They also just beat #6 Texas A&M last night and are ranked 11th in the country.  Wichita St. is undeafetated with another great win at #14 Syracuse (actually in the Garden, but still, close enough).  They are also a Top 25 team and will break in to the Top 20 this week.  I do follow college basketball.  LSU had a down game and State burned them.  At this point, I think one could easily pencil in losses against Wichita St. and LSU.  Nothing has been done on the court to prove otherwise.

[ctthras]

we have a big 10 coach but our big 10 offensive looks pathetic

[fourthcrusade]

What in the HECK has Heath done to deserve any praise or support?  You Heath Huggers are just as bad as Nutt Huggers.

I'm not a "Hugger", i just don't want to have heath learn as a coach, get his 'training' here, improve EACH YEAR, then go somewhere else and have great success.  Do you?  IF we sit through 02 & 03, why don't we want to reap the benefits in 07 08 09?  

But never fear, as long as nutt has a job here, HEATH has a job.

Dear Stan,
You are right you are not a Hugger.  That term is reserved for HDN and I have never heard a hugger cry as much as you or be as rude to his fellow fans.

I didn't know "fans" ridiculed those that attended games, assumed UA lies about figures, calls out the players for not playing hard enough, calls out the players for not being "enthusiastic", calls out players for poor play (i'm sorry, isn't ther elike a  'don't insult casey dick rule' around here -- are bball players immune from that protection?), if THAT is a "FAN", then forget it, I'll root for UALR.

Get over it, we are going to be better than last year, and you will still whine about something... maybe the fact we are peaking too fast LOL

[hogfan064]

There is a 50/50 chance we make the tourney right now judging on overall performance.  That isn't good enough to cut it.  Tell me, how do you think we'd match up with Florida or LSU right now?  I think we'd get blown out of the gym.  We've got a long way to go, and things can progress and get better, but nothing we've seen so far indicates a team destined for big things.  Right now we are a NIT Final Four team at best.  We'll see where we are heading in to conference play.

Great point.  I'm sick of being a bubble team. 

Me too , which is why our RPI high now helps us in march (see our seed vs. tennessee's seed last year....  same wins, HUGELY different RPIs)

Our RPI won't mean anything if we continue to lose on the road.

again, you're wrong.  1 home loss = 2+ road losses.    3 home losses = 7 road losses.  if we minimize road losses, even if we only lose, say 5 on the road, we will be fine.  5 road losses = 3 "real"losses (0.60 factor).

*RPI is hurt more by LOSING to teams at HOME than anything else.*  (we have florida away this year, so that helps)

I know the formula, you missed my point.  My point is that if we continue losing to teams on the road our record won't be good enough to help our RPI.  If we're 7-9 in SEC our RPI won't be high and the NCAA tourney isn't going to take a 7-9 and probably not a 8-8 SEC team.    Heath has to win on the road in the SEC to do better than 8-8.  He's got to win at places like Starkeville, Oxford, and Columbia this year.  If he doesn't we'll turn down another NIT and get another coach. 

[cmakrzrbak]

Oops.  Wichita St. has moved up to #16 in the latest poll.  My bad.  Yeah, they really stink don't they?

[fourthcrusade]

Whatever.  THe very fact that "attendance only 8500 in the bud" as the highest hoop post  instead of something like "COngratulations Hogs for WINNING!" shows the negativity/double standard of many on this board.

[Razorzac]

I will whine that Heath is a terrible coach. Get him to start teaching fundamentals to the team and I will stop calling for his head.

[fourthcrusade]

I will whine that Heath is a terrible coach. Get him to start teaching fundamentals to the team and I will stop calling for his head.

He's taught them FT%, rebounding, and blocks.   I agree they need to lowe their turnovers, like they did last night.

ANy other fundamentals you can think of?  We have quite a few covered! LOL

[SPAL]

Whine, whine, whine - all you people do is complain!

Keep it up!  The more you complain, the better we do!  At this rate, we will win 30 games and go to the final four.

you are in the minority, as evident by the attendance last night....but keep up the good work.

[hogdave]

Big Ten style basketball = boring.

That is why attendance is down, nobody wants to drive 3 hours (which my father and I did for just about every game from 1994 - 2002) and watch boring basketball.

[TRUHOG718]

Before we lost in football saturday most basketball posts were positive. I guess the darksiders remembered we actually have a B-Ball team now so the hate has migrated over....   
welcome glad to have ya.

[hogfan064]

Whatever.  THe very fact that "attendance only 8500 in the bud" as the highest hoop post  instead of something like "COngratulations Hogs for WINNING!" shows the negativity/double standard of many on this board.

People have a right to express their opinion.   A poll last week on here showed 65% weren't happy with Heath, if only 8,500 are showing up to games at BWA then I'd say the fanbase isn't that excited about the program right now. 

[hogfan064]

Before we lost in football saturday most basketball posts were positive. I guess the darksiders remembered we actually have a B-Ball team now so the hate has migrated over....   
welcome glad to have ya.

That's not true.  Look at Friday, there were tons of fire Heath type posts

[HogBaptist]

What in the HECK has Heath done to deserve any praise or support?  You Heath Huggers are just as bad as Nutt Huggers.

I'm not a "Hugger", i just don't want to have heath learn as a coach, get his 'training' here, improve EACH YEAR, then go somewhere else and have great success.  Do you?  IF we sit through 02 & 03, why don't we want to reap the benefits in 07 08 09?  

But never fear, as long as nutt has a job here, HEATH has a job.

Dear Stan,
You are right you are not a Hugger.  That term is reserved for HDN and I have never heard a hugger cry as much as you or be as rude to his fellow fans.

I didn't know "fans" ridiculed those that attended games, assumed UA lies about figures, calls out the players for not playing hard enough, calls out the players for not being "enthusiastic", calls out players for poor play (i'm sorry, isn't ther elike a  'don't insult casey dick rule' around here -- are bball players immune from that protection?), if THAT is a "FAN", then forget it, I'll root for UALR.

Get over it, we are going to be better than last year, and you will still whine about something... maybe the fact we are peaking too fast LOL

alright fourthcrusade, i'm sick of tireless rants about how good the team is.  lets break the team down.

Gary Ervin = He is an ok point guard that turns the ball over way too much.  He is not much of a leader.  When he is pressured, the runs the ball way too much.  He takes quick shots that very rarely pay off.  If he doesn't take the quick shot, he forces the ball down low. 

Mccurdy = Good ball handler, but, again, can't handle the pressure very well.  He picks up his dribble way too much.  He cannot shoot off the dribble, and has a hard time getting open for a shot.  He does not lead very well.

Beverly = Very wirey.  He can play D with the best of them.  He is by far the best player that we have.  He gets fired up and constanly is going over to Stan Heath asking to be stuck up for on fouls.  He can shoot, but still maybe tries to force the shot.  He is more of a leader on this team with his play.  Not good to have a freshmen as a leader.

Welsh = Good shooter, but not consistent enough.  He can play OK D at best.

Townes = This might be Stans finest work.  Stan doesn't know what to do with him, but he needs him.  The guy is a head case in the game.  He gets ticked off and just shuts down.  He is good at D this year, but is horrible on the offensive end. 

Hill = Getting better.  Amazing shot blocker, but can't get it done on the offensive end.

Weems = Good player at best right now.  He has a hard time getting himself fired up.  He did the same thing at UAFS.  He wouldn't ever start playing until he had to.  Now it is getting him in trouble.  He is not able to get going, b/c he isn't getting ready fast enough.

Thomas = very good player.  he is very consistent except for a few games.  He has incredible heart.  He fights for everything he does out there.  He is a down low type of player.  Stan has tried to make him into an outside player, small forward or so, but he isn't good enough for it.

That is it for the key guys.

Lets look at Stan.

He seems to be a good recruiter.  He has a hard time getting his team fired up.  He also has a hard time getting the team to listen to him.  The example to be used here is the Missou game.  He kept calling time outs and EVERY player kept doing the exact same thing.  They were not doing anything different.  They would continuously hurry the ball and try to run with Mizz.  He also would not get on the refs.  They are playing a high tempo game, which should cause everyone to get riled up.  Stan didn't.  He just sat there.  Get off your freaking butt.  That might not be his style, but every coach does it. 

This teams progression.  Every player on this team is exactly the same as when they came.  Thomas, Townes, Hill, McCurdy, Hunter.  None of them have progressed.  That is Stans weakness.  He is having a hard time getting these guys do what he wants them to do.  That is the key to basketball.  The players must be sold out...these guys aren't. 

[TRUHOG718]

Before we lost in football saturday most basketball posts were positive. I guess the darksiders remembered we actually have a B-Ball team now so the hate has migrated over....   
welcome glad to have ya.

That's not true.  Look at Friday, there were tons of fire Heath type posts

Friday was and emotional day for everyone. I see the overall difference in the attitudes have changed since sat though. Many still will want Heath gone no matter what so I can't change that.

[Ouachihog]

NEWS FLASH ANDERSON KILLED HEATH LAST THURSDAY(I can use caps too)

I watched all of last night's game and  yeah we dominated 90% of the game.  Big deal it was Central Michigan.  Do you want me to get excited with a win over a team with a RPI in the 200s? 

No, I want you to support a team, a coach, and a program worth supporting.  And the rpi in the 200s is light years better than last year, when playing texas pan american and another 300rpi'er KILLED us, i mean KILLED us in rankings.... the 'six game streak' wouldn't have been necessary last year if we hadnt played pan-am. 

Will you whine if we are 12-1, or 13-2 near the beginning of sec play?  will you stop whining then?

I do admire your enthusiasm, and I wish I had some of it.  Let's go down the schedule.  The "big 3 in december" are T Tech, texas, and ORU.  I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say we win 2 of the 3, which may or may not happen.  I'll even give you three wins over Oakland, La tech, and Tulsa.  That would put us 12-2 going into SEC play.  This would be a good record and would put us in position to make an ncaa run.  If we finish 8-8 in SEC play we would be 20-10 needing to win 1 in the SEC tourney most likely.  RPI would still be top 25 more than likely.  

With that said, I don't think it will happen b/c of how tough the SEC is.  Three of our first 5 SEC games are against top 10 teams (Bama, at Florida, and LSU).  The other 2 games in that stretch are AT Ole Miss and UGA at home.  We lost at Ole Miss last year and they had possibly the worst team in the league.  I see us being 1-4 after 5 SEC games.  But the schedule only gets better from here....we then play AT south carolina and AT Bama.  Looking like 1-6 SEC play, maybe 2-5 after 7 games.  The good news after that, we play 2 straight home games, the bad news...one of them is kentucky.  We could get back into the race by beating UK and Auburn here, or we could seal our fate with another loss.  

Bottom line, the SEC is too good this year, we have a lot of rookies who may light it up one night, but then go 0-6 with 4 turnovers the next night.  Our point guard assist to turnover average will be 1-1 in SEC play if we are LUCKY.  Right now, I anticipate a 6-10 to 7-9 SEC season and another NIT play or no play decision.  Hope to goodness I'm wrong.  

[hogfan064]

NEWS FLASH ANDERSON KILLED HEATH LAST THURSDAY(I can use caps too)

I watched all of last night's game and  yeah we dominated 90% of the game.  Big deal it was Central Michigan.  Do you want me to get excited with a win over a team with a RPI in the 200s? 

No, I want you to support a team, a coach, and a program worth supporting.  And the rpi in the 200s is light years better than last year, when playing texas pan american and another 300rpi'er KILLED us, i mean KILLED us in rankings.... the 'six game streak' wouldn't have been necessary last year if we hadnt played pan-am. 

Will you whine if we are 12-1, or 13-2 near the beginning of sec play?  will you stop whining then?

I do admire your enthusiasm, and I wish I had some of it.  Let's go down the schedule.  The "big 3 in december" are T Tech, texas, and ORU.  I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say we win 2 of the 3, which may or may not happen.  I'll even give you three wins over Oakland, La tech, and Tulsa.  That would put us 12-2 going into SEC play.  This would be a good record and would put us in position to make an ncaa run.  If we finish 8-8 in SEC play we would be 20-10 needing to win 1 in the SEC tourney most likely.  RPI would still be top 25 more than likely.  

With that said, I don't think it will happen b/c of how tough the SEC is.  Three of our first 5 SEC games are against top 10 teams (Bama, at Florida, and LSU).  The other 2 games in that stretch are AT Ole Miss and UGA at home.  We lost at Ole Miss last year and they had possibly the worst team in the league.  I see us being 1-4 after 5 SEC games.  But the schedule only gets better from here....we then play AT south carolina and AT Bama.  Looking like 1-6 SEC play, maybe 2-5 after 7 games.  The good news after that, we play 2 straight home games, the bad news...one of them is kentucky.  We could get back into the race by beating UK and Auburn here, or we could seal our fate with another loss.  

Bottom line, the SEC is too good this year, we have a lot of rookies who may light it up one night, but then go 0-6 with 4 turnovers the next night.  Our point guard assist to turnover average will be 1-1 in SEC play if we are LUCKY.  Right now, I anticipate a 6-10 to 7-9 SEC season and another NIT play or no play decision.  Hope to goodness I'm wrong.  

If your prediction comes true and infact we miss the NCAA tourney then Heath has to go.  4 misses in 5 years and no postseason wins is a firing at any elite program.

[Juicemeister]

I didn't know "fans" ridiculed those that attended games, assumed UA lies about figures

You are thick. Just because we complain about attendance means that we're ridiculing fans? I drive from Fort Smith for 2 out of every 3 games. That's 120 to 240 miles a week just to see the BB hogs play. What I'm sick of is not seeing a quality team. There are so many students who live on campus and so many Hog fans in NWA who are apathetic because our team is nothing to write home about. Where are all the fans? They're at home because our team is average at best. Why doesn't the media cover the basketball Hogs like they used to? Because our team is average at best. Heath has had 5 years to build up a team, and they're showing somewhat of a glimpse of hope, but people are getting sick of the sluggish pace on which we improve.

Just because I complain about the attendance of a game being 3,000 (and laughing at the UA's padded "estimate" of 8,000) doesn't mean I'm ridiculing fans. I'm one of the 3,000. Where are the other 17,000?

[hogfankb]

NEWS FLASH ANDERSON KILLED HEATH LAST THURSDAY(I can use caps too)

I watched all of last night's game and  yeah we dominated 90% of the game.  Big deal it was Central Michigan.  Do you want me to get excited with a win over a team with a RPI in the 200s? 

No, I want you to support a team, a coach, and a program worth supporting.  And the rpi in the 200s is light years better than last year, when playing texas pan american and another 300rpi'er KILLED us, i mean KILLED us in rankings.... the 'six game streak' wouldn't have been necessary last year if we hadnt played pan-am. 

Will you whine if we are 12-1, or 13-2 near the beginning of sec play?  will you stop whining then?

I do admire your enthusiasm, and I wish I had some of it.  Let's go down the schedule.  The "big 3 in december" are T Tech, texas, and ORU.  I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say we win 2 of the 3, which may or may not happen.  I'll even give you three wins over Oakland, La tech, and Tulsa.  That would put us 12-2 going into SEC play.  This would be a good record and would put us in position to make an ncaa run.  If we finish 8-8 in SEC play we would be 20-10 needing to win 1 in the SEC tourney most likely.  RPI would still be top 25 more than likely.  

With that said, I don't think it will happen b/c of how tough the SEC is.  Three of our first 5 SEC games are against top 10 teams (Bama, at Florida, and LSU).  The other 2 games in that stretch are AT Ole Miss and UGA at home.  We lost at Ole Miss last year and they had possibly the worst team in the league.  I see us being 1-4 after 5 SEC games.  But the schedule only gets better from here....we then play AT south carolina and AT Bama.  Looking like 1-6 SEC play, maybe 2-5 after 7 games.  The good news after that, we play 2 straight home games, the bad news...one of them is kentucky.  We could get back into the race by beating UK and Auburn here, or we could seal our fate with another loss.  

Bottom line, the SEC is too good this year, we have a lot of rookies who may light it up one night, but then go 0-6 with 4 turnovers the next night.  Our point guard assist to turnover average will be 1-1 in SEC play if we are LUCKY.  Right now, I anticipate a 6-10 to 7-9 SEC season and another NIT play or no play decision.  Hope to goodness I'm wrong.  

I don't think the SEC is as strong as everyone likes to believe. There are 2 teams that are head and shoulders above the rest right now. Florida and Bama. LSU, Tenn, Kentucky, Arkansas are middle tier with everyone else falling in behind that. I think we split with LSU and beat Kent(very overrated) and Tenn because we have proven over the last couple of years that we are still VERY tough to beat in BWA. I think Tenn is more likely a loss than Kentucky right now because we are horrible at protecting the ball. Hopefully that will improve.

I think we lose 1 out of the big 3 nonconference(at Texas). Lose at home to bama. Probably lose 1 other game at home(LSU or Tenn). Lose @ Fl, @ Bama, @ LSU, @(insert one of the games we should have won). That puts us at 10-6 again and 22-8 overall. The big question to me is how do we preform in the post season.