Lighten Up, Jimmy!

[HawgnCorona]

Is this the only Game Dykes has called for us this season?

no, he has called others...

[HamShank]

Fortson has been one of the main subjects of basketball talk in the national media since the OU win.  What goes up must come down.  Dykes' assessment was one of someone looking at a player who's been getting a ton of hype and saying, "Well, he's not Superman."  And he's not.  Yet.

[Mr.Mabry]

Maybe he has high expectations for the Hogs.

It's very clear that he has high expectations for Fortson and Washington. He talked about Clarke today mentioning his shooting and hustle.

He also mentioned us as a good tourney team if we beat Texas....says Texas is a better team than Oklahoma.

He was very critical of a few mistakes that Fortson made, but he let him have it when he missed his freethrows.

In my opinion, he's expecting another level of play above and beyond what the team has given us thus far. I think he'd be very proud of his home state team if we beat teams down every time like we did Oklahama.

But, hey I like Blake too. He's a funny guy.....must be the shirt.

[Hawgrox]

Fortson seemed like a player that had been reading his own press today. There are several areas of his game that he needs to improve on, but then again he is only a freshman. As far as freshmen go he is one of the best in the country.

That pretty much sums up the way I feel about it as well. Fortson is a Freshman...and yes he makes mistakes. I saw today several instances of where he should have passed off to the open man (i.e. right before the halftime buzzer) but chose to go into traffic instead. I think part of the game plan was for Fortson to drive the lane early to draw the defense in and then start kicking it out to the open man off the double team and that may have led to him taking some liberties that he may not have normally taken. Bottom line is that Jimmy called what he saw...he just needs to point out that Courtney is a Freshman and will make those mistakes all year.

We won....I am happy.

Bring on the shorthorns.....

[The_Iceman]

Tell me one analysis or observation Jimmy made on Fortson that was wrong.

Alot of people are jumping on the bandwagon now, and deservingly so. But unlike alot of people on this board, Jimmy watches and studies college basketball. He has watched the best of the best this year. He knows what this team needs to do to get to that level and knows what Fortson needs to improve on to become and elite player.

So I welcome Jimmy to say whatever he wishes, because he knows alot more about the game that all of us.

[3kgthog]

I don't mind Dykes pointing out flaws in our team, but he was all over it from the tipoff to the final buzzer. It was like the criticism never stopped.

I also wouldn't go so far as to say that Dykes knows more about the game than all of us. I'm pretty sure some on here probably have more playing and/or coaching experience than the infallible Jimmy Dykes.

[Hawgrox]

Tell me one analysis or observation Jimmy made on Fortson that was wrong.

Dykes said that Fortson was using too much conditioner on his hair.

[blunt_hawg]

Here's the problem with that.he's not on espn. he is doing a local Razorback broadcast. most arkansas fans want a homer when it comes to Razorback local broadcast. nothing wrong with that.i rather have Blake Eddins.

I'd rather have a guy who actually talks about what's going on in the game instead of rambling on about the refs or what kind of shirt the guy on the other team is wearing (he wouldn't shut up about Crocker's long sleeve t-shirt the other night).

I don't like Eddins or Scott Inman calling games.  Eddins tries to hard to be funny instead of breaking down what's happening (like he's suppose to be doing), and Inman doesn't seem to know enough about basketball to do the play-by-play.  He doesn't describe what kind of sets they're in, what kind of plays they're trying to run, or what kind of defenses they in. 

Between Inman meandering through the play-by-play (he did the same in the football games he called) and Eddins trying to do a standup routine, I had to mute my TV the other night during the Okie game...

[Hihog]

Jimmy did rub me a little bit today but for the most part Jimmy Otay!!

[ishankem]

I think Dykes is great.  I like to have someone tell it like it is, instead of force feeding me mush all the time, and how great things are when, in fact, it could be improved.  I think Dykes knows his stuff, and was just giving his constructive criticism.  CF can improve and will get better. He's not perfect.

[SPAL]

the fact this is even being talked about is laughable. Lets treat this team with kid gloves and never point out flaws....hope pel is taking notes.

[Karma]

Those complaining about Dykes can never be happy. Schaffer is a sunshine pumper when he always finds the positive, but Dykes is too negative when he points out flaws. You can't make some of you happy.

[Pigor Mortis]

Dykes is a star at ESPN now.  Saw him on the new college basketball studio show this week.

Fortson was spectactular and bad today.  Great plays....takes control of the game.....had three amazing assists including one where he was throwing it out for a three and catches Washington out of the cornor of his eye and flicks it to him.

But, he had five bad turnovers.  I can live with agressive t.o.s, but he was making terrible lazy passes.  And twice he made a turnover and didn't hustle back, which is inexcusable unless he was hurt or exhausted.  He has also got to get better at free throws.

[WMHawgfan]

Damn, FCJ, I didn't get that impression at all.  You're telling me that you'd rather have a cheap copy of Dicky V/Duke for the Hogs.  Not me, I'll take Jimmy.

I didn't view it as bashing either. He was making some very honest and true critiques of Fortson's play. The one time he kinda bashed him it was for something he deserved to be bashed for. He made a careless turnover and made no attempt to get back on defense to stop the breakaway layup. Late in the game he made a very bad pass to Rotnei that went out of bounds then tried to get on Rotnei like it was his fault. The critcism for his poor freethrow shooting is accurate. He said teams are going to start fouling him late in the game and he is going to have to be better or it will cost us some games. He also gave him praise for the things he does well too so it wasn't all criticism and bashing.

[hogbud]

Dykes is like most "color" commentary people now who are "critique" oriented instead.  I feel it dumbs down the entire broadcast.  You see it in every sport and while it should be part of the commentary, it should not dominate it as Dykes did today.  Maybe he had a bad day as did CF.

[Swine & Cheese Club]

Dykes wants so bad for Arkansas to be ranked and playing with the big boys again.  He loves the hogs and just wants what is best for the team. He sees that how CF goes so goes the Hogs.  Yeah he was hard on CF today and a lot of it was warranted.  CF played loose today, had control issues, shot bad from the line and not much better from the field.  He did get everyone else involved and played aggressively, which is what you want from your PG.  Hopefully today was just him pressing more knowing that the team we were playing wasn't a Oklahoma or Texas.  WPS!

[hei5manhog]

I think CF did get a little bit too full of his own success today and thought he may be able to show out on a lesser opponent.  Thats just me speculating. 

What I also think is that he'll tighten up those sneaks and have a hellova game against UT.  He played down to his opponent today, that's not unheard of w/ young talented players.  Pel will have his head back on straight.  I dont know fortson, but he seems to understand the game quite well.  If that's the case he'll know he can't come out lack luster against UT or they'll blow the doors off bud walton.

[Queen Hog]

Not trying to be a homer. I always appreciate Jimmy's commentary. It just seemed like he had a noticeable disdain for Fortson today. One bad game does not constitute a trend (on either Fortson's or Dyke's part.)

I commented on that too during the game.  It was quite noticable to me.  Dykes did not have a lot of good things to say about Fortson.  It made me go......hmmmmmmmmmm.