Non Cry-Babies Unite!

[Breems]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the knee-jerk reaction on here, but it's a little overwhelming even for our fan base.

It was ONE game.  One ROAD game.  For the past decade+, it hasn't mattered how terrible the other team was.  We've ALWAYS sucked on the road because we've sucked as a program.  We'll beat the **** out of A&M when they come to Bud Walton.

The way I see it, we're 9-5 and 0-1 in conference play.  That's what... an ENTIRE SEC schedule left to play?  We have two very winnable home games coming up and after we win them, our fickle fan base will pump sunshine all over Jump Ball until we go to Ole Miss and then it's panic time all over again.

Mike has won everywhere he's been and he's going to do it here. 

Oh, and the haters that keep crying about everyone wanting Hawgball, the 90's, and Nolan Richardson are idiots.  EVERYONE is aware those days are gone.  Get a clue.  We didn't bring Mike in to bring back the 90's... we brought him in to win, and that's what he'll do.

[Red Tusk]

Breems go Boom +1

[HF#1]

I just don't know...  That's all I can say.  We played so so badly last night that I just don't know.

[pigture perfect]

So you're saying that we shouldn't be upset because our team wasn't prepared? If we had gotten beat by Florida or Kentucky like that we wouldn't think too much of it. 4 of 15 from the freethrow line is all mental preparation.

[Breems]

I just don't know...  That's all I can say.  We played so so badly last night that I just don't know.

No dodging that one.  It was an AWFULLY played game and probably one of the worst we'll have all season.  If we consistently play with that kind of effort, then I'll panic.

But again, it explains about as much as the good performance @Michigan (and no, I'm not going for moral victories).  We have TWO players that can score the ball.  Wade has completely disappeared and we're relying on freshmen to play big minutes down low.  We can't expect consistent road victories with that kind of formula.

I warned all summer that this was an NIT team or worse.  People expected WAAAY too much.

[HF#1]

No dodging that one.  It was an AWFULLY played game and probably one of the worst we'll have all season.  If we consistently play with that kind of effort, then I'll panic.

But again, it explains about as much as the good performance @Michigan (and no, I'm not going for moral victories).  We have TWO players that can score the ball.  Wade has completely disappeared and we're relying on freshmen to play big minutes down low.  We can't expect consistent road victories with that kind of formula.

I warned all summer that this was an NIT team or worse.  People expected WAAAY too much.

Not sure scoring the ball is the problem...  Defending the ball and rebounding the ball seem like bigger issues to me.

[SexyBeast77]

We've sucked on the road because we've sucked period. One Tournment win  in 2008, then it's  back to 1999.

[Pork Twain]

If one of our two best players, continues to disappear in big games, our guys continue to pass up open shots, we continue to fail to block-out, and we continue to fail to play solid half-court defense, the SEC schedule will be rough.  That is not crying, that is an honest analysis.  Sorry you think that those that are concerned by our play in those areas so far are cry babies.

[Breems]

We've sucked on the road because we've sucked period. One Tournment win  in 2008, then it's  back to 1999.

Amen.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

I know I can be the Master of Oversimplification (the "MOO"), but the thought I've had the past several years that I just can't shake is this............we have not had a team that has truly had any chemistry since the Kareem Reid-Pat Bradley-Derek Hood teams of the late '90s.  (Heath's team featuring Brewer and Modica came close)  I realize that "chemistry" is a vague term that means different things to different people, but to me it means that (1) the team has a core group, usually 7-8 players at most, that it depends on to do the playing, (2) those in the core group know their role and perform that same role game after game, and (3) the players not only seem to enjoy playing together, they come to know each other's games so well that the sum is far greater than the individual parts.

Most great teams have five set starters and two or three that come off the bench to play significant minutes.  There are 4-5 that are attached to the pine and too bad if they don't like it.  Duke is that way.  Kentucky is that way.  Heck, we were that way during all of our peak periods.  Eddie's teams, Nolan's teams - all had great chemistry and all had a core group of players that knew their role.  Ever since about 2000, I think we've gotten away from that.  We have had interchangeable parts with substitution patterns that seemingly have no rhyme or reason, and I think team chemistry has suffered as a result.  Granted, part of the problem has been the absence of players "stepping up" and asserting themselves, but I think part of it has also been the inabilit of the coach - whether it be Nolan, Heath, Pelphrey or Mike - to make a decision to go with a core group and sink or swim with it. 

As I watched last night, all I could think of was that this team looks like last year's team, which looked like the team before that, which looked like....well, you get the picture. 

[Breems]

If one of our two best players, continues to disappear in big games, our guys continue to pass up open shots, we continue to fail to block-out, and we continue to fail to play solid half-court defense, the SEC schedule will be rough.  That is not crying, that is an honest analysis.

Very true.  Powell was a huge disappointment last night and his two early hack-a-Shaq's made him a non-factor completely.

Passing up open shots has to be the MOST annoying aspect of this team for me.  If BJ or Powell aren't in the game, NO ONE wants to shoot no matter what offense we run.

I was more negative than most on here during the summer.  I still think this is an NIT team or worse, so count me as a cry-baby in that aspect.  I'm just appalled by the calling for Mike's head by the same folks who were cheering Pelphrey on in year 4. :-/

[alwaysondbigscreen]

I'm not so sure that you might be mistaking disgust for whining and panic. I'm not whining, and i think the hogs will eventually be fine under Anderson. I am however bitching because that was a disgusting performance, and between that and the football season i had to endure I'm more than a little fed up

[Breems]

I'm not so sure that you might be mistaking disgust for whining and panic. I'm not whining, and i think the hogs will eventually be fine under Anderson. I am however bitching because that was a disgusting performance, and between that and the football season i had to endure I'm more than a little fed up

Same here.  Disgusting, inexcusable performance.  Don't mistake my optimism for the future for acceptance of last night's game.

But it's time to move on.  Just as our player's shouldn't give up after one loss, I'm not going to.

[Dropkick]

We had a bad night. It happens. We aren't a great team yet. Great teams find a way to compete and win even on their down nights. There is an awful lot of BB left before we know what this squad is capable of.

[Pork Twain]

I don't think the year is over or anything but there are certain areas that I find very concerning this year and areas I worry about for next year.  We finally get some inside help next year and lose our best playmaker and guard.

[hogsanity]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the knee-jerk reaction on here, but it's a little overwhelming even for our fan base.

It was ONE game. 

It is not one game.  We have not been able to play half court on either end, rebound, or shoot particularly well all season.  Last night was just a result of a poor product.  It is what happens when you recruit athletes and try to teach them to be ball players.

To not be able to win at least 12 games in a SIMPLY PATHETIC SEC is just horrible. They may go 12-5 the rest of the year, but I would not bet on it. FLA should beat them twice.  Mizzu likely beats them twice.  KY will beat them.  You know darn well they will puke up at least 2 more that should be gimmees.  9-9 is much more likely. 

[ballinhog]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the knee-jerk reaction on here, but it's a little overwhelming even for our fan base.

It was ONE game.  One ROAD game.  For the past decade+, it hasn't mattered how terrible the other team was.  We've ALWAYS sucked on the road because we've sucked as a program.  We'll beat the **** out of A&M when they come to Bud Walton.

The way I see it, we're 9-5 and 0-1 in conference play.  That's what... an ENTIRE SEC schedule left to play?  We have two very winnable home games coming up and after we win them, our fickle fan base will pump sunshine all over Jump Ball until we go to Ole Miss and then it's panic time all over again.

Mike has won everywhere he's been and he's going to do it here. 

Oh, and the haters that keep crying about everyone wanting Hawgball, the 90's, and Nolan Richardson are idiots.  EVERYONE is aware those days are gone.  Get a clue.  We didn't bring Mike in to bring back the 90's... we brought him in to win, and that's what he'll do.

I enjoy your posts but you might be overreacting to the overreacting.

I can only speak for me but my frustration was because I was so excited about this game. Looked forward to it for a few weeks and thought we finally have some talent and experience to bead bad, no wait, really really bad teams in a bad environment with no sign of a hostile environment anywhere close to college station tx. Just pissed me off as I thought this was our one good shot early in conference play to get a road win and really get the conference season kick started on a high note. Instead, I saw a team that looked like they never played the game in their life, and wouldn't have been a top 5 team in the state of Arkansas last night. UAM woulda beat ours guys as bad, scared, tight, and uninspired as they played last night.

[MountieDawg]

I guess I can believe people think the program is in a better place today... Heck, people think our country is in a better place with 4 more years of Obama. But do people think either those because they like the person or because we are seeing different results?

[Danny J]

I don't think the year is over or anything but there are certain areas that I find very concerning this year and areas I worry about for next year.  We finally get some inside help next year and lose our best playmaker and guard.

Yes....we need another shooting guard who can handle the ball and is smart with a bit of size. We need that BAD right now. We will get help on D next year down low but lose our best player who is a guard.

[Kevin]

played awful in vegas for two games
played awful in college station
played average at michigan

i would say it is more than one game.

[Breems]

I enjoy your posts but you might be overreacting to the overreacting.

That was the idea, yes.

[Pork Twain]

Yes....we need another shooting guard who can handle the ball and is smart with a bit of size. We need that BAD right now. We will get help on D next year down low but lose our best player who is a guard.

Our guards look tiny compared to many of the teams we have been playing this year.  Kiko has the heart but is lucky he is not taking to the hole more than he is.  Not like he would get much help when the guy blows by him, unless you consider a Mik or Powell foul to be help.

[Rooster Hogburn]

Breems always makes a good point. For that, he will always have haters. I'm not one of them.

+1 Breems

[Johnboy]

I guess I can believe people think the program is in a better place today... Heck, people think our country is in a better place with 4 more years of Obama. But do people think either those because they like the person or because we are seeing different results?

Good question and I have to admit I have this dream of Mike Anderson bringing the Razorbacks to the glory days of the 90s.  I cannot help it, I guess the whole "Coming Home" thing kinda got me really excited.  I am still going to go to games and be a fan, but I really need to see some kind of improvement.  I am very disappointed.

[The_Iceman]

No dodging that one.  It was an AWFULLY played game and probably one of the worst we'll have all season.  If we consistently play with that kind of effort, then I'll panic.

But again, it explains about as much as the good performance @Michigan (and no, I'm not going for moral victories).  We have TWO players that can score the ball.  Wade has completely disappeared and we're relying on freshmen to play big minutes down low.  We can't expect consistent road victories with that kind of formula.

I warned all summer that this was an NIT team or worse.  People expected WAAAY too much.

Too add to what you said: we are relying on two freshmen small forwards to log minutes down low. Williams and Qualls are SF's, not PF's. Clarke is fine as a backup PF to come in and give minutes and energy, but the longer he plays the more his lack of height is exposed.

[dsims2k3]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the knee-jerk reaction on here, but it's a little overwhelming even for our fan base.

It was ONE game.  One ROAD game.  For the past decade+, it hasn't mattered how terrible the other team was.  We've ALWAYS sucked on the road because we've sucked as a program.  We'll beat the **** out of A&M when they come to Bud Walton.

The way I see it, we're 9-5 and 0-1 in conference play.  That's what... an ENTIRE SEC schedule left to play?  We have two very winnable home games coming up and after we win them, our fickle fan base will pump sunshine all over Jump Ball until we go to Ole Miss and then it's panic time all over again.

Mike has won everywhere he's been and he's going to do it here. 

Oh, and the haters that keep crying about everyone wanting Hawgball, the 90's, and Nolan Richardson are idiots.  EVERYONE is aware those days are gone.  Get a clue.  We didn't bring Mike in to bring back the 90's... we brought him in to win, and that's what he'll do.

Applauds from me. Good way to stand up above the hysteria.

[Chic-Hog-Oh]

I just don't know...  That's all I can say.  We played so so badly last night that I just don't know.

But we played very well against #2 Michigan ON THE ROAD. So which is the real thing? Which is the trend? And then which is the anomaly?

[Brand X Hog Fan]

I'm in

[latrops]

Not sure scoring the ball is the problem...  Defending the ball and rebounding the ball seem like bigger issues to me.

The problem is that defending, rebounding, AND scoring are all issues....at least away from Bud Walton.  This team is not good at anything when they leave Fayetteville.

[latrops]

But we played very well against #2 Michigan ON THE ROAD. So which is the real thing? Which is the trend? And then which is the anomaly?

What is CMA's road record with Arkansas?  I'm sure things will be better next year...this year, I don't know.

[arkjay19]

It was ONE game.  One ROAD game.  For the past decade+, it hasn't mattered how terrible the other team was.  We've ALWAYS sucked on the road because we've sucked as a program.  We'll beat the **** out of A&M when they come to Bud Walton.

So you're telling everyone it was one game and not to panic.....while at the same time explaining it away with what has been an at least decade-long problem?  If last night was one game and the problems were only last night, then they wouldn't have correlations to 1999.

Good teams aren't bad on the road, because, well, they're good.  Good teams can have bad games on the road, but they're not simply bad on the road.  Like others have said, Arkansas has been bad on the road for at least a decade.

The simple fact is everyone had way too high expectations for this season.  If you still have high expectations then you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Can Anderson right the ship at some point and build a successful program?  Hopefully.  Probably.  But if you look at the players on this team and their fundamental flaws, it's not the team fans were hoping it would be.

[RockChalkJayhawk]

But we played very well against #2 Michigan ON THE ROAD. So which is the real thing? Which is the trend? And then which is the anomaly?

It's easy to play well at Michigan.  There was no pressure to win the game. 

Arkansas had everything to gain and nothing to lose, hence the observation 'we played well against Michigan'.  And it's true, the Hogs played stretches in that game that were among the best of this season.  With zero pressure to win, the kids played loose and aggressively; ironically the complete opposite of the Texas A&M fiasco. 

The A&M game defies explanation and leaves us all wondering what in the world was going on.

[Smithian]

It's easy to play well at Michigan.  There was no pressure to win the game. 

Arkansas had everything to gain and nothing to lose, hence the observation 'we played well against Michigan'.  And it's true, the Hogs played stretches in that game that were among the best of this season.  With zero pressure to win, the kids played loose and aggressively; ironically the complete opposite of the Texas A&M fiasco. 

The A&M game defies explanation and leaves us all wondering what in the world was going on.

During Pelphrey's last couple seasons he was really good at beating OU at home, beating small conference teams, and losing against good nonconference teams away from home before getting fire bombed on the road against SEC teams.

Bo Mattingly said it best. If you blurred out the faces and the names on the back of the jerseys last night, you wouldn't be able to distinguish whether last night was 2013, 2010, or even 2005.

[Letsroll1200]

Nolan should have a statue or the basketball court named in his honor. What he was able to achieve at Arkansas just shows how great of a coach he really was. I still believe in Mike but we will never have a Nolan again.

[iluvmyslute89]

Present and accounted for. I'll be in the back taking a nap, but have no fear! should you encounter a troll in need of a good pimpslapping, i'm only a pm/whisper away.

[Chic-Hog-Oh]

It's easy to play well at Michigan.  There was no pressure to win the game. 

Arkansas had everything to gain and nothing to lose, hence the observation 'we played well against Michigan'.  And it's true, the Hogs played stretches in that game that were among the best of this season.  With zero pressure to win, the kids played loose and aggressively; ironically the complete opposite of the Texas A&M fiasco. 

The A&M game defies explanation and leaves us all wondering what in the world was going on.

Right. That reinforces my point that it is hard to pick out a trend with wildly different efforts and results that "defy explanation."

It's human nature to make sweeping conclusions after one or two games (remember the euphoria after the back-to-back OU & Texas wins under Pel?).  It's very hard for Hogville, but we have to step back and let the larger picture unfold more....

[HawgAdvocate]

What is CMA's road record with Arkansas?  I'm sure things will be better next year...this year, I don't know.

Under MA, Arkansas is 2-15 in games away from Bud Walton Arena.

One win and one loss from that count came in North Little Rock at Verizon.

The lone, real road win was against Auburn last season (thank you Rickey Scott for having the game of your life).

[JusPiggin]

we are goin to be ok..... go hogs go

[pigture perfect]

Wally seems a little miffed over the heat on MA's behind.

[BallHog1]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the knee-jerk reaction on here, but it's a little overwhelming even for our fan base.

It was ONE game.  One ROAD game.  For the past decade+, it hasn't mattered how terrible the other team was.  We've ALWAYS sucked on the road because we've sucked as a program.  We'll beat the **** out of A&M when they come to Bud Walton.

The way I see it, we're 9-5 and 0-1 in conference play.  That's what... an ENTIRE SEC schedule left to play?  We have two very winnable home games coming up and after we win them, our fickle fan base will pump sunshine all over Jump Ball until we go to Ole Miss and then it's panic time all over again.

Mike has won everywhere he's been and he's going to do it here. 

Oh, and the haters that keep crying about everyone wanting Hawgball, the 90's, and Nolan Richardson are idiots.  EVERYONE is aware those days are gone.  Get a clue.  We didn't bring Mike in to bring back the 90's... we brought him in to win, and that's what he'll do.

I agree. Leave the drama to the jr high girls. Just a little adversity. Tough times never last, tough people do.