Sutton to Anderson, Coach accomplishments 7 years in.

[Deep Shoat]

Compile a list of coaches the caliber of Sutton and Nolan that would consider coming to Ark for me

There only has to be one.

[King Kong]

Compile a list of coaches the caliber of Sutton and Nolan that would consider coming to Ark for me

The only problem with this statement is that Sutton and Nolan made their names here. They were not the HOF caliber coaches when hired.

Successful, prior coming here. However, nothing that separated them from what MA did prior to coming here.

It wasn't till they got here that they separated themselves

You don't really know what you got till you get it in most situations

[Kevin]

funny how some on here did not like Sutton's style.
no 3 point arc
no shot clock

11 years, 71 points per game average

like hogsanity said, now the Anderson loyalist will come out a dump all over his record.

[Deep Shoat]

funny how some on here did not like Sutton's style.
no 3 point arc
no shot clock

11 years, 71 points per game average

like hogsanity said, now the Anderson loyalist will come out a dump all over his record.

I know, right? 

Some of the best basketball we've ever seen. 71ppg was like 85-90ppg now.

[Kevin]

Compile a list of coaches the caliber of Sutton and Nolan that would consider coming to Ark for me

eric musselman 70-24 in 3 years at Nevada

[oldman1015]

Good gosh you are a broken record.  Haters, whiners, crybabies, sellout Bud Walton. 

You forgot cheating refs.

[jabber71]

You can acknowledge Sutton's success, but not enjoy his style. I prefer Nolan's pace and Anderson is similar.

[Kevin]

You can acknowledge Sutton's success, but not enjoy his style. I prefer Nolan's pace and Anderson is similar.

Sutton's teams scored a lot of points without the 3 point arc, or shot clock

[hawgfan4life]

Sutton came in and landed two solid career NBA players and a third that had NBA shooting ability, but didn't go to the league.  Had he been coaching in the same climate that exists today,  he would have been lucky to have landed half of his roster and he most likely never would have had them playing in the Final Four because two of them would have been in the NBA.  No doubt Eddie Sutton was a great coach.  He was an amazing coach.  It took him until year 5 to win big at Creighton before he came to AR.  His first 4 years weren't any better than MA's overall record at AR.  In year 6 and 7 at OSU, his team didn't make any tournaments and they finished with 17 wins each season.

Fans wanted Nolan Richardson fired when he finished year 1, 2, and 3.  Everybody talked about how bad the team played, how awful the fundamentals were, etc...  NR was fortunate to have recruited a great team that dominated the SWC and allowed him to build his program.  Had the current climate today existed then, it is unlikely that we would have had Todd Day or Lee Mayberry playing their final years at AR because they would have been in the NBA. 

Mike Anderson walked into a dumpster fire in many ways with our program in disarray behind the scenes.  He pretty much had to recruit the class that had already committed which set him back down the road.  On top of that, we lost a scholarship due to our rating which set us back even further.  The first three years of MA's tenure at AR was building us back onto solid footing.  Believe that or not, it was a re-building process.  Fans expected him to land elite talent, but AR has been irrelevant in the eyes of recruits as long as they could remember.  AR was NOT a house-hold name to them.  Additionally, the summer circuits and shoe money was funneling recruits and AR was not getting involved in that shady side of recruiting which hurt the building process.  Fans that keep harping on year 7 ignore where we were in Year 1 and what has happened in the process of building.  While many want to believe the SEC is a weak basketball league, it isn't so weak and the recruiting in basketball is pretty shady.  Maybe MA should have cheated like the others, but he has tried to do it right and we have lost a lot of recruits because of that fact.

MA is not a great coach in some ways, but he is a very good coach in others.  Maybe he will do better and maybe he has peaked.  Nobody knows either way although many have their minds made up already.  What is certain is that the program as a whole has been on the upswing the past 3 years and the recruiting is on a tremendous upswing.  I would rather see what happens with better talent and positive momentum than make my mind up now based on pure speculation.  Had those that had their minds made up won out after NR's third year, we would have missed out on what we are chasing again.

[forrest city joe]

You haters and crybaby's lost.Mike Anderson is going to be the coach here.so stop your whining.i love it!GO HOGS.

[hawg66]

The Hogs have gone five straight seasons without a losing conference record. The last time that happened was in the late 90's. In fact the Hogs had not had back to back winning seasons in conference this century until Anderson got here. Just some  perspective on how far we had fallen, as if it matters to the Anderson critics.

[cityhog]

YOU LOST!

First thing FCJ has said that I agree with. MA gets the extension. We lose. 4 more years of abject mediocrity.

[PonderinHog]

Eddie and Nolan both hit the mother lode in recruiting, Eddie sooner than Nolan.  Mike has yet to do that.  I hope it happens for him soon.  The entitled are getting restless.

[cityhog]

The Hogs have gone five straight seasons without a losing conference record. The last time that happened was in the late 90's. In fact the Hogs had not had back to back winning seasons in conference this century until Anderson got here. Just some  perspective on how far we had fallen, as if it matters to the Anderson critics.

The perspective is not lost on me, but the perspective that is lost on the other side of this argument is these past couple of seasons appear to be the ceiling for MA. He's brought us far as he most likely is ever going to.

[cityhog]

Eddie and Nolan both hit the mother lode in recruiting, Eddie sooner than Nolan.  Mike has yet to do that.  I hope it happens for him soon.  The entitled are getting restless.

If Ben Howland can recruit lights out to freaking Stankville, MA should be able to recruit to Fayetteville.

[PonderinHog]

If Ben Howland can recruit lights out to freaking Stankville, MA should be able to recruit to Fayetteville.

No telling what pa$$e$ hand$ when the light$ are out in $tarkvega$.

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

If Ben Howland can recruit lights out to freaking Stankville, MA should be able to recruit to Fayetteville.

Sure.  Stansbury could recruit down there, too.  And to College Station. 

[jabber71]

Again I remember Suttons early teams had some really good players,

Player   Class   Pos   Height   Summary
Sidney Moncrief      G   6-3   22.0 Pts, 9.6 Reb, 2.7 Ast
U.S. Reed              G   6-2   11.8 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 2.1 As

Marvin Delph      F   6-4   16.3 Pts, 7.0 Reb
Sidney Moncrief      G   6-3   12.6 Pts, 7.6 Reb, 2.1 Ast
Ron Brewer      G   6-4   11.9 Pts, 3.8 Reb

But near the end I remember how painfully slow the pace was and I don't know why but I never liked Joe Klein. Then he ended up at Kentucky, and he was dead to me from that point on...

[cityhog]

No telling what pa$$e$ hand$ when the light$ are out in $tarkvega$.

Remind me again if they've ever been caught/put on probation

[dsims2k3]

If Ben Howland can recruit lights out to freaking Stankville, MA should be able to recruit to Fayetteville.

https://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/2012/2/29/2832953/ucla-basketball-scandal-investigation-ben-howland-2012

We do not need that type of drama.

[SemperHawg]

The perspective is not lost on me, but the perspective that is lost on the other side of this argument is these past couple of seasons appear to be the ceiling for MA. He's brought us far as he most likely is ever going to.

I am normally against the "wait and see approach"  but I am in favor of it for one reason and one reason only in this case.  I do agree with you that in today's recruiting landscape Anderson appears to have hit a ceiling.  However, if you believe everything you hear and read these days, change to the one-and-done system is inevitable.  Once high school seniors can start going straight to the pros again, the recruiting dynamic changes dramatically.  When that happens, what does recruiting look like for Mike and our system?

[zebradynasty]

funny how some on here did not like Sutton's style.
no 3 point arc
no shot clock

11 years, 71 points per game average

like hogsanity said, now the Anderson loyalist will come out a dump all over his record.

Are your sure about this stat? 71 points per game sounds kinda high for the Sutton era.

[jabber71]

Are your sure about this stat? 71 points per game sounds kinda high for the Sutton era.

Its right 70.8 over 11 seasons, we forget because his last 2 at Arkansas was so painfully slow 66 & 65.

[cityhog]

Its right 70.8 over 11 seasons, we forget because his last 2 at Arkansas was so painfully slow 66 & 65.

We're averaging 77 ppg in conference play. #fastest40

[zebradynasty]

If Ben Howland can recruit lights out to freaking Stankville, MA should be able to recruit to Fayetteville.

Did he have to clean up a dumpster fire like Mike inherited? A fire that had been burning since 2002!

[AflacHawg]

Did he have to clean up a dumpster fire like Mike inherited? A fire that had been burning since 2002!

Does Anderson have to recruit to that hell hole that is Starkville?

[zebradynasty]

Does Anderson have to recruit to that hell hole that is Starkville?

Since Arkansas has NEVER been a recruiters paradise....that hell hole may be wider than you think!

[Pigsear]

The bottom line to this garbage thread. Mike Anderson got yet another extension.so he is going to be the coach here. so you haters and crybaby's can cry all you want about how Arkansas should fire him.IT'S not happening this year.his team is winning games and selling out the Bud Walton.so you can forget it.you may as well either suck it up and support our playes and our coaches.

Joe we all know he got an extension, we all know he is going to be here for a few more years, and we all know that Bud Walton is selling out. but we all also know that we are going to be mediocre as long as he is here. I'm sure he's a great guy, and a average coach, but the next level will never be reached with him here. JMHO!

[The OTR]

Okay....I'm gonna come right out and say it. I hope Mike Anderson gets fired for no other reason than to spite Mr. Forrest City Joe himself. 

I'm a whiner, a hater, a crybaby, I lost, and I am going to go on record as saying that Forrest City Joe is the most obnoxious person on this message board. He makes the worst of us look pretty good in comparison.

I hope we win all our games and I hope Mike gets canned, not because I don't like him but just so we can see Joe come in here and whine and cry for two years like he did when they fired Petrino and he cried for two years about how they shouldn't have fired Bobby. I can only imagine what will happen when Mike gets canned.

If the shoe fits I'm gonna put it on my big foot and wear it, Joe.  I'm off the Mike Anderson bandwagon forever. 

[PonderinHog]

You forgot mouthbreather.

[dsims2k3]

Okay....I'm gonna come right out and say it. I hope Mike Anderson gets fired for no other reason than to spite Mr. Forrest City Joe himself. 

I'm a whiner, a hater, a crybaby, I lost, and I am going to go on record as saying that Forrest City Joe is the most obnoxious person on this message board. He makes the worst of us look pretty good in comparison.

I hope we win all our games and I hope Mike gets canned, not because I don't like him but just so we can see Joe come in here and whine and cry for two years like he did when they fired Petrino and he cried for two years about how they shouldn't have fired Bobby. I can only imagine what will happen when Mike gets canned.

If the shoe fits I'm gonna put it on my big foot and wear it, Joe.  I'm off the Mike Anderson bandwagon forever.

If that's your reason, then you wanted him gone a long time ago.

[Dominicanhog]

If that's your reason, then you wanted him gone a long time ago.

It's beautiful, just so much fun to watch...

[PonderinHog]

It's beautiful, just so much fun to watch...

Lots of hooks in the water...

[USChog]

Yeah, and what did Sutton do? "Crawled" to Kentucky. Gross.

[Deep Shoat]

The Hogs have gone five straight seasons without a losing conference record. The last time that happened was in the late 90's. In fact the Hogs had not had back to back winning seasons in conference this century until Anderson got here. Just some  perspective on how far we had fallen, as if it matters to the Anderson critics.

How far we had fallen certainly matters.

Where we fell from matters, too.  But many younger Hog fans don't want to acknowledge that.  During the Eddie and Nolan years we saw the ceiling for our program.  The Heath/Pel years took us close to the floor.  It's understandable to be happy we aren't on the floor anymore.  But it shouldn't be a crime to want to sniff the ceiling again.

Mike is a good man and a better than average coach.  He gives us a high floor (no losing seasons).  But he also gives us a low ceiling (NCAAT 2 out of 6 years, never past the first weekend).  This is why the fanbase is divided.

Maybe we should stop with the histrionics and name calling and actually address the entire issue fairly?

[Boardon Hamsay]

Okay....I'm gonna come right out and say it. I hope Mike Anderson gets fired for no other reason than to spite Mr. Forrest City Joe himself. 

I'm a whiner, a hater, a crybaby, I lost, and I am going to go on record as saying that Forrest City Joe is the most obnoxious person on this message board. He makes the worst of us look pretty good in comparison.

I hope we win all our games and I hope Mike gets canned, not because I don't like him but just so we can see Joe come in here and whine and cry for two years like he did when they fired Petrino and he cried for two years about how they shouldn't have fired Bobby. I can only imagine what will happen when Mike gets canned.

If the shoe fits I'm gonna put it on my big foot and wear it, Joe.  I'm off the Mike Anderson bandwagon forever. 

I'm with Skandar on this one. First off, he's the best basketball player Logan County every produced. Period. So, the man knows basketball.

Secondly, everyone here knows the J in "Jump Ball" really stands for Joe. FCJ creates more rabble rousing, fisticuffs, and haymakers being thrown in here than the actual Hog basketball team's on court results.

For those reasons, you can't help but root for the Hogs to win out but MA to get fired. The program is bigger than FCJ. The program is bigger than the fastest 40. And if we're going to keep going through the 8/9 seed, win one lose one motions the years we make the tourney, we might as well get rid of the two most polarizing folks surrounding the program today: FCJ and MA. The melt would be some of the best entertainment sourced from Hog basketball in 20 years.

[jvanhorn]

So are you claiming Sutton & Richardson are INSANE? I would have to think it might be the other way round.

Honestly lets look at the # of wins and level of competition

Sutton 1st 7 seasons all in much weaker SWC 17,19,26,32,25,21,24 Average 23 wins a year
Richardson 1st 7 season 6 in weaker SWC 12,19,21,25,30,34, 26 Average 23 wins a year
Anderson 1st 7 seasons all in SEC 18, 19, 22, 27, 16, 26, 15 (so far season not over yet) If they lose out this season Average is 20 wins a year but assume they go 5 and 5 that's an average of 21.

I did not look at overall conference records for those years nor did I look to see how many national championships / final fours teams came out of the SWC, but in the last 7 years from the SEC there have been 1 champion + 1 runner up + 6 final four teams

This is comparing the same program with 2 HOF coaches against weaker competition compared to our current coach, and your complaining... 

Do you mean out of the SEC or out of Kentucky?  LOL Look Anderson is just a good coach, nothing better.  That is all he has ever been or will be but who gives a crap.  It is being made plain, at least on this board, that is good enough for the fans.  If they are filling up the arena to watch good, but not really good or excellent basketball then that means they are making money, so why should the administration rock the boat.  My guess is the girl's basketball coach will be treated exactly the same way.  Me, well basketball is just something to kill time with until baseball starts, so I am good, lol. 

[hawgfan4life]

The perspective is not lost on me, but the perspective that is lost on the other side of this argument is these past couple of seasons appear to be the ceiling for MA. He's brought us far as he most likely is ever going to.

That is just silly!  We have better recruiting classes lined up.  Better talent will likely yield better results.  Ceiling looks to be raising to me.

[Boardon Hamsay]

That is just silly!  We have better recruiting classes lined up.  Better talent will likely yield better results.  Ceiling looks to be raising to me.

So, you're saying MA is saved by an upcycle in in-state talent?

[bvillepig]

Sutton came in and landed two solid career NBA players and a third that had NBA shooting ability, but didn't go to the league.  Had he been coaching in the same climate that exists today,  he would have been lucky to have landed half of his roster and he most likely never would have had them playing in the Final Four because two of them would have been in the NBA.  No doubt Eddie Sutton was a great coach.  He was an amazing coach.  It took him until year 5 to win big at Creighton before he came to AR.  His first 4 years weren't any better than MA's overall record at AR.  In year 6 and 7 at OSU, his team didn't make any tournaments and they finished with 17 wins each season.

Fans wanted Nolan Richardson fired when he finished year 1, 2, and 3.  Everybody talked about how bad the team played, how awful the fundamentals were, etc...  NR was fortunate to have recruited a great team that dominated the SWC and allowed him to build his program.  Had the current climate today existed then, it is unlikely that we would have had Todd Day or Lee Mayberry playing their final years at AR because they would have been in the NBA. 

Mike Anderson walked into a dumpster fire in many ways with our program in disarray behind the scenes.  He pretty much had to recruit the class that had already committed which set him back down the road.  On top of that, we lost a scholarship due to our rating which set us back even further.  The first three years of MA's tenure at AR was building us back onto solid footing.  Believe that or not, it was a re-building process.  Fans expected him to land elite talent, but AR has been irrelevant in the eyes of recruits as long as they could remember.  AR was NOT a house-hold name to them.  Additionally, the summer circuits and shoe money was funneling recruits and AR was not getting involved in that shady side of recruiting which hurt the building process.  Fans that keep harping on year 7 ignore where we were in Year 1 and what has happened in the process of building.  While many want to believe the SEC is a weak basketball league, it isn't so weak and the recruiting in basketball is pretty shady.  Maybe MA should have cheated like the others, but he has tried to do it right and we have lost a lot of recruits because of that fact.

MA is not a great coach in some ways, but he is a very good coach in others.  Maybe he will do better and maybe he has peaked.  Nobody knows either way although many have their minds made up already.  What is certain is that the program as a whole has been on the upswing the past 3 years and the recruiting is on a tremendous upswing.  I would rather see what happens with better talent and positive momentum than make my mind up now based on pure speculation.  Had those that had their minds made up won out after NR's third year, we would have missed out on what we are chasing again.

Probably the best analogy I have read in a while .  Well written with facts and tells how much the recruiting game has changed in the last 10 years.

[Kevin]

Anderson did not walk into a dumpster fire.

[sowmonella]

The cold hard truth!  I would put Anderson in sane group as Pelphrey and Heath. Only difference is Anderson has been given a pass.  His loyalists can sit down and suck it. 

Are you in a sane group?

[razorback1829]

Anderson did not walk into a dumpster fire.

LOL he absolutely did.

[3kgthog]

And one very important ommission on your part. Stan Heath's model was not sustainable past 5 years. He paid zero attention to detail, ran the program into the ground and set the program up to lose scholarships. Mike Anderson not only has the basketball team pointing upward, he has cleaned up a damn mess.

Um, Pelphrey cleaned up the Stan APR issues, not Mike. Mike basically walked into a clean slate.

And by what standard is the program pointing upward? Stan, Pel and Mike made the NCAAT and did nothing once there. Seems like we're treading water. Woo hoo.

[3kgthog]

Anderson did not walk into a dumpster fire.

You can't convince the loyalists. They'll never give Pelphrey any credit for the tidying up he did manage to do with this program.

[mykidsdad]

You can't convince the loyalists. They'll never give Pelphrey any credit for the tidying up he did manage to do with this program.

Yep. That is why Pel lost scholarship's while here and mike didn't. Oh wait, reverse that. It was mike's program that had to give up a scholarship. That and the talent level sucked, the program was at the very, very bottom of the sec. there was no discipline at all.

So quick question. How has Pel done in him head coaching gigs since he left? That is what I thought.

[pigsooie1000]

anyone saying Mike is on the level of Pelphrey or Heath is not living in reality

[razorback1829]

You can't convince the loyalists. They'll never give Pelphrey any credit for the tidying up he did manage to do with this program.

Pelphrey left a toxic atmosphere and APR issues. Dumpster fire it was. CMA lost those schollys, not Pel. Get it right.

[orvillesghost]

He will never win the conference nor go very far in the NCAA Tournament and most people around here know that.

But hey we can win 20 games and sell out Bud Walton arena and that is what counts eh?

[Nickle-Pig]

Mike had had some bad circumstances, how many players did Sutton have that left early for pro ball, was no such thing as apr rule. Mike played with what he had, did not kick anyone off team for poor play regardless , Sutton had 15 scholarship players. Can't compare.  Anderson has now had time, he does need to have better results soon., been understanding to this point with good reason. Go Hogs.

Good points. Sutton built it for Richardson........Anderson did not come in with the program peaking, a new building and thousands of new season ticket holders. I have no idea why anyone would be negative now. This is getting fun again.