Before we get our hopes too high

[Biggus Piggus]

We still do not know much about the strength of this Razorback team.

Southern Illinois might be awful. Fort Wayne might not be very good. They lost to Illinois State last night, 75-57.

It's not a long trip from Fort Wayne to Normal, Ill. Illinois State (picked second in the Missouri Valley) dominated them on the boards, outscored the Mastodons 36-24 inside and 33-24 outside. Fort Wayne's PG Mo Evans had six turnovers, Brent Calhoun five, Bryson Scott four.

The big man for Illinois State, Deontae Hawkins, scored 24 points with seven rebounds. He made five treys.

Illinois State opened the game with a 19-2 run, led 41-24 at half.

Illinois State's first game was a 3-point loss at Murray State.

[FineAsSwine]

We still do not know much about the strength of this Razorback team.

Southern Illinois might be awful. Fort Wayne might not be very good. They lost to Illinois State last night, 75-57.

It's not a long trip from Fort Wayne to Normal, Ill. Illinois State (picked second in the Missouri Valley) dominated them on the boards, outscored the Mastodons 36-24 inside and 33-24 outside. Fort Wayne's PG Mo Evans had six turnovers, Brent Calhoun five, Bryson Scott four.

The big man for Illinois State, Deontae Hawkins, scored 24 points with seven rebounds. He made five treys.

Illinois State opened the game with a 19-2 run, led 41-24 at half.

Illinois State's first game was a 3-point loss at Murray State.

I'm thinking we will know a whole lot more after the Minnesota game. First road game for all of the guys getting their first chance to rep the Hogs on the court.

[gmarv]

if we shoot 1-18 from 3 land we will be lucky to beat half the teams on our schedule.I hope we don,t see many nights like that.

[poloprince]

if we shoot 1-18 from 3 land we will be lucky to beat half the teams on our schedule.I hope we don,t see many nights like that.

What about if they make 13 3's?  See unlike you, my glass is half full. I find it funny that you bring this up when you know good and darn well that Hannahs is a better shooter than he displayed in the 1st game.

[Biggus Piggus]

I'm thinking we will know a whole lot more after the Minnesota game. First road game for all of the guys getting their first chance to rep the Hogs on the court.

Yeah - I hope we can adjust to Big Ten officiating. So far, Minnesota opponents have averaged 24 fouls per game.

[mhuff]

We still do not know much about the strength of this Razorback team.

Southern Illinois might be awful. Fort Wayne might not be very good. They lost to Illinois State last night, 75-57.

It's not a long trip from Fort Wayne to Normal, Ill. Illinois State (picked second in the Missouri Valley) dominated them on the boards, outscored the Mastodons 36-24 inside and 33-24 outside. Fort Wayne's PG Mo Evans had six turnovers, Brent Calhoun five, Bryson Scott four.

The big man for Illinois State, Deontae Hawkins, scored 24 points with seven rebounds. He made five treys.

Illinois State opened the game with a 19-2 run, led 41-24 at half.

Illinois State's first game was a 3-point loss at Murray State.

Wait till we meet the homer refs on the road.Arkansas will go on an offensive run. Then the opposing coach calls timeout . Meanwhile the refs huddle up and say," This is going to be a blowout. Let's call it a little tighter. We want these home fans to love us." So, they call every touch foul in the world ,and the home team makes up the deficit and surges ahead. This slowing down the game and scoring points without too much time running off. At the end of the game Arkansas 41 fouls Blow U 11 fouls. One ref to the others ," Another great game guys."

Let's see how we like that. Nolan used to expose the refs and get a T .

[Pigasaurus]

Make our threes and defend theirs and we win on the road.  We can't hit from 3 and make one of their guards the 3pt champion of the universe and we are toast.  Hopefully those days are in the rearview.

[Science Fiction Greg]

[hobhog]

With Moses and Dusty along with JC guys anything less than march madness will be very disappointing.

[Biggus Piggus]

Make our threes and defend theirs and we win on the road.  We can't hit from 3 and make one of their guards the 3pt champion of the universe and we are toast.  Hopefully those days are in the rearview.

The 3-point shooting margin seems to be a bigger deal anymore. Last night, Missouri did little better than Xavier did, but the Tigers outscored them 24-6 from 3-pt range. That literally was the only advantage that Mizzou had, and Xavier had to make free throws in OT to win by 1.

[Little Lady Back]

I'm thinking we will know a whole lot more after the Minnesota game. First road game for all of the guys getting their first chance to rep the Hogs on the court.

I agree, Fine.

[Little Lady Back]

Wait till we meet the homer refs on the road.Arkansas will go on an offensive run. Then the opposing coach calls timeout . Meanwhile the refs huddle up and say," This is going to be a blowout. Let's call it a little tighter. We want these home fans to love us." So, they call every touch foul in the world ,and the home team makes up the deficit and surges ahead. This slowing down the game and scoring points without too much time running off. At the end of the game Arkansas 41 fouls Blow U 11 fouls. One ref to the others ," Another great game guys."

Let's see how we like that. Nolan used to expose the refs and get a T .

Nolan definitely did that, which, in turn, was sometimes good and sometimes bad. Heck, his stare alone could almost knock a ref down!!

[The Hogfather]

We still do not know much about the strength of this Razorback team.

Southern Illinois might be awful. Fort Wayne might not be very good. They lost to Illinois State last night, 75-57.

It's not a long trip from Fort Wayne to Normal, Ill. Illinois State (picked second in the Missouri Valley) dominated them on the boards, outscored the Mastodons 36-24 inside and 33-24 outside. Fort Wayne's PG Mo Evans had six turnovers, Brent Calhoun five, Bryson Scott four.

The big man for Illinois State, Deontae Hawkins, scored 24 points with seven rebounds. He made five treys.

Illinois State opened the game with a 19-2 run, led 41-24 at half.

Illinois State's first game was a 3-point loss at Murray State.

Yeah, I thought the same thing when I saw IPFW get killed by Illinois State.  To be fair, I do think Illinois State is probably a pretty good team.

[Biggus Piggus]

Yes, second in the Missouri Valley is second to Wichita State.

[DiamondHogFan]

We are better than last year.  That is already a certainty. 

Are we as good as the 2014 team?  That should be our goal, IMO.  I think we could be top 3 in the league and secure a 4-6 seed in the tourney.

[gmarv]

We are better than last year.  That is already a certainty. 

Are we as good as the 2014 team?  That should be our goal, IMO.  I think we could be top 3 in the league and secure a 4-6 seed in the tourney.

i think we can be as good or better than we were in 2014.gonna be a fun year.

[azhog10]

Yes, second in the Missouri Valley is second to Wichita State.

Didnt Illinois State beat WSU last year in the season or in the context tourney? Too lazy to look it up

[jjdlc]

i think we can be as good or better than we were in 2014.gonna be a fun year.

We'll see, we are definitely a better rounded team.  Not nearly the drop  off from the first group to the second as there has been.

[PonderinHog]

We'll see, we are definitely a better rounded team.  Not nearly the drop  off from the first group to the second as there has been.

We have delph again!

[oldrazorband]

We have delph again!

Would that be Marvin's boy?

[HogBreath]

Before we get our hopes too high...wait..look out..here comes UT/Arlington!!!

[poloprince]

3-0 is all I know. It was ugly, but I'll take it.   :razorback:

[hobhog]

My hopes are not high.....

[WorfHog]

3-0 is all I know. It was ugly, but I'll take it.   :razorback:

And rickety ride and all that.

[secfan30]

We've played teams that are expected to win their conference, and we've beat them. I'm excited with the way we have played so far. Tonight was stressful, but we found a way to win in the end.

[WorfHog]

Too fight back from such a deficit it really inspiring. Gonna be a good season folks. Enjoy the ride!

[hobhog]

And rickety ride and all that.

Funny and appropriate.

[RebelW]

We need games likes that. Mentally tough goes along way. I'd rather start being tested now then waiting till conference play

[FineAsSwine]

Really liked seeing Barford step up although, he almost cost us the game at the end with careless passes. Thomas could have done a better job of moving toward the pass instead of watching the guy cut in front of him for the steal on one of Barford's turnovers though.

[azhog10]

I thought the first half was as bad as it gets on both ends. That said, these top kid majors are hard to beat early in the season. They typically have a senior laden team and have less issues to work out. I thought Barford played really well tonight in the second half.

[azhog10]

Really liked seeing Barford step up although, he almost cost us the game at the end with careless passes. Thomas could have done a better job of moving toward the pass instead of watching the guy cut in front of him for the steal on one of Barford's turnovers though.

I thought Thomas was the reason for two steals and scores by UTA. Twice he didn't step to the ball and then he leaves the ball and the Hervey kid knocks the three down.

[Biggus Piggus]

Thomas was tired, too many minutes.

[lynbug]

Dusty needs to be hitting threes or driving and getting fouled (pretty sure thing from the line) and Moses needs to be kinda looking like preseason player of the year (playing strong without fouling) along with average consistency from others and I think we'll do well.  When SEC play starts there must be a strong presence in the paint or..............   Second chance points for the other team frequently  is a deciding factor.

[jdlittle]

wonder what year we will realize Mike aint Nolan.     different coaches.   Hope someday we have an above average program,  maybe a distant second in sec,  someday. 

[bigred223]

Because we beat Arlington by 4? Jeez, our program really is terrible.

Your posts are terrible

[FaytownHog]

I watched the game last night for the first time seeing our team this year and to me, it looks like another NIT type team. Hope i'm wrong. Southern Ill is terrible this year, look who they've lost to. Watch our game and then turn on a game of top 10 teams and you'll see yet again, we look like little kids out there where as these top teams have grown men playing. idk why we always seem so small and weak. Go Hogs anyhow!

[FaytownHog]

I have said it before and I will say it again now, if Mike doesn't dance this year he needs to be fired. That's it. Ncaa or bust.

Would be nice but I think he's got a couple more years with the kids coming in soon. Still will take a while to fire him unless we've for sure got a proven winner signing on the dotted line to come here. Then again, Mike has won everywhere he's been until he got here. I thought hiring him was suppose to break the curse of Nolan?
How many years did Nolan take before he started winning big? And like Nolan, Mike needs to get him some MEN or it'll never happen for him here.

[HogBreath]

Then again, Mike has won everywhere he's been until he got here.

His conference winning % is actually a little better here than at Mizzou, low 50's.

[rude1]

What optimism I had has been squelched. I see a lot of flaws that exaggerating the talent level of the opposition doesn't account for. Watching teams getting wide open 3s any time they want, our strategy seems to be that if they shoot enough they will eventually start missing. Still watching undersized teams getting way too many second chance points on effort alone, rebounding has to get better. Barford is looking like a turn over machine. Still seeing Moses sucked outside trying to defend the perimeter which just causes more offensive rebounds to happen. Hopefully they get better or this will NOT IMO be a tourney team.

[Science Fiction Greg]

I have said it before and I will say it again now, if Mike doesn't dance this year he needs to be fired. That's it. Ncaa or bust.

Nobody cares about your ultimatum.

[Letsroll1200]

What optimism I had has been squelched. I see a lot of flaws that exaggerating the talent level of the opposition doesn't account for. Watching teams getting wide open 3s any time they want, our strategy seems to be that if they shoot enough they will eventually start missing. Still watching undersized teams getting way too many second chance points on effort alone, rebounding has to get better. Barford is looking like a turn over machine. Still seeing Moses sucked outside trying to defend the perimeter which just causes more offensive rebounds to happen. Hopefully they get better or this will NOT IMO be a tourney team.

3-0 A lot of teams are losing to mid majors!! There are some things that they have to improve but they're winning these ball games.

[Pigsfeat]

What optimism I had has been squelched. I see a lot of flaws that exaggerating the talent level of the opposition doesn't account for. Watching teams getting wide open 3s any time they want, our strategy seems to be that if they shoot enough they will eventually start missing. Still watching undersized teams getting way too many second chance points on effort alone, rebounding has to get better. Barford is looking like a turn over machine. Still seeing Moses sucked outside trying to defend the perimeter which just causes more offensive rebounds to happen. Hopefully they get better or this will NOT IMO be a tourney team.

I am just a fan and don't know the intricacies of college level offenses or defenses, but it seemed to me that our man to man defense was not very good but the zone allowed us to cover the three point shot better and rebound better. It might keep us from fouling as much too.
I know that CMA wants to have a pressure defense identity, but after pressing full/half court they could still drop back into a zone. Maybe I'm wrong? I'm just sick of seeing all the touch fouls called on us 20+ feet from the rim.

[Biggus Piggus]

I have said it before and I will say it again now, if Mike doesn't dance this year he needs to be fired. That's it. Ncaa or bust.

Really poor timing with your statement, once again. He is going nowhere. Has great recruiting classes lined up, plural.

[Hawg Red]

I watched the game last night for the first time seeing our team this year and to me, it looks like another NIT type team. Hope i'm wrong. Southern Ill is terrible this year, look who they've lost to. Watch our game and then turn on a game of top 10 teams and you'll see yet again, we look like little kids out there where as these top teams have grown men playing. idk why we always seem so small and weak. Go Hogs anyhow!

I don't disagree that we look like an NIT team right now, but we're also just 3 games into a season where half of the roster was not on the court last year. Rebounding and giving up 3s are things that are almost always going to give us trouble. We can still be good in spite of that, but it will take a little time this year. We might disappoint, but I think we will get better as the season goes along as most Anderson-coached teams at Arkansas have. We'll likely lose tomorrow at Minnesota because we are struggling at adapt to the officiating at home so I don't think we ready to win on the road just yet. But Minnesota could also be good. They've looked good early. UT-Arlington is better than their early record. We should have beaten them by more 4 points, but we did still beat them after being 17 down. There are positives to take away from that game. If these kids can work out the kinks and still win, watch out in January through March.

We have some pretty good guards this year. Barford started off a little slow but he can up big Friday night. Macon has been pretty good. Beard looks so much better than he did last season. And we still haven't gotten Moses going yet. Give it some time and just understand that the team you see right now is not the team you'll be seeing in conference play.

[lynbug]

 
«»
In the non-con season I don't look upon any game result as an upset.  There are always new players trying to fit into their roles, coaches trying to nail down rotations, and teams trying to establish chemistry.  I do think it's important to pay attention to the progress or lack of progress of your team's players.  Our new guys are trying to get their games going, Anton is trying to fine-tune his game and Dusty's 3's are coming back.  HOWEVER, I am concerned about Moses.  Our pre-season POTY seems to be having the same issues as last year.  Early fouls which means he sits until 2nd half; then he has to be extra cautious in the paint to avoid the other two or three fouls.  Which means there will be more drives and 2nd chance points by the other team.  If it doesn't change I fear it will be even more of a problem in conference games.  If this be the case who do we have that can pick up that slack? (Sorry if I went off on a tangent)

[ErieHog]

Yeah, I thought the same thing when I saw IPFW get killed by Illinois State.  To be fair, I do think Illinois State is probably a pretty good team.

They're winning a road game against a Big XII team right this minute, as well.  They're not garbage.

[hogfanny]

Yeah - I hope we can adjust to Big Ten officiating. So far, Minnesota opponents have averaged 24 fouls per game.

We should be prepared after recent years of SEC play.

[Big Nasty 34]

What optimism I had has been squelched. I see a lot of flaws that exaggerating the talent level of the opposition doesn't account for. Watching teams getting wide open 3s any time they want, our strategy seems to be that if they shoot enough they will eventually start missing. Still watching undersized teams getting way too many second chance points on effort alone, rebounding has to get better. Barford is looking like a turn over machine. Still seeing Moses sucked outside trying to defend the perimeter which just causes more offensive rebounds to happen. Hopefully they get better or this will NOT IMO be a tourney team.

God forbid our 3 new starters and 7 newcomers don't know how to rotate and execute our defense, yet.

There are going to be growing pains, we all knew it or should've known it. Have a realistic approach to the season. We might lose a game or 2 in the non con season because we haven't fully gelled, yet. However, we will probably win a couple SEC games we shouldn't because we have better chemistry and are playing better late.

[ErieHog]

They're winning a road game against a Big XII team right this minute, as well.  They're not garbage.

And they ended up pissing away a very winnable game.  Still, a pretty salty squad.