Pel Press Conference

[spudhog]

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1608558&DB_OEM_ID=6100

I was trying not to get my hopes up too much for our hawgball season but Pel ruined that for me today. Making me think we can win now.

[Oliver]

Basketball season will be just like this football season.  Glimmers of future hope amidst some losses.  The one thing I am excited about this year is that now that Pel has more of his recruits in, I'd like to see if they adapt better to his style of play than Heath's players did.

[40MINSOFHELL]

Basketball season will be just like this football season.  Glimmers of future hope amidst some losses.  The one thing I am excited about this year is that now that Pel has more of his recruits in, I'd like to see if they adapt better to his style of play than Heath's players did.

i think we will win the SEC West and SEC Tourney

[mbgrulz]

A lot of people don't realize what good guard play will do for a basketball team. I believe we will have that this season for the first time in a long time.

IMO, it is GREAT that this team got picked last. With freshmen, they just need to go play. They don't need expectations (other than the ones Pel puts on them).


There will be struggles, but we will shock some people.

[HotlantaHog]

i think we will win the SEC West and SEC Tourney

That is where I was last year -- I have tempered my
expectations for this season, still hoping for a good year.

[The_Iceman]

The guard play will be vastly improved. Some of that is addition by subtraction (not Beverley). Britt and Welsh will be improved this year, with Clarke and Fortson being the stars.

[HoopS]

You can more easily win with some Frosh in Hoops than foosball.  With no disrespect to any other PG's we've recently had, we have a BIG TIME point now and that spells success for us.   He may take some time to adapt, but when he does, we'll be fun to watch.  I like the length of McDonald and Henry.  If Rotnei and Fortson can play good D, Welsh and Britt can, then we have some defensive depth and can pressure the ball more and get some transition points.   

I'm excited to see this young group gel.

[bobthebuilder4600]

not trying to be rude. but gary ervin was a five star point guard. what makes everyone think that fortson will be better his first year?

[labb]

not trying to be rude. but gary ervin was a five star point guard. what makes everyone think that fortson will be better his first year?

Now that is a good question..I bet that most that are saying that about Fortson have never seen him play..They for sure have not seen him play in D1 BB..I hope he is really that good..Maybe a couple years down the road..Hard for a Freshman, surrounded by Freshmen to come into the SEC and carry a team..Lot better chance if he is surrounded with uperclassmen..I hope he hits the court at full speed as a lot think that he will do..Lots of expectations on he and Clarke.

I think that if we win 16 Pel will have done a great job.

[HoopS]

I thought Ervin did some good things.  Gary did get out of control at times and never seemed to learn from his mistakes.   Pel had one year with GE and he looked to improve a lot in that span.  I'm banking on Pel having Fortson from the beginning and bringing him on his way before bad habits are formed. 

In defense of Gary, he had to get out of control because it seemed nobody else wanted to move half the time.   He felt he had to create.  I'm hoping that all of the new guys come in and learn Pel's system.  I think they will, but it will take time.   

And let's face it, we don't know for sure.   As a fan, I certainly hope that these young guys live up to what their abilities appear to be.

[tbhogfan]

It is going to be fun to watch this team improve over the year, and hopefully win some games in the process.  The bottom line, though is that this team is going to have to replace lots of scoring, rebounding and shotblocking.   IMO, this incoming group of Freshmen is going to make some serious noise over their careers, regardless of what happens this year.

[labb]

And they are going to be fun to watch...

[The Hogfather]

not trying to be rude. but gary ervin was a five star point guard. what makes everyone think that fortson will be better his first year?

He was a 4-star.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=767
http://arkansas.scout.com/a.z?s=10&p=8&c=1&nid=11119

[scottagee]

Now that is a good question..I bet that most that are saying that about Fortson have never seen him play..They for sure have not seen him play in D1 BB..I hope he is really that good..Maybe a couple years down the road..Hard for a Freshman, surrounded by Freshmen to come into the SEC and carry a team..Lot better chance if he is surrounded with uperclassmen..I hope he hits the court at full speed as a lot think that he will do..Lots of expectations on he and Clarke.

I think that if we win 16 Pel will have done a great job.

I saw Fortson play high school ball 3 times. All against good high school competition. He was a man amoung boys. So quick and strong. His body is not a skinny high schoolers body. Now this has nothing to do with playing in the SEC but in high school he was every bit as good as Ronald Steele
was. Different but as good.

The rest of our group is not as inexperienced as the media believes. Sanchez practiced all year and Clark came in at semester. These big guys  know what Pel wants and expects. I have only seen video of R.Clarke but oh my. Imagine an entry from Fortson to Washington, the defense rotates down and he kicks out to an open Clarke. Fast breaks will be better as well with Fortson having someone to kick to after penetration like Ervin never had.

It may take until January for all the pieces to come together and our guys get used to each other but when they do this team is going to have some firepower.

Now let's hope we can teach freshmen to play SEC defense. That's going to take a little longer.

[Jdub]

not trying to be rude. but gary ervin was a five star point guard. what makes everyone think that fortson will be better his first year?

Coaching.

[chiefsfan]

We are going to attempt alot more 3's this year.   Question is, can we make them?

[Razorod]

I saw Fortson play high school ball 3 times. All against good high school competition. He was a man amoung boys. So quick and strong. His body is not a skinny high schoolers body. Now this has nothing to do with playing in the SEC but in high school he was every bit as good as Ronald Steele
was. Different but as good.

The rest of our group is not as inexperienced as the media believes. Sanchez practiced all year and Clark came in at semester. These big guys  know what Pel wants and expects. I have only seen video of R.Clarke but oh my. Imagine an entry from Fortson to Washington, the defense rotates down and he kicks out to an open Clarke. Fast breaks will be better as well with Fortson having someone to kick to after penetration like Ervin never had.

It may take until January for all the pieces to come together and our guys get used to each other but when they do this team is going to have some firepower.

Now let's hope we can teach freshmen to play SEC defense. That's going to take a little longer.

Thanks for  a great post. You need to share your insight some more.

[Ouachihog]

i think we will win the SEC West and SEC Tourney

I think we win 12-15 games.  A typical rebuilding year with progress made toward the future. 

[Uncle Fester]

Get Rotnei the ball and everything else will take care of itself, he is the key.