Thoughts from A State game

[TheSportsGuy]

-Portis got rid of his slight chicken wing shooting form.  Looks a ton better now.  We go as he goes
-Harris is the most improved.  Loved his slashing but controlled game tonight.
-Qualls is a highlight machine.  Shot wasn't falling but he'll have his hot nights from outside.
-madden still gets stuck in lane and can be frustrating but he does plenty of good too and it showed after the half.
-Bell looks more relaxed and a bit less rushed on his shot.  Great shooting.
-Moses has greatly improved.  Love his defensive instincts
-Manny was the surprise.  Was in the right place at the right time on defense and offense.  Makes some great cuts to the hoop.  I bet he gets plenty of pt this year.
-Jacorey didn't quite have it tonight.  Rushed and got outta control but he'll get there. He has the game.
-Keaton didn't have a good game.  I'm sure there will be nights that he'll be solid, on defense if not anything else.
Jabril has great court vision and will develop into a solid reliable pg
-Anton has great instincts.  He moves deceptively fast on defense.  He has a nose for the ball.  He just has to learn some of the passes in high school won't work at this level.  Great addition.

We are good.  We are still learning the flow with the new guys.  A lot of easy baskets will be had on us but we'll offset that with plenty of steals in transition.  We wore out a good team in the last 10 minutes and that will be the case a lot this year.  It wasn't very pretty but we are ahead of where we started last year.

[-Blu]

Good Points, think you hit everything.  I was really happy to see Jabril have a good game, had a rough pre-season, but he really found his niche in the game, had some awesome passes and got guys fired up.

[Breems]

Good Points, think you hit everything.  I was really happy to see Jabril have a good game, had a rough pre-season, but he really found his niche in the game, had some awesome passes and got guys fired up.

6 assists to 1 turnover. Hope he keeps it up.

[JonClaudeVanHam]

Durham was the player that really excited me. Watkins as well. Neither made mistakes. That's huge.

[-Blu]

One other thought I had about the game... I know the guys calling it were saying Madden didn't start because he missed some practices for personal reasons.  But, I actually like him coming off the bench and playing the role he did tonight.

TBH I don't think that second unit is strong enough as far as scoring, without a guy like Madden in.  We have enough scorers in our starting lineup with Portis, Qualls, and Bell.  Durham fits in a little bit better with the starters because he's doing all of the little stuff, instead of looking to score and he's a little better than Madden at facilitating.  I say give Madden the green light in the second unit, then let him close with the starters just like he did tonight. 

[JonClaudeVanHam]

One other thought I had about the game... I know the guys calling it were saying Madden didn't start because he missed some practices for personal reasons.  But, I actually like him coming off the bench and playing the role he did tonight.

TBH I don't think that second unit is strong enough as far as scoring, without a guy like Madden in.  We have enough scorers in our starting lineup with Portis, Qualls, and Bell.  Durham fits in a little bit better with the starters because he's doing all of the little stuff, instead of looking to score and he's a little better than Madden at facilitating.  I say give Madden the green light in the second unit, then let him close with the starters just like he did tonight. 

Really good thoughts. I agree.

[HawgAdvocate]

Portis needs to make a more consistent effort to sit on the block and command the ball. He's looking to move and screen a lot, which isn't necessarily wrong, but he needs a more defined role in the offense.

[ErieHog]

Portis needs to make a more consistent effort to sit on the block and command the ball. He's looking to move and screen a lot, which isn't necessarily wrong, but he needs a more defined role in the offense.

He's preparing for the NBA;  he's not going to be doing that, at the next level, so we shouldn't be shocked when he doesn't do it here.

[TheSportsGuy]

JCV- yeah he's always guilty of that and he'll frustrate the heck outta me at times this season I'm sure of it.  BUT, if he didn't have the game he did tonight or the all-out hustle he displayed, I think we would've been in a heap of trouble...

[lookawayquick]

JCVHam - I agree with you on Harris.  Plays out of control too often. When he and Qualls are on the floor together it seems Hogs play too much one on one ball. Harris needs to take on the tough guy role and leave play making to others.

[secfan1]

Babb/Thompson? Redshirting?

[downsouthhawg72]

Why are you down on Harris?  Thought he played pretty well.

Harris is no Corliss, he can't get away with being 6'6" like Corliss did. We need to start playing the people from the start of the game that were going to need to win in the SEC. Nothing against Harris but people loves Ken Biley also but he was e bench player also. Kingsley is a major difference maker on defense & can hold his own on offense in the paint which is what we're going to need so he needs to be in the game more. No shots got altered today when he wasn't in the game at all.

[TheSportsGuy]

I thought Harris, Portis, and Belle were the difference tonight.  Yall confuse me.  I think some of yall may have a Harrus hangover from last year going on.  He was really solid tonight

[HawgAdvocate]

He's preparing for the NBA;  he's not going to be doing that, at the next level, so we shouldn't be shocked when he doesn't do it here.

He certainly doesn't have to define himself  solely as a back to the basket player, but it would certainly give this half court offense some efficiency and direction as the competition improves and/or on the road.

[Porked Tongue]

Harris need more pine time, his game sucks.....

Let's avoid this type of direct criticism. 

[downsouthhawg72]

I thought Harris, Portis, and Belle were the difference tonight.  Yall confuse me.  I think some of yall may have a Harrus hangover from last year going on.  He was really solid tonight

The only thing that confuses me is some of you all that didn't see their inside guys scoring when they wanted to because they wasn't to concerned about nothing until Kingsley came in. Now that's what is confusing. Kentucky bigs will dominate Harris but will not dominate Kingsley so that's what we need to start preparing for now & not these simple teams we can't even stop now with our starting lineup. LSU will give us the very same problems.

[downsouthhawg72]

Let's avoid this type of direct criticism.

It's way way more things going on & said that's way worse than that inside of Hawgville that's not even looked at or a word said on. But I hear ya. Guess I'll just be done with this subject. Thanks for correcting me.

[Letsroll1200]

Portis was great today!!!! The guy was vocal and was playing with passion. I really like Durham and Beard. They will continue to grow and get better. Watkins was a very plea sent surprise because he showed skill and toughness. Harris played aggressive and his shot selection seem to improve.

[onebadrubi]

It's way way more things going on & said that's way worse than that inside of Hawgville that's not even looked at or a word said on. But I hear ya. Guess I'll just be done with this subject. Thanks for correcting me.

MMQB is an entire different world!  They run a nice clean good ship here and in EI

[TheSportsGuy]

Lol some of you guys are a real treat.  Thanks for the laughs fo sure haha

[Breems]

Harris is no Corliss

That's awesome.

Madden is no Jordan. I say we bench him as well.

[-Blu]

That's awesome.

Madden is no Jordan. I say we bench him as well.

LOL

[downsouthhawg72]

LOL

Haha, that's funny. I'm sure Madden did something to get bench. I'm sure the kno it all Breems already know that tho. Jordan didn't play for us either, Corliss did. But I do wonder did some of you guys even play basketball for real or just played the playstation or Xbox.

[-Blu]

That's awesome.

Madden is no Jordan. I say we bench him as well.

Double post. Sorry

[-Blu]

Haha, that's funny. I'm sure Madden did something to get bench. I'm sure the kno it all Breems already know that tho. Jordan didn't play for us either, Corliss did. But I do wonder did some of you guys even play basketball for real or just played the playstation or Xbox.

Played high school basketball in real life, on SNES, Sega Genesis, Playstation, xbox, xbox 360, and xbox one.

[azhog10]

Had many disappointments and a few eye raisers.

Portis looks great on offense but is still out of position on defense and it hurts us on transition and in the half court. He's not a freshman anymore. He needs to figure it out otherwise we will not be a legit squad.

Jacorey was a disappointment. After all the hype I read about him I didn't see much from him. Still wild, shot is still bad, and he's erratic in general.

Harris is great off the bounce but he still loves to jack those flat footed shots. I was hoping that would stop. But he's still a little selfish.

Manny Watkins should get more PT. Kid can play and I really liked what I saw.

Jabril was just okay IMO. Thought Madden was much better and our offense in transition is better with KY.

Beard shocked me on defense. Actually was effective digging in on the post and finished a few buckets inside. He's def going to be off the ball but he will play.

All in all we played a decent team, and they shot lights out early. We stayed at it and pulled away like we should late when a team can't keep running with us. We have a lot to work on but our advantage will be our depth. Thought our press forced a lot of turnovers and turned the game into a blowout once fatigue sat in.

[Big Nasty 34]

Durham is going to be a nice addition. He isn't going to be flashy and selfish on the offensive end. Rather he will play within himself and get the flow of the offense going. He's a guy that won't get you beat, like Gulley last year.
Hopefully his leadership will help get us over the edge

[Razorod]

I do like the idea of Durham starting and either Bell or Madden coming off the bench. Bell could be your instant offense guy or Madden could sub in for Durham, Bell or Qualls if any get off to a poor start or foul trouble.

However, I imagine our starting five will be Madden, Bell, Qualls, Harris and Portis for this early part of the season. At least for the WF game.

[Biggus Piggus]

Much will look different as the season unfolds. Madden having been away messed up the intended rotations. It took him a while to get a feel for things. Some of the other groupings were ineffective, but MA kept patience with them. He never showed a doubt. In the second half, all the rotations were more effective. Defense was really impressive. They never looked that good on defense at any time in the past few years. This team might begin to understand how good it could be.

[gmarv]

I didn,t get to see the game,ain,t heard much about miles any opionions about him.

[Biggus Piggus]

Some stat things:

Strengths - Great shooting inside and out. Excellent pressure on the ballhandler, 14 steals. Held Alabama State to 42% shooting inside the arc without much fouling. Three blocks for Moses. Played the bench a lot. Madden and Durham combined for 12 assists vs. 4 TOs.

Weaknesses - Perimeter defense was bad in the first half. Very little rebounding, offensive or defensive. Alabama State got 15 offensive boards. Bell and Madden combined for zero rebounds in 43 minutes. Portis and Qualls had seven between them in 55 minutes. Passing was sloppy at times.

[intelligence]

I didn,t get to see the game,ain,t heard much about miles any opionions about him.

he plays excellent defensive, especially in the press. with durham qualls and miles pressing late in the first half, alabama state struggled moving the ball up court. i recall in particular miles stayed step for step with his man in transition and would have  easily rejected his shot, if not for a foul away from the ball that i believe was called on portis.

as for offensively, i don't recall him making a shot, but i recall him missing a pull up jumper that wouldn't have counted, because madden drove recklessly into the  lane for a charge before kicking it to miles.

[choppedporkextrasauce]

We played Arkansas St?

They are A state.

[opineonswine]

Harris need more pine time, his game sucks......Kingsley needs more of Harris minutes because once we get to SEC play Kingsley will help us win way more than Harris will anyday. Some1 had said we need backups, well Harris can do that because that's all he is. Bell played good today, hope it last. I still think Portis is & will be more effective playing PF & not having to bang by himself down low....let Kingsley help him.

That's too harsh re: Harris.  I'm not a huge fan of his game but then he'll do something really, really good which he did yesterday a couple of times.  He's big and tough and I'm fine with him in the lineup.

[BRHogfan]

Didn't get to watch, but I listened and have been perusing the stats.

1) First half it sounded like I heard them trying to play Zone a lot, which resulted in a lot of uncontested 3 pointers.  I theoretically like the zone, because it's going to help our poor rebounding numbers, but if guys can't close out three point shooters it could be a rough season.  To be fair, Alabama State has probably seen more minutes of zone in their conference than a lot of SEC teams.

2) Durham's and Madden's numbers are pretty similar.  21 minutes each, Madden had 6 points to Durham's 4, Both had 6 assists, but Madden had 3 turnovers while Durham only had 1.  Durham had a slightly better PER at 12.6 compared to 10.73 for Madden, and Madden doubled Durham's usage rate.  All of that being said, I'm looking for Madden to get the start on Wednesday, and it still seems like this team is going to look to him to handle the ball for awhile. Really sorry to hear about the loss in his family, and glad he was able to get in the game.

3) Harris ended the game with the lowest defensive efficiency and the highest Usage rate, though to be fair, he had the third highest PER on the team and the highest defensive rebounding percentage.  Harris is a tough nut to crack, but I think you want him on the floor, not on the bench. You also can't forget about his 3 assists. 

[Biggus Piggus]

That's too harsh re: Harris.  I'm not a huge fan of his game but then he'll do something really, really good which he did yesterday a couple of times.  He's big and tough and I'm fine with him in the lineup.

It is especially true because Harris was one of the few who rebounded well yesterday. Somebody has to get defensive boards. Harris did a lot of good in this game, and it's absolutely wrong to insult him after that.

[Biggus Piggus]

One obvious thing from yesterday -- if Kingsley is on the court, Portis doesn't have a position to defend. Not sure Portis has a position to defend very much of the time. His mind is not on D very often. Putting both on court together would be defensive suicide. Arkansas has to have somebody at the four who can defend and rebound. That is what Harris did yesterday.

I was very pleased with the overall game that Bell showed, though I wish he would get a couple of rebounds per game. Bell looks like he has arrived - we'll see how he fares against physical man-to-man teams.

[BRHogfan]

One obvious thing from yesterday -- if Kingsley is on the court, Portis doesn't have a position to defend. Not sure Portis has a position to defend very much of the time. His mind is not on D very often. Putting both on court together would be defensive suicide. Arkansas has to have somebody at the four who can defend and rebound. That is what Harris did yesterday.

I was very pleased with the overall game that Bell showed, though I wish he would get a couple of rebounds per game. Bell looks like he has arrived - we'll see how he fares against physical man-to-man teams.

Do you think Portis has a mandate to not play tough defense from Mike so that he can't get in foul trouble.  I can still remember a few games that would've looked very different if Powell doesn't pick up 2 early fouls, and I would hate to see the same thing happen with Portis. 

[hogsanity]

and they shot lights out early.

we get that from teams in about half the games, it happens when guys are continually left open.

The good thing is, this Hog team is good enough to survive that, where in the past when a team got hot, it was very possible they would run the Hogs out of the gym.

I am not going to get too excited or upset until they get a few games in, too much feeling out going on right now.

[Smithian]

Early.

Positive impressions are always good.

Negatives are "check again in December"

[mhuff]

One obvious thing from yesterday -- if Kingsley is on the court, Portis doesn't have a position to defend. Not sure Portis has a position to defend very much of the time. His mind is not on D very often. Putting both on court together would be defensive suicide. Arkansas has to have somebody at the four who can defend and rebound. That is what Harris did yesterday.

I was very pleased with the overall game that Bell showed, though I wish he would get a couple of rebounds per game. Bell looks like he has arrived - we'll see how he fares against physical man-to-man teams.

Well Harris doesn't rebound as a rule and he forces shots. He and Qualls were active at the end of the game. I tried to copy stats ,but they wouldn't copy for some reason. You have to be joking if you say having Kingsley in the game is defensive suicide. Bell's stats were superb ,but last year they were the worst on the team..... perhaps he is more disciplined. Williams must have missed a bunch of shots.... stats not good.

I was impressed with all the scorers ,but the unheralded guys I salute. I think Graham, Watkins, and Miles did some good things. Sounds like Miles was good on press as I suggested. Also, glad to hear the announcers say that we forced them further out on the floor on defense..... creates longer passes and more TO's.

Did Alabama  State hit all the 3's while we are in a zone...... Someone please help me out.... Except when we are playing a weak shooting team, I wouldn't play zone...... maybe just unexpectedly for a short time and then back to man. I don't believe in giving a shooter carte blanche to beat your brains out...... I am a big believer in hard man to man...... perhaps BB has passed me by. Did we not match up with their guards well??? Someone give me the skinny..... Azhog ....anybody?

[Biggus Piggus]

Well Harris doesn't rebound as a rule and he forces shots. He and Qualls were active at the end of the game. I tried to copy stats ,but they wouldn't copy for some reason. You have to be joking if you say having Kingsley in the game is defensive suicide. Bell's stats were superb ,but last year they were the worst on the team..... perhaps he is more disciplined. Williams must have missed a bunch of shots.... stats not good.

I was impressed with all the scorers ,but the unheralded guys I salute. I think Graham, Watkins, and Miles did some good things. Sounds like Miles was good on press as I suggested. Also, glad to hear the announcers say that we forced them further out on the floor on defense..... creates longer passes and more TO's.

Did Alabama  State hit all the 3's while we are in a zone...... Someone please help me out.... Except when we are playing a weak shooting team, I wouldn't play zone...... maybe just unexpectedly for a short time and then back to man. I don't believe in giving a shooter carte blanche to beat your brains out...... I am a big believer in hard man to man...... perhaps BB has passed me by. Did we not match up with their guards well??? Someone give me the skinny..... Azhog ....anybody?

You missed a lot of stuff, seemingly ignoring anything that happened more recently than March. Harris had more defensive boards than anybody else on the team. That's a big change for him. Kingsley isn't defensive suicide - having Kingsley and Portis together is, especially against a lineup of three guards and two combo forwards. Portis doesn't have a position he can defend if he isn't defending the low post. He's a work in progress at that too.

Even if Arkansas gets to play opponents with real bigs, MA doesn't seem to have much in the way of a defensive system that would fit Kingsley at the five and Portis at the four. You can throw them out there, but you won't get enough boards, and you won't get enough defense. They are not working on that set. Gotta do more than just pair people up and hope it works.

Alabama State made shots against all sorts of defense (first half). They passed patiently and took open shots. The defense had holes in it as MA tested different groupings. In the second half, Arkansas contested shots with much more effort, and shots stopped falling. The Hogs disrupted the Hornets' attempts to move the ball around. Alabama State made 13 inside shots (9 in the first half), but nothing from outside.

MA seemed to be more concerned in the first half with giving extended looks at certain rotations than trying to fix the defense. And Madden had missed some practices due to family issues, so he wasn't really in the flow. He was better after half.

Williams looked about like what you remember about him. Let's hope he had jitters or something. Watkins looks nice and physically strong, something Arkansas's needed at guard. Watkins can do some things this team needs, looked good finishing inside, but two turnovers in 15 minutes, Beard two in 12, they got a little frantic.

Miles did good things? He played three minutes and drew two fouls. That's all.

Minutes distribution:

30 Qualls
25 Portis
22 Bell
21 Durham, Madden
20 Harris
16 Williams
15 Watkins, Kingsley
12 Beard
3 Miles
0 Babb

[mhuff]

You missed a lot of stuff, seemingly ignoring anything that happened more recently than March. Harris had more defensive boards than anybody else on the team. That's a big change for him. Kingsley isn't defensive suicide - having Kingsley and Portis together is, especially against a lineup of three guards and two combo forwards. Portis doesn't have a position he can defend if he isn't defending the low post. He's a work in progress at that too.

Even if Arkansas gets to play opponents with real bigs, MA doesn't seem to have much in the way of a defensive system that would fit Kingsley at the five and Portis at the four. You can throw them out there, but you won't get enough boards, and you won't get enough defense. They are not working on that set. Gotta do more than just pair people up and hope it works.

Alabama State made shots against all sorts of defense (first half). They passed patiently and took open shots. The defense had holes in it as MA tested different groupings. In the second half, Arkansas contested shots with much more effort, and shots stopped falling. The Hogs disrupted the Hornets' attempts to move the ball around. Alabama State made 13 inside shots (9 in the first half), but nothing from outside.

MA seemed to be more concerned in the first half with giving extended looks at certain rotations than trying to fix the defense. And Madden had missed some practices due to family issues, so he wasn't really in the flow. He was better after half.

Williams looked about like what you remember about him. Let's hope he had jitters or something. Watkins looks nice and physically strong, something Arkansas's needed at guard. Watkins can do some things this team needs, looked good finishing inside, but two turnovers in 15 minutes, Beard two in 12, they got a little frantic.

Miles did good things? He played three minutes and drew two fouls. That's all.

Minutes distribution:

30 Qualls
25 Portis
22 Bell
21 Durham, Madden
20 Harris
16 Williams
15 Watkins, Kingsley
12 Beard
3 Miles
0 Babb

I did not see game. The announcers were touting Miles on the press. I saw his time of play and stats. I don't like excessive fouls ,but I salute hard play. He was trying to make something happen.

Hoping Williams has improved and this performance is an aberration.

I still stick with the idea of Portis and Kingsbury in the line up at the same time. They are two of the better big men in the U.S. and it makes no sense to have one sitting on the bench for long periods of time. The stats prove their value and imho cost us at least three games last year by not playing them together. We saw the results from last year. Portis is not a center.I really hope the best for all our players naturally. However, Harris is 6'6" and has been a liability against other bigs. This was just one game. I would be more impressed by offensive rebounds and I am not a big fan of his defense. Qualls and he were turning it on at the end of the game as I have already given him credit for their hard work. Hope he keeps up the good work. I do not know about his shooting percentage, but he shot 46% last year. I like looking at a year's work instead of one game.... stats are skewed ,but give credit where credit is due.

[Breems]

Is Thompson going to be redshirted? And why didn't Babb play?

[Big Nasty 34]

Our man to man was awful most of the first half, giving up a ton of easy looks. Then not sure why we went zone against a team lighting up our man.

[Rawker]

Point blank: Jacorey needs to be limited to garbage time.  Looks as terrible as ever.  Anyone that backs him up, which many keep doing, is mistaking long and fast for good and able.

[The_Iceman]

Point blank: Jacorey needs to be limited to garbage time.  Looks as terrible as ever.  Anyone that backs him up, which many keep doing, is mistaking long and fast for good and able.

He had one bad game after two good ones. Let's give him a few more games before making a final determination. He looked much improved before last game, let's see if he turns it around.

[Big Nasty 34]

I think jacorey pressed a little bit, but also had some shots just rim out. He makes a couple shots and nobody is complaining

Honestly, I think the first half play and rotations threw nearly everyone off a bit. I mean madden never really looked good either.

[Rawker]

Arent you a jawhawk fan? shut the front door

Uh...no.  I'll move on and pass on validating your question.  Perhaps he was pressing some, but it looks like the same stuff that made me smack my own face last year.  I'm now watching the ALST game again, and the VERY first thing he did after the announcer said it looks like the Hogs might get going....throw it into the backcourt over every Hog for no reason.  If there weren't only 4 choices, it would be very hard to tell who he was passing to.  Soon after that?  Walked at the top of the key.  He seems to have the balls to think shoot-first, and really has no business thinking such a thing.  I truly hope he proves me wrong as the year goes on with some better play.  Madden, our senior leader, looked like a Frosh.  I feel like some new people (JD, Beard) are going to have to step up for the Hogs to build on the nice 22 wins of last season.  On the very positive note:  Portis...even more awesome.  Bell....looking sweet.  Qualls....Qualls. 

[intelligence]

Uh...no.  I'll move on and pass on validating your question.  Perhaps he was pressing some, but it looks like the same stuff that made me smack my own face last year.  I'm now watching the ALST game again, and the VERY first thing he did after the announcer said it looks like the Hogs might get going....throw it into the backcourt over every Hog for no reason.  If there weren't only 4 choices, it would be very hard to tell who he was passing to.  Soon after that?  Walked at the top of the key.  He seems to have the balls to think shoot-first, and really has no business thinking such a thing.  I truly hope he proves me wrong as the year goes on with some better play.  Madden, our senior leader, looked like a Frosh.  I feel like some new people (JD, Beard) are going to have to step up for the Hogs to build on the nice 22 wins of last season.  On the very positive note:  Portis...even more awesome.  Bell....looking sweet.  Qualls....Qualls.

Alright. my bad.

About JD. i agree. that pass he made to i think kingsley was purty.

About Qualls. is it me, or did it look like he has seriously improved his handles? at times last season i thought his handle looked really slopped, but last night i noticed he was handling the ball much better. curious to  see if anyone else noticed it