I see a lot of hating of Mike Anderson on here, I don’t think coaching is the problem with Arkansas, other than they need another assistant to help with the POST UP/Rebounding game Arkansas has a lot of kids that are not mentally strong, they read a comment they don’t like, instead of using it as fuel to prove people wrong, they take it personal. Mental toughness is a problem with these kids in America today. The everyone gets a smiley face, everyone gets a trophy, everyone is great crowd has softened these kids. The TRUTH is this, Arkansas does have the talent to go into a place like Gainesville and get a win, but they won’t, because they’re mentally soft, as Mike White the FL coach says to his players, “the epitome of soft.” If you hear a crowd booing on the road, you’re doing something right. it shouldn’t matter where you play, the hoop is still 10 ft off the ground. If Arkansas plays good defense, gets good looks on offense, realizes FL gets more steals than any other team in the SEC. Gets off of the screens, gets their own steals and turnovers, then they can compete, except for the SOFT thing, which is why they wont.
And you don’t think coaching has anything to do with mental toughness? I do, if these kids are soft…it’s on the coach.
Every player on the roster was recruited by MA and every think that goes right or wrong MA has to own. At least that was the way it was for our former football coach according to many of our sports writers and I can only assume that the same rules apply to the basketball coach as well. You couldn’t meet any nicer, upstanding guys than CMA & CBB in my opinion but the fact is they are paid to win. WPS
For RZBackangler :
For the most part, those of us (I’m one of those) posting our … disagreement over the style of Coach Anderson’s work product … are surely not intending to make it personal. But I would stand my ground in identifying - after the half-decade plus that CBB has been in Fayetteville, that it certainly IS all about the coach at this point.
Coaching is both on and off the court and CBB’s ‘faults’ are fairly consistent making them increasingly obvious. It is the inability to make in-game adjustments historically obvious. It is the repetitive nature of Coach Anderson’s recruiting where he ends up with single-thread players (fast and athletic) that when confronted by other fast and athletic players can’t adapt to something else (like a half-court offensive set). When confronted by well-coached yet slower and often-less athletic players with ‘other skills’, the Hogs struggle. That Arkansas can’t out-rebound hardly anyone year after year is not ‘players not listening’. It’s players recruited that simply don’t have those games. It is sticking to a game style that produces offensive and defensive ‘sets’ that leaves Arkansas players out of position TO rebound. After CBB’s half-decade plus at Fayetteville, these are facts in evidence. That the Hogs will continue to ‘press’ even when the opponent breaks down that press repeatedly … No Sir - its not on the players. When the game becomes Chess, then play Chess. Respectfully, Coach Anderson likely will not even at ‘Check’.
All I would ever want is to watch the outstanding game-product that the UofA should be able to put on the floor and know that it can be more than a one-trick pony. That is winning Basketball. Making adjustments.
That the Hogs are and will likely continue to be a one-trick pony even today is all about how, respectfully submitted, CBB chooses to run his program. For that, any ‘criticism’ is reasonable and fair when submitted sans personal attack.
When you say one trick pony, what exactly are you talking about? I have a feeling I know what you’re talking about, but I want to be clear.
As to rebounding, we’ve played 5 SEC games and outrebounded 3 of those teams and lost to 2 of those teams we out rebounded. Rebounding is definitely important, but with more teams transitioning to the NBA style of everybody shoots 3’s, it’s becoming difficult to suggest that’s a major recipe for success anymore.
AD has to make some decisions at the end of the season and correct this train wreck. I think post season play is all but gone. Changes need to be made and I would clean house.
Season is far from over, but the light at the tunnel is pulling further away. And no, Anderson doesn’t need to be fired. Even the announcers said during the game that Arkansas is only second to Kentucky in SEC wins the last 4 years. You don’t fire a winning coach. Yes, the start the conference sucks, but there’s still plenty to play for.
General, I’m sure you will feel the same way when they end up in the SEC cellar where they headed if something drastic don’t change.
Can’t debate you there. I’ll still and always will support the team, but we need a major momentum shift, big time.
For the General …
Admittedly an over-simplification, I refer to the style of the defense (which is arguably the calling card for Coach Anderson) as a one-trick pony. That one-trick pony defense leads to the shortcomings once in the half-court. It bleeds over to the offense where a consistent and purposeful offensive set is rarely seen. I submit that where the defense doesn’t get the turnover in the backcourt, it produces few steals, doesn’t eat up the shot clock, and doesn’t interfere much with what good teams are trying to do. Against the better quality teams, it has minimal impact on game speed and execution of offense by opposing teams. It historically causes Hog ballers to be in bad position to block out nor get out to the edges to defend 3-shooters. Last night’s FL game was the usual. FL spread the court and spent most of the early game cutting into the lane where (we all saw it) there was open space. I don’t have the answer for why so many of the Hog defenders lose their assignment. I just … argue that the one-trick pony 40-minutes of COB (Chase The Ball) is yesterday’s headline. There is a window of time between COB and setting up against an offensive set that Arkansas struggles with. It’s in this window that teams have learned to attach the Hogs - getting wide open 3s and/or drawing fouls.
As I watch too much college basketball, I do get the opportunity to observe that few other teams leave so many shooters open as Arkansas does. I can’t buy that this is player’s laziness but the consistency of the numbers (3 point shooting average, number of fouls, etc) tell me this is the result of a structural problem with the defense against how offenses set up in today’s college game.
My … observation is that this is the same year to year and this is the fault I would assign to the Head Coach.
One last point. Yes - Coach Anderson has the 2nd most wins in the SEC for the past few years. With that comes no SEC conference championships, no SEC tournament championships, only two NCAA wins. Winning lots of games makes him a ‘winning coach’. I think its fair however to want something more and I doubt his style is consistent enough to produce that ‘championship’ in today’s game. So - it comes to this. Without having the patience and will to adapt and recruit and build teams that can execute more than one game plan, what we have (reference the loss to FL) is what we’ll always have.
I appreciate the discussion. Talking to myself while watching the games is getting old.
Good post DHog!!!
Great post with a lot of thought put into it,I agree we are looking for more than a winning record. WPS
Well thought out reply. I agree with most of this and it helps me look more into what we are doing defensively. I think I’ll rewatch the Florida game and try not to vomit doing it.
I will admit that our basketball season has really disappointed me. I thought that Barford and Macon could take the young players and the older role players and put together a top 20 team that no one wants to play. I hope that they improve quickly before the losing culture blocks any chance to get better.
I think that CMA is a very good man and a good college basketball coach. I want him and his players to win and be nationally respected. I am not going to nitpick his coaching style. BUT he needs to win more games!
The one thing to remember is that we were a top 5 football program less than 10 years ago and basketball was a top 20 program for over 20 years. The Razorbacks can win at a top level. I hope that Anderson and Morris can start winning soon because the fan base is growing more impatient daily. WPS.