Bubble watch

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#1

We sure haven’t made the dance. OSU would’ve been a big resume building W. Would’ve been.

We are running out of opportunities. And we are definitely not passing the “eye test”

It’s very frustrating. I think we would’ve won the game with Desi in there not making stupid turnovers and Vance Jackson not jacking up hopeless treys and air balling layups. I get it, deciding playing time and the rotation is a small part of the whole game plan. But I’m not sure what’s so subtle and complex in the strategy that my untrained eye can’t see in our coach’s choices. I know his condescending attitude in press conferences is annoying, but not nearly as annoying as predictable failures in the final minutes of the game from recurring turnover and shot selection problems by the same players again and again. OSU was not killing us on pick and roll this game, so what was muss’s excuse this time? We were getting killed on rebounds and straight up easy points in the paint from one on one matchups and that sorry zone we tried that exposed conner’s non extistent rim protection and still couldn’t stop their star scorer in the back court. I’m genuinely interested in what the coaches reasoning was, but I’m done making excuses for him. Anyone else care to take a stab at it?

#2

Does anyone have +/- stats from the game? I can’t find that in any box score online. I know Muss says he utilizes +/- a lot

#3

What are you talking about? Vance Jackson didn’t even take a shot yesterday…

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#4

I know, my statement was unclear. I mean Vance Jackson And Desi Sills would’ve done a better job And should’ve been on the floor. Instead we were lost in turnover city and airballed layup land

#5

Dogen, appreciate your passion and everyone is free to share their thoughts but man you are negative. We had just won 3 straight conference games and had a wide open 3 to win yesterday. It didn’t go down. We were 1.5 point underdogs. Last time we played in Stillwater we lost by 28 and that team had Dusty, Macon, Barford and Moses!

You sure are hard on Muss. I think he’s doing a great job. We need a little more athleticism but I think we are a tourney team and will get in.

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#6

Yup. They’re on the UA site.
Jaylin led us at +5. Tate was +4, so was Vance. JD was +3, Devo +1.
Moody was -4, Desi -6, CV -14 and Smith -13.

Kalib Boone led them at +13. Cunningham was +5.

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#7

I also understand your frustration I also become frustrated in the heat of the moment. The most important thing to remember for myself is how many guys on this team have never played together before this year and how much we are asking of our freshman to contribute. Muss has done a good job of recruiting and has brought in enough talent to build on for the future of our program and every game these guys play together will help us improve before seasons end. Will we improve enough to make the run we need to make it to the dance is the question, who knows but I do like our chances. During games many of us are expressing our frustration and that will never change, we have to keep looking at the big picture at the end of the day and hopefully see better days ahead. WPS

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#8

Muss said Jaylin Williams was unable to play the second half due to injury.

Vance Jackson played 3 minutes and Muss apparently didn’t like his focus.

He also though Jalen Tate didn’t show up ready to play.

Same for Desi, who played 15 minutes and was probably sill hurting from the fall on Wednesday, but Muss noted hat his minutes limitation was not due to injury.

I look at plus minus, but still value the eye test more.

IMHO, the five that played the best together on Saturday was Moody, Smith, Davis, Vanover and Notae

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#9

All the pluses and minuses mean little, The only thng that really matters is the final score. Generally I think, the best team wins.

#10

I think it is safe to say that Vance Jackson has underwhelmed this season. Other than being 6-9, I am not sure what he has done to earn more playing time than he has been given.

It appears to be the same with Ethan Henderson.

If they performed in practices or games, they would be playing fo Muss. it’s that simple. After all, he goal is to win the game.

We can have opinions, but the coach sees everything.

Desi has been hot and cold, too inconsistent this season.

Justin Smith has been very solid.

Moses Moody has been about I expected in what I believe will be his only year in college.

Devo is continuing to come around. When he values ball security more, I think he is going to be a standout.

I think Jaylin and KK have bright futures.

Connor Vanover has been about what I expected, although I though he would have a better 3 percentage. I am sure the missed time when he was sick hurt him.

I think fans have a right to criticize him on certain things, but many make it personal. That’s ridiculous to me and it says more about their self-esteem, their upbringing and the deal with some people thinking they are being cool when they are negative being about a person instead of the player.

Same with the head coach.

I am sure it would have helped to have Bay Bay playing instead of hurt. And have Kamani Johnson get the waiver from the NCAA.

As for not being in the tournament, the so-called experts - who routinely almost always get it right - say they are albeit near or on the bubble.

I’ll take their word for it

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#11

I hate to lose. I am confident that Muss and his staff hates to lose. I certainly think that the players hate to lose.

The only thing that corrects losing is winning. Our Razorback players are not professionals. They are young men, not machines. Most of the time, they collectively play well enough to win. Do I wish that we could make 80% of our layups and dunks? Do I wish that we only took good shots? Do I hope that we no longer have have defensive breakdowns? Do I wish that we could always dominate on both the offensive and defensive boards? Do I wish that we can always make the right pass and not make a low % pass that results in a turnover?

I have high hopes for this team. Generally, they have gotten better, both as a team and individually. In most games that we lost, we still continued to compete.

There are plenty of things to complain about in our word now. The COVID has been disastrous to our country and it will kill more of our people. The economic damage to our once booming economy is profound and the mental damage is a largely hidden problem that could cause problems for years.

I know that when people complain, they usually don’t realize that a lot of criticism is misdirected or unfair. Complain about the coaches, but don’t keep bitching about the players.

I know that I am have been guilty of criticizing players. I need to stop being critical about the players unless they misbehave or don’t put out appropriate effort.

Sorry for the rant, but leave the players out of negative posts.

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#12

Agreed the playing time that we see must be based on the practices that we don’t see.

I think Vance Jackson has the best outside shot of our front court guys and just imagine the defense can’t get any worse, but maybe we should go with an all guard lineup except for Justin Smith and Jaylin Williams Idk (strongly disagree that Vanover was in our best five Saturday. His +/- was -14!)

I’m sure we are on the bubble as the experts say and as we are almost every year, hence the title of my post … and it’s getting to be that time of year.

All in all we played pretty good vs OSU and didn’t get embarrassed like a couple of other games this year, but it was a tough loss as a missed opportunity for resume building -do we have a marquee win this year? Also I wonder what few remaining resume building games y’all have high hopes for? I think we’ll have to beat Alabama or Missouri and we can afford maybe one additional loss outside those two games. But three or more losses from this point has us in a bad position. Hopefully the tournament gets played with the full bracket and not a limited field :mask:!

#13

Q1 opportunities remaining: Bama, at Misery, Florida, possibly LSU (they’re at 38 now), and one or more chances in the SECT. That’s about half our remaining schedule.

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#14

Reggie Chaney is playing real well for the #6 team in the country at a position of need for us…

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#15

Chaney plays 12 min a game, 4 pts and 2 RB a game. Definitely not the reason they are the #6 in the country

#16

When you recruit and bring in a whole new team, except for Henderson and Desi, it is a gamble and the building of a team takes time. By time, I would bet by next year at some point, this team will be pretty salty. Some of these players won’t be here next year, so I expect a pretty good turnover of players again, but it should not be as drastic as the turnover we have experienced this year.

Last year, we had a great chemistry and the team played so well given our talent level. This year we just haven’t jelled like we would have liked, and it has been a choppy year, so far. I am trying to remain positive, but making the Big Dance is hanging in the balance. Now, if Coach Musselman doesn’t make the tournament next year, his seat will be hot as a blow torch on full throttle.

Why in the world did Reggie Cheney leave? He could have been a big asset to this team. We are missing his kind of play.

#17

Reggie Chaney is a 14-minute, 4 ppg, 3 rebound kind of guy, That’s what he gave us last year, that’s essentially what he’s giving Houston now. When somebody shows you what they are, believe them. I don’t think 14/4/3 would make a difference on this team.

#18

Reggie did get 20 minutes each in the last two games. Seems like he is settling in as a solid off the bench seventh man.

I always liked his physical strength and did have some flashes of brilliance at Arkansas. But he didn’t quite come close to reaching his potential under two coaches here. But I do think big men take longer to develop, and this could have been a breakout year for him. Given our roster this year, a four man rotation of Smith, Chaney, Williams and Vanover would have been much more effective.

BTW, this Houston team is tough and physical. And Reggie fits well there. Amazing how well Houston has adapted to transfer of top guard and pre-season AAC POY Caleb Mills.

#19

In a short but sweet nutshell, for the past 20 years or more we’ve ALWAYS had fairly stout defensive teams. I realize this particular team possibly needed to build up its offensive confidence early on which I thought it had accomplished after the first 5 or 6 games, My personal question is why with less than 3 minutes left in this game and the score tied, would you not start double-teaming the slated number 1 player in the league that even the announcers said beforehand was an amazing player within the last 2 minutes of a game? Then again, maybe this game being out of conference wasn’t as important to muss as it was to me I’m.sure he’s more up to date on the current bubble factor than I am.

#20

“Maybe this game wasn’t as important to Muss as it was to me”. Whatever.