Arkansas is going to be no better than a .500 team, and lose their home SEC opener against FL, if they don’t get a consistent post up game. They can hit the j, that’s not a problem, the problem is they don’t have 2-3 big men in the post that can put 30 on the scoreboard, especially on the road, when the j isn’t falling. The potential is there, they just have to keep developing an inside game. The Razorbacks never won anything without Corliss, the fastest 40 will not work without a consistent inside game.
I should say .500 team in conference play.
Last nights game was the worst of the year so far on both ends of the floor. The offense and defense lacked any fire to put NDS away early. I don’t know what’s wrong with Kingsley, but you’re right, if he doesn’t show up against Florida or Kentucky in 2 of our first 3 SEC games, then we could easily be down 0-3 in conference.
Not to many college teams have big men putting up 30 pts on regular basis anymore. In fact not much at all these days.
Moses hasn’t found his stride yet on offense but neither has the team as a whole, but he is still a factor when on the floor drawing a lot of attention.
I’ve got to say that, despite the 10-1 record, this team doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. I’m bracing for an 0-3 start in conference play. I think we’re only marginally better than last year. I really hope I’m wrong. Kingsley doesn’t even look like the same player, at least offensively. I’m not sure why. Is he trying too hard and forcing shots? Macon is doing great, but Barford is a little disappointing so far. We’ve upgraded at the 4 position, but still aren’t great there. Hannahs is about as expected, and Beard has improved. At the start of the season, I was thinking 13-5 or 12-6 in conference, but I’ve scaled that back to 10-8 or 9-9. If we start conference play 0-3, I think my pessimism will have been confirmed. A 2-1 start will change my outlook considerably. On the other hand, we seem to have two very good recruiting classes lined up for 2017 and 2018, so better days are probably coming.
Not much positive optimism here. I must be seeing a different team play. The one I see is pretty talented but still figuring each other out offensively, but pretty tough on D at times. Big upside as the season progresses and they start to mesh better. Bench play (2nd unit especially) is better than we have had in more than a few years, in fact they dominate at times.
Work in progress, yes and still need to get going a little faster in the 1st halves but they come on in the 2nd half and don’t just wilt at the end if it close. So far that progress has a 10-1 record now. Not all cupcake wins either.
I know things get tougher when SEC play starts, but it gets tougher for everybody else too.
I agree and disagree with some of your points.
I agree that we can start conference play 0-3, especially if Kingsley and Thompson don’t start playing better on offense. I agree Kingsley is not playing well. Mostly, I think it’s because he has a target on his back and teams are double teaming him at every turn. But I also believe he gets too easily frustrated and that affects his game. If he starts off with just ONE BUCKET, it really sets the tone for him the rest of the game. I agree that we need to be cautious with our optimism till the Florida game. If we win the Florida game, I think we have a wide open shot to be top 3 in the conference. And we do have 2 really good classes coming in. This is where I end on my agreement.
I think this team is way better than last year. From depth, talent, rebounding, free throw shooting, and defense, this team is playing at a much higher level. 0-3 to start conference is possible, but I think 2-1, if not with some luck/skill, 3-0 is equally possible. Barford averages double digits in points. But I’ll, agree he does turn the ball over too much. Our guards are the strength of this team at the moment.
I won’t say how high the ceiling is for this team till after the Florida game, but if we win that game, then this team has a very high ceiling to reach and has a good chance to get there.
The Texas game showed me the team has some fight. Florida will show me how serious we are. I’ll leave it there for now.
General, I sincerely hope you’re right and that my pessimism is overdone. We do seem to be better on defense than last year and that’s a big plus, but we don’t have an assist man like Durham, and people forget what a prolific scorer Bell could be. I think we are better than last year. My fear is that we’re not that much better. Barford looks like a great athlete out there but makes some really bad decisions. He was supposed to be better than Macon. If that were true we’d be blowing teams out night after night because Macon has been pretty damn good. Maybe Barford will come around once he gets acclimated. My biggest worry is Kingsley. He just looks off this year compared to last. I’m at a loss to explain it. The chemistry with the new guys just doesn’t seem right. Maybe that will come too. Over the next two weeks they are going to have some big tests and we’ll see how good they really are. I’m hoping I will have turned optimist by then.
Is there no TV/ WatchESPN for Sam Houston ST game ?
Tell me which team in college bb has 2-3 big men who can put up 30 a game. You won’t find many teams who have even one big man who can score 30 ppg. This team has a real shot at putting up a better than .500 in conference imo. The Hogs will make the SECT and win a couple of games, again, imho.
We have the potential to put together a good season but have some work to do yet as all teams. Our press is not causing turnovers and to me we have actually looked as good in our zone as we have in the man defense. If our press doesn’t get better as far as causing turnovers maybe we can play tough half court and get run outs off our D and by rebounding, we have the talent to make that work IMO. It’s easier to teach a good half court D than to teach full court pressure with so many newcomers without suffering foul trouble and them getting layups.MA will figure it out I’m sure in the long run. WPS
I said 2-3 big men in the paint, that can be any position, just getting quality looks in the paint.
Most of your top teams can consistently score in the paint with big GUARDS, FORWARDS, or Centers. And you guys are misreading my post. I mean 30 pts total in the post, from a variety of big men, which HAS to happen, it’s not a debate. If you don’t get that, especially on the road, you don’t win. Your not going to hit the j every night consistently, you have to have balance.
2-3 big men in the paint narrows it down pretty quick - position wise.
“Jimbeau77”]Not to many college teams have big men putting up 30 pts on regular basis anymore. In fact not much at all these days.
Moses hasn’t found his stride yet on offense but neither has the team as a whole, but he is still a factor when on the floor drawing a lot of attention.[/quote
Not many NBA teams have 3 big men that can put 30 on the board consistently, and I didn’t say that. I said 30 pts in the post up game. No where did I say we needed 3 different guys getting 30 pts in the paint…LOL…However, if WE ever get that, we’ll do alright that night, probably hang a cpl more banners.
Not really, 6’3-6’4-6’5 + guards are quite common.
Unfortunately, General, I think I was right. We’re not much better than last year. Florida is what a good team looks like. Maybe next year.
I guess we are going to keep saying maybe next year. MA has got some good players but they don’t play smart. I blame that on lack of coaching. Basketball team not much better than the football team which is middle to bottom of the SEC. Need wholesale coaching changes. Hogs are spending a lot of money and getting nothing for it.
I do think we’re better than last year. I think we’ll do well in conference play overall. But, we did lose to a more talented team tonight and were once again shown that the line between very good and great is actually quite thick.
It’s painful to think about how good we would be if we had Monk and Allen.