I like both Bret Bielema and Mike Anderson. Having said that, the losses sustained by the football and basketball guys in Columbia were inexcusable. Ironically, Bielema’s team continued to trend by blowing up in the second half while Anderson’s Razorbacks continued trending on the road by pulling a no show in the first half. Both meltdowns, in my opinion, were directly related to coaching and coaching, at times, has been suspect and questionable, at best.
Given the amount of money being paid to the Arkansas head coaches and their respective staffs, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for fans to expect a football and basketball team to be adequately prepared to compete for an entire game. The perfomances on the field and court at Missouri were hard to watch, yet alone justify.
Excellent point. Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice since the State and University feels entitled to a portion of our tax dollars. So the only avenue the fan base has is to express its displeasure is on message boards, talk shows, or choosing not to support mediocrity by not attending sporting events. For decades the coaches and officials on The Hill have demanded more and more money from tuition increases, ticket price increases, and more money from donors, and higher taxes from us. These revenues were to improve facilities on campus which will lead to better recruiting which would lead to better results on the field and court the officials would say to justify the increases. So this is what we have. Shinny new buildings. Same old results. It all goes back to the money. If the donors, students, and tax payers of the State tells the University no more money until we get better results, I bet things would change.
Let’s consider this point. D. Williams was dismissed from the team last year. He is at Middle Tenn. and is a leader on that team. If he had made it on the hill without trouble he would add some fight to this bunch. What happened last year put the bad shape then and now. The JC kids have not had a full year yet. Bardford and Macon show promise and should get better. Cook shows flashes. There were no solid expectations for this year! I think next year is the year that it pays off.
The coaches don’t make the plays on the football field or the basketball court. We missed Monk and Hill instate talent that would have made a huge difference to our team. Next year we have the in state talent coming to the hill. The ship is going in a positive direction.
The loss is not excusable though. At the end of the day I’m a hog fan and nothing will change that! We don’t need to fire coaches. The coaches need to make adjustments in order to win.
He’s got a good point, though. Jacorey Williams might have solved our problems at the four spot last year. He’s averaging about 18 points, 7.5 rebounds for a very good Middle Tennessee team that has beaten several SEC teams in the non-conference and will be going to the NCAA tourney. If we had that kind of production at the four we’d be in business. He’s even making almost 70% of his free throws now.
The variable in your post which is very good is you are assuming that D. Williams would have progressed in MA program as he has with the current program he plays for now. After watching what seems to me the regressed play of M. Kingsley I’m not sure Williams would have helped all that much, if he would be playing here like he is there now yes he would definitely be a factor on this team. WPS
I agree with dwp007’s post entirely. There seems to be no sense of urgency and anxiety amongst our coaches regarding doing what it takes to perform the entirety of a game in order to win games that should be won. That’s because our Athletic Director does not want to coach the coaches. Frank Broyles once told Nolan Richardson that he should consult Bobby Knight to learn more about basketball defense. Was Nolan insulted? Absolutely, but Nolan responded in a big way when it came to the product on the floor. Barry Alvarez has football and basketball programs in the top 15 at Wisconsin. Lets face it, Bret Bielema was nothing more than Alvarez’ caretaker for Wisconsin football as its head coach. I am sure that Alvarez was in Bielema’s ear all the time. Look who coached the Badgers at the Rose Bown when Bielema left to come here. I doubt Jeff Long has very much contact with Bielema throughout the course of a season here at Arkansas. I would seriously doubt if the same isn’t true with Anderson as well.
The bottom line is we have a very weak and soft competitive culture that has taken root in our athletic department and it’s Jeff Long’s job to change it. Will that happen? It’s anyone’s guess.
He had his chance to be in the program…he blew it. Beard should not be on this team, either. IMO, he is not helping this team due to worrying too much about shooting the ball. I believe MA does not delegate accountability as to shot selection and who should be shooting the ball. And, that will get you beat, more often than not.
What? Accountability to shot selection? Huh. So how do you do that? I’m curious on your thoughts here. 2nd your comment on who shoots… what do you mean by that? Point 1: Do you mean punishing a player for taking shots? If so, the only time I could see that is if a player is playing out of control and just throwing wild shots and you would just sit that player and talk to him about shot selection… Which I don’t recall that being a problem. 2nd: I’ve never heard of a coach telling a player not to shoot the ball. So how can a coach decide who shoots? A guy gets a ball, he’s wide open, he’s going to shoot.