Joe shouldn’t even think about coming out early. He was passive and basically awful today. If he had better handles and a drive game, he could have saved us, but he doesn’t and he didn’t. Mason dribbles too much, but he at least tried to put pressure on their defense. He has no business leaving early either. Muss doesn’t escape this unscathed either. I don’t get stockpiling timeouts for a college team. He should’ve rallied the troops when Cal got tossed and should’ve called a TO when their zone was affecting us. As great as I think Muss will be, he still doesn’t get this job. There is no reason to build up Kentucky as some great, undeniable force in the pre-game press conferences, nor is there any reason to make special jerseys for our game with them. This is not even a good Kentucky team, and it sure didn’t play very well today. At all. To me, we played scared and were coached scared today. Personally, I don’t want a Razorback coach heaping praise (like Muss did with Cal) on a cheating coach that has won exactly as many national titles as Nolan Richardson. Arkansas has plenty of tradition for Muss to draw from, and I wouldnt have stormed the court had we won today. We 100% have BEEN THERE before. But that’s just me.
I would agree that we shouldn’t have any underclassmen eyeing an early exit for the NBA draft.
These guys will be much better prepared for pro basketball after more time playing for CEM.
we weren’t scared at all,just too much size for us to shoot over.we had chances,we need some more scorers,players who can create their own shot and we really have none,Desi can penetrate but too small to do anything against that kind of length.Jones can get in there some as welll as harris but no real scoring threat off the bounce is killing this team,the reason the zone was so effective is B/C we have no inside threat and all you have to do is guard the perimiter,this will be seen many times after they saw how effective it was…in the end this was David Vs Goliath they are 33rd tallest team we are 286,just too much size and athleticism,we gave everything we had and gave us an opportunity to pull the upset but all the missed layups and FT killed us.but IMO we weren’t scared at all.
I will agree that Joe and Jones are not ready for the NBA. I agree that our free throw lapses could have changed the outcome. Our shooting % was well below our norm and we missed too many open 3’s. Joe and Jones are still in a shooting slump. Whitt did not make a field goal until late in the game. Bailey, while shooting well early, reverted to last year’s form and missed several front-end free throws. He also missed several open 3’s at crucial times. Sills got called for a lot of fouls that were borderline and did not get the same treatment on several drives to the basket. Harris made 2 threes and Chaney showed that he is not far away from from becoming a legitimate SEC forward.
I agree that our weaknesses were exposed today by a long and athletic team. Everyone knows that we have a small front court. Most teams we have already faced and almost all of the ones on the rest of our schedule will be bigger than we are. We have handled this well so far except for the Kentucky and LSU games. Even in those games, we had a shot at beating LSU on the road and took the lead late against Kentucky. Not many would have guessed that we would be 14-3 at this stage of the season.
Joe, Jones, and Whit are all quality SEC level players. The rest of the team is comprised of role players. Most are generally better after 1 year in Muss’ program, but would see limited playing time in other programs. Things will get better. New recruits and a potentially very good transfer class will bring immediate help to our weaknesses. The future is very bright and a loss to a good Kentucky team when we shot poorly from the line, mid range and in, and 3’s should not cloud the bright future this program has with Coach Muss.i
The thing is, this is not that good a Kentucky team, and it did not play well at all today. I hope Muss can fully embrace the tradition that he now holds in his hands. We don’t need special uniforms, some chick on the sidelines calling it Bob Walton Arena, or Dick Vitale wishing our game would end, so he can watch Duke. Nobody is gonna give us respect. We have to take it.
I think we as a team could take a page out of the JW play book when playing these teams with size, our guards are driving into bigs and taking off balance shots instead of a 10 to 12 foot jumper. We are a good team but we need to clean some things up to be a tourney team. WPS
??? I don’t believe I just read that
We, picked 11 in the conference vrs. the no. 10 team in the nation and we had a shot to win.Don’t understand your issue with the coach. Maybe take a calm pin and relax.
I believe our team thought Ky would wilt when Cal got ejected. We rolling at that pointed then we wilted and gave up a 15-0 run to them.
Well one thing I bet you we better work on it’s how to score against the zone, which if I’m playing us ,that’s what I play, because we have no way to score nside, all you have to do is stick 4 guys out around the perimeter and we struggle get a shot off without it being forced if we penetrate the other teams have the size to block shots like Kentucky did today
Wow! That’s out in left field.
The ball needs to get the free throw line against the zone. You can be certain we will see some zone next week at Miss ST!
Emotional day, emotional game, and this post seems too emotional. That’s alright; message boards are for venting sometimes. But, I would like to weigh in.
Joe and Jones certainly have deficiencies, just like every player. Their NBA draft potential this year is definitely debatable. A lot of folks don’t understand the value of a 3 and D guy like Joe. I do think his stock has lowered from the mid first round projections. I think Jones athleticism limits his stock. Joe and Jones are both big time competitors, and with what we have coming in next year, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are both back. I think Joe’s decision will be the toughest.
Muss’ philosophy on timeouts is abnormal. But, have we been blown out? Have we not adjusted in-game all year? Is this not the most mentally tough team we’ve had in years? Those things are in favor of Muss’ philosophy. The zone affected us mostly because Jones and Sills were out. We had one perimeter threat. So, they ran Joe off the three point line, and the rest was collapsed. We shredded Ole Miss’ zone. We didn’t have the horses at that point in the game.
Muss doesn’t get this job? This statement reeks of unfair bias. He has done more than any coach I can remember to connect to our tradition and fan base.
Disagree that he built UK up as an undeniable force.
Muss is as competitive as any coach we’ve had. I would encourage you to study up and read more.
I thought Kentucky played well-they defended smartly and with great effort. and they are long and athletic.
they didn’t force 3’s, and shot a good percentage on the ones they shot, mainly 1st half.
they rebounded well, pounded the ball inside and gashed us inside.
They shot FT’s MUCH better than usual-that one 6’10" dude is a 60% FT shooter, and it seemed like he was 12-12.
so I agree that this is not a great KY team, but I think that they played very well, coming off a loss.
we just looked a little scared, not competing well for rebounds, and I just don’t understand missing that jmany FT’s especially at home. and all the front ends of 1-and-1’s, Bet we did that 5 or 6 times, almost a “perfect game” for missing the front ends!
and our best 3 point shooter was Harris. nuff said.
At LSU, late in the game, Mason gestures to their bench and screamed “cant’ stop me!”, or some such rubbish. He cursed himself, since he has just sucked offensively since then. 2 games of assists, but CAN NOT score anymore.
btw the refs were overall fair, but they don’t mind Sills getting POUNDED with no call. poor dude. his hair must have pissed them off.
And even with all that…single digit loss. I am not afraid of this KY team, actually kinda hope for a rematch in SEC tourney. And as many have already said-the future is bright! Que Timbuk3…
GHG
It appeared to me that, for the first time this season, we may have been really “gassed” after that amazing run to overcome an 11 point deficit and take the lead. We expended so much energy, accomplishing that.
We seemed to have stopped the “pace” part of our “pace and space” offense by walking the ball up the court with about 6 minutes left. We didn’t seem to quite have the legs left to play pressure defense or make our shots.
This team can never be questioned about effort. You just knew we would get KY’s best effort after their loss to SC. We fought valiantly, and with better free throw shooting, would have pulled off the win. On to MS State and another dog fight.
We are one hairy legged 6-10 250 pound center getting 10 and 10 from being undefeated. Cal pulled a Nolan on us because we scared him and it worked for his team and the officials. Can’t wait for the next game and next year for Hog basketball.
Sheesh! Assists are a huge part of any offense. Nobody’s close to Mason in that category. He was our leading scorer yesterday. He had one really bad scoring game. He’s still our leading scorer on the season. He leads the team in about a half-dozen statistics, including rebounding.
Agree with you Harley, he’s fighting hard to help the team and is doing all he can, but…if we are going to win big games, we’ve got to have our best shooters hitting 3’s. And hitting free throws.
And I think they will. Joe and Masson are too good to stay in slumps
GHG
Joe and Jones have the skills to play at the next level. But they need to mature both phyisically and mentally. Both could use time in the gym and on the court to develop thier game. When the three isn’t falling, drive the lane! Hitting free throws is a given at the next level. I’m sure CEM has stated this to both of them. Hopefully they take it to heart. Still, we are 14-3 so far
I’ll take that any day. If this continues,CEM should be coach of the year.
I apologize for my take last night on Muss. He does get this job, and his passion is infectious. Better days are definitely ahead. What I said last night was out of frustration and being sick and tired of Kentucky. When one of their players said in post game that Cal told them pregame to come in and “ruin our weekend”, it just chapped my ass. I can’t wait till we start doing that to them. My apologies to Muss and Go Hogs!