I am not going to get into the coach or tactics or scheme. Or even philosophy. But I will say this…for the 2nd straight year, this team has a grand total of two bonafide offensive threats outside of Gafford…who is going to be a great player, but is still far from polished offensively.
If Joe and Jones are not BOTH hitting from the perimeter, this team cannot win. Period. Basketball is not necessarily a simple game. But in this case, it is pretty simple. We have 2 kids that are honest threats to score beyond 6 feet.
Mike has GOT to recruit more kids with offensive skills. Skills upon arrival. Namely the ability to shoot the rock. Even if he has to give up some length and athleticism.
Again, look at Dudley’s post from earlier. In HS all these kids could score. Chaney, Gabe, Sills, and Embery-Simpson have all had games that showcased this. Then they’ve had games where they are ice-cold (a lot more ice cold games). Harris, Bailey have also had games where they’ve scored. So all of them have the potential and ability, they just need to all start hitting at the same time. As for Jones and Joe, they also have had good games and struggled in games.
While the roster needs some more depth of players with the ability to shoot the ball. They also need to be able to drive under control and finish through contact. Joe needs to show he can create his own shot and finish at the rim. Jones has shown flashes at all levels but it’s apparent if either one of these guys are off it a long night. Emery has the ability to score he just hasn’t shown it a lot yet. Sills can too as well the game is too fast for him right now. Outside of Chaney the other 4’s are dough around the edges. There’s just not enough depth to cover if someone isn’t having a good game.
Maybe the light comes on soon.
For sure the roster needs some changes after this season. I just hope we have some veteran experience in the next few years.
Every team wants more good shooters, but the main problem with the Razorbacks (Mike Anderson) is that it requires a high shooting percentage for hogs to stay in the game and possibly win. Every team has cold shooting nights, but win with defense and rebounding. Anderson has no plan and nothing to fall back on. Good coaches do not allow every player to shoot without moving the defense first. This is the main problem. There is not enough player movement and ball movement. When you shoot without moving the defense, there is little chance of getting the rebound. The hogs shoot the three too quickly and every player thinks they can make 3’s when other teams work to get their good shooters open shots. When they don’t shoot early they stand around and have to force up a bad shot to beat the shot clock.
On defense they are not fundamentally sound. They can’t control the dribbler who breaks down the defense and we either give up a layup or rotate to help and fail to get the offside rebound. Rebounding is the last fundamental of defense. Anderson has never been able to teach blocking out nor how to defend on the ball screens. In short, Anderson is not a good coach. And explain that in his 8th season he is rebuilding again. By now he should have a program in place. Fastest 40 is a joke.
Well said. Our defense has given up an average of 94 points in last three games and everyone seems worried about offense. We have not gotten any offense off our defense and that is part of problem.
Moark, many of your points certainly are valid. I’ve noticed the same things and have made some of the same comments. However, I don’t think that Anderson is a bad coach. For some reason, he has not been able to recruit enough of the athletes to run his free lance offense and defense effectively. I believe that you have a superior athlete at every position to make his offense and defense work. I also have stated that a fundamentally sound team with good guards (not great guards) will beat us a majority of the time. Without a major turn around I don’t know how much longer he can survive. The frustration level in the fan base is growing with every lopsided loss.