Sometimes it is not the coach

[thehuntinhog]

They are being asked to play a style of defense they cannot handle game after game. It requires maximum effort, and they don’t have it in them for every game.

what style is that and why not?

[thehuntinhog]

I like Mike and I want him to win here.

But, how many years does he get before we start blaming the coach??
Players?? C’mon man.
They are his players.

We gonna still be blaming players if he’s here 10 years and not winning games like yesterday??

You’re good at exaggerating what people are saying and trying to turn it into something else. Nobody is saying coach doesn’t get any on the blame, you don’t see that anywhere in this thread. That’s completely made up by you. It’s his team he gets the blame no matter what, nobody has disputed that, he took the blame himself at the press conference.

What the OP is saying is that regardless of defensive schemes it’s up to the players to execute. Anybody that watched the game can see there was some lazy closeouts on 3 point shooters and some guys that were not sticking to their man. I know Daryl Macon, who’s usually a solid defender, didn’t close out on 3 point shooters a few different times. Dusty Hannahs let Cullen Vanleer lose him a few times and he got open shots. Moses Kingsley wasn’t being aggressive on the boards or at all on defense or offense. Guys turning the ball over by push-offs at the end of the game. The coach can only do so much. It’s up to the players to come out and play well. I don’t know how much better to explain that.

Thanks for dumbing it down for me.
Tired of excuses. Ready for results.

Mike’s job to have them ready to play.
They should fear not giving 110%, not closing out shooters, getting called for the same offensive foul over and over.
They don’t.

I don’t know how else to explain it to you.

Here’s how I agree with you. I blame our players for the times they flat out stink and don’t do their job. I blame Mike for not punishing them afterwards. Or if he does, it doesn’t seem to be working. They should fear him. They don’t. But they also shouldn’t suck as bad as they do at times. That has nothing to do with Mike. He can’t be there to hold their hand all the time. At some point a player has to care. I’m embellishing no doubt. I love our players. I’m talking about 5% of the time. And it’s not having an off night. It’s not even trying.

[randyreece]

I do not see this as an “oh, those misbehaving players” problem. That is illogical. It is an excuse to avoid confronting underlying problems.

This roster provides flexibility against a lot of opponents but also has limitations. Lack of a point guard and a wing forward has figured into each loss and other tight games.

The power forwards have problems with some matchups, running into some superior talent and more physical players. Moses Kingsley at the five has struggled all season to fit into the system on both ends. Overall, ballhandling has been a problem in some games.

Arkansas has been stuck between philosophies, unable to play effective pressure defense much of the time, not totally dedicated to contesting shots and rebounding, sometimes getting flurries of fouls on defense. You can see that the Hogs have moments where they are very good. But success appears to depend on 1) how good the opponent’s guards are, 2) how successfully Mike Anderson can rotate players and shuffle defensive calls, 3) whether the opponent succeeds at freezing the movement of the halfcourt motion offense (which falls back on guard matchups).

Blocked shots distort our metrics. The Hogs have a serious 2-pt field goal defensive problem. It’s masked by the large number of blocked shots, a high % of which turn into offensive rebounds. I don’t give opponents a ton of credit for getting shots blocked and retaining possession. Somewhere in there, maybe our defense breaks down while trying to rotate in response to the block. If you take out blocked shots and the related offensive rebounds, Arkansas is giving up a huge 2-pt shooting percentage. I can’t get the exact number, but it’s really bad.

You see a number of easy drives to the basket per game, and people remember those, but the bigger problem is elsewhere. Missouri’s forwards outscored ours 42-14. That was the game.

[hogtreat]

I do not see this as an “oh, those misbehaving players” problem. That is illogical. It is an excuse to avoid confronting underlying problems.

This roster provides flexibility against a lot of opponents but also has limitations. Lack of a point guard and a wing forward has figured into each loss and other tight games.

The power forwards have problems with some matchups, running into some superior talent and more physical players. Moses Kingsley at the five has struggled all season to fit into the system on both ends. Overall, ballhandling has been a problem in some games.

Arkansas has been stuck between philosophies, unable to play effective pressure defense much of the time, not totally dedicated to contesting shots and rebounding, sometimes getting flurries of fouls on defense. You can see that the Hogs have moments where they are very good. But success appears to depend on 1) how good the opponent’s guards are, 2) how successfully Mike Anderson can rotate players and shuffle defensive calls, 3) whether the opponent succeeds at freezing the movement of the halfcourt motion offense (which falls back on guard matchups).

Blocked shots distort our metrics. The Hogs have a serious 2-pt field goal defensive problem. It’s masked by the large number of blocked shots, a high % of which turn into offensive rebounds. I don’t give opponents a ton of credit for getting shots blocked and retaining possession. Somewhere in there, maybe our defense breaks down while trying to rotate in response to the block. If you take out blocked shots and the related offensive rebounds, Arkansas is giving up a huge 2-pt shooting percentage. I can’t get the exact number, but it’s really bad.

You see a number of easy drives to the basket per game, and people remember those, but the bigger problem is elsewhere. Missouri’s forwards outscored ours 42-14. That was the game.

You continue to provide great insight. I feel you are absolutely correct and I imagine Florida’s roster as I read your break down. They have all of the above and they primarily play fundamental defense without all of the trapping rotations. What are your thoughts?

[porque]

I do not see this as an “oh, those misbehaving players” problem. That is illogical. It is an excuse to avoid confronting underlying problems.

This roster provides flexibility against a lot of opponents but also has limitations. Lack of a point guard and a wing forward has figured into each loss and other tight games.

The power forwards have problems with some matchups, running into some superior talent and more physical players. Moses Kingsley at the five has struggled all season to fit into the system on both ends. Overall, ballhandling has been a problem in some games.

Arkansas has been stuck between philosophies, unable to play effective pressure defense much of the time, not totally dedicated to contesting shots and rebounding, sometimes getting flurries of fouls on defense. You can see that the Hogs have moments where they are very good. But success appears to depend on 1) how good the opponent’s guards are, 2) how successfully Mike Anderson can rotate players and shuffle defensive calls, 3) whether the opponent succeeds at freezing the movement of the halfcourt motion offense (which falls back on guard matchups).

Blocked shots distort our metrics. The Hogs have a serious 2-pt field goal defensive problem. It’s masked by the large number of blocked shots, a high % of which turn into offensive rebounds. I don’t give opponents a ton of credit for getting shots blocked and retaining possession. Somewhere in there, maybe our defense breaks down while trying to rotate in response to the block. If you take out blocked shots and the related offensive rebounds, Arkansas is giving up a huge 2-pt shooting percentage. I can’t get the exact number, but it’s really bad.

You see a number of easy drives to the basket per game, and people remember those, but the bigger problem is elsewhere. Missouri’s forwards outscored ours 42-14. That was the game.

The lack of a point guard is glaring. If we had a serviceable PG, this team would be pretty dangerous, even with our inside deficiencies. That being said, there is one thing no one seems to talk about. I love Macon, but his failure on the defensive end is confusing. I lot of his problem seems to be lack of hustle on defense (i.e. not closing out on shooters). He seems to have the fire but that fire hasn’t reached his britches on defense. I think he has the athletic ability to be a good defender.

[armyhog]

Macon is a good player and has the ability on the offensive end that’s for sure. The defensive end is an adjust that have shown he has problems in the hectic pace we play staying in front of his man cutting off driving lanes to the hole and closing out.
It is probably as much for him a half court game would help him. We can’t press 40 minutes a game with this team and win I don’t see it.
We could all post on opinions about all of these young me. But it would not help. My hope is they find a way to focus and play together. Win or lose they are my hogs!
Maybe MA can make some adjustments with this team that will fit their ability! You can’t force people to do things they are not capable of doing. That’s the way I see it

[soieet]

Coach’s job is to get them to play. Like it or not, that is true. This team is so lax in effort that comes from somewhere. There is no consistency. None. Mike needs to get them to play. That is why he gets paid the bucks.