I think Musselman has found an identity that works with this team.
I thought it was brilliant to start Williams with Vanover. That helped keep Vanover from being isolated. Sadly, Williams got into foul trouble, but he did well.
We found our go to guy in Notae.
We found a balanced offense and our defense was VERY good tonight.
As this team continues to grow, we’ll win A LOT more going forward!!!
We played well. We shot too many 25 foot shots, but we played good, I thought. We just don’t have much of an inside presence.
Notae has a feel for the game. He is a little wild, but he is fun to watch.
We shot better from the field, 3’s, and the FT line than Tennessee. We outrebounded them and generally played the better game. But turnovers that were largely due to tackle basketball killed us.
So true.
The referees basicly allowed them to attack us all night long and if we breathed on them it was usually a foul. Our kids played well and as mentioned above Jackson played much better along with Tate, Notae and the supporting cast. Williams played much better! Sills has played poor defense the last two games and hasn’t deserved to be on the court. Last night he had his left foot back and basicly gave his right handed man the free drive to the basket. Moody played a very tentative game and never got his rhythm (that really hurt us especially in the second half).
If Jackson had hit that last 3 (which went in and out and Vanover almost tipped it in) we still may have pulled that game out. If we had played against Missouri like we did tonight we’d have beat them. We have found our future lineup (without Smith). KK is just not ready to play yet. He seems lost all the time.
In Moody’s defense, Tennessee had their best defender, whose name escapes me, on him all night. Tennessee is a legit top 10 defensive team and Arkansas did very well on offense against them last night. Moody just couldn’t get into a rythmn and the team couldn’t get him the ball in an advantageous spot.
Agree with your assessments.
Coach Musselman has many more pieces to move around this year than last, making the loss of a key player (potentially) less devastating.
No doubt, if we had played against Missouri the way we played against Tennessee, we’d be 2-1 right now.
I believe from this point teams will continue to disrupt and stop Moody and Sills. See if the rest can beat them.
Good to see Jackson step up and get rebounds,
If that’s other teams game plan, then we might not lose another game.
Like I said in another thread, one of my biggest concerns besides interior defense was who was going to be the “go to guy.” Last night, Notae answered that call with Tate showing he can be that as well. I believe Moody is the other guy who can be the go to guy.
I don’t do that moral victory stuff, but last night showed me a team that is playing tougher competition and truly figuring out who they are. When it gets all put together, we can make some noise.
Wanted to win, but the team played well except for the stated turnovers. It’s taking a while to shape this team and Muss has them closing fast to what he wants and how they should play. It’s going to be fun watching this unfold. If we had Smith, we might be 3/0, certainly 2/1.
I figured road game would produce some turnovers. But the Hogs have to force more than one. That is one off the all/time record.
Thought Auburn game was first road game?
Yeah. My bad. I had a 66 year old moment! Thanks. Good catch
I think we have a team with a bright future and the coaching staff to make it happen, but we do have issues that have to be rectified to make a run. For some reason we have lapses where we start playing defense with our hands instead of our feet and pickup unnecessary fouls that stop us from causing turnovers and we get in lulls on offense by standing around which causes way to much dribbling. We need guys to break away from defenders and get open for a pass, if they are over playing on defense back door them and make them pay. I’ve always believed that when you attack the rim to go up strong instead of some circus shot that has little hope of going in, if you get to the rim make them block you or foul you or give you a good look but don’t come away without anything to show for your effort.We have plenty of talent on this team albeit some freshman and grad transfers that have yet to fully come together other than seeing some glimpses of what could be. I really think this bunch can be a juggernaut in the Sec if we just clean up a few things, need to get a win to build some confidence and stay in the hunt, lots of ball to play yet. WPS
I hate to see CV trying to make-and miss- shots under the basket. DUNK the *amn ball. At 7’3" with long arms, it is pathetic to miss around the basket. He should either score or draw a foul.
Vance playing up to his potential is a shot in the arm for this team.
Now we hope to see Williams continue to mature and become the player he is capable of being and we will have a team that will be a
strong contender to win any game on our schedule. If we get a healthy Smith back on the floor, we will be a very difficult out.
If Vanover could just “posterize” defenders around the basket, he would.
Right now, he just doesn’t have the leg strength to finish like many of us wish he would.
He has already improved tremendously from where he used to be, so perhaps in time he will be able to just dunk on everyone, or get fouled trying. (I’m sure Gas will love it if that day comes).
You know what they say about if. The coach talked individually to every player. I’m wondering if that had something to do with Moses Moody being less aggressive because other players were more aggressive driving to the basket. I saw Moses and Desi turn down shots they would have taken previously.
By the way. I hate when stats are used to try to determine why games or won and lost when they give no credit to the quality of the opponent.
Of course we turned the ball over more against Tennessee than our other games. Especially the first 8 where the competition was way inferior. Another example is we were averaging 90 points a game when playing the weaker nonconference teams. The averages are not a true picture. In fact, I would argue only the statistics kept in conference games are valid when it comes to comparing teams. If we are playing Central Arkansas and Kentucky is playing Louisville we are not comparing apples to apples. Now that we are in conference games, if you say Arkansas is averaging 90 points a game and Kentucky is only averaging 60 it means something.
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