So just what is the deal with this Razorback basketball team? I think it’s really pretty easy to see. Much of the time this season, they have just played lazy.
Rob Keys thinks that “heart, desire and guts” have been the missing ingredients. But I really don’t think it’s about that. To me, the issue has always been intensity.
I do agree that collectively this team doesn’t show a lot of basketball smarts. Slowing them down, though, doesn’t really help that…it just makes it more apparent. And slowing them down earlier this season to minimize careless turnovers is what eventually led to a severe lack of intensity.
So what’s my winning formula for these guys?
- Play very intense defense…including using a strong press often. I think the use of the Wooden-era, UCLA-type ‘token’ press has been the root of many of the lazy habits shown by this team.
- Pass the ball on offense — don’t dribble it unless for a specific purpose. Quick ball movement is the key that will allow these guys to play better on offense.
- Emphasize a controlled fast break with secondary options — no long passes.
- Use ball rotation and pick and roll to get the ball into the paint.
- Ride Sonny Weems early and often. Post him up…get him the ball in scoring positions…put this team on his back.
- Play inside-out with Weems and Beverley.
- Make the post players kick the ball out to the shooters (this means you Charles Thomas — quit getting your shot blocked).
Both Weems and Beverley need good ball and player movement on offense to thrive. Better screening away from the ball would help, but more movement by both of them against man defenses also needs to happen. If those two guys aren’t getting their offense early and often, there won’t be much offense. It’s just that simple.
If Weems and Beverley get their points, then the post will be there as well. Otherwise, teams are just going to deny Beverley and collapse into the post area after an entry pass (and since we never kick the ball out…that’s a very safe defensive strategy).
After defeating LSU last week, Nate Allen pronounced this team as “viable.” Not good…not bad…but “viable.” The season is a long way from being over. And the SEC West is still theirs for the taking.
But start playing lazy again and it’s not going to get done.
I have wondered for a while if they are suffering from not having competitive seniors on the team when they arrived as freshmen. They arrived as saviors for a bad team that hadn't competed in several years. For all of our past success, when they arrived it might as well have been Baylor. All of the trappings were there just no proven coach or a team of winners to show them what was really expected. They never had to compete to earn their playing time, it came immediately.
For all of Nolan's recent accolades he really left nothing. For all of Stan's recruiting acolades, rebuilding is the toughest task a coach can have.
Pelphry looks like he will at least one day be the real deal. Teaching senior players how to compete in one year is a pretty tall task. I would love to see them get the bug and catch fire. They have shown talent from time to time but no real fire, no passion to succeed. Occasionally they would wake up for a game or two when their back was against the wall.
This their last chance. Maybe that will mean something to them.
I believe much of what HogBlogger say's is true. Keep the inside-outside game going with Beverly and Weems, and the post play will be there. Darien Towns hasn't been much of an offensive threat in recent games because of the collapsing defenses we've seen to stop Beverly. It doesn't alway's mean we won't play well overall, but it still probably mean's we won't be able to peak offensively as a team when we see this type of defense. Look at the "Bama game for instance. Battling with them inside 70% of the time didn't help our cause as much as Beverly and Weems taking control of the offense. This team shouldn't be centered around Towns as much as those 2, because you'll have a much more more balanced team offensively. Wow! Did I actually say balanced offense again? I didn't think I'd actually be saying that in a basketball post.
Of course, any of this won't mean much unless we get consistant Point Guard play game in and game out. In the Miss. St. game we shot 25 of 30 FTs also. This is something we hadn't done all year up to this point. The consistantsy of this team will get a real test with the Gators tomorrow. They run, run, run, and shoot Fts very well. It probably won't matter that thier playing on the road. It hasn't so far.
Welsh is not the best point guard in the country, or the SEC for that matter. He just does not make the mistakes that have come to be associated with the "Senior" alternative. To me, this is the biggest improvement in the Hogs game. Point guard is, and has been for a couple of years, the weakest link. Our inside game is consistently good.
I'm with all of you on the point guard issues. I also think Welsh runs the team much better than Ervin. Ervin seems more interested in setting up his shot than setting up his teammates.
I actually wrote this post the afternoon before the Mississippi State game. We saw much of what I was talking about needing to do in that game. Not perfect, but effective. It is important to remember that Mississippi State is more of a bigger, slow team.
i liked the shorter rotations – much more energy. Everyone played hard – no resting on the court. Much better. Good energy by all the big guys. We didn't really miss Charles Thomas. He doesn't tend to contribute much to ball movement
Weems and Beverly curling off of off ball screens worked very well. I firmly believe we need 30+ points from the two of them every game. Getting the ball within 15 feet on nearly every possession helped us get to the line. Shooting well from the line was huge.
Late in the game Ervin started dribbling a lot again. The guards should only dribble more than one bounce when setting up the pick and roll or on the rare clear out. Kick outs where at least being looked for, and we made a few threes from inside out play.
Not perfect, but way better.