ESPN.com: Pearl’s technical sparks Vols past Razorbacks
Scotty Hopson scored 15 points to lead No. 16 Tennessee to an 80-73 win over Arkansas on Wednesday night.
Also:
- ESPN.com: Tennessee Cruises Past Arkansas, 80-73 (Video)
- ArkanasRazorbacks.com: Razorbacks rally, can’t upset No. 16 Tennessee, Game Stats
- ArkansasNews.com: Arkansas Loses Fourth Straight At Tennessee
We shot above 40% from the floor.
Attempted more free-throws than other team.
Out-rebounded competition.
Got more turnovers.
Blocked 9 shots.
NO ONE fouled out.
And we lost, why? Here are more stats:
Fortson 6 ASTs, 7 TOs.
Fortson + Clarke + Powell + Welsh = 16-51 (4-19 from 3PT).
Oh, and we let the other team shoot 54% from the floor.
Did Tenn just sit in a zone all night? Did our boys run an offense? Does is matter anymore? Apparently it'll take an act of God just to make the NIT.
Sigh.
Well put sg.
But, remember, it's incremental progress. Next year it's second place in the West and, finally, that elusive NIT bid. The year after we begin to play defense.
You might be setting our sights a bit high. I think there's a mathematical chance we wind up fourth in conference this year. Please, someone, tell me I'm wrong.
I think that if we get invited to one of the smaller tourneys, we jump at the chance and get extra practice/play in. It would almost be like getting a Dec. 12 bowl game. But hey, extra practice is extra practice.
I say we get new uniforms.
Yes! New uniforms!! That's it, O'Blowhard. Were you thinking Kansas uniforms? Duke?
A change of conference, too, might help our W/L record. Glad we're not playing ASU and UALR. What was I thinking when I said the Hogs should play ASU every year?
We need to put the Hog jumping through the A on the Uniforms again… We haven't been worth anything since we took it off.
Amen. That black trim on the uniforms needs to go as well. Only year in forever we didn't have black trim on unis we won national championship.
I should have never changed underwear.
I would never think of wearing anything but red underwear on game day. Do you know if you can get red boxers with white hogs on 'em? Or white boxers with red hogs?
Too bad we lost, but are you really bothered that we played a hot, 13th ranked team on their court and only lost by 7? TN also beat the arguably best team in the country last week.
Shame on you for not showing some support for a great effort by our kids.
Maybe I've got the wrong mindset as a fan. Maybe rather than support the positives, I should pick at every negative and kick the team further down – just like our opponents do on other message boards.
Maybe being a fan is bitching about how bad we suck and complain when we win 5 more SEC games than we did last year.
Maybe being a fan is expecting that a group of Freshman and Sophmores, along with a relatively new coach turn around a program in 2-3 years that was in the depths of hell left by it's predecessors.
Maybe being a fan is critizing one of the top point guards in the conference (he's only one of 3 PG in the country avg more than 16 pts, 6 asst and 4 rbs/game) when they play hard every game.
Maybe being a fan is whining about benching your SEC leading QB after a bad game – when they are leading the conference and in the top 10 in the nation in yards and TDs (football reference I know but the same concept).
I get so frustrated with so called 'fans' kicking down our program when we should be helping bring it back to prominince. Maybe that's just what blog commenters do……
I don't think it's a good idea for us to begin calling each other names – non-fans, etc.. It's not a contest of who is a bigger fan.
We are all fans – or we wouldn't spend our time reading and commenting about the program on a forum like this.
We all support the program. We all want the same goal, we just have different opinions on how to get there.
My opinion is that saying we won 5 more games than last year is no big deal – when we only won 2 last year. I also think we actually got on a schedule friendly lucky streak when we won those 5 games. I think we are playing right now how I expected us to play this year, and I don't like it. I don't like the style of play. I don't think our current coach is good enough to get us back to where I would like us to be. I think our future would be better in the next 3 years if Mike Anderson was our coach instead of John Pelphrey.
I am a Razorback fan. I am just tired of rebuilding. I am tired of moral victories. I think a change needs to happen. It stinks. I know flipping coaches is not fun, but sometimes you have to right the ship in uneasy waters. Mike should have been here since the day Nolan left, but we all know why that couldn't happen. It's time to right the ship.
I don't think I called anyone a name – it just appears we have different perspectives is the point.
Don't get me wrong, I'm disappointed too. I've been a Hog fan for over 40 years and have certainly seen ups and downs. After where we were in the 70s and 90s it's incredibly hard to see what's going on today.
I'm confident we'll get there; maybe under Pelphrey, maybe not. I just hate that our players and recruits can read these message boards and get the wrong idea of our fan base. Especially recruits – alot of their exposure is through the Web and if you do a search on Hogs or Razorbacks you get a lot of the Nutt and Petrino stories from ESPN, plus what is written on blog sites…which sucks.
But I'm glad these outlets are here – I just haven't been a 'fan' of them lately
.
I am not a blogger. I just don't like our uniforms.
After reading this, you know what I thought about? I remember a time when I wasn't so concerned about our play, but about the other teams. I never worried about Mayberry, Day, the Big O, or about Thurman and Corliss, or about Joe Johnson, Ronnie Brewer, etc… All I was worried about was how well Shaq would do, or Larry Johnson, Stacy Augmon, etc.
The things that I've been harping on these past two seasons are whether our team will do their normal thing, or surprise me.
Last night, they surprised me and we still lost. It's easy to look at the stats and find out why, too. A few more made shots. A few better passes. And that's all it would've taken. That sucks. I would much rather be in a competitive game and have a chance, than not. At some point, we'll win the close games.
We shot over 40% on the road. Just think if we had taken more two point shots instead of 3. Can't someone explain to Rotnei that when your man is leaping at you to take a step around and take a higher percentage 2 point shot or do we pray for 50% 3pt shooting and win those three games.
Soup,
It is what bloggers do.
Pearl himself said that Tenn was not playing hard or well. They were having their Kentucky hangover so they didn't beat us by 20 as expected. Good break for the hogs but hardly an accomplishment for accolades.
I believe fans, even bloggers do want to be positive toward their team and are accepting of realities that present themselves. Everyone knew that Petrino would have a tough time with Casey Dick's senior year and even last year that the schedule was too tough for a young team. Stan was given a couple of ugly years because he inherited a difficult group.
Pelphry, on the other had, had the table set for him. He won Arkansas' first tournament game in years and had six scholarships to work with, signing a top ten national class. He has had tough breaks since then, to be sure. How you assess those is in the eye of the beholder.
BUT, Arkansas fans have watched two Hall of Fame coaches work for 25 years. We are fairly knowledgeable about good basketball. When you tell someone to ignore their own eyes you are going too far. You won't get enough people to do that for long. We went through all that with Houston Nutt. Long should remember, that's how he got his job. And how Frank lost his.
We are teetering on the brink of either continued improvement or falling off the edge. Nothing will change that except change. The only problem with this is which way will we lean when that happens?
Until that question can be answered beyond all doubt, we had better leave CJP alone, at least until next year.
Personally, as a dedicated Razorback supporter, it would crush me to see the administration make the wrong move, when all they had to do was wait 1 more freakin year!
It makes me sick that everyone always talks about the golden years under Nolan, but isn't outraged by his and Frank's combined selfishness/egos that lead to the destruction of the program. OUR PROGRAM!
What's worse, is that we continue to belittle every "up and coming" head coach that has enough guts to step into this mess.
We should have concern when we don't see progress, but should also give praise when progress is shown.
Kind of like when I listen to people call CJP "Opie" or "Dudley do right", even after a 5 game win streak, just because we are not considered a top 10 program any longer. Well no s**t! Do you suppose he likes it!?
He's the one out there trying to do all us big mouth, meat heads a favor. Maybe we should show him a little more gratitude for his tireless efforts, instead of acting like a bunch of spoiled rotten little babies.
That way, if CJP doesn't happen work out, for what ever reason that may be, a better coach won't be so timid about jumping on board and ruining his coaching resume.
Greatest fans in the world huh? Just check out the game attendence records ave. of BWA the past 2 seasons.
Great fans are great, even when times are tough. We look like chumps right now compared to other programs. We just like to use the head coach as an excuse.
He's not doing us a favor – he gets paid 1.2 million a year. That is a lot of money.
I admit, I have been stubborn. But, what happens if we wait "one freakin year"?
Fortson comes back and just decides to stop turning the ball over?
Clarke and Fortson work together to get more open shots?
Marshawn Powell automatically gets better (Washington didn't)
We have a miracle new freshman that lights it up? – But I thought we can't count on young guys?
Or – Coach John Pelphrey digs out his old "Rick Pitino Notes" and gets better at coaching the boys over the summer.
What and who specifically is going to help us next freaking year?
Re: 'Fans'
I come here nearly every day and it seems to me (certain fans excepted of course) that all the 'fans' here do, protestations to the contrary aside, is vie with each other to see who can give the program (players, coaches, admin, etc.) the biggest kick in the balls.
Occasionally there will be the odd pitiful attempt at being objective by these folks but never after a loss. I knew exactly what I was going to read when I came in here today. Thanks for not disappointing. 'eyeroll'
There are a lot of negative comments right now, because the basketball program is in trouble, and there is a bit of "Monday morning quarterback" in all of us. We all have ideas of what to change – it's part of sports.
I love this blog in football season too, when we are posting about how bad we are going to beat Mississippi State, and how the refs screwed us over. I would much rather be talking about how bad we will beat teams, but there isn't a lot of opportunity right now.
I agree that all of us have a little 'Monday Morning QB' in us but I disagree that we, by implicstion, have to then voice it. I understand it's frustrating. I'm frustrated too. However, I'm not going to use that as an excuse to continuously take a big dump on the program I profess to support.
I guess being a cynical fellow in virtually every other area of my life, I tend to try to be optimistic where the Hogs are concerned.
Blowhard's comment about the uniforms struck me as very funny. I'm tired of being dour about a situation that I can't do anything about, except continue to watch, like a crash scene. I didn't mean to be dissing the team for their performance against TN. I thought the Hogs were lucky to catch TN down for the game, or the Vols would've scored 100. But the Hogs played hard, relatively speaking.
As for the fans: I'm sure those who are staying away in droves are catching the broadcasts. They would come back in droves if the Hogs started winning. Who wants to pay the costs of attending games at the Bud when the UofA is putting an inferior product on the floor? Quite a few.
I still like the uniforms (costumes?) idea. I imagined little Soupdhog over forty years ago in his Hog togs watching Razorback games on TV through the bars of his crib. He's a fan through and through, dyed in the cardinal. No kidding.
Were you watching me through the nanny cam? LOL
Hungry Hog,
"Marshawn Powell automatically gets better" (Washington didn't)
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Thanks for proving my point about giving due credit.
CJP was here when Mike Washington was a Soph., behind those 6 under-achieving Srs. and P. Beverly. He had a breakout season last year.
Does CJP get credit for that, or does he just get credit for MW not panning out this season?
Also:
"What and who specifically is going to help us next freakin year?"
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Again, like I said, those questions can't be answered until next season.
"He's not doing us a favor-he get's paid 1.2 million a year. That's a lot of money."
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Oh really? You say that as if lot's of money is the cure-all for all that's ailing.
Here's a question:
Let's say your a novice caliber rock climber. If I were to give you 1.2 million today, give you the task of climbing Mt. Everest, full of loose hand/foot holds, with very few resting points, and only a couple of weeks to do this when you really needed 3, does the money make the task easier?
I don't really understand the rock climber, but at least I think we both agree that Pelphrey is a novice..
I don't think money is the cure – far from it, I think coaching style – style of play is what is wrong in this case. I would rather have a coach that goes back to the 40 minutes of hell.
Actually we have 40 minutes of hell right now.
Gonzo,
You and soup are more than welcome to present your opinion of what you see with the basketball team and coaching. If there are good reasons why we shouldn't being playing well right now, fine, offer them up. You both seem more intend on blaming and silencing the fans that you disagree with.
The logic of blaming the coach because we are bad fans escapes me. It was one thing to support Lanny back in the days when Barnhill had a dirt floor and seated 5000. As long as the team played hard and executed, you didn't have to expect much from the won-loss column. Times have changed. Barnhill told Frank after '64 he had ruined the best job in America. Expectations were way up. The guy to eventually follow Van Horn into Baum will find the same thing. When Houston took Danny Ford's guys to Knoxville undefeated and Frank built the new football stadium, Arkansas had arrived in the SEC and Houston's job was in trouble from that day forward only it took 5 more years to find it out.
If the coach that many years from now is going to replace Pel is too timid to risk his career coaching at Arkansas there are those who would question his hiring to begin with. But, of course that is a silly argument. You think Petrino worried about fan support? Or Van Horn? Not a chance. They had faith in themselves and expected themselves and their teams to produce or move on. Every coach, player, and fan in America understands that equation.
Jeff Long is the only guy who can decide the future you speak of. If he thinks Pel is a winner going through hard times he should say so and do everything he can to help him.
There seems to be a cone of silence concerning basketball. The few pitiful little mumblings that you hear make about as much sense as the stats that sg put up. A lot of the noise that you hear on the blogs is simply the fans wanting answers that match what they see and no one is talking. If you want the fans to shut up you need to talk to Long and Pelphry about their PR decisions. Silence is not working.
We should all shut up, fill Bud Walton to the rafters and scream for our team no matter what we see on the floor. I'm sure you're right about that. If it weren't for human nature, that would be happening today. People cheer a winner, great effort, or excellent play. That is really all there is to it.
My stats don't make sense?
Which ones are you referring to?
Your stats made perfect sense. They described our loss perfectly. It was the team's play, as described by said stats, that was curious.
GolfHog,
I believe you make a lot of valid points, especially about the human nature side of things, but I wouldn't compare the hiring of CBP even close to the hiring of CJP.
Petrino didn't come into the football program's mess without a reputation. We all knew what we were getting. That's why his salary almost doubles Pel's.
Do you really believe an "up and comer" football coach would have been cut the kind of slack CBP has been given?
Would that guy have been given the same pass on a 5-7 record his first season? What about a 7-5 regular season in his 2nd?
We hired CJP as our basketball coach to build a new foudation for the future. He's improved in the SEC win collum over last season with mostly his own players.
I understand there's still room for lots of improvement, so what do you suggest we do before we sign our 2010 recruiting class? Fire the head coach and take the chance of creating more turmoil? Wait and see what we look like next season? What?
There is a difference between hiring a hot young coach who is, as yet, unproven and hiring a young guy who has to learn on the job. Arkansas is no place to learn on the job. You can give a young guy his shot but, he needs to produce when he gets it, not 5 years later. At a place with high expectations like Arkansas that is too much to ask.
All that recruiting, losing scholarships, transfering argument is lost on me. Either Pelphry is a good coach who hit a bad stretch of road and will produce next year and beyond or we are just wasting time instead of looking for the guy who can do the job. Change is turmoil to some degree whenever you have it. Sooner is better than later if you answer the one question. If you don't have an answer and you want one more year to make up you mind, fine. The team will recieve the kind of treatment by fans and media that teams reciever everywhere. It is just the consequence of that decision.
Pelphry's biggest problem right now is that he doesn't look like he is in charge of the team. They don't play defense, they don't play hard, they don't have much of a rythme or reason to their offense. That doesn't look much like coaching to the average fan. All Pel will say is "We didn't play well, we're going back to work." That is not much of an answer.
Regardless of what your opinion about anything Razorbacks basketball related, I think it all comes down to one point — Coach Pelphrey only has to answer to Jeff Long. Not us. Not the media. Just Mr. Long.
We can debate all day long but it's not going to change anything that Long says or does.
We're all probably a little overly critical about our team and coach, but it's because we're fans and we love the Hogs. Fair weather fans aren't here anymore, it turned rainy a few weeks ago. Those that are still talking are doing so because they want a winning team on the floor.
Some of us think we need to give more time to the current situation. Some of us will think a coaching change will help. Some of us think we need better recruits.
We're all right and we're all wrong. It doesn't matter what we think, yet we spend time here debating things because we care. Try not to get caught up in the moment and enjoy a healthy conversation. In the end, we're all fighting for the same thing. Right?
Money changes what Long does. Empty seats means change. Right or wrong doesn't matter. It is a business that funds itself. It doesn't use public funds. People don't give money to the program to watch it get worse or watch it stay the same.
One year from now it will be clear whether Pelphrey can get it done or not. If it is obvious then that he can't do it, I'll beat the drum as loudly as anybody for him to be replaced. Meanwhile, all things considered, I think he deserves another season to show what he can do. If it becomes clear that Pel doesn't have what it takes, I'm sure all the other blogs will be all over it as well. If he's showing good progress, I believe that most fans and bloggers will be fair about it and give him more time, as they are doing now.
I think you're right. Four years should be plenty of time for a coach to get his system integrated. If Pel isn't doing well, I highly doubt he survives for a fifth season.
Here's the question that I fully expect a big ol' write up on (at some point after the SEC tourney is over and if there's any post-season play for us):
What is deemed good progress in year four of Pelphrey?
* Winning regular season record?
* Challenging for first place in SEC West?
* Beating Florida, Vanderbilt, KU and Tennessee?
* NIT or NCAA?
* Securing the big three of the class of 2011?
I really think next year is win or go home. If there are players in the system right now not listening to what he's coaching, well, I don't think that'll be a valid excuse anymore. I'm interested to see what everyone thinks deems a successful season.
I agree that 4 years ought to be enough but keep in mind that his year 1 was loaded with seniors and in my book wasn't a reflection of his abilities. How do you treat this first year?
Correctamundo! Next year is officially year four for Pelphrey. By that time, regardless of what has happened with seniors departing (after year one) and recruits leaving (after year two), Long should know what kind of a coach he has (after year three + what happens next year). The only Heath leftover recruits will be Sanchez and Britt. It'll be Pel's team.
What was Stan's first year in the NCAA??
Year four, I believe. Exited in first round both year four and five.