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Growing Improvement

March 31, 2008 by HogBlogger 

There were several articles last week wrapping up the Razorback basketball season.  Most of them focused on the departing seniors as well as the newcomers who will be on The Hill next year.

And while next year’s recruiting class has been highly touted, I’ve been thinking more about how I would grade Coach John Pelphrey after his first year at Arkansas.

John Pelphrey (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)I like Coach Pelphrey…even if he makes me think of Howdy Doody.  But I’m a bit concerned about the pace of the learning curve.  This year’s team had a lot of bad habits that never got fully corrected.

The three games of the SEC Tournament really put the entire season in perspective for me.  After a great ‘effort win’ over Tennessee, the loss in the championship game to Georgia was easily the most frustrating of the year.

As I watched the first half and saw the Hogs basically ‘jacking 3’s’ early in the shot clock against the Bulldogs, I wondered why Coach Pelphrey wasn’t calling a timeout to emphasize attacking in the paint.

It seems Coach saw the same thing, but apparently it didn’t register with him to do something about it.

Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said the Razorbacks got some open looks, but also rushed some shots rather than looking to go inside first.  “I thought they were early [in the shot clock],” Pelphrey said.  “They were bad maybe for not giving themselves a chance to go inside and attack with some of that first.”

During tournament time, success comes from the preparation during the season and bench coaching.  Every team you face will have outstanding players.  A coach can’t get lost in the game as if he were a player.

Overall, I would agree that it was a good season.  Winning a NCAA tournament game for the first time in the 21st Century was a necessary first step.  But in the Georgia game — a championship game — I didn’t see the bench coaching and game adjustments that will be necessary to take this program to a championship level.

As fans, we need to realize we have a coach in training.  I love what Coach Pelphrey is doing to a point, but I’ll love it more when I see him doing more in the future.

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16 Responses to “Growing Improvement”

  1. GonzoHog on March 31st, 2008 7:58 am

    All good points HogBlogger. I’m glad you noticed the bench coaching in the SEC championship game too. I was a little confused why Pelphrey didn’t put an !!! on driving to the hole / attacking the rim, opposed to just watching his team miss wide open shots when thier down 19. That was a game that Gary Irvin and Sonny Weems should have been doing just that, while pushing the ball inside to Townes and Thomas. Those 4 could have won that ballgame at the charity stripe, providing they made the freebeis. Late in the year, when Sonny would go cold from the 3 point line, Welsh was our only designated pure shooter when shooting the 3. I wish this team could have recognized that more. I think from a coaching standpoint, Pelphrey knew they wouldn’t.

  2. seth on March 31st, 2008 8:40 am

    I, too, questioned the game vs. Georgia. How we couldn’t run their tired butts out of the gym was beyond me. At that point, I didn’t know if it was coaching or the team. My head wants to say the team, but my gut says coaching.

    In any case, I’m a big fan of Pelphrey. I have no doubt that he got more out of the Stan Heath Six than Heath did.

    He’ll grow, get smarter and make better decisions as we go. I’m willing to bet that any storied coach didn’t make the best decisions in their early years as a coach.

  3. CharlotteHog on March 31st, 2008 11:04 am

    I can’t help but say, it’s time to move on. Had Pelphrey had more than one year with these guys together I think they could have done a little bit more. The last 5 games for the Hogs summed up these seniors entire career in a nutshell, especially the last two seasons. Play one or two good ones, take a couple steps back. Thinking back, the Georgia loss didn’t bother me at all, it meant nothing to the Hogs seeding, and after two up and down games the Hogs were just as tired, if not moreso, than Georgia. Pelphrey was outcoached in that game, but he did a great job pushing tempo against Tenn and Indiana, coaching to his teams strengths instead of trying to get his team to slow down and play slogball in a fashion that these guys could never play well in. The Indiana game was their best game ever together and Carolina game was the final dagger, one that represented that no matter what, the Hogs aren’t ready for the big time again…yet. Pelphrey is going to recruit his players, to his style, and it might take 2-3-4 years but it will happen. He’s played at UK and coached at Florida…he knows how to win and will keep on learning. I hope you all didn’t expect much more out of him and the Hogs this year, I think we were all fortunate to see the team move forward by winning a game in the tourney which is more than Heath could have done. Pelphrey and the Hogs are still learning and growing (and next year will be a growth period and occassionally will feel like rebuilding again), but I firmly believe we fans are in good hands, and good things will come in the not so distant future. GO HOGS!

  4. Walking on Sunshine on March 31st, 2008 12:43 pm

    Good players make good coaches look good and bad players…well bad players make coaches look like they don’t know what their doing half the time. For reference…see Nolan’s first year team at Arkansas.

    A fresh start will do everyone some good. His recruiting class is 5 at the moment, with the chance to add 2 more to that. The feeling will be much different with next year’s team.

  5. BACON BITS on March 31st, 2008 2:19 pm

    I just want to warn everyone that we are going to be pretty small and we will probably get out rebounded in most games……..Pelphrey hinted at the fact that he is looking at a 3 guard lineup next year. Fortson 5′11″, Clarke 6′0″, and Beverly 6′2″ with possibly Payne 6′7″ and Washington 6′10″ in the front court. I think we will be very exciting offensively but defensively we will struggle. Looks like we will be involved in some shoot outs next year. I could be wrong about the defensive side but Texas seemed to pull it off until they ran into a “big” team Sunday…………I digress, i can’t wait until these guys show up and show out!!!!!

  6. HogBlogger on March 31st, 2008 2:59 pm

    BACON BITS - I had the same thought watching the Texas game. Long, lean guards — wide wingspan — will eat up six foot guards.

    It will be interesting to see the new crew when it is finalized.

    In case all of you haven’t noticed the lack of mention of Nate in the press articles . . . I expect Nate to transfer. I’m hearing he is not in Coach Pelphrey’s future plans.

    I think Coach Pelphrey will be on a steep learning curve the next couple of years. I’m all for him. Just from an expectations standpoint I think we should all realize that. He is not as evolved as either Eddie or Nolan was when they came to town. I expect he will grow quickly and we’ll be very proud we have him.

  7. BlindHog on March 31st, 2008 7:30 pm

    I hope you are right Hogblogger, I know we all do. But, as you say, this is not Nolan or Eddie. John goes in the Houston and Stan catagory, a young coach who had no business in the SEC. We will see. I’m afraid this may be a tough league to cut your teeth on.

  8. Hawgfan100 on March 31st, 2008 9:19 pm

    Have some faith, Blind. Pelphrey is a competitor and, after having played and coached in the SEC, its not like he’s not familiar with what it takes to be successful in this league. Lets just let him do his thing for a couple of years and see what happens.

  9. OwassoHog on April 1st, 2008 6:14 am

    HogBlogger, expectations fulfilled. Too bad about Nate as folks always wants the local guys to do well.

  10. GonzoHog on April 1st, 2008 7:47 am

    I wish it could have worked out for Rakestraw, but it make’s me wonder if Pelphrey will sign 2 enstead 1 in the Spring now. I know Jason Henry was talking pretty favorably about the Hogs a couple of weeks back, and that he came for a visit. I’d love to see Pelphrey sign him. There were questions about his academics, but accordind to some of his prep school sources, he’s got that straightened out now. He and Sonny are supposed to be pretty tight, and he’s supposed to have the Hogs at the top of his list after decommiting from Cincinnati. He’s got PG type ball handling skills in a 6′ 7″ body. That would be a dangerous weapon to have along with the other SF we have coming in. (Daniel Payne)

  11. BlindHog on April 1st, 2008 1:35 pm

    I love John, I would love for him to succeed. He is a competitor himself but can he bring that out in his players. Almost all of the great ones have that ability to motivate and make kids over achieve. This year was not a fair test. This team belonged to the seniors and they played like it. The next two years will be a wonderful test. Win or lose we will see if he can coach. After that he has either begun to prove himself or he is marking time.

    The SEC is a league for achievers not learn on the job training.

  12. Carolina Hog on April 1st, 2008 1:43 pm

    That’s Blind for you. It’s in his nature to doubt. In the interest of spreading half-truths I just heard that OSU fired Sutton and Boon Pickens is ponying up 3-4 million for the next coach who he wants to be Bill Self or Billy G. If its Billy G. this could have implications for us. I think UK would take Pelphry this time. I wish we could get James Anderson to transfer in light of this but I just spoiled for the Mallett coup.

  13. HogBlogger on April 1st, 2008 2:45 pm

    Guys, don’t get me wrong on Coach Pelphrey. I’m very happy he is here. While the SEC is tough, I think he will be a fast learner. Especially when he sees all the players as ‘his’ and he gets to train them up the way he wants.

    My sense is that the next 2-3 years we will see a lot of ‘development’ in both the players and coaches. I am coaching myself to have some patience about it.

  14. BlindHog on April 1st, 2008 4:16 pm

    I don’t consider myself a doubter, just a realist. Hogblogger had it just right I thought. Pelphry gets credit for the 1:30 am practice that he calls the turning point in the season even though that is the exact same point each of the two years before they put together their mid season burst to stay in contention. Down the stretch though there were moves to be made in several places that made me scratch my head.

    I will give him a ton of credit for going with Townes pretty exclusively at the end. That move should have been made three years ago.

    I liked Stan. I don’t expect him to turn into a coach. Pelphry will. Where is the question.

  15. GonzoHog on April 2nd, 2008 10:03 am

    I agree that Pelphrey’s first year wasn’t really a fair test to judge his coaching ability. He spent more time trying to install disapline into these guys more than trying to actually install his type of style of basketball that he want’s to play. What he went through this year is what he would’ve rather had went through next year with his young players. This year’s seniors were only going to accept so much disapline, even though the job Pelphrey did with them was admirable, and would have went much farther with an 18 year old kid. One thing is for sure though. Pelphrey will have a great reputation already in place as a fiery coach, who demands disapline. Hopefully, that’ll go a long way’s with next year’s young players.

  16. Reason Rules on April 2nd, 2008 4:41 pm

    I think with so many seniors he was in the middle this year. He had to find the balance between stroking and pushing. I like him for getting more out of them than anyone else has. If you have bad habits at the collegiate level for three years it is difficult to break them in their last year. I agree on the Georgia game although basically playing in an empty Gym it probably seemed like a practice. I think next year we will learn much more about John than we did this year because he will do things his way with the young players right off the bat. I would not be surprised to see four freshmen on the floor by conference time.