Do you want Pelphrey gone? Do you want a different coach? If so, who? Why?

As I said earlier, I've been a huge Pel fan since before this little streak that everyone seems to be band-wagoning onto.

I was in the Razorback band for four years under the great man, but lackluster coach Stan Heath. I got to see many things up close and personal. One of my family members is a girls high school basketball coach, and after we observed some of Heath's practices, she swore that her high school girls had harder practices than Heath.

I think we got a definite upgrade moving from Heath to Pel, and you're right this is his third year. However, I think this should really be the first year he is judged by his "crop." He had Heaths leftovers the last two years, and he has his own young guys now.

Ok, so let's quit beating around the bush then.

My question to you would be:

Do you really want Pelphrey gone? Do you want a different coach? If so, who? Why?

Pel would be a good candidate to experiment with the benefits of medical marijuana.

Very well stated. I don't know anything better that could be added. I know I would hate to me in CJP place. It is almost a "dang if you do and dang if you don't" situation. I imagine that he doesn't sleep much at night knowing the preasure that is on him. I have said it before and I will reiterate it once again. Because of the way his hiring happened and all the other mess that was going on at the time CJP is deserving of 5 years.

I would be shocked if we had another Kentucky type experience this year.

Everyone should have known this was going to be a very susceptable basketball team last season. It was brand new, with the exception of our 2 Srs., who were Jrs then.

Everyone knows the rest of the story and how the rest of last years season went.

It was pretty much out of Pel's control, with the lack of chemistry from the continued suspensions.

Those suspensions continued into this season. We're just now starting to pull out of that mess. Isn't that obvious by the continued and improving overall play, not to mention the 4 game winning streak? With two of those coming on the road?

From the beginning, up until now, Pel has endured without hesitation.

It's just now starting to pay off. He knows he wasn't the first choice of the previous A.D., as he has stated in the past, but he wasn't his wife's first choice either, just like he wasn't Eddie Sutton's first recruiting choice at Kentucky.

He's endured all of that, right up to the present. I think the man deserves some respect, because from where i'm standing, I don't expect to see anything but improvement from here on out.

I'm also really interested in seeing how we finish out the season, which is already an improvement over last season, and seeing what kind of a recruiting class CJP brings in for the 2010 class. It should be interesting.

This is big time college athletics. If Pel can put a foundation under the program, fine. Right now it looks like he is going backwards. But, we shall see. The opportunity is right there for him to win the West. That would be an accomplishment big enough to silence the critics, give him some breathing room, and boost recruiting. He might even stop acting like a big goof and go back to coaching. It would be fine with me.

At the end of the Katz article Pelphrey says he's hopeful he doesn't have to defend the character of his players or his program again. Well he is in the best position of anyone to raise the quality of the players and the program. It will be easy to judge how well he accomplishes that. I too hope he can do it. I'd like to see the Hogs become national contenders again. Any criticisms I have directed at Pelphrey have been addressed in the form of questions, not because I dislike him or disrespect his character but because I'm curious as to what you other guys think. I assume you all know more than I do about what's really going on. I have not criticized individual players.

With the way his teams have performed. Pelphrey has got to expect to draw some fire from serious fans.

BTW: When Pelphrey is jumping up and down, waving and screaming on the sideline, he's not yelling at his players, he's just vamping for the cameras. The players have learned to ignore him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID…

Golf, you need to realize Arkansas was a totally decimated program a few years ago. The Stan Heath situation made it worse and the Altman fiasco was the final nail in the coffin. Nolan should have been let go more gracefully much earlier than he was – then we might have had a chance to get a big name coach and continue to build like the Kentucky's, North Carolina's, etc. We were basically starting from scratch after Heath's last class.

You also need to know what is happening on the recruiting trail. It's easy for other schools to clown on Arkansas until we show some stability. Do you think the top recruits want to go into a hostile environment where the coach is crucified by fans or go to an established program with fan support? If recruits read blogs like this (and they do) they will see the lack of support of the team in general and the coach. And oh yeah, the attendance speaks volumes too.

Don't be fooled that getting rid of Pelphrey solves all our problems. The problems get fixed incrementally over time when coming from the bottom of the pit of hell like we have.

If Pelphey can make small progress year over year, Arkansas becomes a credible program again. That will draw recruits and potential coaching opportunities…if that's really what we want.

I do admit, that you have to cut bait at some point. But the fact is, if Arkansas loses every remaining game we are still much more improved than last year in the win/loss column – so that's progress. Don't think it's time to cut bait yet – let's let the program settle some.

And this doesn't even consider our issue with graduation rates. We should all be kissing Washington's butt for coming back for his Senior year. This helps us minimize the risk of losing scholarships, which would be a huge dagger for us.

I don't disagree that Fortson is encouraged. Rather than "directed" I'd say "allowed." The offense is definitely set up to give lots of freedom to Fortson to operate. The problem has been that, beyond giving Fortson freedom, there's seldom much more to the offense. I think that is the point that people criticize. That's why, without Fortson on the floor, the offense looks very different and usually awkward.

The Hogs have less offensive structure and movement than just about any college basketball team you are going to see on TV. When Fortson can't dominate and baskets in transition are hard to come by, the offense struggles.

I don't know much. Certainly not enough to justify half of my opinions. I know what I see, on the court and in the papers.

We've gone from firing Stan after two trips to the dance to giving Pel two more years if he can make the NIT (or even if he can't.)

Pel was given a team with six seniors, blew most of the next recruiting class, and now sits here with decent prospects of losing the one player that has made a difference. Last year was clearly a bust. This year, who knows, and then we have prospects for next year, year 4, maybe starting to play with a full team.

Throw in Patrick Beverly, also lost to academics on Pel's watch. We have no semblence of an offense. Does anyone know exactly what Pel's offense is supposed to be? And, to top all of that off, I'm finally beginning to feel sorry for Pel. His whining is really getting pretty pathetic. If that is his new motivational tool I can't wait to see where he goes from here.

Sooner or later he is going to have to stop digging. Or, we are.

This is what we have to discuss. It is the state of Razorback basketball.

I respectfully disagree with you on Pelphrey's coaching of Fortson. Obviously Fortson is responsible for his performance, but I go back to Pelphrey's comments during the suspension that (to paraphrase) "Courtney needs to understand how we do things around here, when he does he will return to the team". So I'm convinced that Fortson's play is encouraged and directed by Pelphrey. This is no change from last year – Fortson took the ball strong to the hoop all year long and took 'low percentage shots' .

My point is that folks don't seem to give credit to Pelphrey for Fortson's and the rest of the Hogs play and overall ball strategy. I think that's wrong. I live in Texas so can't get up to the games to observe Pelphrey's bench or floor coaching. What I do hear and sometimes see over the airwaves is Pelphrey screaming like a madman at the team…not sure what he is saying but that would seem to be coaching – and since they are winning I'd argue it's been effective. Also, motivational techniques are a key part of coaching – didn't someone say athletic performance is 90% mental? Doesn't Pelphrey deserve a little 'coaching credit' for that?

I give up trying to convince folks to give Pelphrey more credit. I just hope the 'fans' don't run off another decent coach that can get the program headed in the right direction. I suppose time will tell.

I'd say Fortson's play is the result of Fortson himself and the limited coaching / freedom allowed by Pelphrey.

Honestly, I don't see great floor coaching or bench coaching out of Pelphrey. What I see right now is that he's tapped into a motivational technique that is getting these guys to play harder. I sense he's changed his approach and it's working for the moment.

Jeff Long is going to give Coach Pelphrey time. You can be "sick and tired" of people ripping him all you want, but that's the life of a college coach. Especially as bumpy a road as the Razorback program has had the past two years.