ESPN.com: Ole Miss 69, Arkansas 60
Chris Warren took control in the second half, scoring 19 points as Mississippi pulled away for a 69-60 win over Arkansas on Saturday.
Also:
- ArkansasRazorbacks.com: Razorbacks lose second straight at home, Game Stats (PDF), Game Highlights (Video), Post-game Press Conference (Video)
- Matt Jones: Arkansas Wastes Golden Opportunity
- Dudley Dawson: Ole Miss 69, Arkansas 60
- Chris Bahn: Razorbacks Lose To Ole Miss, Blow Another Opportunity At Bud Walton Arena
- Robbie Neiswanger: Arkansas Drops Second Straight Home Game
I don't even feel like trying to break down this game. I want to say I'm upset, but I'm not. More indifferent now. Just hope we can go .500 from here on. At least improve on the last two seasons.
Time for the midde season collapse so that we can stumble into the tournament in 4th or 5th place. Of course we reached the magic number 14 so we may not win another game.
You can give Opie another game or two. But, with Rob Evans on the staff there is really no reason not to go ahead and pull the trigger. If you want to run the bball team on the cheap that would give Rob a chance to audition for the job. Either way you are likely to see marked improvement.
Opie is a good boy. He was a reasonable choice at the time, all things considered. I'm glad he has had a chance to put away a few bucks for the family and the buyout will be a big boost and certainly compensate for his effort. Personally, it has not seemed to me that he has coached much in the last couple of years. He seems to know that he is over his head. At this point the lack of confidence is palpable. I think he really wants to go but to his credit he can't quit. Or, maybe, he is just a new generation of bball coach that pats them on the rump and rolls a ball on the court.
The time is right to bring back Mike Anderson and give him the Petrino money. We might lose a recruit or two but I doubt it. We will keep the real Arkansas kids and Mike will do the rest. It is a far better alternative than letting Opie run them off and the team further into indifference.
There can be little question any longer.
Good take. MA recruited all of these guys too. It's not like they don't know him.
Do you really think it's reasonable to get Mike Anderson? Would Mike even come to Arkansas given how Nolan was treated? Sure, Broyles is gone, but the foundation of the folks that crucified Nolan are still around, not to mention the fan base that quickly turned on him (certainly some of that was deserved).
My guess would be that Anderson wouldn't step foot in Arkansas on principle.
Regarding Rob Evans, he's part of the leadership that is causing this mess. I think a wholesale change is needed. Not sure who we can get, but we are in a better situation that we were before Pelprhey so maybe we can upgrade. It's hard to see that given the losses and the half filled arena, but it is true.
What about Tubby Smith?
To break it down, should we pin those last two losses on bad weather since there weren't enough fans there? Fans don't have to pay their $ for a product they don't like. I would never pay thousands of dollars to eat gross food, just hoping by year five it would be somewhat better.
But really, how much more time should we give pelphrey? If you were AD, what would your answer be? IMO, 4 seasons is more than enough to see what direction a program is going. Nominal progress, offensive/defensive inconsistency and a slew of botched recruits doesn't give me much hope of where Arkansas basketball is going.
Sorry. That reply was for Owasso.
1st year (hardly counts in my book)… playing mostly seniors.
2nd year… certainly had player "issues"
3rd year… more of the the same but not as many player "issues"
4th year… still fewer player "issues" and a strong recruiting class
all the while, they are dealing with issues around graduation classes… which has improved.
What hasn't improved… wins!
What has regressed… fan support!
Hmmmm… is there a correlation?
As for coaching… how many of those missed Georgia free throws would it have taken to win the game? Surely, you blame that on Coach P too.
I'm not saying that he's done a great coaching job at all. I just believe that he was put into a VERY tough spot… almost a no win one. I believe that he's trying everythhing he can to turn things around.
So, let me just ask the question…. if 18,000 folks showed up for the last two games, do you think it would have made a difference (ignoring the weather limitations) with going 0-2? No question, we'd won the Georgia game… I'd guess we'd won both of them.
I agree with you. Pelphrey was most definitely put into a very tough situation. He's stuck it out through all of the issues so far and from what I understand, our hell-hole of an APR mess is turning around. That's awesome. Pel wasn't our first, second or even third choice. But he's who we got and that's that.
I will also say that I've really liked his disciplining nature. As a student, you come to the UofA to play basketball. If you don't play by Pel's rules, you ride the pine. Some fans scratch their head when Pel throws around suspensions like he does, but I'd say as a player, at least you know where you stand.
But here's the rub, fans want wins. Fans don't want back-to-back sub .500 basketball in the SEC and back-to-back horrible finishes to their seasons. Teams are supposed to get better over the course of the season. Not worse. And unless there's a turnaround starting Wednesday night, it looks like more of the same. Keep in mind, this is all during years where the SEC is down. Badly down.
I'll never question Pelphrey's charge. He's definitely trying. But I still can't answer the question as to what this team's style of play is or what they try to achieve on offense/defense. For all of Pelphrey's efforts and the recruiting he's done, what exactly is/are the issues that he and his students are facing?
How many recruits are still on the team from his first full class? One. Out of six. Sure, you'll get a few bad eggs from time to time, but wasn't he the one that recruited them in the first place? Now it looks like another JC player, or maybe two, are having issues.
When you couple player issues and the overall lack of direction/focus with the nominal success in the win columns, PLUS the consistent late-season downfall — no, I don't think the fan support is going to be there 100%. A lot of us will still be watching and encouraging those kids to keep going out and giving it their best shot.
On the flip side, Pelphrey can't keep going around and saying that our team needs to overachieve in order to accomplish going .500 in a very sub-par SEC.
So, yes, we should thank Pel for all that he's done in the classroom and getting things squared away in that court. And thank him for coming into a situation that sent one coach running for the hills and the security of his old job.
But I think that a lot of the fan base is starting to realize that Pel may not be the coach that is going to get our program back to the level of competition that it once was under Nolan. Considering all of that, it's easy to explain the dwindling numbers at Bud Walton. And when there is a lack of butts in seats — yes, it's hard to win. But, it's even harder to make money.
There's a reason that Rob Evans is still on the staff… nobody else has taken him! Also, Mike Anderson is NOT the answer!
And GROW UP… quit with the Opie comments. You are NOT helping the program!
He certainly isn't hurting it by calling the taller Ron Howard Opie and why isn't Mike Anderson an answer.
Why isn't Mike the answer? Well, personally, I believe very few folks can step into a program and get results… especially, by folks that will only give 2 years to do so. Quite frankly, that's all that was given to Coach P. by many fans. Do I believe that he has what it takes, I really don't know. Do I think Mike can pull it off here (and here being the key word), NO!
Many of the issues in this program have come over the course of many years. Unless the "right" person came along here, I don't believe that it will help that much.
As for the good of the program… personally, I believe that the change will come by folks showing up and supporting the team for good or for bad. We've got to protect home court (which we haven't done this week)… fans can and will make the difference. Time is the other factor… unfortunately, folks don't want to give it time.
I have been saying for weeks for Long to pull the trigger but I got blasted for it.
I am certainly not in the know on much stuff Arkansas but one of Mike Anderson's assistent is from Magnolia and according to what he has said the only job MA would leave Muzzo for would be the Arkansas job. Now whether that is true or not I'm just telling you what I have was told. At this point I don't care if its now or next month but please just let CJP go and go NOW!!!.
That OWASSOHOG would be what is good for the program. Like I have said in the past if we lose some recruits because of a coaching change so be it. CJP simply is not a very good coach at this high of level. All you have to do is watch how the guys move on offense and defense. CJP is a man without a clue when it comes to coaching. I'm sorry but that is the way I see it. It has nothing to do with his likability it is all about his coaching ability.
We were once a National championship powerhouse and now we look like an average high school team. Pelphrey has had more thsn enough time to build a program and we still look like we don't have a clue on what offense or defense we are playing. We are the University of Arkansas with fabulous facilities, fan base, and tradition. We deserve much better than this and we should go get a coach that matches our great program to get it back to where it once was.
A lot of good opinions. I'm certain that those who will make the decision have considered all these positions and many more. They know Rob Evans's ability and Mike Anderson's position to a tee. They will not fire Pelphrey until they have their man, whoever that may be. And Pelphrey will not quit. They surely have negotiated all of this. To fire Pelphrey and hire an interim coach would be folly of the first order.
It's best to keep Pelphrey and let him do his best until the right man is available. I don't know who the right man may be, but I doubt that it's Evans or Anderson. In the meantime I remain ambivalent, until there is reason to invest emotionally in the future of Razorback basketball.
Well said roadhog