This is part one of a two-part series recapping the 2010-11 Razorback basketball regular season.
As many predicted, the Arkansas basketball team finished fourth in the SEC West this season. According to John Pelphrey, it could’ve easily been much better.
“I am the head coach at Arkansas and we are getting ready for the SEC Tournament,” Pelphrey told Hawgs Illustrated on Saturday. “Obviously I have been in this situation before in terms of building a program and I believe in what we are doing. [...] To me, anyway, it is evident how close we are to winning four or five more games this season and how that would be putting a totally different spin on everything.”
I think the Coach is right. It was evident how “close” the Hogs were to winning four or five more games this season. For those that are calling out for a new basketball coach, I think that is the point. It certainly seemed like the opportunities were there.
Unfortunately, “close,” as they say, only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
So what is it about Pelphrey’s basketball program that is causing it to fall short of expectations? Here are a few questions and observations.
Setting Goals and Talking Up the Program — Have you ever heard any goals from Coach Pelphrey other than “play hard,” “overachieve” and NCAA Tournament? This guy is not exactly a goal-setting public relations machine.
Offense and Defense — The offensive personality of a John Pelphrey Razorback basketball team consists of a lot of dribbling, emphasis on 1-on-1 play and an overall lack of ball movement. Players would rather drive and get their shot blocked than drive and dish off for a layup. Opportunities abounded all year to rack up more assists.
The defensive personality of a John Pelphrey Razorback basketball team is a soft man-to-man, overplaying the high post screen, featuring poor defensive rotations off the ball. There is no real approach to a “pressure” defense other than a “let’s just get after them harder.”
Razorback fans look at the offensive and defensive personalities of the team and see the shortcomings. After years of watching Hall of Fame caliber coaches, it’s basically like watching poor high school coaching.
There Were Positives as the Season Progressed — Rotnei Clarke grew up a lot. That’s important when you figure out you have carry the whole team on offense. There’s a lot of pressure involved in knowing you have to score 20+ points every night.
Julysses Nobles continued to mature and improve. He doesn’t get mentioned much, but he was a pretty consistent key contributor during the conference season. Marcus Britt moved closer to actually having a role and making a solid contribution towards the end of the season.
The return of Michael Sanchez improved the team. He may have not brought an elegant game, but he brought passion, energy and desire onto the floor and made it obvious to everyone there was room to “step up.”
John Pelphrey is obviously learning on the job at Arkansas. With his back to the wall, he did do some things differently to improve the performance on the court. The question is, “Where was that back earlier in the conference season?”
Something to chew on for now. More tomorrow on whether talent or coaching had more to do with only coming “close” to a successful season.
Pretty spot on. Suggesdtion for the next installment: cover his inability to retain key players and lack of player development – Mike Washington and Marshawn Powell are eerily similar situations.
Being the bellcow on a Pelphry team seems to be a recipe for disaster.
Well said…
I agree with ya so far in this observational story, and from what little I was able to watch them play these past few months, it was obvious to me at least that there is a lot of talent on that team, but poorly coached. I never really saw any kind of offensive game plan, and the defense was as you said, "soft". No ball movement, not enough assists and not hitting the boards hard enough either. All around need for improvement in all aspects of the game, and I believe it is the coaches responsibility to show the players their goals and how they are going to achieve them. Plan your work and work your plan. I also think Pel has had plenty of time to "build a new program" with what he has had to work with, but I haven't seen it come to fruition. I'm kinda on the fence as far as him staying or going, we'll see how he does in the tourney before I decide…
You can say any number of nice things about John Pelphry but, his coaching is a true enigma.
He is so completely unsuccessful on every level that it is difficult to put your finger on which area is really the one causing the problem. His recruiting, while bringing in a few good players, overall seems confused. He has an abundance of short guards and few post players but is not recruiting to anything resembling a particular style of play. Having recruited 16 players he has lost 8 in four years. It is hard to develop players that don't stay around or develop much of anything else. While his players seem to like him generally they only play hard about a third of the time and almost completely ignore him during games. That may itself be related to the fact that they actually already know more basketball than Pelphry based on his complete lack of ablility to direct a meaningful offense of defense. They do literally play like they are in a pick up game with no coach at all.
He is a nice boy. Perhaps he simply found himself at the middle of this storm with no way out. Perhaps he will be wonderfully successful someday, somewhere. I certainly wish him the very best where ever he lands.
The administration that hired Stan Heath and John Pelphry was fundamentally flawed and dysfunctional. Neither hire really made any sense for a program that is structurally a top twenty program. You can lay it all at the feet of John White if that helps. But one thing is for certain. There needs to be a professional effort and committment to bring in a competent coach this time. No more wishful hires and on the job training.
Chancellor John White's idiocy is pretty much where this mess started and ended for me. Frank wanted Bill Self and the reports being stated at that time were if the money was right, he would have been here.
John White stepped in and demanded that an interview be set up for Self if he wanted the job. Self declined and the rest is history.
Can anyone emagine Bill Self having to prove himself? He was already proven.
Thank you, John White. You have definately made things adventurous for a once proud basketball program.
Also, how many of you guys out there even know the first and last name of our current UofA Chancellor? I suspect many of you probably don't know because of his lack of pubic appearances in regard to the sports programs we have.
I ask this question to prove a simple point. It's the A.D.'s job to take care of business related to the athletic dept. with a stamp of approval or disapproval by the Chancellor and System's President, mostly on the financial matters.
This is why in the past, you heard John White's name mentioned almost as much as you did Frank Broyles. He couldn't keep his nose out of the athelic dept.
Pelphry is currently making 1.2 while Mike Anderson is currently making 1.6. There is something wrong with that picture. Money is not the problem.
Very good points. Too bad Pelphrey is in his NINTH season as a head coach.
Coach Pel makes too much for the U0fA to let him go. His contract runs through 2014. Also, I understand that three of the great recruits that we have coming in next year are ineligible because of grades. Anyone know more about that?
Where do your sources come from? I've never seen or heard one fact related to it.
While it's true that the Hogs might have won "four or five" more games this season, I see four conference wins (TN, AL, KY, AU) that could have easily gone the other way.
I have no faith in Pelphrey's ability as a coach, but I think we have to keep him until we get the coach we want. A smart monkey doesn't turn loose of one vine till he had another one in hand.
As far as "talent" goes, I don't see a lot of it on this team. This team is small and slow and soft compared to the ranked teams. Why did no one bother to note that MS shot a phenomenal 3-point average because the Hogs played such poor perimeter defense?
I don't think Pelphrey would do any better if he stayed here twenty years. The game progresses, smart coaches move ahead. It has passed Pel by. When a coach starts grasping at near-wins to explain a losing (conference) season, you know he has simply failed. I pity the man: he must be going through hell these days.
GolfHog said this: His recruiting, while bringing in a few good players, overall seems confused. He has an abundance of short guards and few post players but is not recruiting to anything resembling a particular style of play.
Golf to date this is the best point made. I think this says it all about JP's coaching ability and where we are as a program. We sure aren't a pressing team, Lord knows we can't play zone worth a flip, and our man to man is soft with little or no back side help. Our offence is just as mysterious. They set screen that a blind man can see coming, they don't run a motion offence, they do run the old Dean Smith 3 man weave one time through, which I have asked myself many times this year, WHY???? I laugh every time I see them do it.
You recruit to a system and when you have no system then recruiting becomes at best anemic.