John & Tommy discuss the Florida loss, the future of the program, plus Scott Tabor talks Arkansas baseball!
Don’t start wanting Anderson gone without having a plan beyond hope
Arkansas’ season is probably over after collapsing in the final couple of minutes against Florida, 66-50, at the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
It probably should be, too.
For a team that has been wildly inconsistent over the course of a 17-15 season, nothing is official until the end of the weekend in terms of tournament announcements, but it’s doubtful they will be in many discussions.
Now the low grumbling about Mike Anderson’s job security from some that was reduced a little with a three-game winning streak at the end will increase in volume.
That’s what happens when you make the NCAA Tournament only three times in eight years and go 2-3 in those games. Razorback fans got used to a run over 17 years where not getting to the Sweet 16 was reason enough for some to start griping.
Here’s a comparison of how things have gone at Arkansas since the last Sweet 16 appearance in 1995 (Overall, SEC, Postseason):
• Nolan Richardson: 6 seasons, 117-74 (61.3%), 50-45 (52.6%), 3-5 (2-1 NIT, 2-4 NCAA)
• Stan Heath: 5 seasons, 82-71 (53.6%), 31-49 (38.8%), 0-2 (0-2 NCAA)
• John Pelphrey: 4 seasons, 69-59 (53.9%), 25-39 (39.1%), 1-1 (1-1 NCAA)
• Mike Anderson: 8 seasons, 168-101 (62.4%), 78-64 (54.9%), 3-4 (1-1 NIT, 2-3 NCAA)
Some fans say Anderson’s not winning enough games, even though the numbers clearly show he’s won more than anybody since Richardson’s last team to reach the Sweet 16.
Over Anderson’s last seven seasons, the Hogs are third in SEC wins in the league behind Kentucky and Florida.
Anderson’s supporters will argue this season is out of the ordinary, it’s harder to even get into the NCAA Tournament now (thanks to mid-majors’ success over the past few years) and the SEC’s increased emphasis on basketball.
His detractors will say the trend is heading down, which is true, and this team is inexperienced with no older leadership, also true.
Of course that falls on Anderson. He’s not a new coach and he can read a roster. He knows he didn’t sign a team of one-and-done players, but that’s still on him.
Ultimately, the question is not going to be if anyone is happy with the up-and-down record of the Hogs over the last eight seasons.
Nobody — fans, coaches, players, administration — is happy with that.
The loss to Florida was this team looking more like the team that had losing streaks of four and six games that sank the team’s season.
They got a lead as high as eight in the first half, trailed by two at halftime and kept it close for a little bit in the second half.
The only eyebrow-raising came when it looked like half the team quit in the final two minutes of the game. That’s never a good sign and one that you can rest assured Anderson took note of, whether he will admit it or not.
Anderson is going to have to convince an ever-doubting fan base he can pull the program out of the situation many believe is mired in mediocrity. For an arena that at times looked more like an intimate gathering as opposed to the rowdy crowds of a past era, that’s going to be an even bigger issue.
Don’t listen to the hype. There were some games that was loud, but there was a time when the early exhibition games had ear-splitting crowds.
Ultimately, though, you wonder if the question is, quite simply, could Anderson be replaced with anyone better?
Arkansas has tried hope in hiring basketball coaches in recent memory. It didn’t work out well with Heath or Pelphrey, but Anderson was supposed to put all of that in the rearview mirror.
That hasn’t worked out exactly the way anybody planned or certainly hoped. Replacing Anderson now would be another case of hoping somebody could come in and change things drastically.
And, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, hope isn’t a good plan.
Anderson, Gafford, Joe recapping loss to Florida at SEC Tournament
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson along with Daniel Gafford (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Isaiah Joe (12 points, 2-9 on 3-pointers) talk about the 66-50 loss to the Gators on Thursday afternoon.
???? Thursday Halftime Pod — featuring Bob Holt of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Phil Elson & Tye Richardson discuss the Arkansas-Florida matchup, plus Bob Holt!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Thursday
John, Tommy and Nick Mason discuss Arkansas-Florida, coaches getting paid per win, plus Richard Davenport!
Too early to be concerned about Razorbacks’ struggling spring offense?
In the early periods of Wednesday’s spring practice, something just didn’t look right with Arkansas’ offense.
Apparently that continued through the rest of the day, which was extremely windy, but nobody was blaming that.
“We just weren’t ready to go today,” offensive tackle Colton Jackson said later. “They just basically manhandled us.”
On the seventh day of practice, you normally could shrug it off as one of those days, but the belt the coaches hand out to the side of the ball that performs best that day hasn’t landed in the offense’s room yet.
The defense forced four fumbles on the day. Apparently the awarding of the belt wasn’t a tough decision.
“We didn’t get a lot going today,” running back Chase Hayden said.
Jackson said it wasn’t as much of a physical difference as what was happening above the shoulder pads.
“It was just guys making mental mistakes,” he said. “Not being where they were supposed to be. Not making the right reads. Not knowing which guys to block. It wasn’t physical at all, it was all mental mistakes.”
For Jackson’s it’s about accountability.
“It’s just something you have to take personal pride in,” he said. “After practice looking at what you messed up on, working on that, getting in the film room and seeing what you messed up on and be sure you don’t make them again.”
Part of it may be where the offense is on putting things in.
“We’re trying to install more each day,” Jackson said. “But we can’t do that until everybody gets what we’ve already installed. So, if you can’t do the basics you can’t install more.”
The other side knows what’s coming, too, and they aren’t playing it simple.
“Our defense is over there scheming up our plays and scheming up everything we have,” he said, “because we only have five plays in. If the guys get the basics of what we have in, we can move on and establish more of our offense. We can be more versatile out there and the defense wouldn’t be able to run the perfect blitzes on everything we’re doing.
“Guys gotta take it on themselves to get in the film room, do extra, study the playbook … just stuff like that.”
Chad Morris has said since the first spring practice this was about getting back to the basics. When that happens the defense is usually ahead of the offense early and that’s really exactly where this team is.
A former championship defensive coordinator broke it down pretty simple one time decades ago.
“You can talk about these schemes all you want,” he said. “But the bottom line on defense is when the ball is snapped, you see who’s got the ball and put him on the ground as fast as possible.”
John Chavis is making the offense’s life complicated with a heavy dose of different things with every practice.
“They sent a lot of blitzes we weren’t really prepared for,” running back Chase Hayden said.
The running back situation where injuries have hit an area that wasn’t incredibly deep after two of the top ones have been out.
First it was Rakeem Boyd, who was ruled out of all spring recovering from shoulder surgery. Then Devwah Whaley and converted cornerback Jordon Curtis have missed the last two practices.
The defense is also obviously stepping things up more than a notch or two.
“Chief’s whole emphasis is cranking the lawnmower,” defensive tackle T.J. Smith said Wednesday. “Getting the ball out, so that’s what guys have been doing.”
In other words, they’re cranking the mower and the offense has been the grass.
“We haven’t lost the belt,” Smith said with a big grin.
With eight practices left (and that includes the Red-White Game on April 6) there’s now a break on workouts until March 26.
Jackson said the offense knows what they have to do.
“We’ve got to come back after spring break and not let that happen again,” he said.
It’s probably too early to start worrying about the offense, but some concern might not necessarily be a bad thing for fans.
There are, as always, some explanations.
Turnovers in Saturday’s scrimmage were primarily by backups and the defense is obviously taking advantage of the learning curve with a lot of new faces on the offensive side of things.
But that’s all part of getting back to the basics.
At least that’s the hope, which isn’t always the best plan of action going forward.
For now, though, that may be as good as it’s going to get for at least a couple of weeks.
SPRING PRACTICE: Faces of spring from Wednesday’s sunny practice
Wednesday morning it rained, but it was bright and sunny when Arkansas took the field for the seventh practice of the spring and here’s a look at some of the faces during the drills.
PHOTOS BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM
Hogs’ Jackson on how defense dominating offense first half of spring
At almost the halfway point of spring practice after the final workout before spring break, offensive lineman Colton Jackson talked about why the defense is dominating because of familiarity with the limited number of plays in the offense now.
Hayden on offense’s turnovers handing daily belt to defense again
Razorbacks running back Chase Hayden talked with the media after practice Wednesday about the turnovers and offense continuing to have problems during spring practice drills.
Curl on having more success creating turnovers with Hogs’ defense
Arkansas defensive back Kamren Curl talked Wednesday afternoon about how the defense’s approach is starting to pay dividends creating turnovers.
Smith on working with new defensive line coach, aggressive approach
Razorbacks defensive lineman T.J. Smith talked after Wednesday’s practice about how much he’s enjoying working with new defensive line coach Kenny Ingram and a different, more aggressive approach on the line.
