The issues of Arkansas Basketball

If you have been following our top 10 college basketball programs of all-time you noticed that Arkansas got honorable mention, which in essence made them the 13th ranked program of all-time. Looking at the top 13 it's pretty hard to imagine a team that has fallen from grace like the Razorbacks have. Arizona is the only one that is close. When you compare the two programs the Wildcats are superior to the Razorbacks since 1995.


In my formula I felt that it gave weight to teams who had sustained greatness. It was not about who had won the most national championships or final fours, but who had won those championships, been to the final fours, won the conference championships and other criteria over time. The Razorbacks qualified.


This whole debate started when I was listening to a local radio show that stated the Arkansas basketball program was Mississippi State outside of a few great years. This formula blows that notion out of the water. When I began thinking about a formula to try to score the greatest programs my initial thought was rank all-americans instead of NBA draft picks. The problem I ran into it was down right impossible to find a reputable all-american list for each program. Also, lately NBA draft picks and not all-americans have been the measuring stick for a programs success. Although throughout college basketball history this fact has not always been true. If you take recent success out of the formula and you put all-americans in the formula instead of NBA draft picks then Arkansas ranks about eighth all-time, which is exactly where The Sporting News ranked them a few years ago. My question when considering all things is can you make a program who has not had much success in 14 years a top 10 program? To me the answer was no.


The North Carolina's, the Duke's, the Kentucky's, and the Kansas' are programs that have had sustained success over time. Even when you get outside of those programs in the top 10 like Michigan State, Louisville, Syracuse, and Arizona those programs have had lulls but always come back. Honestly, none of those programs have had such a long period of time that they have been irrelevant like Arkansas has. Why? What has happened? There have been several things that happened. From Nolan's out bursts to his mistreatment at Arkansas or John White trying to make the University of Arkansas the Harvard of the South to the detriment of the athletic program, there are many factors that have made Arkansas a fallen program. Not to mention the Stan Heath experiment where Stan got some good players to come through here, but was not a strong enough coach or personality to bring the program to where Arkansas fans expect it. Now Arkansas has John Pelphrey and as of right now the program has regressed since he has been the head coach. Is all of it his fault? Probably not. Dana Altman did leave after one day on the job. Bottom line is though each coach is responsible for his program no matter the problems before or after he became the coach. Butler's coach is in his third year and they went to the national championship game.


What is acceptable at Arkansas? Is it the height of Nolan Richardson's program where Arkansas was a threat to go to the Final Four every year? Is it Eddie Sutton's program that had a shot to get there but was more than likely a sweet 16 team? I know one thing that is not acceptable and that is the current state of the program. You will never see Duke, North Carolina, or Kansas have such problems in their programs. Arkansas is clearly not those programs though and probably never will be. For that matter Kentucky who has had problems in the past they will not ever have 14 years of sustained failure as Arkansas has had. Adding to that, Michigan State, Syracuse, and Louisville will not have such problems and all these programs have similar histories as Arkansas.


The pattern you will see if you look at the top 10 programs of all-time is great coaches. Each school has at least had two of them and Arkansas is no different with Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson. Although both were great Eddie had problems that would have lead to his ultimate demise. Nolan thought he had become greater than the program and frequently made the statement he didn't want any superstars. In the last six years of his tenure at Arkansas he did not get them and the program suffered.. The problem is in the seven years since Nolan Arkansas has not been able to land a coach that is acceptable for Arkansas as a program. Is the money there? Are the facilities there? Is the tradition there? The facilities are there with or without a practice facility. The tradition is there. Somebody needs to sell that. The money is speculated to not be there. It has always been there before. Is that a product of today's economy or changes in the top of the athletic program?


The University of Arkansas has committed to another year of John Pelphrey and all of Arkansas is hoping that he can bring the program back. Recruiting seems to be better for 2010. It might get a lot better here in the spring signing period. There is a 2011 and class that looks to be promising for the Razorbacks. Things could be on the up and up, but if significant improvement is not made next year then it is time for a change no matter how the 2011 class feels. Any program can not let a group of recruits hold the program hostage. Arkansas is no different.


Whatever the problem. Arkansas deserves better right now. This program is a proud program one that has history that can compete with almost any in college basketball history. It is time for this program to start taking steps toward bringing the program back to the future.

Hog Talk Episode 5

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40 Minutes of Pel has to go

A once proud Arkansas program has fallen to a point that in 1994 people would have laughed you to scorn.  Yeah, I know it's not 1994 anymore.  In fact, 1994 might as well be 1894 or 1794 as far as the Arkansas basketball program is concerned.  

Now, if you have read this blog before I admit I have said that Pelphrey  should stay, but the sad truth is he is not getting it done as the Razorback head coach.  The rich history of Arkansas basketball goes back before Eddie Sutton or Nolan Richardson with a final four appearance in 1941.  Houston Nutt got a free pass with two consecutive losing seasons in football, but consecutive losing seasons in basketball is inexcusable especially with non conference games against the Morgan State's of the world.  

I know that he has had suspensions and just a string of bad luck, but he has recruited these players.  He took some chances last year that ended up blowing up in his face with Montrell McDonald, who had already been dismissed at George Washington University and Jason Henry, who was supremely talented but just could not stay out of trouble.  Henry would have made a difference on this team. It just does not seem that Arkansas gets the most out of it's players consistently.  The same problems seem to rear their ugly heads such as bad defense or bad turnovers, but more importantly bad attitudes.  Look at Tennessee.  They dismissed their best player and suspended others only days before they played the #1 Kansas Jayhawks only to win.  

Do you realize that Arkansas has been on three seperate four game losing streaks during this season?  At the University of Arkansas that is not acceptable. The acceptable improvement would have been the NIT this season and the Hogs were in position to be there but the effort has started to wain much as it did last year.  Now most likely the NIT is not going to happen. Isn't the mark of a good coach somebody who can figure out a way to stop the bleeding?

I know the talent has to be there, but this same talent won five games in a row in the SEC.  I like John Pelphrey, and I may look back at this post with regret some years from now. The fact is he has a slightly lower winning percentage than he had at South Alabama (.544 at USA and .536 at U of A).  The days of Nolan Richardson may never be seen again in this state but Arkansas should be the best program in the SEC West and number two in the SEC after Kentucky.  That is just not the case.  Sadly Stan Heath had the program going in a better direction than Pelphrey with two straight NCAA appearances before his firing.  

I don't know if he is the answer but if Arkansas does not do it's dead level best to go after Mike Anderson at Missouri it would be a mistake.  He plays the style of basketball that is Arkansas basketball.  One that is sorely missed.

Pelphrey should not be fired....Here's why

I am sure that somewhere in the back of Arkansas Razorback head basketball coach John Pelphrey's mind he is probably saying, "Can't we all just get along?" The answer to that question is a resounding NO! I would be stating the obvious if I said the Arkansas Razorback basketball program is not where it used to be, that being said John Pelphrey is not at fault for that. Ladies and gentlemen Dana Altman did not leave after one day of being the head coach for no reason. And he didn't leave because Creighton is a better job than Arkansas. This program has been down for a long time, well before Pelphrey and even to a certain extent Stan Heath.

When Altman walked on to the U of A campus to a program that was in shambles. Yeah they were coming off of an NCAA tournament appearence but that was about all that was going good for the Razorback program. Altman leaves and enter John Pelphrey. Pelphrey has the pedigree (Player at Kentucky under Eddie Sutton and Rick Pitino, as well as assisted Billy Donovan). He had the intensity that Heath lacked. He also realized from day one what it meant to be an Arkansas Razorback. John Pelphrey took a program which had not won an NCAA tournament game in 10 years and won. He beat Indiana, who had been ranked in the top 10 at one point in the year, and then eventually lost to a loaded North Carolina team. Not bad for a first year coach. What happened to Pelphrey after that is probably why Dana Altman took the first horse back to Omaha, NE.

Pelphrey lost six seniors off his first team and most of them being contributors. What many forget is the best player off of the previous two teams, Patrick Beverly, was kicked off the team. So Pelphrey loses almost every bit of his scoring and rebounding and whatever else you can possibly lose from one team. He brings in a highly touted recruiting class and all seemed to be well. Not so fast...

One of the best players from that class failed to make it, Daniel Payne who happened to be a very highly sought after junior college small forward. He was replaced by a troubled Montrell McDonald, who had already been kicked off the George Washington Colonials. After losing to Missouri State in their brand new home opener the baby Hogs started to show improvement. They began to improve some more and before you know it number four Oklahoma with beast big man Blake Griffin. Nobody expects Arkansas to win. Mike Washington plays his best game as a Razorback and some how the Hogs pull off the improbable with a victory over the Sooners. By this time McDonald is already off the team.

This was thought to be an abberation but the Texas Longhorns came a calling and there was no way the Hogs could repeat. Even former Razorback and current ESPN announcer Jimmy Dykes said there was a slim chance Arkansas could pull it out. The matchup was just too much. The game went back and forth and somehow the Razorbacks pulled it off. Arkansas was 12-1 and expectations began to increase. Then SEC play began and suspensions happened and Marcus Monk, who added much needed leadership was gone and the Hogs began to tumble. The bottomless pit might be something that comes to mind even. Obviously, this was not a fun time for the Hogs or their fans. The heat began to increase on Pelphrey. After wins over Oklahoma and Texas many forgot that Arkansas was picked to finish as cellar dwellers in the West before the season started.

This season started no better. After losses to Morgan State, East Tennessee St., and South Alabama many thought the roof would cave in on Arkansas and John Pelphrey. Even the most loyal of Pelphrey fans were asking themselves if the tall redhead was the right man for the job.

After the three game disaster you began to see a team that had some fight in them and they won some games that you wouldn't think a whole lot about. But when you had been through what the Hogs had been through and with the best playmaker they had on the bench for an unspecified suspension, these wins were good wins. Courtney Fortson came back for the Texas game and this team looked like a different team in losses to a great Texas team and a good Mississippi State team on the road.

That brings us to last Saturday where the Hogs beat an Alabama team who had beaten Baylor and almost should have beaten Purdue. Does this mean that the Razorbacks are fixed? No. Can you see improvement in this team? Yes. There are a few reasons John Pelphrey should get atleast one more year with one caveat: The bottom does not fall out of the season like it did last year.

1. He has not been dealt a fair hand since he has been at Arkansas (six seniors, suspensions, Patrick Beverly, Dana Altman, and many things that most people have no clue about including myself).

2. His players still play hard for him. (See Alabama game)

3. He has a pretty good recruiting class coming in (Although, there needs to be a big man)

4. For this program to succeed it can't be changing coaches every three to five years

5. He has proven he can win with some talent on the floor.

6. Many proven coaches have said Arkansas has a winner. (Including Nolan Richardson)

7. To build a program right (Not the Calipari way) it takes more that three years to do it.

8. He has stood tall in the face of adversity unlike Altman

I could go on and on but the bottom line is that Pelphrey deserves another year. What is an acceptable record for this season for Arkansas? I could not tell you. As much as most people don't want to hear it after a 2-14 conference record winning four is doubling the win total from last season. Unless your name is John Calipari and you are Kentucky it takes a little while to resurrect a program and that is exactly what has had to happen at Arkansas, but given the time I feel that John Pelphrey will get the job done.

Fire Pelphrey?

Anywhere you look in the state of Arkansas, whether it be message boards (like my favorite, Hogville.net), on TV, or on sports radio, you hear people's opinions regarding the Razorback basketball team. Many people say the U of A should fire John Pelphrey because his record is not what they would like it to be, or because he suspended players and would not talk in depth about why. My co-hosts Brad and Shawn don't entirely agree with me. They are entitled to their opinions.

But here's mine:

I don't think Pel should be fired after this year, barring some unforseen circumstance. Another 2-14 conference record would warrant dismissal in my opinion, but after a 1-1 start, that isn't looking likely. I say we win 4-6 games at least, which I understand is not a Hog fan's idea of success.

Improvements have been made, the biggest of which being the re-additon of point guard Courtney Fortson. His 17 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds per game have made a huge difference for the team since his return. The Hogs played then #2 Texas close and nearly won their SEC opener on the road at Mississippi State despite an early 19-point defecit and a triple-double by Bulldog center Jarvis Varnado.

Freshman Marshawn Powell is more proof of Pelphrey's recruiting acumen, as he has stepped in and averaged nearly 16 points and 7 rebounds himself.

Add to all this arguably the best shooter in the country, Rotnei Clarke (18 ppg, 48% 3-pt FG), and it is clear that soon the players needed to compete in Pel's system will be in place.

All that is needed is a little consistency.

People want to blame Clarke's lack of shots on Pel, or the UAB loss on a last second dunk, but college coaches should not have to teach division-1 athletes how to set proper screens or how to protect the basket on an inbounds play. These things should be second nature by now.

I understand substitution patterns and play calling are under the coach's control, and unless Pel wants to see Fortson or Clarke drop dead he may need to get them some breaks, but Pel is still trying to feel out this team, and he should be granted a little leeway.

Let's let him coach out this season and try to get the great crop of 2011 talent to the Hill and then judge Pel on his success or failure.