Greatest Hog Basketball teams of all time #2

10.  1989

9.  1993

8.  1983

7.  1977

6.  1979

5.  1990

4.  1995

3.  1978

I have had fun doing this and I hope you have had fun reading it.  I think the two greatest Hog teams of all time might shock you.  

2.  1994 So when you started reading this blog I bet you thought you knew exactly who number one was.  The only national champion would naturally be the best team in Hog history, as Lee Corso would say, "not so fast my friend."  Even though, this was Arkansas most special season this was not Arkansas best team.  The one thing where this team had a leg up was the ability to slow the game down or speed it up.  The Hogs scored 131 points in a game this season, but in the NCAA championship game scored 76.  This was a team that had it all, but not a lot of  NBA talent.  Corliss Williamson obviously was the best of the bunch.  He won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons as well as a Sixth Man of the Year award, but he never reached the super stardom that he did at Arkansas.  I bet if you asked him that would be alright with him.  Most everybody thought that Scotty Thurman had NBA written all over him. Especially after his game winning shot against Duke in the national championship game.  He declared for the draft after his junior year at Arkansas but did not get drafted.  He had made a couple NBA summer league teams, but never made a roster.  Corey Beck played with the Charlotte Hornets more than once but never was on the roster for a full year.  

That being said this Arkansas team was exactly that a team.  Beck was a gritty floor general.  Thurman was smooth and could score from anywhere and any way you wanted him to.  Williamson was unstoppable down low.  Arkansas had great role players too.  Dwight Stewart did a little bit of everything but would shock you with his outside shooting abilities.  Then Clint McDaniel was a defensive stopper who could hit the three.  Arkansas had players like Darnell Robinson, Lee Wilson, Davor Rimac, Roger Crawford,  Alex Dillard, Ken Biley, and Elmer Martin coming off the bench.  Most of whom could have started for many teams in the country.  Arkansas three losses came to SEC teams.  Mississippi State beat Arkansas by one at the Hump and Alabama beat Arkansas by two at Coleman Coliseum.  Kentucky got Arkansas by 12 in the SEC tournament.  Other than that the Hogs ran over the competition.  One of the more memorable games of that season was Arkansas drubbing of Missouri on ESPN.  The Hogs beat Missouri 120-68 and Missouri ended up being a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.  They weren't the only team to get pounded by the Hogs that year.  

One of the many things that made 1993-1994 a special season is that Arkansas opened their new basketball palace.  Barnhill Arena was a tough place to play, but Bud Walton Arena was and still is one of the best on campus facilities in the nation.  The Hogs protected their house with an undefeated record.  People knew coming into this season that Arkansas had the opportunity to do special things.  Arkansas spent nine weeks that season at the top of the AP and coaches polls.  They were just good.

Arkansas didn't have a whole lot to play for in the SEC tournament they knew they were a one seed and their focus was not the SEC tournament.  They were focused on the national championship.  Arkansas started their special run with North Carolina A & T.  The Hogs slept walked through that game winning 94-79.  The Hogs then drew Georgetown with a Freshman named Allen Iverson and a guy who had all but signed with the Hogs named Othella Harrington.  The Arkansas Georgetown game was very chippy.  Arkansas and Georgetown got into a fight and the Hogs lost a key component of their championship team that game, Roger Crawford.  Arkansas won a pretty hotly contested game 85-73.  The Hogs moved on and beat a Tulsa team coached by Tubby Smith 103-84.  Arkansas then moved on to the Fab 5 minus one  (Chris Webber) and Michigan the Hogs showed the Wolverines that they meant business with a 76-68 victory.  The Hogs moved on to the Final Four in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The Hogs were joined by SEC foe Florida, Duke, and Arizona.  The Razorbacks met the Arizona Wildcats and Damon Stoudamire.  This contest was hotly contested but Corliss Williamson dominated the Wildcats and the Hogs were able to pull out a 91-82 victory. 

 It was the on to Duke.  Arkansas had lost to Duke in the 1990 final four 97-83, but had beaten the Blue Devils in the preseason NIT final in 1991 98-88.  This was a whole new group of players on both teams except Duke still had Grant Hill.  The previous two times the Hogs met Duke they were the underdog but this time the Hogs were the favorite.  Duke led by Hill gave Arkansas all they wanted.  The Blue Devils even took a 10 point second half lead 48-38, but Arkansas battled back.  Arkansas and Duke rocked back and forth and with the game tied at 70 Scotty Thurman hit the biggest shot in the history of the program.  With 51 seconds left in the game and as the shot clock hit zero Scotty Thurman's sky scraping three pointer went through the net.  The shot, as Arkansas fans like to call it, clinched Arkansas first ever national championship in men's basketball.  

Arkansas finished (31-3, 14-2) they were only three points away from an unbeaten regular season.  They finshed as SEC regular season champs.  These Hogs were special!

Greatest Hog Basketball teams of all time 3-5

In case you don't want to look below to see 6 - 10 here it is:

10.  1989

9.  1993

8.  1983

7.  1977

6.  1979

5.  1990 Coming in at number five is one of Arkansas six final four participants (1941, 1945, 1978, 1994, and 1995).  1990 was a special year because you could see Nolan Richardson building this team toward greatness and this was the first glimpse.  This team went (30-5, 14-2) but was only a number four seed going in the tournament due to the disrespect of the SWC at the time. This Arkansas team was as high as number three in the associated press and coaches polls.

 Arkansas took out Princeton in a battle of contrasting styles 68-64.  The Hogs then took on a game 12 seeded Dayton team.  The Flyers gave the Hogs all they wanted, the Razorbacks squeaked by with an (86-84) win.  This was definitely an upset bracket as number eight seeded North Carolina beat number one seeded Oklahoma and number two seeded Purdue lost to ten seeded Texas then three seeded Georgetown got beat by number six Xavier all in the second round.  Arkansas went on to blowout North Carolina 96-73, and then got to take on old SWC foe Texas in the regional final.  (You can see that game on my facebook page)  Arkansas squeaked out a 88-85 victory to head to it's first final four since 1978.  There they met Duke.  The Blue Devils got the best of the Hogs that year with a 97-83 victory.  This set up the Hogs to be one of the favorites in 1991 to win the national championship.  

4.  1995 The Hogs came into the season as the favorite to win the national championship again.  UMass, led by John Calipari and Marcus Camby, thumped the Hogs in the opener of the college basketball season.  That game set a tone for the early season struggles of the Hogs.  Arkansas lost five of it's first 22 games.  Yes, 17-5 we would take now, but this team was expected to be one of the greatest of all-time, this was not expected.  The Hogs recovered after a bad first half at Vanderbilt they stormed back to win that game which set them on an 11 game winning streak.  Arkansas played themselves into the conversation of a number one seed.  They played Kentucky in an all-time great SEC final and basically a play in game for a number one seed.  Arkansas jumped all over Kentucky, but the Wildcats were able to come back to force overtime.   The Hogs jumped out to a nine point lead in overtime, but again the Cats came back and this time took the victory 95-93.  

Arkansas entered the NCAA tournament as a number two seed.  The Hogs let 15 seeded Texas Southern take them to the wire and have a last second shot to win but it fell short.  Then seven seeded Syracuse had a phantom timeout or Arkansas gets beat in the second round.  Rivals Memphis and Arkansas met in the sweet 16.  Like the previous two games the Hogs had an early lead.  It looked as if the Hogs were going to go down but Scotty Thurman saved the game in overtime and the Hogs were victorious.  Arkansas won in the elite eight and it was a relatively easy game.  

The Hogs then took on the University of North Carolina with Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse, but the Hogs were the defending National Champion.  The Hogs played like it for a half and Corliss Williamson schooled Wallace.  The momentum was seized when Dwight Stewart hit a 65 footer right before halftime the Hogs never looked back (75-68).  This set a meeting with UCLA.  UCLA needed a Tyus Edney miracle against Missouri to get there, but pretty much dominated the competition for the whole year.  Arkansas was no different that night.  George Zidek stymied Corliss Williamson and the Hogs could not figure out UCLA all year long.  UCLA won (89-78).  Arkansas finished the season (32-7, 12-4).  Had they repeated this would probably be considered the greatest team in Arkansas basketball history.

3. 1978 When you look at this list Arkansas' basketball history the good always comes in threes.  (1977, 1978, 1979) (1989, 1990, 1991)(1993, 1994, 1995) (Mayberry, Day, Miller) (Corliss, Scotty, Beck).  This was the start of the threes or the triplets.  Sidney Moncrief, Marvin Delph, and Ron Brewer revolutionized Arkansas basketball along with coach Eddie Sutton.  The Hogs dominated their competition going (32-4, 14-2).  The Hogs started their tournament run with a  73-52 win over Weber State.  Then Arkansas pulled the upset against all-time NCAA power, UCLA (74-70).  Then Arkansas took care of Cal State Fullerton 61-58 in the regional final to advance to the final four.  Many will say that if this team had the three point shot they would have won the national championship.  They didn't and another power Kentucky took the victory 64-59.  This was during the era of the third place game and Arkansas took third place against Notre Dame with a last second shot (71-69).  Many great teams have came and gone at Arkansas this might be the most beloved outside the national championship team.

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.