Arkansas

[cincrulz11]

I do think we showed how good we are. JD was bad and Victor was a huge negative. Sucks to lose the way we did, but we have some talent

 

[ervins84]

I still can't believe a major division 1 coach actually runs a version of double teaming the pg right at the half court line to just get into scramble mode on defense and play 5-4. Definitely had flash backs to Nevada seeing that gimmick, and at least saunders/ddj attacked it in ways that we never did vs Nevada.

Super pumped for this team. Really got hosed throughout on calls/no calls which I do think impacted the rebounding gap and made it worse than it really was. I think what always sets me off is when a guy would get fouled 3 separate times before getting knocked over and then they finally call it.

MAW needs to figure it out or take a massive cut in minutes.

Davenport had what was probably his worst game in two years, but I expect him to be fine. A lot of that was a product of the matchup and him struggling to rebound/getting pushed around/and hate to say it, but just flat out out-athleted, which he usually finds a way to overcome.

My expectations for this team were never high. They've already exceeded them and most importantly they're a fun team to watch with things to look forward to. I'm not ready to start putting huge expectations on them as far as results, but this has to be in the top 1% of likely outcomes for the first 6 games. I'll take it.

Hubert Davis- please figure it out immediately

 

[sedziobs]

Maybe I was more optimistic than most here, but this team is so far everything that it looked to be on paper. Great interior defense. Quality depth. Poor rebounding. Only a couple players who can create their own shot. Midrange heavy offense. Those were all known characteristics based on the coach and players we brought in.

It's a team that can compete with anyone if our guards are hitting shots and our shot selection isn't completely awful. It's also a team that can lose ugly to good or bad teams if the offense isn't working. In our conference it should mean competing for a top 3 finish, and every game should be intense and exciting.

I was pounding the table in the offseason that we needed a couple proven rebounders, and tonight showed why. Rebounding consistently takes more than size, athleticism, and hustle. It takes some skill and instinct, and our guys are lacking in those areas. We'll need to compensate for that against good teams. Holding opponents under 20% from three like we did these two games will do it.

 

[cincrulz11]

Moving forward it would be nice if we could clean up some of those really bad offensive possessions where 1 guy just decides to go 1 on 5 for no reason at all.

The way we play defense, we’re gonna be tough to beat if we take out all those wasted possessions.

 

[sedziobs]

Moving forward it would be nice if we could clean up some of those really bad offensive possessions where 1 guy just decides to go 1 on 5 for no reason at all.

The way we play defense, we’re gonna be tough to beat if we take out all those wasted possessions.

We probably have to get used to that. It's what Wes Miller teams have always done. The hallmark of a midrange heavy iso offense is a low free throw rate. Wes has never cracked the top 200. We knew we were getting aggressive defense and 1990s offense. I'm hoping Saunders can break out of that though. He seems determined to get to the rim whenever possible, and done a great job of limiting turnovers so far this year when the opportunity isn't there.

 

[TheRealMick]

Ody need more minutes.

Loved Big 3 line up with Koval,Vik,Hensley.

Mason needs play with Saunders and not Newman.

JD is strictly a 3, We lost it when we moved
him to 4

Lol, the football team has put target on our back with refs.

We win if Mason and Ado played down stretch.

 

[Loser Mentality]

Great Ball Game last night, even better if we would have gotten the win.

The season is young and I like what I see, and hopefully team and individual improvements will increase as the season goes on.

Davenport and Madsen need to study some Sean Kilpatrick game film, in regard to how hard Kilpatrick worked to get open and get his shot. Kilpatrick wasn't the most athletic, but his relentless effort to get open translated to success.

Teams know all they have to do is guard Davenport and Madsen tight, and they just become bodies out there. I think they both can do it, but the work has to be put in.

All in all, I'm pleased so far, and as a fan that's all I can ask.

 

[waterhead]

Short on play makers down the stretch. Some atypical bad performances by 2-3 players. Refs were a little off. And we still damn near won the game.

Wes will figure it out. Tons of good teaching moments on tape. The kids will eat it all up...they mostly seem like they love to learn and absorb advice. We have a team full of competitors. They will take this one hard but the rebound will be fun to see.

 

[cincrulz11]

We probably have to get used to that. It's what Wes Miller teams have always done. The hallmark of a midrange heavy iso offense is a low free throw rate. Wes has never cracked the top 200. We knew we were getting aggressive defense and 1990s offense. I'm hoping Saunders can break out of that though. He seems determined to get to the rim whenever possible, and done a great job of limiting turnovers so far this year when the opportunity isn't there.

I understand there are going to be a lot of them unfortunately, but I really could do without the ones with 24 seconds left on the shot clock and we've made 0 or 1 pass. Our guys aren't even set up to offensive rebound on those.

I've accepted I'm going to have to get used to a lot more 5-19 from the midrange games.

 

[cincrulz11]

If you just look at this years games without any preseason influence, we are 34 on Barttorvik. 104 offense, 24 defense.

 

[skyblade]

We showed that we really only have two play makers on the team, DDJ and Saunders. Lakhin will be one soon, but showed he still needs to get some experience as he had a number of freshman mistakes.

The biggest issue I see is our rebounding. Davenport is undersized and doesn't rebound well as a 4. Pair him with Ado or Koval who don't rebound particularly well as 5's and you get dominated on the glass by good rebounding teams. Ody is better, but really bad at boxing out, he's got comparable athletic ability to a Tre Scott or Gary Clark (or Tari Eason) but hasn't learned to rebound like them yet.

The other issue is lack of scoring. When you play a pair of non-threats at the same time (Newman, Ody, Ado, arguably Koval), teams can really key in on other guys who are skilled sport up shooters. It's makes it hard for guys like Davenport, Mason or MAW to get open threes. This is especially true since our ball movement isn't particularly good. I'd like to see more of Mason/Hensley for Newman and some Lakhin at the 5.

Hensley had 2 rebounds (one offensive) and a put back layup in the 4 minutes he played and has looked like a guy who can grab boards this season. I'd like to see him get more run and see what he can do.

 

[cincrulz11]

(Newman, Ody, Ado, arguably Koval), teams can really key in on other guys who are skilled sport up shooters. It's makes it hard for guys like Davenport, Mason or MAW to get open threes. This is especially true since our ball movement isn't particularly good. I'd like to see more of Mason/Hensley for Newman and some Lakhin at the 5.

I'm not putting Ody in that group, and not really Koval. The offensive killers are Ado, Newman and MAW. Newman and MAW have EFG and TS under 40 and Ado has a 35.4 turnover rate.

Ody is extremely efficient.

As MAW's usage goes up (it has climbed each season) his efficiency goes down. He's never been able to finish around the rim and now he's taking really bad long 2's. He should only shoot open catch and release 3's, but he's down to a career 32% 3 point shooter now too.

 

[skyblade]

I'm not putting Ody in that group, and not really Koval. The offensive killers are Ado, Newman and MAW. Newman and MAW have EFG and TS under 40 and Ado has a 35.4 turnover rate.

Ody is extremely efficient.

As MAW's usage goes up (it has climbed each season) his efficiency goes down. He's never been able to finish around the rim and now he's taking really bad long 2's. He should only shoot open catch and release 3's, but he's down to a career 32% 3 point shooter now too.

I think Ody clearly belongs in that group. He's efficient because he doesn't take bad shots. But the only way he gets the ball in scoring position is put backs on offensive rebounds. We don't run offense for him, he can't shoot, he is not a scoring threat.

MAW I agree should be a catch and shoot guy. But when you only have 3 scorers on the court it's hard to get open catch and shoot shots.

 

[waterhead]

I don't expect JD to have a game like that. I also don't expect DD to have a game like that but he has done it twice in a row now. I don't expect MAW to have a game like that. Or Vik.

But we were very close to winning that game. Mostly off night performances. That is a good sign to me that we can be competitive on off nights.

Still pretty stoked right now!

 

[waterhead]

I think Ody clearly belongs in that group. He's efficient because he doesn't take bad shots. But the only way he gets the ball in scoring position is put backs on offensive rebounds. We don't run offense for him, he can't shoot, he is not a scoring threat.

MAW I agree should be a catch and shoot guy. But when you only have 3 scorers on the court it's hard to get open catch and shoot shots.

I don't think Ody is particularly skilled on offense but he does manage to score the ball pretty well. His ORTG is highest on the team right now for rotation players. His shooting, if we are talking about mid range 2's, so far has been pretty good. He's making 63% of his "far 2's" on Bartorvik. I don't expect him to make 3's. He's been pretty effective at the mid range hook shot so far.

 

[cincrulz11]

I think Ody clearly belongs in that group. He's efficient because he doesn't take bad shots. But the only way he gets the ball in scoring position is put backs on offensive rebounds. We don't run offense for him, he can't shoot, he is not a scoring threat.

MAW I agree should be a catch and shoot guy. But when you only have 3 scorers on the court it's hard to get open catch and shoot shots.

we don't run offense for him, thats right. we do it for Ado, who can't really do it.

Ody has caught the ball on the post a number of times and used his little hook shot. He has that move, and it's effective.

 

[Bcatfollower]

We showed that we really only have two play makers on the team, DDJ and Saunders. Lakhin will be one soon, but showed he still needs to get some experience as he had a number of freshman mistakes.

The biggest issue I see is our rebounding. Davenport is undersized and doesn't rebound well as a 4. Pair him with Ado or Koval who don't rebound particularly well as 5's and you get dominated on the glass by good rebounding teams. Ody is better, but really bad at boxing out, he's got comparable athletic ability to a Tre Scott or Gary Clark (or Tari Eason) but hasn't learned to rebound like them yet.

The other issue is lack of scoring. When you play a pair of non-threats at the same time (Newman, Ody, Ado, arguably Koval), teams can really key in on other guys who are skilled sport up shooters. It's makes it hard for guys like Davenport, Mason or MAW to get open threes. This is especially true since our ball movement isn't particularly good. I'd like to see more of Mason/Hensley for Newman and some Lakhin at the 5.

Hensley had 2 rebounds (one offensive) and a put back layup in the 4 minutes he played and has looked like a guy who can grab boards this season. I'd like to see him get more run and see what he can do.

I think if Hensley gets himself under control he could be a play maker.

 

[waterhead]

we don't run offense for him, thats right. we do it for Ado, who can't really do it.

Ody has caught the ball on the post a number of times and used his little hook shot. He has that move, and it's effective.

Ado should have ZERO plays run for him...just dish and dunk. Rebound, block and defend.

Now Koval or Lakhin? yah...let's run a play for them

Ody...I don't know right now. Would rather he just gets his stuff on the residual side. But he is pretty good at post up paint stuff. But I fear losing the ball.

 

[TheRealMick]

Im cool on Newman and MAW, guarantee if Mason or Hensley was in game we would've won.

 

[TheRealMick]

Play of game was that long 3 by DDJ afyer their guy hit one.