Beverley looks to help confident Hogs stay grounded

Hard to be humble

BY HEATH ALLEN
Northwest Arkansas Times

The closing ditty Arkansas fans always sing after victories at Bud Walton Arena may be the key to maintaining the current push.
Patrick Beverley and the Hogs are finding it very “Hard to be Humble” after consecutive wins over ranked opponents at home. First, Arkansas mustered a 78-58 rout of Mississippi State, which was unbeaten in five conference games heading into the match. Then came Florida, which dropped an 80-61 bout at Walton Arena last Saturday.
Now, instead of rebounding from consecutive losses at home to South Carolina and then on the road at Georgia, Arkansas (16-5, 5-2) must rebound from a week with their heads in the clouds after last Wednesday’s open date left them with plenty of time to ponder about how good they really are following three-straight SEC wins.
And who better to help accomplish that than the Hogs’ leading rebounder, Beverley.
“We’ve really got to stay humble because we haven’t won anything yet,” Beverley said. “We’ve got to remain confident, but not overconfident, and we’ve got to continue to respect our opponent. We’ve got to continue doing the things we need to be doing defensively to keep winning basketball games.”
That will include snagging key rebounds today against Ole Miss (16-4, 3-4), one of the SEC’s top rebounding teams. Beverley, a 6-1 sophomore guard, has outrebounded all of Arkansas’ big men.
Beverley said he’s developed a knack at anticipating the ball’s carom off the rim and backboard, and then positioning himself to nab the rebound.
“I think a lot of it is instincts,” Beverley said. “You still have to be quick and go get it. The last couple of SEC games — I don’t want to say it’s been easy — but I seem to be in the right place at the right time.”
Beverley has mustered double-digits in rebounding in six of the Hogs’ seven SEC games. Three of those contests were double-doubles.
After averaging 4.5 boards per game in his freshman campaign, Beverley is hauling in 6.9 boards per outing this season and Charles Thomas is a distant second with 5 boards per contest.
“Rebounding is important to [Beverley] and he goes hard every single time,” Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. “There’s not a time he isn’t going after it. You watch him and almost every single time he will have both feet in the paint. It’s in his nature and he finds a lot of value in it.
“He’s got a big heart and he’s not afraid to go inside and compete for those things.”
Beverley isn’t just in the right place at key times, either. He battles for boards and does most of his damage on the defensive side. Beverley’s 115 defensive rebounds are more than the total boards of each of his teammates.
“It’s not always a clean rebound, either,” Pelphrey said. “There’s contact or a scramble for the ball. He’s going to be big in there against Ole Miss, who really places an emphasis on rebounding the basketball.”
Beverley just hopes Pelphrey’s assessment holds true today.
“Ole Miss has some physical bigs and some experience,” Beverley said. “It should be a pretty good challenge for us.”
Beverley credits the test his own teammates present in practice for his rebounding prowess.
“I give credit to our bigs,” Beverley said. “I think we’ve got one of the bigger teams in the SEC and I go up against those guys every day in practice and that gives me an advantage. I have to rebound against those guys in practice and you have to want the ball to get it.”
Beverley said that desire to secure the loose balls on defense is an extension of Pelphrey’s philosophy, which is obviously sinking in with the sophomore.
“I’ve really tried to step my intensity up and be more aggressive and that’s helped my rebounding,” Beverley said. “Staying aggressive is one of Coach Pelphrey’s things. We’ve always got to stay aggressive and that’s what I’ve tried to do.”
Beverley is averaging 12.0 points per game to go along with his 6.9 rebounds. But in SEC play Beverley is averaging a cool double-double with 11.1 points per contest and 10.7 boards per tilt. He also leads the team in steals with 30 for the year.
Beverley is second on the roster in scoring after leading the team with 13.0 points per game last season. But he said his comfort level is growing offensively under first-year coach Pelphrey.
“It’s about getting that confidence and it’s coming,” Beverley said. “I think I’ve been doing the right things, reading screens well, trying to hit the open shots and trying to do all the ordinary things right and raising my overall game. I think I’ve been taking better shots and my shooting percentage is picking up.
“I am relaxed and playing with a lot of confidence. I’m aggressive, but I’m not forcing it.”

G Patrick Beverley
Ht./Wt.: 6-1/180
Class: Sophomore

|-TOTAL-I |-3-PTS-| |-REBOUNDS-|
GP-GS Min-Avg FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg
21-20 701-33.4 80-202 .396 38-104 .365 54-80 .675 29 115 144 6.9 48 0 55 46 13 30 252 12.0

Filed under: Arkansas Basketball by Terry Wood. Posted on: February 9, 2008 at 9:28 am