Arkansas a Final Four team?
You read it right, friends. Some people out there think Arkansas has all the ingredients to stun some folks and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Don’t believe me? Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie says he wouldn’t be surprised if Arkansas beat Indiana, No. 1 overall seed North Carolina in their own backyard and advanced to the Final Four … and maybe even further.
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And you thought Gillispie hated Arkansas when he bypassed the Ozarks for Bluegrass last year.
Billy Gillispie
“I think that Arkansas is a team that can win six games in a row. I really do,” Gillispie said during a teleconference earlier Monday morning. “John [Pelphrey] has done a really good job with them. They’re an experienced team. … They have really good players inside, they have depth inside. They have really, really good guards that are very capable. Some times they shoot it better than others. I think that if they get on a roll where they shoot the ball well, they’re capable of beating anyone at any time. I’m talking about anyone.”
Arkansas, of course, will be focusing its energy toward Hoosier center D.J. White and freshman guard Eric Gordon. Gillispie, whose Wildcats lost to Indiana 70-51 on Dec. 8, called White a “beast.”
“If he’s not a lottery pick [in the NBA draft], he’s close,” the first-year Wildcats coach said.
“Maybe none of the guys from Arkansas have played as well as he has, but when you put the five together against what they have and, again, no disrespect to Indiana, I just believe that Arkansas’ guys are as good as any group in the country.”
The lovefest for the Razorbacks continued throughout the SEC’s teleconference Monday.
Rick Stansbury mug
Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury says, “There’s not many teams in the country that’s more experienced and bigger than Arkansas. Off the top of my head I can’t name six seniors like Arkansas has. Two of them were fifth-year seniors. You’ve got size on the inside with very good guard play. In a given game, as they proved against Tennessee, they can beat anybody.”
So what do you think about a Final Four run, coach?
“Arkansas has all the ingredients to do that. No question. They have size, experience and guard play it takes to do that.”
Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said some of the same things, saying the Hogs have “all the pieces for a deep run.”
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl also agreed. After all, the Hogs beat his then-No. 4 Vols, 92-91, on Saturday in the SEC tourney semis. Pearl even went a step further and provided the Razorbacks a reason for their emotional and physical decline against Georgia in the conference championship Sunday.
The SEC’s coach of the year said the Saturday game against Tennessee was, frankly, more draining than the slow-tempo matchups Georgia had on Saturday in its two games.
Bruce Pearl mug
“I think Arkansas can do some damage. They will not to see a team more talented on the road to the Final Four. They’re just not going to. Arkansas was at a disadvantage in the SEC championship game because of the tempo of our game. It’s been pretty historically documented that when you play a game right after you play Tennessee, some times that can be difficult.”
10 Responses to “Arkansas a Final Four team?”
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Very kind of these coaches (and very much a stretch) but I hate to say it:
One and Done
Why? Inconsistency in play intensity and overall decision making, avg free throw shooting, turnovers and ability to play at a winning pace for 40 minutes. I am a dire hard Hog fan but this team is hard to watch and is equally unpredictable. I’d be very happy to be proven wrong and see the Hogs see what they can muster against UNC!!
They really don’t see a weakness at guard for us. Turnovers make and break us. Ervin and Welsh have proven this time and again. Our “Final Four run” lies on their shoulders and how well they can protect the ball. I think if they protect the ball, then the energy is not drained. Turnovers seem to not only provide the other team with more scoring opportunities, but it seems to deflate the attitudes of the rest of the team towards their ability to win the game. This is where the lack of mental focus and toughness shows up some.
Hmmm.. interesting read. If we were talking about anyone other than these chronically unpredictable and often times underachieving group of seniors, I would possibly buy into all the “love”. I hope to be wrong, but the senior guys have yet - after four years - proven to be mentally and physically tough enough to get a W against a quality team on the road, much less against an Indiana or North Carolina.
There is an incredibly talented group of young talent set to be on campus next year. When the new guys absorb PEL’S love for Razorbacks as well as the game and how it should be played, championship banners will fly again in Hog town. They will be in the final four in two to three years.
As to the senior dudes, it has been the old dog and new trick sorta thing for most of the season. I would very much enjoy seeing a deep run in the tournament - but, if the past holds true to form, it will be one and done.
What about Rick Barnes comment re: the UT Longhorns coming to Alltel Arena in LR this weekend for NCAA tournament….. “If the fans don’t treat us well, we’re not going to come. (meaning the FB game in the fall of 2008 at Fayetteville)…You can put that out there,” Barnes said. “I’m serious. We’ve got enough money here, we can buy our way out of it. They’d better be good to us.”
All he did was make Hog fans furious……welcome to Alltell UT……..
Hey Brandon,
Check out the today’s Hot Springs Sentinel Record article, written by AP’s Jim Vertuno and referred to by MHP above. Hehe.. i think the Horns just became the visiting team in LR.
Screw UT. Go Hogs!
I predict win over IU and then win a squeaker over NC and then a lopsided loss in Charlotte against ND. That’s pretty much the way we play, isn’t it?
Umm, I think Gillespie has wandered into south central Kentucky where I went to high school and happened on a litte pot field back off the beaten path (yeah, the fam left El Dorado and we never should’ve done that. Got mighty tired of hearing about the Wildcats).
As far as the Texas bunch, they are their own worst enemy. Go everywhere and think you own the place. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when they walk in a restaurant this weekend in LR. I think the locals will kill them with kindness and that’ll just drive ‘em crazy.
I honestly believe the the Hogs would have as good a chance at beating UNC as they do Indiana. Their fiercest opponent is none other than the Arkansas Razorbacks… who in the world can tell which team will show up?
Sure, they have all the talent and experience, but still lacking in the mental toughness.
The guards can’t make an entry pass to the post, that’s what killed us against Georgia.
If each young man on that team plays up to their abilities we can beat Indiana,(I’m a transplanted Hoosier myself, but I love my HOGS) Beating UNC, that would be Arkansas’ greatest victory… EVER. But they couldn win that game too, IF they ALL come to play.
We all have known all year long that this team has the talent to get to the final four. The problem is, talent alone will not get it done. This team thinks that talent always wins out (even though its been proven to them over & over that it won’t). Also this team does not have the internal fortitude to get it done. Put these players with Pel 3 or 4 years ago & we might be talking about the greatest Razorback team of all time. With all of that being said. I hope I am wrong! I hope they can somehow find the mental toughness & fire to do what they are capable of. It will not suprise me if they get in the final four, but I will not be suprised if they get blown out by 20 against Indiana either. These seniors have never matched up well against teams with strong gaurd play, & whoever gets to the final four will have done it with strong “Team” guard play. the 90, 94 & 95 teams had Day , Miller, Williamson, & Stewart as engines to name a few. However, it was Mayberry, Beck, & McDaniel that drove the bus.