SB Nation - Rashad Madden

What I Really Care About Is Basketball

RandleReece — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:00:31 -0000

And I mean both men's and women's basketball at the University of Arkansas. But today, let's talk about the men.

First, about the schedule. Let's drop the "toughest schedule EVAR" talk. The schedule that got Nolan Richardson fired, 2001-02, was probably Arkansas's most difficult opposition. That year, the Razorbacks faced five top 30 foes just in nonconference play, plus rising Memphis and ORU. And the SEC was ridiculous -- seven teams won 20 or more. Alabama was top 10, and Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Georgia were top 25.

This year's schedule features many good games, but it might not even be the most difficult in recent memory. In the past five seasons, Arkansas played as many as 11 nonconference games against legitimate opposition, as few as four against sub-250 RPI crapposition.

The 2012-13 slate is notable for how many seriously difficult challenges the Hogs will face, more than the absolute number of decent opponents. Seven games will be against teams that rated below 250 in RPI last season, most of those below the dreaded 300th.

Only six nonleague opponents on the new schedule are good enough to test the Razorbacks at all, and that ties with the lowest such number over the past five seasons.

This breakdown of the past five years' won-loss records shows in painful detail how undistinguished Razorback basketball became. Arkansas had four straight seasons of being an SEC pushover. In the past two years, schedule padding overstated the team's ability. This year, some padding remains, but the Hogs will face enough tests to earn their way back into the spotlight -- if they can.

Toughest test: Road trip to Michigan, which is a consensus top five team in preseasons forecasts.

Next hardest: Hard to choose between Syracuse (coming to Fayetteville in the SEC-Big East challenge), and whichever of Wisconsin or Creighton that Arkansas will face in a Las Vegas tournament.

Also good: Oklahoma (home), Arizona State (Vegas), Robert Morris (home).

Never fear, enough complete garbage opponents are on the rack to allow the Hogs to have plenty of half-empty Bud Waltons in December.

The schedule might be a little padded because there are three really possible losses on the nonconference lineup. Or it could be the enlarged and scrambled-up Southeastern Conference schedule that prompted conservatism.

Home games, toughest first: Kentucky, Missouri, Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, Texas A&M, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State.

Road: Missouri, Florida, Alabama, Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, LSU.

Not going to pause here for a complete SEC preview, but I see four really difficult home games, five more on the road. Dreaded midweek road games during the school semester: Alabama (Jan. 31), Auburn (Feb. 13), LSU (Feb. 27), Missouri (March 5). To have any kind of decent season, Arkansas must win some road games.

Fortunately, a handful of SEC opponents have run into hard times, so some of these road games are more winnable than they would have been in other seasons.

How have the Razorbacks recovered from the closing collapse in Mike Anderson's first season back in Fayetteville? Recall, Arkansas was 16-6 on Jan. 31, went 2-8 down the stretch.

Veteran guard Julysses Nobles and freshman forward Devonta Abron transferred. Both were encouraged, for different reasons. Regardless of why they left, Anderson feels much better about his team's ability to play fast, aggressive basketball.

Team unity appears to be much improved. The roster has at least a dozen usable players, much deeper than the way last season ended. This team looks like it is going to get points in the paint much more easily, and not just because of the return of star forward Marshawn Powell. Pressure defense will be possible, at least in spurts.

Guards -- B.J. Young (6-3 so) and Mardracus Wade (6-2 jr) will start. Anderson likes the way both have developed since the end of last season. Wade shows signs of becoming a complete player, scoring in more ways while improving his team-best defensive ability. Young seems to be buying in, though he still has to prove his willingness to go all out on defense.

Anderson is likely to start three guards, and for now the third would be Rickey Scott (6-3 jr). His game wasn't quite right last season. Scott started cold and finished with 18% shooting from 3-point range. He also struggled at the free throw line. With the enhanced amount of offseason coaching that the NCAA allows now, plus the team's 4-0 exhibition trip to Italy, Scott progressed pretty fast.

Usable subs include Rashad Madden (6-5 so), Davion Spivey (6-2 so), Anthlon Bell (6-3 fr), and midterm-eligible, Fayetteville native Fred Gulley (6-2 jr), coming in from Oklahoma State. Three other guards are hoping to find some time. Lots of guards. Biggest development could be the improvement of Madden, who needed to get a little better at everything. And Anderson had lots of time to fit Madden into a role.

Wings -- Arkansas has lacked a true small forward to match up against the great players some SEC opponents feature at this position. This year, the Hogs will be able to go to two or three. Michael Qualls (6-5 fr) makes outlandish slams, he rebounds, runs the court, blocks shots, finds ways to use his crazy leaping ability. Jacorey Williams (6-8 fr) reminds me of a Laurence Bowers type, though with more perimeter game. After football (which might be sooner than we had thought), the team will get walk-on Mekale McKay (6-6 fr).

It's unclear how often Anderson will go with a conventional "two bigs, small forward, two guards" lineup. Expect the Hog head man to go with one post, three guards and a wing forward at times. This is likely for strategic reasons, to improve pressure defense and team speed, as well as out of necessity.

Posts -- Powell (6-7 jr) is recovering from major knee surgery and likely won't be able to give full minutes for a while. But he showed enough in Italy to raise hopes. Thank goodness Anderson has tremendous Birmingham, Ala., connections. His savior this season might be juco transfer Coty Clarke (6-7 jr). Clarke was a prep star in the Birmingham area. In juco, Clarke grew some and developed into a strong rebounder and low post scorer. Clarke likely supplanted Hunter Mickelson (6-10 so) in the starting lineup alongside Powell. But Mickelson shouldn't worry about playing time, for obvious reasons. His height will be invaluable against some matchups.

I don't view this season as a warm-up for next year. We didn't get to see truly hellish defense and fast-forward basketball in Anderson's first season as Arkansas head man. The roster started with no margin for error, and recurrent injury problems left the Hogs playing an unrecognizable style of hoop in the closing six weeks. In 2012-13, Anderson has enough players that he can bench anyone who doesn't buy into D. He'll get more as the season goes on, in fact.

The Anderson style should be back this season. If everything clicks, then the Razorbacks should be highly competitive with everybody they play at home. On the road, only a few games might be out of reach for matchup reasons. If Powell and Clarke work well enough together, the Hogs could have some answers for when they get down-tempo'd on the road.

The X factor...Razorback fans. Bud Walton Arena has been a shadow of its past glories for many seasons. A lot of the problem has been the quality of basketball, but long-term erosion of support and economic factors play into it. Will fans fill the Bud for big games? If they show up, will Arkansas fans sit back and wait for the team to impress them?

Overpowering noise from the fans at home always has been an essential part of the success of Arkansas basketball, ever since Eddie Sutton and some great in-state talent rescued the program from ignominy. I can't envision great success from the Razorbacks in 2012-13 without it. But great success is in reach.

Il Porcellino: Razorback Hoops in Italy

dxf04 — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:49:55 -0000

The Razorback basketball team goes truly international on Friday, when they leave for a 10-day preseason tour of Italy. The Hogs are taking advantage of an NCAA rule that allows programs to participate in an overseas tour once every 4 years. You may remember Stan Heath and John Pelphrey taking teams to Cancun in the past (if you haven't completely blocked those years from your memory). While there, the Hogs are tentatively scheduled to play at least 3 games against Italian Professional teams.

This trip provides a great opportunity to get some quality competition on an unfamiliar court, which is pretty important, given the vast disparity between the Hogs' home and away records last season. It won't be Rupp Arena, but it definitely should help the team get outside of their comfort zone and not be so seemingly intimidated (or tentative, at least) when they have to play away from BWA.

The real benefit of this trip, however, will be the extra practice time and the opportunity for newcomers to bond with the upperclassmen. The biggest perk and motivation for teams to take these international preseason tours is extra practice time above the typical NCAA limit. While in Italy, Arkansas will get to conduct 10 extra practice sessions that they wouldn't get to have otherwise. With 9 newcomers for this upcoming season, all of whom have never experienced a Mike Anderson practice, this is huge. Will Mike have them running steps at the Coliseum? Probably not, but I bet he can find a nice Italian analogue to Cleveland Hill.

More than that, since Arkansas returns only 7 players from last season, including roughly half of its scoring and rebounding, the 9 incoming players will be fighting for minutes. Marshawn Powell is back from injury. As he was easily the Hogs' best player before his injury last season, his return is a welcome sight. Juniors Rickey Scott and Mardracus Wade also return, and along with Powell, make up the bulk of the team leadership. Three members of the highly-regarded 2011 recruiting class (B.J. Young, Rashad Madden, and Hunter Mickelson) also remain, along with fan-favorite walk-on Kikko Haydar.

As far as incoming players, JUCO transfers Charlie Henderson and Davion Spivy spent last season redshirting, and have already had a year to mesh with the current roster. The 2012 recruiting class (Anthlon Bell, Michael Qualls, Dee Wagner, Jacorey Williams, and JUCO transfer Coty Clarke) will all have opportunities to contribute, if their abilities are up to it. As a highly-regarded JUCO player, Clarke will have an added expectation to produce quickly. Former Fayetteville standout Fred Gulley will be eligible to play in Dec., after transferring from Oklahoma St., and Little Rock native Alandise Harris transferred in from the University of Houston (and dropped a bomb on us when the Hogs played the Cougars last season). He's currently petitioning the NCAA for immediate eligibility; if granted, he has potential to be a huge contributor for us.

In addition to athletics, the team will get a chance to do some sight-seeing and participate in Italian culture. Hopefully the guys will take full advantage of this opportunity.

As far as I know, there will be no TV or radio for the Razorbacks' international games, but the athletic dept. may setup a live boxscore. Hopefully the Hogs can come back with some preseaon W's on their resume, but win or lose, the extra practice time and time spent together will be worth the trip.

The SEC's Worst Losses: Arkansas - Can the Commodores follow Houston's lead?

Christian D'Andrea — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:58:45 -0000

Arkansas is just one of those teams Kevin Stallings is never happy to see.

The Razorbacks, regardless of the year, always seem to find a way to give Vanderbilt fits in their annual regular season matchup. Stallings's teams are just 4-10 against Arkansas in his career, and the 'Dores have won in Fayetteville just once in six tries. Things will be even more difficult in 2012; first year coach Mike Anderson has yet to lose a game at the Bud Walton Center.

Tuesday's game will be another matchup that pits the Commodores against an opponent looking for a signature win. Arkansas has a solid 15-6 record on the season so far, but they currently sit on the wrong side of the bubble with a RPI greater than 50. The Razorbacks have a pair of big wins this season, dispatching top 20 schools Mississippi State and Michigan, but losses to weaker teams like Houston and a relatively soft strength-of-schedule have put them on the periphery of the national rankings.

However, these woes seem to disappear when Arkansas is defending their home court. The Razorbacks dropped 98 (!) points on #16 Mississippi State and opened up a 46-33 halftime lead on #20 Michigan in their biggest victories of the season. They are scoring 77.5 points per game in their home wins. In road/neutral games - all losses - the team averages 65.8.

Vanderbilt can expect a high-tempo game, but the 'Dores should be ready for that after Saturday's shootout with Middle Tennessee State. Like the Blue Raiders, Arkansas uses a balanced scoring attack that relies on strong ball movement to create open shots. After seeing Vandy's weaknesses in transition last weekend, expect the Razorbacks to press downcourt with plenty of breaks in Tuesday's game.

While no one has produced a blueprint of how to beat the 'Hogs in Fayetteville, Houston came the closest, holding on for an 87-78 win in Little Rock. So how did the 11-9 Cougars do it? Let's take a closer look.

Arkansas (15-6, unranked, #78 in the Pomeroy Rankings)

Worst Loss: vs Houston (11-9, #198 KenPom, #216 CBS RPI), 78-87
Other Losses: at Kentucky, at UConn, at Ole Miss, at Alabama, at Oklahoma

Houston turned an eight-point first half deficit into a nine-point victory in a semi-away contest in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Cougars opened up a double-digit lead in the second frame and held off a Razorback rally to earn their biggest win of the season. Efficient play inside and a solid showing from the free throw line helped Arkansas pull to within four points with four minutes to play, but the 'Hogs cold shooting ultimately doomed them in the loss.

Key to Destruction: Crashing the boards. A relatively undersized Houston team made up for their 20 turnovers by outrebounding Arkansas 38-27 on the day. This steady performance, combined with 52.5 percent shooting from the field, propelled the Cougars to a big second half and their only win over a BCS conference opponent so far in 2011-2012.

Keys to the Game:

Watch out for Arkanas's bench - especially B.J. Young. The Razorbacks have a few big-time players that can burn you, but their depth is what gives them the power to score in bunches and run all game. Nine regulars play over 16 minutes per game, and the team's bench contributed 32 points on 13-28 shooting in the loss against Houston.

Young, a freshman guard who was a five-star recruit, drives this team's second unit. He's scoring 14.4 points per game off the bench and has the quickness and shooting ability to score from anywhere on the court. Fortunately for Vanderbilt, the Commodores have their own freshman superstar defender waiting for him on their own sideline. Expect Dai-Jon Parker to get acquainted with Young pretty quickly on Tuesday.
Remember Michael Sanchez? Last season, the little-used Sanchez torched Vanderbilt for 20 points. Those were three more points than he had scored in the entire season leading up to that point. Since then, he's only scored in double-digits twice more in his career. However, the veteran big man has proven to be a capable glue guy and tide-turner for a team that relies on significant contributions from almost everyone in their lineup.

Sanchez actually put together a strong performance against Houston, scoring 11 points on seven shots. He stands as a lasting example of Arkansas's ability to hurt opponents with contributions from unheralded players. Guys like Marvell Waithe, Rashad Madden, and Hunter Mickelson are all capable of stepping up and being the defining influence in a close game. Vanderbilt can't afford to be taken by surprise by a deep Razorback team in 2012.
Mix-up the defensive sets and force Arkansas to shoot. Once they gained the lead in the second half, Houston gave the 'Hogs plenty of chances from long range. Arkansas responded with just a 4-17 showing. These misses deflated the hopes of a Razorback comeback and ultimately sank a team that was shooting a respectable 50 percent from inside the arc.

This may be a recurring theme for the Commodores. Like many of Vandy's opponents before them, Arkansas doesn't have the size to match up well with Festus Ezeli and Lance Goulbourne in the paint. Both big men, along with Steve Tchiengang, are high-level physical defenders, and they can actively prevent smaller teams from doing much damage around the rim (though, to be fair, MTSU did this well against Vanderbilt). If Vandy can force Arkansas to try to shoot their way back into this game, they should hold a big advantage in the second half.

Arkansas Razorbacks at Kentucky Wildcats (2): Game Preview

Glenn Logan — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:43:14 -0000

Tonight, the Arkansas Razorbacks call the Hawgs to Rupp Arena to face the Kentucky Wildcats in what will be Kentucky's second home stand against this year's SEC slate. The game is scheduled for 9:00 PM tonight, so those of us with early rise times will be a bit sleep-deprived tomorrow.

Arkansas comes into Lexington for the first time under the command of former Missouri Tigers head coach and Nolan Richardson assistant, Mike Anderson. Anderson has a bit of an interesting history with Kentucky. Anderson's UAB Blazers sent then #2-ranked Kentucky home from the 2004 NCAA Tournament in the second round, one of the more embarrassing and frustrating early-outs for UK in history. Kentucky would avenge that loss two years later in the 2006 tournament, but then ranked only #25.

Calipari himself has had better luck against Anderson, beating him all but a couple of times back during their mutual term in Conference USA. When Anderson moved to Missouri in 2006 through 2011, he compiled a 108-58 (.659) record there and left behind what is now one of the top teams in the land to coach Arkansas, where he and his mentor were so successful back in the 1990's.

Arkansas has started off well this year, but their schedule is full of teams ranked 150+, and so far, Anderson's Hawgs have only two victories inside the top 100, both at home against SEC schools. Their most recent game against the LSU Tigers was a nine-point victory in Fayetteville.

Roster and statistics

						FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
Player	Status	Class	Pos	Gm	Min	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Marshawn Powell	Injured	Jr	F	2	21.5	7.5	10.5	71.4	0.0	1.0	0.0	4.5	6.5	69.2	2.5	3.5	6.0	1.5	4.0	1.0	1.5	3.0	19.5
B.J. Young	Major res.	Fr	G	17	23.6	5.6	10.8	52.2	1.6	3.8	43.8	2.1	2.9	71.4	0.8	2.2	3.0	2.3	2.2	1.1	0.2	1.8	15.0
Mardracus Wade	Starter	So	G	17	27.4	3.4	6.6	50.4	2.1	4.3	49.3	2.2	2.8	78.7	1.1	1.2	2.3	1.6	1.5	1.7	0.1	2.0	11.0
Rickey Scott	Starter	So	G	17	26.6	3.7	9.1	40.6	0.2	1.9	9.1	2.1	3.5	61.0	0.9	2.8	3.6	2.6	1.5	1.2	0.2	1.6	9.7
Julysses Nobles	Starter	Jr	G	17	27.8	2.8	7.5	36.7	1.4	4.1	34.3	2.5	3.3	76.8	0.7	3.3	4.0	3.5	1.9	1.2	0.4	2.5	9.5
Rashad Madden	Major res.	Fr	G	17	20.2	2.5	6.1	40.8	0.5	2.0	23.5	1.9	2.7	69.6	0.9	3.0	3.9	2.0	1.4	0.5	0.3	1.9	7.3
Marvell Waithe	Major res.	Sr	F	17	16.1	2.1	4.3	49.3	0.5	1.4	37.5	1.6	2.2	75.7	1.4	2.1	3.4	0.7	0.8	0.9	1.1	1.4	6.4
Devonta Abron	Starter	Fr	F	17	16.9	2.0	5.1	39.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	1.9	3.0	64.7	2.4	2.8	5.2	0.8	1.0	0.9	0.3	2.4	5.9
Michael Sanchez	Starter	Sr	F	17	18.5	1.6	3.8	41.5	0.1	0.1	100.0	1.4	2.4	60.0	1.1	2.4	3.5	0.4	1.3	0.8	0.8	2.4	4.6
Hunter Mickelson	Major res.	Fr	F	17	16.6	2.1	5.4	38.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.5	0.9	53.3	1.5	2.4	3.8	0.8	1.2	0.6	2.7	1.6	4.6
Matt Thompson	Reserve	Fr	G	3	2.0	0.3	1.0	33.3	0.3	0.7	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.3	1.0
Kikko Haydar	Reserve	So	G	11	5.2	0.3	1.2	23.1	0.0	0.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.0	0.9	0.5

Strengths and weaknesses

Kentucky Strengths

Size and length
Overall athleticism and skill
Shooting, particularly inside the arc
Team defense
Offensive rebounding
Shot blocking
Home court

Arkansas Strengths

Forcing turnovers -- Arkansas is 16th in the land
Taking care of the basketball
Offensive rebounding -- The Hawgs are not as good as UK, but still very competent
Steals % -- Arkansas is 22nd nationally
Team defense

Kentucky Weaknessess

Zone offense. UK has struggled to identify disguised zones. This should not be a problem against Arkansas
Ballhandling against pressure -- UK has been shaky at times.
Turnovers. The 'Cats are now 80th in turnover %
Battle and road tested.

Arkansas Weaknesses:

Youth. Arkansas is older than Kentucky, but not by much.
New coach, new system. This is only nominally a weakness, it may be more of a strength in Arkansas' case.
Defensive rebounding -- This is a real problem for the Hogs, and it is weakness on strength for UK.
Arkansas puts opponents on the line quite a bit.
Lack of tough opponents so far
Have not won a single game away from home this year

Analysis

Arkansas is very much a guard-oriented team this year thanks to the injury to star forward Marshawn Powell, who is down for the season with a knee injury. That gap in size has been filled somewhat by freshman Devonta Abron and senior reserve Marvell Waithe, along with the been-there-forever Michael Sanchez, who Kentucky unsuccessfully tried to recruit back during the Billy Gillispie years.

One thing Arkansas can really do is shoot the basketball, and even though they aren't a high-percentage shooting team, they do have several guys who can really light it up, notably sophomore Mandracus Wade and freshman BJ Young. Kentucky will have to really guard the perimeter tonight, as the Hogs are not afraid to fire from three.

But the real challenge for Kentucky will be dealing with Arkansas' full-court pressing and running style. Arkansas plays at a blistering 72.6 possessions per game, only a little slower than the North Carolina Tar Heels. Kentucky controlled the pace against the Heels, but they didn't press, and Arkansas really does, aggressively and continuously. They have 10 9 players who get over 16 minutes per game, so this will be a real test of Kentucky's conditioning. Arkansas' defense is how they get much of their offense.

The Wildcats cannot take this team lightly at all, even at home. The young Hawgs are very skilled, and if you'll remember, the Razorbacks had one of the top recruiting classes in the nation last year. These freshman, much like Kentucky, can really play. They aren't as advanced as the young Wildcats, but these Hogs are beginning to mirror the intensity and passion of their head coach. That's great for the future of Arkansas, but dangerous for Kentucky to be careless around. UK's recent tendency to turn the ball over is something they must not do against Arkansas, because the Razorbacks' press will force some, and they don't need any help from the 'Cats.

This game is likely to be nip and tuck for a good while. Arkansas has really improved from earlier in the year. Kentucky should be too much for them, but they had better give this Razorback team all their respect and attention.

Go, 'Cats!