Poll: Arkansas

[MSUCarFreak]

Next up is Arkansas....how are they looking?

[AFWarrior83]

I think we will get to the second round, but still not quite there.

[jbuzbee]

I would tend to agree with you. The team is very good and now has some post-season experience....losing Brewer is huge but the addition of Weems and the now eligible Ervin will make us a lock for the tourney in my opinion.

[WooHawg]

I voted that we are a lock for the tourney. Brewer is a tough loss but I think this team should be ready. Maybe I am overly optimistic as usual but I really think this squad can make some moves this year. Townes and Thomas should be a nice duo down low and hopefully Townes will have matured a bit over the off season. Ervin and McCurdy also and I am very glad that Ervin is ready to go now. Washington is one step closer to being in uniform now that he is cleared by the NCAA, just as to be cleared by the SEC now. And of course Weems is there, I can't wait.

[MSUCarFreak]

I've got 17-20 wins and an NIT bid...I just don't see a team losing two like Modica and Brewer and being able to match the previous year's accomplishments. In addition, I know from experience how poor of a player Ervin is (I think he will end up being very destructive to the 'Backs), and I don't see Heath as a very good coach.

Who knows, anything could happen - good luck either way!

[PuddingTime]

Hogs are gonna win somewhere between 20-23 games.....they'll be a bubble rep for the SEC. They have to deal w/LSU, Alabama, and Mississippi State. MSU isn't getting much credit....they rebuilt last year, are coming into their own this year, and have some great recruits coming in this and next year. MSU is on their way back up. I have them finishing 3rd. The Hogs w/out Modica or Brewer......Steven Hill isn't the answer down low...I can tell ya that much.
Sooo....Arkansas has to get their easy wins against Ole Miss and Auburn....then their games w/Vandy and SoCar could go either way. Georgia should be a win. They won't beat UT, UK, or UF. Things aren't looking pretty for the Hogs or Heath. Missing Richardson yet? :D

[WooHawg]

I think we will have a good team this year. We should be solid at the point and down low as well. Maybe by some miracle, Hill will be much improved in the off season...I still have faith in him.

[Jay_Lupo]

While he wasn't much offensively, I think Hill was one of the best defensive post players in the league last season. He was a very much underappreciated player, as the two previous posts would indicate. When you've got an athletic 7-footer who's light on his feet in the paint, teams have to think real hard before committing to go down the middle. He improved a lot from his 1st to 2nd year, and I expect the same kind of improvement in his third.

Boy, Ervin, Weems and Beverley sounded like they lit it up last night, combining for 52 points in the shortened scrimmage at BWA. Ervin, at one point, scored on six consecutive possessions. I have an idiot friend who went last night and I got a text message at 2:30 this morning asking "Who the hell is that Ervin guy? He's unbelievable." Once I told him he was a Jr. - not a freshman - with two years of starting experience in the SEC, it helped him come to terms with it a bit. I think he was ready to proclaim him the best freshman in the nation last night :)

I think the Hogs are going to be fine this year. Heath reiterated on Wednesday that "the rebuilding is done." I agree with him. We bring six post players back plus mega-stud Michael Washington, so our frontline should be amongst the SEC's best and deepest units. We're thinner than I'd like to be in the backcourt, but Weems, Ervin and Beverley all appear to be immediate-impact guys. Obviously Gary is, but all indications are Sonny - No. 1 JUCO player last year - and Beverley - No. 1 scorer in Chicago - are going to be able to fill a lot of the scoring void left by Brewer and Modica. I also talked to another one of my friends who went last night, and he said we made more 3's in the first 10 minutes than we did all of last season :). That's a good sign. I love Brewer, Modica and Ferguson, but for guys who couldn't really shoot, they jacked way, way too many 3's last year. He, too, reiterated how impressive Ervin looked and said Sonny put on a "dunk clinic".

I think the Hogs will be pretty damn good this year. I know that Florida nor LSU was on anybody's radar at this point last year. Not saying we're going to the final four or anything, but all those in the know seem to really like this Razorback team. I do too. And the best thing is that they're all back next season, too. Stan's doing a good job. Like Nutt, people just need to get off his back and let him do what he does.

For me though, it's football season still. I'll worry about b-ball later.

[WooHawg]

Good post Jay. :thumpsup: From all that I have heard, those guys really lit it up last night. Heath has worked really hard regardless of all that has went on. I appreciate all the recruiting he has done outside the state and some of the studs he has brought in.

[Jay_Lupo]

Good post Jay. :thumpsup: From all that I have heard, those guys really lit it up last night. Heath has worked really hard regardless of all that has went on. I appreciate all the recruiting he has done outside the state and some of the studs he has brought in.

Thanks Woo and I agree. Call Stan what you will, but don't ever say he's lazy. The guy works his butt off, and I think we've seen it pay off in our recruiting classes. I'll be honest, I'm the biggest Nolan Richardson fan in the world, but Heath, in his first five seasons, has already recruited better than Nolan ever did.

We're not back to where we're capable of being yet, but we're well on our way. In football, I don't think we can be a big-time, major program every single year. We can in basketball. And by big-time I mean top 10.

The "experts" aren't going to like this team early, but when has that ever mattered? We play quality opponents in our nonconference slate that will get us some attention and with teams like Alabama, LSU, Florida, tennessee and Kentucky in our league, we're going to have plenty of chance to prove ourselves. At worst, I think we'll hold our own.

[WooHawg]

Thanks Woo and I agree. Call Stan what you will, but don't ever say he's lazy. The guy works his butt off, and I think we've seen it pay off in our recruiting classes. I'll be honest, I'm the biggest Nolan Richardson fan in the world, but Heath, in his first five seasons, has already recruited better than Nolan ever did.

We're not back to where we're capable of being yet, but we're well on our way. In football, I don't think we can be a big-time, major program every single year. We can in basketball. And by big-time I mean top 10.

The "experts" aren't going to like this team early, but when has that ever mattered? We play quality opponents in our nonconference slate that will get us some attention and with teams like Alabama, LSU, Florida, tennessee and Kentucky in our league, we're going to have plenty of chance to prove ourselves. At worst, I think we'll hold our own.

Heath has put this team in a good position to win this year. But he has improved every year he has been at Arkansas. Granted there have been times that I was frustrated with our team such as blowing leads etc. but all teams can have problems like that. Maybe it was personality conflicts on the court that caused some of that, who knows. Now it appears that we have finally solved our problem at the PG position. Ervin can also help McCurdy progress also. Thomas and Townes are gonna be very tough down low this year and I'd like to see Hill get more than just trask buckets. McGowan got some quality minutes last year and I am sure we will see him make an impact this go around. Heath looks to have them on the right track, lets see what happens.

[TDArkansasOhmy]

Don't mean to sound negitive, but I've never been a Stan Heath fan. The whole hiring // firing thing was just a turn off to me. Being a BB fan since birth, it pains me that we were once a Top notch program in the nation and then we reduce ourselfs to the present state.

Oneday Heath will be a soild Basketball coach for someone. But for a program who has experence great success in the 70's 80's and 90's, it's a slap in the face to the fans to use this University as a Training Center for below average coaches to become good ones.

Nolan Richardson was treated terrible from the powers that be. They are responsible for the way he took the program his last few years. I admire coach for standing his ground. It's a shame that a man came here and did what was ask for him durning his early days with Arkansas while his child was fighting for her young life battleing Lukemia which she later loss.

Shame on the powers that be. Hurrah for Coach Nolan Richardson for doing his job and making thousands of friends and admirers in the state of Arkansas.

[PuddingTime]

I think you guys are going to have to worry about Mississippi State coming back up first. They're headed right back to the top. LSU should stay competitive. Bama...they're always pretty good. You're gonna have to do alot to get back to your "glory days".

[MSUCarFreak]

Appreciate that, Pudding - I sure hope so

[Jay_Lupo]

I think you guys are going to have to worry about Mississippi State coming back up first. They're headed right back to the top. LSU should stay competitive. Bama...they're always pretty good. You're gonna have to do alot to get back to your "glory days".

Might be true, but the same can be said for the Big Blue. Last time I checked, Florida and Tennessee were the top two teams in the East. It appears to be that way again this year as well. I wouldn't sleep on South Carolina, either.

[MSUCarFreak]

South Carolina should, by all rational thinking, be the bottom or second-to-bottom team in the East. They are absolutely no threat to Kentucky.

[Jay_Lupo]

South Carolina should be OK. Don't they return everybody but Balkman from the NIT title team? And wasn't it the Cocks that swept Florida last year? I'm asking, I can't remember.

Vandy's not bad either and Byars is one of the better wings in the conference, IMO. I've heard from some Georgians that the Bulldogs are expected to be a lot tougher. The East is a difficult division in a difficult conference. It's much tougher than the west. If I was a betting man, the only sure bet I'd make is that Florida will win the East. That's it. The rest, including the west, will be a dogfight, and I don't think Kentucky's excluded from that.

[MSUCarFreak]

I'm not sure if the E or W is more tough - it's a close call. I agree about Vanderbilt...they have potential. I don't think USC will be a threat, and Georgia could be a surprise NIT team.