But, despite the naysayers, Anderson was seeing things in practice that gave him hope. He knew the pieces were falling into place for rapid improvement from the previous year: “We’re more athletic and a lot deeper,” he said in October, 2008. “There are more options now. We got a few more guys that can knock shots down. I think we’ve got some athletic guys that can make athletic plays in terms of blocking shots and rebounding. We’ve got more instinctive players.”
What followed was simply the most glorious season in Missouri’s basketball history, marked by 31 wins, a Big 12 tournament title and the Tigers’ first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years. In the Big Dance, Missouri knocked off Cornell, Marquette and a heavily-favored Memphis team led by John Calipari. By the end of that third season, Anderson had even exceeded the achievements of his mentor Nolan Richardson in his first years at Arkansas.
Now, of course, Anderson is back in Fayetteville. And only eight games into his third season as head coach there, Arkansas appears poised for an ahead-of-schedule breakthrough all its own. Like the Tigers of 2008-09, not much was expected of these Hogs – who were picked to finish eighth in the SEC – heading into the season. Also like those Tigers, Anderson’s third-year Razorbacks are showing enough improvement across the board on the offensive end to blow those prognostications out of the water. Can the Hogs keep it up and not only make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years, but shock the nation with a deep run there? That question will be better answered once conference games get rolling, but Arkansas has already played enough good competition to project how they will fare against SEC foes.
There are already signs that Arkansas in Year Three of the Mike Anderson Era could shatter expectations as Missouri did in its Year Three of the Mike Anderson Era. These Hogs resemble those Tigers in at least three ways:
1. Rims As Wide As the Lake of the Ozarks
What really makes their system really click, though, is getting to the free throw line and accurate shooting. Free throw line stops and made buckets allow a defense time to set traps and make even more steals. Shooting three pointers at a high clip allows a team like Arkansas or Missouri to upset the Kentuckys or Kansases of the world. Richardson’s best teams of the early and mid 1990s also happened to his most efficient teams in terms of free throw percentage, field goal percentage and assists.
Arkansas’ offense this year is the program’s most efficient since the 1995 squad which made the national title game. Last year, Arkansas’ top two scorers – B.J. Young and
The 2008-09 Missouri Tigers didn’t have as many mid-range weapons as these Hogs have but they had an abundance of high-energy scrappers (e.g. DeMarre Carroll, Keith Ramsey, Justin Safford) who all shot above 54% from the field. Arkansas’ Jacorey Williams and Coty Clarke fill Ramsey-Safford type roles but both are shooting below 43%.
2. Onward and Upward with Forwards
Before NBA guard Tony Allen trademarked “Grit and Grind” as the motto of his Memphis Grizzlies, his former Grizzly teammate
Before the 2008-09 season, Rockmnation’s Michael Atchison wrote Missouri “will go as far as the frontcourt duo of Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll can carry it.” He was right, as Carroll and Lyons, a highly skilled 6’9″, 240 pound power forward, ended up leading the team in points and rebounds while finishing in the top four in assists and steals. Similarly, Arkansas will only go as far as its top two forwards – Harris and 6’9″ power forward Bobby Portis – will carry it. They, along with the vastly-improved guard/forward Michael Qualls, pace the Hogs in scoring and rebounding. The health of those three players is pivotal to Arkansas’ chances of making any kind of postseason splash.
3. At Last, No Distractions
In Mike Anderson’s second year at Missouri, his Tigers stumbled through a seemingly endless series of off-the-court issues which stymied progress. The Tigers’ leading rebounder from his first year was kicked off the team in July, 2007, after being arrested for hitting a man in the face with the butt of a shotgun. That same month Carroll was shot in the ankle outside a downtown club while trying to break up a fight. Then, five players were involved in a late January 2008 fracas that ultimately resulted in the dismissal of leading scorer Stefhon Hannah and the arrest of the team’s other starting guard, Jason Horton. After the fight, Missouri staggered through the next four games, losing three, and never really recovered.
Arkansas hasn’t suffered through the same kind of off-the-court problems in recent seasons, but there has been a different kind of turmoil as the makeup of the roster changed from John Pelphrey-recruited players to primarily Mike Anderson-selected. The growing pains have included six players transferring out of the program in Mike Anderson’s first two seasons. A few of them, notably Rotnei Clarke, Julysses Nobles and Jeff Peterson, could have provided the outside shooting and point guard play the Hogs have so desperately needed the last couple years, especially on the road.
Only role players Kikko Haydar, Mardracus Wade and Ricky Scott remain from the Pelphrey era. Most of the rest of the main players – from rangy 6’5” Ky Madden to 6’10” Moses Kingsley – are long, athletic and quick, just like the ‘08-’09 Tigers. Most importantly, they play with a burning edge. This was especially evident during the second half of a Maui Invitational game against Gonzaga, when hot perimeter shooting had helped the Bulldogs secure a 17-point lead. The Razorbacks didn’t relent in their intensity, though, and battled back to cut the final margin to 10 points.
This kind of late-game effort is significant because it happened away from home. In recent years, the effort among the Razorbacks’ best players was erratic against the best opponents away from home. Marshawn Powell and B.J. Young accomplished many good things for UA basketball but leading memorable comebacks on the road wasn’t one of them.
***
Despite gaudy offensive stats, Arkansas won’t be taken seriously until SEC play begins and the Hogs actually win a couple games on the road. And Anderson hasn’t done his team any favors by packing a non-conference slate with so many cupcakes, many observers believe. But note Arkansas has already played six teams which are the caliber of above average to poor SEC teams. Against Gonzaga, California, Minnesota, SMU, Clemson and Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas has gone 4-2. Of course, none of those were true road games.
Heading into his third season, Mike Anderson well understood what was at stake. He remembers the breakthrough in his third season at Missouri and knows these Razorbacks have the talent and size to follow suit if they continue to pound the offensive boards, make their opponents pay at the free throw line and consistently hit 18-foot jumpers. There will still be slow stretches (Exhibit A: the second half against Clemson) and the lack of a true point guard will surely cost the team a few games. But, overall, an upward trend is unmistakable. The numbers show it as well as the players’ relentless hustle. “Each year, improvement has been made,” Anderson said in late October. “Now we need to take that next step.”
Mike Anderson at Missouri – The First Three Years
2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2008-09 National Average | ||
Points Per Game |
77.6 |
77.1 |
81.5 |
68.33 |
|
Assists per Game |
15.5 |
16.4 |
18.1 |
13.05 |
|
Effective FG Percentage |
52.70% |
50.70% |
52.90% |
49.23% |
|
True Shooting % |
55.90% |
54% |
55.80% |
53.03% |
|
Free Throw Production |
21.9 |
21.3 |
24.4 |
25.07 |
|
Points Allowed per Game |
71.9 |
72.2 |
67.7 |
67.83 |
|
Effective FG % Defense |
43.70% |
43.90% |
42.10% |
43.53% |
|
Opponent 3-Pt FG % |
37.90% |
30.90% |
30.50% |
34.30% |
|
Turnovers Forced per Game |
18.7 |
16.5 |
17.8 |
13.66 |
|
Rebounds per Game |
32.2 |
32.51 |
33.9 |
31.43 |
|
Possessions per 40 Minutes |
74.4 |
74 |
73.3 |
68.05 |
|
Fouls per Game |
20.5 |
20.4 |
19.9 |
18.36 |
|
Percent of Games Won |
60% |
50% |
81.60% |
Mike Anderson at Arkansas – The First Three Years
2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2013-14 National Average | ||
Points Per Game |
71.8 |
73.7 |
86.8 |
73.81 |
|
Assists per Game |
13.5 |
14.8 |
15.2 |
13.09 |
|
Effective FG Percentage |
49% |
43.20% |
54.60% |
49.32% |
|
True Shooting % |
53.10% |
52.10% |
59.80% |
53.83% |
|
Free Throw Production |
25.7 |
23.6 |
36.3 |
28.79 |
|
Points Allowed per Game |
69.7 |
68.8 |
73.5 |
71.35 |
|
Effective FG % Defense |
43.40% |
43.20% |
42.10% |
44.19% |
|
Opponent 3-Pt FG % |
32.50% |
36% |
36.60% |
34.03% |
|
Turnovers Forced per Game |
15.8 |
17.2 |
17.4 |
12.54 |
|
Rebounds per Game |
30.3 |
31.8 |
32.8 |
32.98 |
|
Possessions per 40 Minutes |
71.7 |
71.7 |
75.1 |
70.21 |
|
Fouls per Game |
19.2 |
20.3 |
20.3 |
20.05 |
|
Percent of Games Won |
56.30% |
59.40% |
75% |
***
Oh yes, Evin Demirel did … blog about the most jaw-droppingly dominant athlete in Arkansas college sports. And Tweet about some sportsy stuff, too.