Arkansas Razorbacks Basketball

In honor of the presidential inauguration this week, I was inspired to dig up this old Sports Illustrated article of President Clinton from their March 21, 1994 issue...shortly before Hogs made their glorious run through the NCAA.

(Note to people who hate politics: this will likely be our last presidential reference for awhile, unless Barack Obama decides to try out as a walk-on for the Razorbacks...which might actually be a good thing for us.)

For you youngsters reading this, it’s hard to explain how mind-blowing this article was at the time.

First of all, the notion of Arkansas’ own Bill Clinton being leader of the free world was still a fairly novel concept. But more importantly, it was the Razorbacks’ first time on the cover of SI since that epically awesome picture of Sidney Moncrief in 1978.

Back in the dark days before the Internet, being on the front of SI was pretty much the biggest thing going in sports, so this was a sign that Nolan, Corliss, Scotty, and crew had finally arrived in the eyes of the national media (although we all know they still weren’t getting any respect).

The article itself is full of great little anecdotes, but here are a few of the high points.

* The sight of Bill Clinton, who was never afraid to pander to his audience to win votes, being direct and putting it all on the line with his Arkansas fandom (which just shows you where his priorities were—in a good way).

* The most powerful man in the free world gushing over having met Al Dillard. Of course, Boris Yeltsin and Tony Blair never hit 12 three-pointers in a game, so it starts to make more sense when you think about it in that context.

* Clinton gives some major props to Dwight Stewart, proving that his B-ball insight is extremely keen.

* Interesting fact: He was the first sitting president to attend a basketball game. Crazy!

The spring of 1994 was a heady time to be an Arkansan...definitely check out this article if you’re looking for a fun little trip down memory lane.

In a few hours, George W. Bush will become an ex-president. We will leave it to people better qualified than us to assess the full legacy of his administration. But there’s one aspect of his presidency about which we feel compelled to speak out: His time in office has been bad for Razorback basketball.

Below are the stats, along with, for comparison’s sake, a look at how the program performed when a certain Hog fan, one William Jefferson Clinton, occupied the Oval Office.

Bush Administration 
Overall record: 141-107  (.569)
SEC regular-season record: 55-72 (.433)
SEC Tourney record: 7-8 (.467)
NCAA Tourney record: 1-4 (.200)
NCAA championships: None
Final  Four appearances: None
SEC Tournament championships: None

Clinton Administration
Overall record: 187-86 (.685)
SEC regular-season record: 78-51 (.605)
SEC Tourney record: 12-7 (.632)
NCAA Tourney record: 17-6 (.739)
NCAA championships: One (1994)
Final  Four appearances: Two (1994, 1995)
SEC Tournament championships: One (2000)

Many people will sensibly argue that it’s the players and coaches that are most responsible for a basketball team’s performance, not the president of the United States. We tend to agree.

However, the relationship between the Hogs and the White House shouldn’t be entirely discounted. Bush, after all, is a Longhorns fan and presumably wouldn’t mind watching the Hogs struggle (we’re looking into rumors that, through various machinations, Bush had Michael “Heckuva Job” Brown placed in charge of the Hogs’ scouting team).

If nothing else, though, having a Texan in the Oval Office probably just creates bad karma for the Hogs.

Written by Ryan Collins, Gatorsfirst.com Staff Writer

On Saturday in the O’Connell Center, the Gators defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 80-65. I was not able to attend the game, I chose surfing in Arctic conditions and watching the terrible Raycom Sports coverage on DVR. 

This was a game of two halves, both jam-packed with Gators lofting three-pointers. Luckily, the second half was a three-ball napalm attack on the Razorbacks.

Led by Nick "Wonderboy" Calathes's (28-points) and his career-high six 3-pointers, Erving Walker (official player of this blog: “OPOTB”) also had three huge 3-pointers.

Walker played 10 minutes more than both Alex Tyus and Dan Werner despite coming off the bench, and may play his way to a starting spot come seasons-end.  Tyus played strongly and grabbed four offensive rebounds, most from errant three-pointers.

Kenny Kadji had two very fine plays; one saw him make an acrobatic catch on a Calathes zip-pass and convert an old-fashioned three-point play, in the other he saved an out-of-bounds pass and handed it to "Wonderboy" for a perfect swish from three-land. 

SEC Football fans may be interested to hear that former Razorback wide receiver Marcus Monk is contributing points for the Hogs off of the bench. Apparently the thought of having to catch more passes from Casey Dick drove him to round-ball.

It is clear how this team will play against the rest of the SEC (the schedule has mainly SEC east opponents from here out). Whipping the ball around the arc, launching an often-open three-pointer and hope it falls, or else that Tyus or Werner can grab the long rebound.

All three of the opening SEC games have seen contrasting halves, but despite the disparity the Gators have been prevailing. A great majority of the points in the Arkansas game came off of fast-breaks and defensive pressure.

The defense has impressed me in the first three games. The defense has been adequate enough to not lose any games, even in the face of a half with no three-pointers. This trend must continue because this defense has faced heavy criticism in the non-conference play.

The Gators next travel to Colombia, South Carolina for an SEC East battle with the Gamecocks. Wednesday’s game (1/21) can be seen on FOX Sports Network (FSN) at 7pm.  South Carolina (12-4, 1-2 conference) has lost on the road to LSU and Tennessee.

They have also lost to College of Charleston and highly ranked Clemson. This may be the toughest game of the young conference play. If the three ball-goes cold and crowd jumps on the Gators, they may face an insurmountable deficit. Projected score: UF 68, USC 67.

Side note:
I would like to formally apologize for not writing a recap of Wednesday’s road win at Auburn. However, with about four minutes remaining in that game I became so frustrated and hoarse from yelling at my television that I vowed not to write a recap.

The Gators needed to lean on young Erving Walker for two late crucial three-pointers to bail out a 20-point rally by the Tigers.

Any Thoughts??

If you'd like to read the original article, click here.

As we go through a week with 0-3 in the conference on our minds and have to wait until Saturday and Auburn to get things hopefully back on track, I thought I would take the opportunity to show the Razorbackexpat community a favorite piece of my Razorback collection and share some words about our wonderful mascot.

I have Hog logo ball caps, shirts, sweats, a newer version of the Hog hat, a Razorback bookend, a towel that says “Cuddle Up With A Razorback,” a framed edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s sports page when the Hogs beat the Horns in the Cotton Bowl, a Hog doll that plays the fight song when you squeeze his hoove, and a Razorback pen that lights up red when you push the top in.

Oh, yeah, I also have a Hog embossed window scrapper for those cold mornings when garage envy sets in. But that is not the oddest or, haha, by no means the coolest part of my collection.

The most unique piece of Hawgbilia that I have was created over two thousand years before the Hogs took the field in any sport. I give you the obverse of a coin minted in the third century BC (insert your even older than Frank Broyles joke here) in what was then a Greek colony of Italy. An image of Zeus is on the other side.

This is the Calydonian boar that ravaged the hills and hollers of ancient Greece until Hercules finally subdued it. And only Hercules could! My prompt for purchasing it was how much the boar on the coin resembled our hog that jumps through the “A,” one of my favorite Razorback logos.

During televised games I have put the coin up to the tv wishing for some luck, but results have only been mixed thus far. There seems to be too many teams in the SEC with more than one Hercules on the roster.

I think it is a well known story how Hugo Bezdek gave us the mascot of the Razorback, and how before we were known as the Cardinals. I think we owe Hugo a big Woo Pig Sooie for that change. A wild hog is a much better match to the state than a cardinal could ever be. A brief counting of the ways:

1.) There is no other state exactly like Arkansas. So it is befitting that we should have an unique mascot. Cardinals are way too common as mascots go.

2.) Arkansas is a blue collar, still largely rural, working class state. An animal that doesn’t mind the dirt seems fitting to be our mascot.

3.) People don’t first associate the word “intelligent” when they think of hogs, but they are mistaken, for a hog is one of nature’s more intelligent animals. Unfortunately, people don’t naturally associate intelligence with the state of Arkansas. But many Arkansans have proven that line of thinking wrong.

4.) Related to number three, the outside world going back to before statehood to present day Jay Leno monologues rather looks down on the state for backwardness. The wild hog is not a New York or Connecticut type of mascot. But by adopting the Razorback as our own, it seems like we have taken ownership of sorts of the “backwardness” charge and have made the image of the hog a source of pride. Suffice-to-say, I just don’t think we Arkansans would have hooked atoms with the cardinal like we have with the hog.

I hope you will tell about your favorite Hog related items in the comment section, or where you might have found an image of our mascot in a strange place. And I would welcome reading your take on Arkansas and its ties with the Razorback mascot.

But before I go, I leave you with one more Hog related connection to the ancient world as part of this Show and Tell. I took this picture inside Vatican City of Eddie Sutton (the hair) back from when he was a Roman basketball coach. The story is that his teams inside the Coliseum literally beat the lions, the bears, and the tigers, haha.

What a difference a week makes.

It was just eight days ago that the Razorbacks were riding high off their second big-time victory against a top 10 Big XII team.  Their victory over Texas took them to 12-1 and had fans, media, and everyone else thinking that they could bring some pride back to the SEC.

Their stock was rising exponentially.

Well, I warned you Arkansas still had one question remaining, and after two straight losses, including a 74-65 loss on the road to the Ole Miss Rebels, the answer does not seem to be what the Razorback faithful were hoping to hear.

Let's revisit the three factors that I thought would determine the fate of Arkansas in the SEC this season.

1. Courtney Fortson is going to have to grow up quickly.

Fortson had two games he would rather forget.

After the big win over Texas, Fortson shot an anemic 2-13 for only three points in the contest against Mississippi State. 

The freshman point guard rebounded for 24 points against the Rebels, but he also had a grand total of two assists. 

In fact, Arkansas scored 65 points on eight total assists against Ole Miss.  That shows you a team that is not doing a good job of distributing the ball and making the extra pass.

On the road particularly, defenses are going to be harder to break because the crowd and the momentum will inspire them on both sides of the ball.

Arkansas shot 36 percent in the first half against Ole Miss, allowing the Rebels to build a 21-point lead at one point.

Oops.

Certainly that is not all the fault of Fortson, but he must continue to penetrate the lane and dish the ball out to the other players around.  Then those players must convert on their shots, something that will not happen when your team shoots 3-15 from behind the arc.

2. Michael Washington must become a consistent scorer and leader for this team.

When Fortson was hot, Washington was cold.

Fortson could not buy a bucket at home before shooting lights out on the road.  Washington had 18 points and 15 rebounds in the letdown game against Mississippi State before scoring only eight points and four rebounds on the road against Ole Miss.

These two players have to work in concert, not only with one another, but also the rest of their team for success.

In these two losses, the Hogs have been too individualistic.  Fortson took more shots against Ole Miss than the other four starters combined. 

In both losses, only two Arkansas players reached double digits.  In their win against Oklahoma, six players scored in double digits.

As for Washington, foul trouble plagued him on the road, which limited him to his six field goal attempts.  Arkansas simply cannot afford to be without Washington for extended periods of time; his talent and his experience are necessary when playing in hostile environments.

If their experienced leader is playing poorly, it extends to the rest of the team.

3. Arkansas must continue to play physical basketball and make teams pay at the line.

I mentioned last time the incredible stat that the Razorbacks have gotten to the line at least 20 times in 11 of their first 13 games this season.

Well, against Mississippi State, at home, Arkansas could only get to the line 15 times.

That lack of penetration in the lane led them to their lowest scoring performance of the season.  Instead they were settling for three-pointers, which does not help when you make only three of 22 treys.

Arkansas did a better job of getting to the line in their road game, particularly in the second half when they were mounting a comeback.  The Razorbacks shot 50 percent in the second half by rebounding the ball better and getting the ball in the paint.

This is the recipe for success, particularly on the road, and although it was too little, too late, it may have given Arkansas a little confidence after a dismal start to the Ole Miss game.

So now the Arkansas Razorbacks have fallen to 0-2 in the SEC, and their next game against the 15-2 Florida Gators in Gainesville.

It is odd to call a January contest a must-win game, particularly with the SEC West being so wide open but that may be just the case for Arkansas.

An 0-3 hole would put the Razorbacks in quite the hole to dig out of.  With three out of the next four games at home, including the third one against the Vols, Arkansas can make a run and get back into contention.

However, to do that, Arkansas has one more key that has become painfully clear.

4. Rotnei Clarke needs to be the third scorer on this team.

Arkansas cannot win with only two superstars. They need a third scorer to spread the defense and take the pressure off a freshman point guard and a junior big man.

While Arkansas has a cast of characters who can fill this role, Rotnei Clarke may be the best of the bunch.

Clarke is the top three-point shooter on this team with 36 treys and is shooting at over 40 percent from behind the arc.  He also has converted 28 of 29 free throws.

Clarke is averaging nearly 12 points per game, but he has been inconsistent as well, scoring 14 against Mississippi State before not making a single point on the road against the Rebels.

Stefan Welsh, the other main candidate for the third scorer position, has been a little more consistent but has struggled at the line. 

One of these two players will have to step up for Arkansas the rest of the season.  Their offensive and defensive effort will make the difference as we enter the meat of the SEC schedule.

Still, 0-2 in the SEC does not mean the panic button should be pressed just yet.  The Mississippi State game was clearly a letdown game after the emotional high of defeating Texas earlier in the week.

I mean, at least it wasn't Harvard.

If Arkansas can spread the ball and avoid costly turnovers, they are still one of the top 25 teams in the country.

However, when they compile 15 assists and 28 turnovers like they had the past two games combined, then they will struggle.

It's all about the guards, Arkansas. If the point guard runs a good floor game, then victory is possible at Florida.  Otherwise, get ready for a melee in the SEC West.

With all apologies to the master and my hero, Bill Simmons, I do running diaries of most of Arkansas's home basketball games, and I thought I might share some of them here.  I write it in notes and shorthand at the game, and then organize it and polish it a bit at home. So without further adieu...

It is full-blown January in Arkansas.  It blew in last night—maybe around 8pm.  It is cold but clear and crisp.   Trees are bare and lifeless; they look starved and lonely.

There is huge anticipation for basketball.  The air is thick with it.  Anticipation and hyperbole.  It's palpable.  

There is little else to sustain us until Spring, unless you count friends and loved ones, and to be honest, I prefer a good Hogs basketball team to a crowded living room any day.

And this team has looked good. Scrappy.  I suspect my hopes have gotten a bit too high, but I can no longer imagine us losing a game at home this season.  I doubt the crowd will let them.

Basketball is part of the conversation at work again.  I overhear talk about Michael Washington's Mao-like Great Leap Forward, about Stef's defense, about RC's shot, about Sanchez's hair.  

I am on my own tonight, as my date begged off at the last moment, something to do with a 102 degree fever, a headache, and vomiting.  Women—what are you gonna do?

Eschewing the possibility of meningitis, I have her adequately sedated and tucked into bed.  She gave me her blessings to attend the game, although she may have been hallucinating because she called me by her son's name.  Regardless, I have official permission and I am on the road.

The moon is freakish.  It is full and low and huge and yellowish-orange. It looks heavy and distorted, as if smeared by gravity and the atmosphere, almost like a blown glass ornament dangling by an invisible string from the heavens, a tired deity about to let it drop.  I suppose this could be an omen of some sort.

The interstate is easy, and the tunes are good.  Van Morrison is "Cleaning Windows" on the "Bright Side of the Road."  The opaque, jaundiced light of the giant moon is silhouetting the low hills of the Ozarks.  Packs of cell phone towers reach up and blink unevenly from the horizon, steel-framed aliens desperately trying to communicate with their indifferent moon god. Rows of taillights are forming tracers as SUVs zoom past.  I think maybe I took too much cough medicine.

It is a rowdy and expectant crowd.  We are sensing a win coming, and we want to be part of it.  The crowd is also quite good looking.

This is a weird phenomenon.  You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a cute coed or a slightly sluttily dressed divorcee.  It's like an organic supermarket in LA here.

Early in the season our crowds were kind of whacked with an ugly stick.  Seems like front-runners might be a good looking crew.  Us diehards are a mite jealous.

Stef makes his last shot in warmups today.  He gave the ball to a guy sitting in the courtside seats and had the guy feed him a pass and then he buried the shot.  That was kind of cool.

Stef has on knee sleeves.  Does he always wear those?  And black socks.  Could I have been missing that?

I am strangely confident and serene considering how young and unaccomplished this team is.  I am seeing Mississippi State as a game we just won't lose.  If we play good, it is a blowout; play bad, and we find a way to win.  That's how it works, right?

We have the gray-haired ref from the OU game and the peg leg guy from the Texas tilt.  I'm not feeling great about that pair.

My mom leans back and asks me if one of the Miss. St. assistants is a former player she should know.  I don't recognize him, but I ask her if she thinks all tall black guys are athletes she should know.  She gives me one of those looks that tells me she is a bit sorry she ever birthed me.

Just before tipoff they get an extended shot of me up on the scoreboard.  I miss it, but mom turns around and tells me that I looked very handsome, so I have that going for me.

During introductions I get the feeling that the fanbase is getting to know these guys, to recognize them as individuals.  We wildly cheer Washington because of his yeoman work and the killer move against Texas.  We cheer the fact that he carried us against North Texas.

We cheer Stef's incredible defensive performance, his hustle and perseverance, the fact that he is finally hitting some jumpers.  We cheer Rotnei almost as we would a novelty, a trick shot artist at the Fair, the one player that looks the most like us, yet UN-like us he has this extraordinary skill.

We cheer Courtney because he is our heart and our face.  He is what makes us unique among college teams.  We cheer Sanchez because, well, because he seems a genuinely nice fella, and we all feel bad about his haircut and the shots he will inevitably have blocked by Varnado.

Let's play ball.

TIP-OFF

Well, we aren't going to jump on them real quick.  Courtney misses a three, Stef misses a three.  Washington battles but can't score inside.  Sanchez tries to make a post move on his smaller defender but walks.

It is interesting to look at the matchups early on.  State has four perimeter players and Varnado.  All four of the outside guys have just a bit of size, or at least height.  This means we have an offensive mismatch at the four (Sanchez), but he is our most unpolished offensive player, and I doubt we can take advantage.  

On the other end they are bigger than us at all three outside spots, which means they can shoot over us.  For instance, RC is guarding Barry Stewart, and I just don't see that going well.

Speak of the devil—Stewart buries a 3 over RC.

Uh-oh.  Another three and a couple fast transitions, and we are down 10-2.  WTF!  We look a bit slow, but worse, we lack aggression.  We should be running up their backs, not the other way around.

RC with a pretty little baseline J.

Washington with a smooth three.  That is one way to pull Varnado away from the hoop.  Wash can do that quite well.

But Courtney gets beat for a hoop and a foul by Bost.

FIRST TIMEOUT: 7-12 Miss. St.

Stat Girl is back at the scorer's table.  She is wearing her cute little headset and a sleeveless black blouse and gray slacks.  I wave, but she isn't looking at me.  But my mom said I was handsome!

State has two guys with knee socks.  Unfortunately they don't have the sweet Darrel Walker knee pads.  I'd get behind that sort of thing.

Monk scores off a nifty dish from Stef.

RC with a great runner.  He is looking for his tweener shot, which is good.  State is covering him with a guy about 6'5", and unless we play someone (Henry) that can demand the opposing three cover him, then I think we will see this all year.

They are doubling Washington as soon as he touches it.  It's coming from a couple different places, and he isn't reacting well.  We should DESTROY a double team with Stef and RC hitting threes.

RC misses two good looks from three.

SECOND TIMEOUT: 11-14 Miss. St.

Stewart has seven I think.  We will have to either switch Stef's and RC's assignments, sub, or come up with a new plan altogether.

Dang—another three from State.  I hate to say it, but I kind of like their style—just fling that sucker up.

Stef gets off the schneid with a nice little drive and fade.

Varnado is a gifted shot blocker, but he is an odd-looking fellow.  Looks a bit like a young, awkward bird.  When resting he puts his hands high up on his hips but he rotates his hands so his thumbs are in front and his elbows stick straight out.

Sanchez scores a layup on a beautiful dish from CF.  The guy next to me is bitching that Courtney didn't pass it to RC.  Besides the fact that RC had a guy shading him and CF never had a sight line to him, WE GOT A BARELY CONTESTED LAYUP.

Henry is in.  That changes all the matchups to our favor.

CF ties it up with a drive, and NOW we are going.

BANG I should shut up.  Another three for State.

But Courtney scores again and feeds Wash for another, and we have a lead. Henry pretty steal.

THIRD TIMEOUT: 26-23 Hogs.

We should really push the pace now.

GEEZ.  Another three from Stewart.  That was against a zone.

Oh my we are cold—just globally frigid.  Stef misses again—that is four or five good looks he has missed.  Henry misses.  Wash tries another three and misses.  CF tries a jumper, but he is pausing before he goes up.  He doesn't have a shooting rhythm.

Stef runs a bit of point.  Good penetration and dish.

LAST TIMEOUT: 28-30 Miss. St.

Monk is getting better and better.  I could make an argument for him getting more minutes than Sanchez.

The scoreboard doesn't seem to be keeping stats for the State players.  Stat girl needs something like a Bat Phone so I can call her and update her on stuff like this. Sigh. I see a restraining order in my future.

Monk has six points.

The ushers are wearing snazzy red sweater vests instead of the old yellow USHER garb.  It seems like they are undercover ushers.  I'm not crazy about it.  They look comfortable, but nobody is ever really comfortable in a Christmas sweater, are they?

HALFTIME: 32-34 Miss. St.

Could be a lot worse.  I feel good.  We HAVE to shoot better in the second half.  If we turn up the defensive pressure and get transition shots, that problem will be solved.

I'm a bit concerned that they are backing way off of CF.  He was shooting well enough for a while that people were crowding him, but he is hesitating, and I can't remember his last made three.  He can close the distance on the defender but then he is covered instead of in the clear when he gets to the lane.  The pick and roll becomes much less effective as well when the defender can casually go under the screen.

I think the stores must have had a run on women's red wool peacoats.  The look of the day is a red coat, distressed jeans, and heels.  Hmmmmmm.  There seem to be a fair number of Cougars on the prowl in this outfit.  Feel like a missed a memo.

Halftime entertainment is four kids from Chicago, the Bucket Boys.  They play drums on upside down plastic buckets.  This sounds stupid, but they are outrageously good.  They get a standing O.

A couple of the Cougars sitting courtside are looking at these kids as if they might devour them.  I'm predicting some action at the Holiday Inn bar tonight.

They did the "Fan Cam" again in the first half.  At the same time they were throwing t-shirts into the crowd.  One lady was apoplectic because she couldn't decide whether to push over a small child to grab a $6 t-shirt or preen for her possible moment of fame on the big scoreboard.  I'm hoping to see someone actually climax or soil themselves on fan cam before the season is over.

Just a question I thought of because the Hogs didn't get to shoot free throws on the seventh team foul because it was offensive.

Aren't ALL fouls "player control" when you get right down to it?  I think this nomenclature unfairly singles out some infractions as worse than others.

My date that is home sick just texted asking the score.  When I answered she replied "S***!  What the hell is wrong?"  Have I mentioned that years ago she was a two-time all-state point guard on one of the best Arkansas Girls High School teams ever?  Two Overall state titles and one loss in two years.  Top 10 nationally in USA Today.  She has a bit of a competitive streak this one does.

Her follow-up text is what melts my heart.  "I can't get the stupid PS3 to work.  Did you do something to it?"  Worried about hoops and playing videogames in a Tussionex fueled fog.  Ching-ching.

SECOND HALF

I'm thinking we draw Varnado to the perimeter with Wash and post Courtney up in a two-man game with RC.  I guess I might watch too much NBA.

Sanchez draws a cheap charge.  We have kind of gotten the breaks from the zebras tonight.

Ouch! Varnado just slapped a Sanchez shot into the third row.  That's ok.  We knew it was coming sooner or later.  Good to get it out of the way.

RC with a nice runner.

Stef gives us a lead!

RC buries a three from the top with a nice shake move.  The place is warming up now.

Stewart answers.  Craptastic.

FIRST TIMEOUT: 41-40 Hogs

The band is running around.  They wear red shirts tucked into these black plastic warm-up pants with elastic waistbands.  I'm going to go ahead and say that this ensemble doesn't flatter the typical band member physique.

Big three by Bost and Welsh misses on the other end.  All of a sudden we are down four.  Stef misses wide-open rhythm three and Bost buries one on the other end.  He's a good player.

Britt is in for RC and Welsh is covering Stewart now.

Bost scores again, and I think we could actually lose.

Stef scores and gets fouled but misses the toss.

RC with a nice steal and Wash scores.  He is deep into another double-double.

SECOND TIMEOUT: 45-52 Miss. St.

We have to make some shots.  That simple and that difficult.

I'm eating Butter Rum Life Savers that I picked up on a whim at the gas station.  They are DELICIOUS.  Butterscotch is such an underrated flavor.  There is a party in my mouth, and everyone is invited.

Gracious—another three from State. Then Bost hits another after Henry made some tosses.  It is a double-digit deficit (a lot of alliteration).

Every Arkansas player on the floor just missed makeable shots over two possessions.  RC missed a BIG three off a Henry steal that could have cut it to six.  Washington eventually finished.  We are in deep trouble.

CF misses a pair and Stef misses an open three.  Yikes!

LAST TIMEOUT: 53-64

At this point we do nothing.  More misses until RC hits a meaningless three late.

This is a butt whipping. At HOME.

FINAL SCORE: 56-70 Miss St.

I would be inconsolable save the fact that I took a couple of muscle relaxers and I have another roll of Butter Rum Life Savers in my pocket.

It boils down to terrible shooting, but you have to find other ways to score—particularly at home.  Usually you do that with pressure D and transition O.  But we seemed reluctant to turn up the pace.  State would have run with us.

I guess that disappoints me more than anything else—the fact that we lost without pushing it.

It was to be expected though.  The team Thurman's freshman year beat Memphis, Mizzou, and Arizona pre-conference and then laid some eggs at home during conference.  I will continue to cling blindly to the hope that this team is mirroring that one.

Until next time.

V

OK, so maybe you want to hold off on booking that April plane flight to Detroit.

I was worried all day about this game. Coming off the unexpected and emotional wins over Oklahoma and Texas, I felt the Hogs were ripe for a letdown.

Still, I didn’t really expect a loss. I figured a sluggish win was on tap.

This year’s squad has been compared periodically on this site to the surprising 1992-'93 squad.

After tonight, the comparison seems more apt than ever. All these years later, it’s easy to forget that, in addition to the rousing upset wins over Memphis State, Arizona, Missouri and Kentucky and the inspiring near miss against North Carolina, the ‘93 season also featured some dismal and unexpected losses. Like the one to Northeast Louisiana in Barton Coliseum. And the ones in Barnhill to Auburn and Tennessee.

I suspect that we haven’t witnessed this team’s last surprising win or last surprising defeat. 

Please share your thoughts in the comments thread. And speaking as someone who admittedly dropped more than my share of cuss words while watching the game (please don’t tell my mom), I ask that you keep your comments civil. Take a deep breath, folks: This is what happens when you have a young team, particularly a young team that doesn’t have much depth.

Thanks.

Oh, and coach Pelphrey, sorry if we provided the Bulldogs with bulletin board material. 

While I've been mired in real life the last several days, the rest of the voters from the SEC Football Power Poll ventured into the blogosphere and voted on the inaugural SEC Basketball Power Poll, hosted as usual by Garnet and Black Attack.

While I failed to get my ballot in on time, here's how it would've looked:

1. Arkansas

The Hogs are too young and inexperienced to hold this position all season, how can you not have them ranked here right now? They've knocked off 2 Top 10 teams this year and are playing at a very high level. Courtney Fortson is one of the best freshmen in the country.

2. Tennessee

Have struggled at times this year, but still the favorite to win the conference title. The Vols just need a little more stability from the PG slot.

3. Kentucky

Toss up right now between the 'Cats and Gators, but I give the slight edge to the 'Cats on the strength of PatPat down low.

4. Florida

Gators on a roll right now and have a chance to make some noise in the conference. Nick Calthes is one of the best all-purpose guys in the country.

5. LSU

They've been less than stellar in the non-conference slate, but the experience on this team will help them greatly once conference play starts.

6. South Carolina

With 4 guys in double figures, including All-SEC guard Devan Downey, the Gamecocks are one of the most balanced teams in the country. They've got a chance to move up when they finally beat someone of note.

7. Vanderbilt

A far cry from last year's remarkable start, but still solid. Today's game at Rupp will see what this team is made of.

8. Mississippi State

Lost a lot from last year's team, but returned the conference's top defender in Jarvis Varnado. When the style of play turns to ugly and defensive in conference play, he'll be invaluable.

9. Alabama

Talent + Mark Gottfried = underachievement more often than not.

10. Ole Miss

Pretty sure that OM coach Andy Kennedy would happily take a mulligan on this season, which has seen 3 of his top 4 guards go down with torn ACLs, not to mention an embarrassing arrest. The Rebs just don't have the depth to compete night in and night out.

11. Auburn

Korvotney Barber has picked up where he left off, but I still think this team has a lot of questions to answer once SEC play starts.

12. Georgia

Proving unequivocally that last year's SEC Tourney magic was a fluke. Dennis Felton is a great guy and a decent coach, but he's a dead man walking in Athens.

For at least a few hours, it felt like the disco era.

Granted, the Bud and I didn’t “exist” back then, but humor me.

With a weathered Eddie Sutton collecting cheers and a psychopath patrolling the sidelines in a blazer stolen from Frank Broyles’ drive-in closet, it didn’t matter that the screams from the sideline weren’t coming from underneath an Afro.

All that mattered was a delirious postgame crowd and a parade of burnt orange trudging into the tunnel with their eyes dipped down at the skinny boards that comprise what should be Nolan Richardson Court.

I could break down the game in too many words if I really wanted to. I could talk about downright Heathian scoring drought in the first half that could have been a death blow. I could talk about the lopsided rebounding numbers that I don’t think will be a habit or a problem come conference play.

I could stop being a pessimistic Pedro and talk about how impressed I am with Mr. Fortson and Mr. Washington for not being embarrassed by their first half performances and letting the rest of the team find a home in their knapsack for the game’s final few minutes.

But honestly, I don’t care. This is no time for X’s and O’s. I’d rather talk big picture.

After more than a decade of dormancy, the question racing through my head as I stepped back outside into a frigid Fayetteville night was simple: Have the Hogs finally arrived?

Not so much as a result of the past nine days. Two wins don’t make a program. (Apologies to the Mean Green.) Rather, as a whole.

Because this team reminds me of one that I was around to see.

They finished 22-9. They went 10-6 in conference play. Their core was made up of primarily freshmen.

And as sophomores, they won the national championship.

Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That’s not a prediction.

This team is not as talented as that team, has a vastly different identity, and the landscape of college basketball is nothing like it was 15 years ago. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned with these two monumental wins, it’s that this team can hang with anyone not wearing Carolina Blue, and has a good shot at beating anyone inside the confines of The Basketball Palace of Mid-America.

They’ve got more zeal and want-to than any team we’ve seen play in perhaps forever, and a coach that just might be able to get them back to where we all want them to be.

Next year, they’ll trade Marcus Monk for a more-developed frontcourt in Andre Clark, Brandon Moore, and Jason Henry.

The rest of the Baby ‘Backs speak for themselves.

So please, excuse my blasphemy, but Michael Sanchez, will you be the Lee Wilson/Darnell Robinson to our double-double machine Corliss?

I’m excited for this team.

If last night’s noise level serves as any indicator, so were the 19,011 other devotees in the building.

The Hogs haven’t arrived yet.

But the fans have.

And they’re waiting.

Every team enters the season with a mental checklist.

These are the things we have to do to be successful this season.  These are the goals that we want to accomplish.

After Arkansas pulled off the big upset against Oklahoma, humbling Blake Griffin and the then-undefeated Sooners, Arkansas could check a big accomplishment off their list.

So I decided to take in the encore, Arkansas v. Texas.

Well, like anyone who saw the game last night, Arkansas made quite the statement and it was loud.

The Razorbacks have a wonderful and entertaining high-flying style and players that are tough both physically and mentally.  They withstood a couple of barrages by Texas and still kept their composure, not allowing Texas to pull away and keeping the game in reach.

Texas led by as much as eight in the second half, but Arkansas held them to only four points for the final 3:50 of the game.

The game also had an emphatic exclamation point when Michael Washington, the game's leading scorer, hammered home a dunk while being fouled to put the game away in the final minute en route to a 67-61 victory.

That's two wins over two top-10 teams in the course of a few weeks and Arkansas's seventh straight victory over a top 25 team at home.

Check and double check.

Still, as impressive as the players were or the coach was for wearing that outfit straight out of 1973, the real star last night was the crowd.

You can have your Cameron Indoor, that was one of the loudest arenas I have ever heard in my life.  The fans were knowledgeable and persistent.  So many other schools have fans that may cheer the first minute, but after that it sounds like a library until the team leads the fans to rise from their seats.

Last night, it was quite the opposite.  The fans were raising the level of play for the Razorbacks by creating a truly intimidating atmosphere for the Texas Longhorns and inspiring Arkansas to play with the extreme amount of energy it takes to play under the current system by head coach John Pelphrey.

In total Arkansas is 66-9 at home the past five seasons.

With a crowd like that and an SEC where every team seems to have flaws, the 12-1 Razorbacks look to be in good position to not only make the Big Dance, but maybe make a run.

Indeed if you're a Razorback fan, it's time to be excited...almost.

As good as Arkansas's season has been, they still have one question left and that answer could separate them from a good team to a great team.

Can they win on the road?

Through 13 games, Arkansas has played only two road games and the results...not pretty.

Arkansas's lone loss, a 62-57 defeat to Missouri State that is 7-7 and have dropped four straight. 

Arkansas shot 30 percent in the first half and committed 17 turnovers to only 10 assists.

Their other contest was a less than stellar 79-77 win against South Alabama which required a game-winning shot from the top of the key with 2.9 seconds on the clock.

Both South Alabama and Missouri State are fair mid-major teams.  You may even be able to justify the game against the Jaguars because the Razorbacks were playing Pelphrey's old team and undoubtedly were ready to make a statement.

Nevertheless, Arkansas still has something to prove this season on the road and their first major test will be at Ole Miss.

Of course, that too is nothing new to Razorback fans. 

Arkansas went 2-6 last year on the road in the SEC including four straight losses before a solid run in the SEC tournament guaranteed a slot in the Big Dance.

How can Arkansas improve upon those numbers?

First, Fortson is going to grow up quickly in the SEC, where freshman point guards can be eaten up like a good barbecue lunch.

Fortson is averaging an incredible 7.3 assists per game and overall has 92 assists to only 54 turnovers.

However, when you look deeper into the stats you see that he had nine assists to eight turnovers in his first two road games.  He also had six turnovers against Texas compared to only five assists.

In fact, half the games this season Arkansas has had more turnovers than assists, something that may be okay in the early months, but will simply not suffice in SEC play.

A key to winning any road game is to have a solid point guard for they run the offense.  A rattled point guard's psyche translate to sloppy offense and wasted drives.  His poise can make or break teams in close contests.

You better believe the rest of the SEC and their crowds will try to make Fortson press and if Arkansas gets down in some of these contests it is imperative Fortson keep his composure and not try to get it all back on one possession.

Otherwise he will get caught in the quicksand so many young players fall into and see a five-point deficit turn into a 15-point deficit.

Second, Michael Washington must become a consistent scorer and leader for the young team.

Washington has shown amazing potential so far this year, becoming the first Arkansas player to score two 30 point games since 2002.  His scoring average of 17.4 points per game and over 10 rebounds make him the team leader in both categories.

Still, in the two road games, Washington failed to score in double-digits either time.

Washington is the reigning SEC Player of the Week and if he continues to garner those accolades, Arkansas will be in serious contention for the SEC title.

Finally, Arkansas must continue to play physical basketball and make teams pay at the line.

The Razorbacks may enjoy running up and down the court and making some big threes, but they know how to draw contact and get to the line.

Only twice this season has Arkansas shot fewer than 20 free throws in a game.  Against Oklahoma, they went to the line a whopping 43 times.

However, Arkansas has to convert when they get these opportunities.  The Razorbacks leading scorers, Washington and Fortson are shooting a combined percentage of less than 60.

In fact, Arkansas only has two players hitting over 70 percent of their free throws (with a minimum of 25 attempted).

Road victories usually require clutch free-throw shooting because these games typically come down to the wire.  If Arkansas has their best players struggling at the stripe, it could foretell another anxious March for the fans.

So congratulations Arkansas on the season so far, you have certainly impressed me and the rest of the country at the halfway point.

Still, the question remains.