Pressey and Denmon are high caliber CBB players. Bowers would be a seventh man on a really good team. RatCliffe is a homeless man's Dajuan Blair.

The problem with this team, as I and almost everyone else has mentioned throughout the season, is a lack not of size, but of length. Couple that with an offensive system that resembles anarchy and an inability of any player on the team to create his own shot, and you have a very dangerous recipe.

It's a poorly constructed team. That falls on Anderson. It's also a poorly disciplined team. That falls on Anderson, too.

I do think our biggest problem is discipline. I lost track of how many times our guys stood and watched a rebound go to Cinci.

When I played in high school, we had a rebounding drill that I think Anderson could benefit from. Three of us would line up at the free throw line and coach would lob up a bad shot. If the ball touched the floor, we were running. If someone did get the rebound, the two who didn't get it were running. We had some knock-down, drag-out sessions of that.

And I seriously think that English should barely shoot all summer and just do defensive/sliding drills. Maybe the whole team, in fact.

No, English should shoot this summer and shoot a lot. He should also work on his lateral agility.

What he should absolutely never do again is work on his isolation, dribble moves, because he lacks the coordination to execute them.

You forgot to mention that he should do all of this on a busy freeway. :thumb:

So what's your gut telling you on CMA to Arkansas?

The Hog boards are heating up.....

Not going to happen. A bigger part of me hopes that I'm wrong.

I'm going to take an optimistic view of this.

There are benefits from him either staying or leaving.

I don't know. The rumors have been growing today...supposedly the Arkansas AD flew out to DC to meet with him and/or his agent.

If I were Alden, Gregg Marshall at Wichita State would be high on my replacement coach list.

Yeah I really wouldn't get too hung up either way. He certainly doesn't deserve a raise and/or extension right now.

Didn't Pelphry get a great recruiting class? Like top 10?

That's really my bigger fear. If the rumors generate a notable extension, it's going to be really aggravating.

If he stays, we'll perpetuate the plateau we've constructed: tournaments teams, but nothing of real note.

If he goes, there will be the immediate hit to the program's national perception, but the upside from an astute hire would be worth the short-term negatives.

Yep.

I like Anderson, like how he restored dignity to the program. Before this year I liked that his teams hustled and were tough, even if undermanned. I'm not ready to write off his system. I'd like to give him another year or two to recruit to see if he can bring in his Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman.

But I agree, he doesn't deserve a raise or extension now. He deservedly got that after the Elite 8. But not now. If Arky comes a-callin' and rolls out the dough, Alden should wish Anderson luck -- and then nail his next hire.

That's also what I'm afraid of though.

Here's the thing though:

Missouri is a tremendous basketball state. It's a mediocre state for football talent, but for basketball, it's probably one of the ten best in the country.

Anderson's system is nice in that when run well it can break the will of other teams, but that aside, if he can't lock down the state, we aren't going to be a consistently competitive team.

College athletics have, and will always be, 90% recruiting and 10% coaching.

Calipari and Rick Pitino probably have less basketball IQ than an average high school coach, but their teams are routinely threats because they can bring in athletes.

Same thing with Rick Barnes, Roy Williams, and a lot of other guys.

Anderson's recruiting has left a lot to be desired. Getting "Mr. Basketball" is nice, but it's kind of like drafting the Heisman Trophy winner every year.

Agree on recruiting, but the issue is that we either have to hire a good coach that has already shown he can recruit well - which is unlikely because he probably wouldn't want to leave - or take a chance that a mid-major guy has the personality to recruit top talent if he goes to a bigger program.