By Brant Daughtry
Hog Wild
Arkansas is coached by Eric Muscleman, a long time NBA coach who broke into college coaching at Nevada seven years ago, and took the Arkansas job three years ago. Muscleman is a great coach, who’s resumé speaks for itself. He has over 500 wins at the professional level, and has coached teams to the NCAA Tournament each of the last five years. He has yet to have a season where his team wins fewer than 20 games.
This year is no different. Muscleman has assembled a strong team that looks to content with for the SEC Title, and maybe make a run in the Tournament. He’s made the Elite 8 twice, so it’s very possible. The Hogs are 12-2, with impressive wins over Oklahoma and Missouri. Their losses are certainly not bad ones, as they have lost close ones to top 10 teams Creighton and Texas. They are 10th in the NET rankings, Like Auburn, they build on their defense, as they are 39th in the country in scoring defense, just a few spots behind Auburn. Unlike Auburn though, they are a decent offensive team, scoring 77 points per game.
Player to Watch For:
Guard Ricky Council IV, #1- Council is a big guard, standing at 6’6″. He’s one of just three players to start all 14 games for Arkansas, and is their go-to offensive player, scoring 18 points a game. He’s a middling three point shooter, but he’s good enough to be dangerous at about 30%.
Guard Anthony Black, #0- The main ball handler and distributor, Black is another big guard, standing at 6’7″, and one of three players for the Razorbacks averaging over 30 minutes. He’s a solid scorer, averaging over 11 points a game. He also leads the team in assists at 3.7 per game, and gets his fair share of rebounds with 5 per.
Auburn has to find a scorer. That’s the long and short of it really. There’s no real bucket-getter on this team when it felt like there were so many chances for someone to stand up and make this team theirs. Allen Flanigan could be that guy. He’s a super athlete with a nose for the basket who’s coming off an injury-affected season and looking to bounce back. Jaylin Williams could be that guy. He’s a great shooter for a big guy, and skilled in the post. Good things happen when he has the ball. Wendell Green could be that guy. A shooter with in-the-gym range who’s quick enough to drive past bigger defenders and get to the rim. John Broome could be that guy. A skilled post player and excellent defender looking to make his mark on big time college basketball. Chance Westry and Yohan Traore are highly touted newcomers with new and exciting potential. These guys have all been given the chance to step up and make this their team, but none of them have. The good news is that theirs a lot of season left. The bad news is that we haven’t seen any of them step up yet. And at this point, it’s becoming less and less likely that any of them will.
