I didn't get a chance to watch them much on Friday outside of glancing at the stream on my phone here and there due to HS football playoffs... so it was nice to get a close look at this team tonight. I was lucky to be able to be right next to the bench tonight, so I heard a lot of the communication between the staff/players. Sorry in advance that this is gonna be long.
First, let me say this. I think this team is special. We are pretty thin on the front line right now due to the Cook and Thomas absence, but I think in the long run that really helps this team because Gafford is getting some extended run that he may not have gotten otherwise this early in the season... and his confidence is there offensively. I think he's getting picked on a little bit defensively, but a lot of it is him still learning how to play at this level. After watching him in the state championship game, I was very please to see the improvement in his touch in the paint, and most importantly his FT form/percentage. His length and athleticism will always get him buckets around the rim, but that ability to stop and hit that floater without allowing the defense to draw a charge is something I'm really excited about. He did it 3-4x tonight. One of his fouls tonight was on the officials. He got hooked badly, and had to recover to challenge the shot on the reverse layup and got called. That ref got an earfull from myself and others.
Barford and Macon are playing extremely confident, and playing at a high level. You can just tell how much of a chip on their shoulder they're playing with. Barford is that quiet/confident type that lets his game do the talking, and Macon is that emotional type that has a passion that we haven't seen on this team since Portis. Having a SR backcourt like this is something that is very rare. Both may average 17-18+ PPG this year. Even when they aren't on the floor, these two do a great job of communicating with each other and talking to the young guys on the bench. It looks like Macon is battling through a bit of an ankle and calf issue. Dave England was rubbing Macons calf with muscle rub multiple times during timeouts. They also had to re-tape his ankle the first time he came off the floor.
Adrio Bailey and Darious Hall are two supremely athletic small forwards that are going to put up a bunch of highlights this year. Bailey's game has improved, and he's starting to add a little low post scoring to his game. That first bucket of his tonight was a nice drop step and finish with the left hand. Hall oozes potential, but is still pretty raw. He's a very good defender at times, but also picks up some cheap fouls every now and then. That dunk at the end about made me fall over. He's going to help this year. Gabe is a good athlete, and its obvious he's a little lost out there at times, but he's athletic and not afraid to mix it up down low. He'll provide some good minutes here and there, but once Cook and Thomas come back I bet he gets very limited minutes. From sitting close to the bench, his teammates kept calling him Reggie. I took that as him being a doppleganger for the character "Reggie" on Bad Boys 2, and man its a perfect fit because he looks just like him.
Anton Beard has transformed his body this year. He's much more toned, and looks like he's gotten rid of some of that baby fat. He played like a leader tonight, and didn't force too much like I've seen of him the last 3 years.
CJ Jones is playing with some good confidence offensively, and his shot is very pure. He continues to frustrate a bit defensively, and gets pushed around a bit by more physical/aggresive guards. He'll continue to improve as he continues to add weight. He looks to be making the jump into a solid contributor like we all hoped, and will make another big jump next season. He had a nice off the dribble shot from about 18' twice tonight that was good to see.
Thompson continues to rebound and defend down low well. He plays within his role and does exactly what we need of him. He is capable of hitting a baseline 15 footer if needed, but his role is mostly defending the low post, rebounding, passing out of the high post on offense, and setting solid screens.
I'm hopeful that Cook has made a nice progression over the offseason and can provide us some quality depth at the 4 along with Thomas. We're going to need those guys. Our rebounding has been very good the first two games, and I hope we can keep that up. At one point we had a 20-4 rebounding advantage with about 8 mins left to go in the 1st half. That's dominant.
Overall, I think this team is special. Having Macon/Barford is a luxury that Arkansas basketball hasn't had in a long time, since probably the Pargo/Dean period. We've got length, athleticism, shooting, defense, and most of all.... confidence.
This team is going to be special y'all.
First, let me say this. I think this team is special. We are pretty thin on the front line right now due to the Cook and Thomas absence, but I think in the long run that really helps this team because Gafford is getting some extended run that he may not have gotten otherwise this early in the season... and his confidence is there offensively. I think he's getting picked on a little bit defensively, but a lot of it is him still learning how to play at this level. After watching him in the state championship game, I was very please to see the improvement in his touch in the paint, and most importantly his FT form/percentage. His length and athleticism will always get him buckets around the rim, but that ability to stop and hit that floater without allowing the defense to draw a charge is something I'm really excited about. He did it 3-4x tonight. One of his fouls tonight was on the officials. He got hooked badly, and had to recover to challenge the shot on the reverse layup and got called. That ref got an earfull from myself and others.
Barford and Macon are playing extremely confident, and playing at a high level. You can just tell how much of a chip on their shoulder they're playing with. Barford is that quiet/confident type that lets his game do the talking, and Macon is that emotional type that has a passion that we haven't seen on this team since Portis. Having a SR backcourt like this is something that is very rare. Both may average 17-18+ PPG this year. Even when they aren't on the floor, these two do a great job of communicating with each other and talking to the young guys on the bench. It looks like Macon is battling through a bit of an ankle and calf issue. Dave England was rubbing Macons calf with muscle rub multiple times during timeouts. They also had to re-tape his ankle the first time he came off the floor.
Adrio Bailey and Darious Hall are two supremely athletic small forwards that are going to put up a bunch of highlights this year. Bailey's game has improved, and he's starting to add a little low post scoring to his game. That first bucket of his tonight was a nice drop step and finish with the left hand. Hall oozes potential, but is still pretty raw. He's a very good defender at times, but also picks up some cheap fouls every now and then. That dunk at the end about made me fall over. He's going to help this year. Gabe is a good athlete, and its obvious he's a little lost out there at times, but he's athletic and not afraid to mix it up down low. He'll provide some good minutes here and there, but once Cook and Thomas come back I bet he gets very limited minutes. From sitting close to the bench, his teammates kept calling him Reggie. I took that as him being a doppleganger for the character "Reggie" on Bad Boys 2, and man its a perfect fit because he looks just like him.
Anton Beard has transformed his body this year. He's much more toned, and looks like he's gotten rid of some of that baby fat. He played like a leader tonight, and didn't force too much like I've seen of him the last 3 years.
CJ Jones is playing with some good confidence offensively, and his shot is very pure. He continues to frustrate a bit defensively, and gets pushed around a bit by more physical/aggresive guards. He'll continue to improve as he continues to add weight. He looks to be making the jump into a solid contributor like we all hoped, and will make another big jump next season. He had a nice off the dribble shot from about 18' twice tonight that was good to see.
Thompson continues to rebound and defend down low well. He plays within his role and does exactly what we need of him. He is capable of hitting a baseline 15 footer if needed, but his role is mostly defending the low post, rebounding, passing out of the high post on offense, and setting solid screens.
I'm hopeful that Cook has made a nice progression over the offseason and can provide us some quality depth at the 4 along with Thomas. We're going to need those guys. Our rebounding has been very good the first two games, and I hope we can keep that up. At one point we had a 20-4 rebounding advantage with about 8 mins left to go in the 1st half. That's dominant.
Overall, I think this team is special. Having Macon/Barford is a luxury that Arkansas basketball hasn't had in a long time, since probably the Pargo/Dean period. We've got length, athleticism, shooting, defense, and most of all.... confidence.
This team is going to be special y'all.
