You might call this a "Weight Watchers" roster. It's become mighty thin.
I agree with Pappy on this, but as I've previously mentioned, I think we have enough talent to field a good starting lineup.

It's highly possible Coach Beard might have to take a chance on a few walk ons who can play. I've always said there were Arkansas players playing D2 ball that were capable of being good D1 players at UALR. Matt Mouzy only had D2 offers before becoming one of the best shooters in UALR and SBC history. Coach Beard looks for shooters. He says he can turn shooters into good defensive players. I'll guarantee you there are some good shooters around the state who have been ignored by larger schools for reasons of size, etc. Find a few of those and develop them. I think this is really going to be a fun season. We'll have plenty of players to field a competitive team, and I have great confidence Coach Beard will do a great job coaching them.

(05-10-2015 01:56 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  You might call this a "Weight Watchers" roster. It's become mighty thin.
I agree with Pappy on this, but as I've previously mentioned, I think we have enough talent to field a good starting lineup.

It's highly possible Coach Beard might have to take a chance on a few walk ons who can play. I've always said there were Arkansas players playing D2 ball that were capable of being good D1 players at UALR. Matt Mouzy only had D2 offers before becoming one of the best shooters in UALR and SBC history. Coach Beard looks for shooters. He says he can turn shooters into good defensive players. I'll guarantee you there are some good shooters around the state who have been ignored by larger schools for reasons of size, etc. Find a few of those and develop them. I think this is really going to be a fun season. We'll have plenty of players to field a competitive team, and I have great confidence Coach Beard will do a great job coaching them.

When Beard said he could turn shooters into good defensive players, he hadn't met Matt Mouzy.

Matt became a pretty darn good defensive player. If you look back at the stats, he led the team in steals one season. His offensive abilities far outweighed whatever defensive liabilities he might have had.

(05-10-2015 02:18 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  Matt became a pretty darn good defensive player. If you look back at the stats, he led the team in steals one season. His offensive abilities far outweighed whatever defensive liabilities he might have had.

Way to slow afoot. When he didn't get the steal, they broke him down, required others to collapse and totally got our defense on the possession out of synch. Not solid defense. Steals cannot make up for helping to get team stops.

(05-10-2015 03:28 PM)Jim T Wrote:  

(05-10-2015 02:18 PM)outsideualr Wrote:  Matt became a pretty darn good defensive player. If you look back at the stats, he led the team in steals one season. His offensive abilities far outweighed whatever defensive liabilities he might have had.

Way to slow afoot. When he didn't get the steal, they broke him down, required others to collapse and totally got our defense on the possession out of synch. Not solid defense. Steals cannot make up for helping to get team stops.

I am not astute enough to tell who is playing solid defense and who is not. That's why I chose to leave it up to the coach with regard to who plays and who doesn't in particular situations.

I see perimeter guards get beat off the dribble in every game. Even the best. That's why you have erasers on the inside.
That's been one of our problems. We've hardly ever had that guy that challenged opponents to come into the basket, or they'd be eating leather. That's one thing that makes Kentucky so tough. They have at least four seven footers who can make life miserable for you if you beat your man and get to the basket, and then they don't allow you to finish. I sometimes think that perception is not always reality. You convince yourself that Mouzy, a small white guy, can't play defense and it becomes a reality in your perception, no matter what he does. You think Solomon Bozeman is a great defensive player because he isn't a small white guy, and he gets beat just as much, but you don't see it because your perception is your reality. No offense intended. Just my take on it. I'm like MJS in the fact that I'll let the coach decide who can play and who can't. Defense and otherwise. I'm probably not astute enough to really decide. We all look at things with different eyes. No problem. I respect others opinions. That's really all most of us have anyway.