Really good win for Little Rock over Southern Illinois 69-66. Defense on the last possession was outstanding!

One of the most enjoyable Trojan games I ever saw was back when SIU was really rolling, and we beat them in LR.

I was impressed with the poise and guts of DJ Smith. He is not intimidated in the least as a freshman. They doubled Nikola every time he touched the ball which will be a reoccurring theme this season. Stulic looked very good as well. Gordon had a nice Trojan debut. I think we have a chance to be a pretty tough team.

Really glad we got this win. The next 2 games will tell us nothing, but I believe I saw enough to keep me upbeat about this team for a while.

(11-09-2021 11:24 PM)Karl B Wrote:  They doubled Nikola every time he touched the ball which will be a reoccurring theme this season.

Lack of height to defend inside may be our Achilles heel.

1. Gordon appears to be the real deal.
2. Evans took a big step forward since last season.
3. We have to find another shooter besides Stulic. Maybe that is what the next two games are for.

(11-10-2021 08:14 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  1. Gordon appears to be the real deal.
2. Evans took a big step forward since last season.
3. We have to find another shooter besides Stulic. Maybe that is what the next two games are for.

Hopefully Gordon's injury isn't serious. Reminded me a lot of that kid that transferred to arkansas and played 2 minutes last night.

My grade for Game 1 v. SIU is...B+

(11-10-2021 10:43 AM)ez272 Wrote:  

(11-10-2021 08:14 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  1. Gordon appears to be the real deal.
2. Evans took a big step forward since last season.
3. We have to find another shooter besides Stulic. Maybe that is what the next two games are for.

Hopefully Gordon's injury isn't serious. Reminded me a lot of that kid that transferred to arkansas and played 2 minutes last night.

Played 1 minute according to the ESPN box score. I liked the kid when he was here. Transferring to Fayetteville is beyond he pale. He could have transferred to any other Top 100 school and I would have been basically fine with it. Wasn't happy about Ben transferring, but it is what it is. Seems like he started about every game while he was here. Didn't start last night, played less than half the game, and went home with an "L".

My last post led me to check the Kansas State box score. Game just started and Markquis was not in the starting line-up. Interested to see how much he plays. These transfers may eventually come to the conclusion that LR was not such a bad place after all.

(11-10-2021 10:43 AM)ez272 Wrote:  

(11-10-2021 08:14 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  1. Gordon appears to be the real deal.
2. Evans took a big step forward since last season.
3. We have to find another shooter besides Stulic. Maybe that is what the next two games are for.

Hopefully Gordon's injury isn't serious. Reminded me a lot of that kid that transferred to arkansas and played 2 minutes last night.

The kid who transferred was a force, under the basket, at least at our level. From the little I saw last night, I'm not sure if Gordon isn't more talented overall and a better scorer.

(11-10-2021 08:05 PM)mjs Wrote:  My last post led me to check the Kansas State box score. Game just started and Markquis was not in the starting line-up. Interested to see how much he plays. These transfers may eventually come to the conclusion that LR was not such a bad place after all.

Markquis has decent first game with Kansas State. Played 23 minutes and had 6 points and 6 assists. A little early to make predictions, but I don't think he will be an all-conference player in the Big 12, like he was in the Belt.

Kris Bankston had a great game for Norfolk State. 15 points and 14 rebounds. Went 7-7 from the field. I really miss him the most being a LR young man. Sounds like he’s finally healthy again .

(11-11-2021 07:37 AM)Karl B Wrote:  Kris Bankston had a great game for Norfolk State. 15 points and 14 rebounds. Went 7-7 from the field. I really miss him the most being a LR young man. Sounds like he’s finally healthy again .

Thanks Karl. I had forgotten about Kris transferring. I really liked Kris and that is the type of stat line I remember. I couldn't understand why he didn't getting more playing time, last year, and certainly didn't fault him for transferring. Maybe he simply wasn't fully healthy like you suggest. He is one transfer I will definitely be pulling for to do well.

(11-11-2021 12:48 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(11-10-2021 08:05 PM)mjs Wrote:  My last post led me to check the Kansas State box score. Game just started and Markquis was not in the starting line-up. Interested to see how much he plays. These transfers may eventually come to the conclusion that LR was not such a bad place after all.

Markquis has decent first game with Kansas State. Played 23 minutes and had 6 points and 6 assists. A little early to make predictions, but I don't think he will be an all-conference player in the Big 12, like he was in the Belt.

And only 2 turnovers. In the exhibition he played 19 minutes and had 6 turnovers to go with 9 pts and 3 assists.

(11-11-2021 09:40 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(11-11-2021 07:37 AM)Karl B Wrote:  Kris Bankston had a great game for Norfolk State. 15 points and 14 rebounds. Went 7-7 from the field. I really miss him the most being a LR young man. Sounds like he’s finally healthy again .

Thanks Karl. I had forgotten about Kris transferring. I really liked Kris and that is the type of stat line I remember. I couldn't understand why he didn't getting more playing time, last year, and certainly didn't fault him for transferring. Maybe he simply wasn't fully healthy like you suggest. He is one transfer I will definitely be pulling for to do well.

Men and women both had bad locker rooms last year. Some players left because they were part of the problem and I think some left because they didn't want to take a chance on dealing with that drama again. DW said on the coaches show he likes this team and they have great chemistry. Let's hope he is right.

(11-11-2021 11:12 AM)ez272 Wrote:  

(11-11-2021 12:48 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(11-10-2021 08:05 PM)mjs Wrote:  My last post led me to check the Kansas State box score. Game just started and Markquis was not in the starting line-up. Interested to see how much he plays. These transfers may eventually come to the conclusion that LR was not such a bad place after all.

Markquis has decent first game with Kansas State. Played 23 minutes and had 6 points and 6 assists. A little early to make predictions, but I don't think he will be an all-conference player in the Big 12, like he was in the Belt.

And only 2 turnovers. In the exhibition he played 19 minutes and had 6 turnovers to go with 9 pts and 3 assists.

Two games is a very small sample, especially since one was an exhibition game. But, so far it looks like he won't be a starter or play starter minutes. Knowing Markquis I don't think he will be happy if that is the case long term. I don't have any ill will toward Markquis. His leaving was due to conflicts with the coach which made his staying here untenable (I guess he was kicked off the team, but would have left regardless). He obviously deserves some blame, but sometimes there are unresolvable personality clashes between player and coach. The reasons for Kamani (thought he could play at a higher level) and Kris (lack of playing time) also seemed quite obvious. Still haven't a clue why Ben left, as he was a consistent starter and I never saw anything to suggest he was unhappy. I am quite happy with our current team at the moment. But, a line-up of Markquis, Kamani, Ben, Kris, and Ruot (he could have come back for another year) would be a pretty solid mid-major squad. Thing is, with the new transfer rules, we better get used to having new line-ups every year. I don't like it, but it is the new normal.

I don't like the new rules either. Looks like Bob Marlin took full advantage of it. He added a bunch of 4 star players and two of them started Friday night.

(11-11-2021 11:42 AM)ez272 Wrote:  I don't like the new rules either. Looks like Bob Marlin took full advantage of it. He added a bunch of 4 star players and two of them started Friday night.

I hate the fact that if we sign an under the radar player, who develops into a star, he can just transfer anywhere he wants with no penalties. I don't know if coaches will just have to be a lot "nicer" to their players. Doubt a Bobby Knight would thrive in this new environment.

While I don't like it, regardless, we will just have to adapt. We will likely lose some good players. On the other hand, there are some very good players sitting on the bench at Kansas, UNC, etc. looking for playing. Some of these good players likely are originally from Arkansas. We just have to figure out a why to get some of these transfers to come here.

(11-10-2021 10:43 AM)ez272 Wrote:  

(11-10-2021 08:14 AM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  1. Gordon appears to be the real deal.
2. Evans took a big step forward since last season.
3. We have to find another shooter besides Stulic. Maybe that is what the next two games are for.

Hopefully Gordon's injury isn't serious. Reminded me a lot of that kid that transferred to arkansas and played 2 minutes last night.

I missed this the other night. I rewatched the end of the game and saw that Gordon got back in the game after being hurt.