Bahn: Saturday's Victory Against LSU Nice, But Shouldn't Be Viewed as Extraordinary
2/12/2011 at 6:15pm
Guard Rotnei Clarke scored 25 points in the Razorbacks' 80-61 victory against LSU on Saturday.
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey means well. There is no doubt he does.
Pelphrey was a hard-working player who maximized every ounce of his ability while at Kentucky. It’s the same sort of thing he asks of his Razorback players. Every play of every practice and every game Pelphrey wants his players going hard.
Of course he does. Pelphrey’s expectations are what they should be. But it’s hard not to bristle a bit when hearing his characterization of the season so far and Saturday’s 80-61 victory against LSU.
Asked about taking a step in the right direction, Pelphrey had this to say about Arkansas (15-9, 5-6 SEC), which eclipsed the disappointing 14-victory total it's hit the last two seasons:
“I think this team is an overachieving team ... We’ve got some more opportunities out there. Let’s see if we can overachieve and get a few more.”
Look, we all know what Pelphrey means here: Arkansas played hard and won.
Fantastic.
But there is no way — even as down as the program has been the last decade — that a Razorback home victory against a road-weary LSU team on a seven-game losing streak should be viewed as an overachievement.
How low are the standards of the players, coaches and athletic director if what we saw Saturday was out of the ordinary?
Based on the talent on this roster, not necessarily the results so far, Arkansas simply met expectations. This is what the Razorbacks should have done last week against Georgia and Ole Miss at home. It’s what they should have done a month ago instead of losing 56-53 at LSU.
Losing to the Tigers (10-5, 2-8) certainly could have been viewed as a negative. That would have been an underachievement. No question.
What the SEC Network audience and an announced crowd of 9,653 saw on Saturday is what the Razorbacks should be doing each time out, especially with the league’s West division in such awful shape. Arkansas has more than enough talent to compete in the league as it proved in knocking off Tennessee and SEC West leader Alabama earlier this year.
Forgive what might come across as oversimplification, but …
There’s no reason Rotnei Clarke and Marshawn Powell can’t get the team 39 total points in a given night. It doesn’t always have to be Clarke scoring 25 and hitting 7 of 10 shots like he did against the Tigers, but it isn’t unreasonable to think that inside-outside combo can produce at a similar rate.
Point guard Jeff Peterson is totally capable of seven points, six assists and only one turnover. If not Peterson, point guard Julysses Nobles can surely achieve that with consistency.
Why can’t Michael Sanchez give the team five points and five rebounds a night, while Glenn Bryant snags four rebounds and blocks a couple of shots? Does that really feel extraordinary?
Delvon Johnson — no longer playing in the shadow of another big man and no longer adjusting to Division I after two years of junior college — has proven entirely capable of what he did Saturday. Johnson scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds.
What about any of that is overachievement? Surely the players don’t view what they did against LSU as out of the ordinary. And their coach shouldn't see it that way either.
If there is one area where the team might have exceeded expectations on Saturday, it’s that they played with urgency and seemed zeroed in from the onset. We haven't seen that often this year and once the team grabbed a lead, it kept it. The Razorbacks managed to close the first half on an 11-0 run. That was part of a larger stretch where the Razorbacks outscored LSU 14-2, to take a 40-22 halftime lead.
None of the players, Peterson said, feel like the season is over.
“Nobody in that locker room has quit," Peterson said.
Compared to previous years maybe that does feel like a bit of an achievement.
Saturday's victory came on the heels of a three-game losing streak. Pelphrey has been criticized by media and fans to the point that some wonder if his job is in jeopardy. Arkansas players managed to put that behind them and led by as many as 29 points with 5:02 left.
Last year's team wouldn't have cared enough to win this game. Nor would the team the year before.
“I was just proud of the guys. I thought they competed,” Pelphrey said. “It’s very easy to hang your head, feel sorry for yourself and make excuses.
"I truly believe in what is going on. I think they do, too.”
Saturday the Razorbacks played like they believed. But that shouldn’t be viewed as an overachievement or anything out of the ordinary.
Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, John Pelphrey, Rotnei Clarke, Jeff Peterson, Marshawn Powell, Glenn Bryant, Trent Johnson, LSU Tigers
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