This article originally appeared on December 19, 2013 on The Arkansas Traveler, uatrav.com.
When Mike Anderson was hired as Arkansas’ head coach, most people
thought he would bring back the “40 Minutes of Hell” style of basketball he was
a part of as an assistant under Nolan Richardson.
Now in his third year with the Razorbacks, Anderson has instituted
his own version of “40 Minutes of Hell” and renamed it the “Fastest 40 Minutes
in Basketball.”
Both systems emphasize a fast pace offense with a stifling
defense.
During 17 years as the head coach at Arkansas, Richardson’s teams
averaged 83.6 points per game. However, in the nine seasons after Richardson,
the Razorbacks scored only 71.4 points per game under head coaches Stan Heath
and John Pelphrey.
Despite his teams averaging 72.8 points per game in his first two
seasons, Anderson has Arkansas scoring 85.1 points per game this season,
through nine games. That is the most in the Southeastern Conference and
20th-most in the NCAA.
If the average of 85.1 points per game holds throughout the
season, it will be Arkansas’ highest scoring average since the 1994-95 season,
when the Razorbacks scored 87.6 points per game and lost to UCLA in the
National Championship game.
While it has taken time for Anderson’s system to translate into
more points, it has had a more immediate impact on Arkansas’ defense.
The Razorbacks are forcing 18 turnovers per game this season,
which they have turned into 21.4 points per game.
Arkansas’ plus-5.7 turnover margin is seventh-best nationally and
the best in the SEC. In fact, the Razorbacks have led the conference in
turnover margin every year under Anderson, including having the second-best
margin in the NCAA last season.
Under Pelphrey, Arkansas’ best turnover margin was plus-1.2 during
the 2008-09 season, while Heath’s best team had a plus-3.4 margin in the
2005-06 season.
This season seems to be coming together nicely in terms of
Anderson fully implementing his “Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball” system.
This is the
sixth of a series of short articles about the Arkansas basketball team. Each
day leading up to SEC play, I will post an entry about something basketball
related that starts with the next letter of the alphabet. Here are links to the
previous entries, as well as the dates for the next five…
G – Dec. 20
H – Dec. 21
I – Dec. 22
J – Dec. 23
K – Dec. 24
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