Another Shocker On The Hill
Last updated Tuesday, April 3, 2007 9:53 PM CDT in Columns
By Harry King
The Morning News
LITTLE ROCK — With the first bizarre call, I checked to make sure April Fool’s Day was history. With the second, I flipped on the television and dug through my billfold for some cell phone numbers.
From there, I can’t remember which conversation elicited the prolonged and profane indictment of the craziness of the here-one-day, gone-the-next situation, or the precise words that spewed forth when I realized that today’s well-written column was bound for cyber trash.
Waiting for somebody on the scene to explain Dana Altman’s decision to leave Fayetteville after less than 24 hours on the job, some far-out stuff tracked through the gray matter:
—Maybe he was frightened by the multi-colored weather alerts splattered on the TV screens.
—Or he sipped the fluoride-treated water from Beaver Lake.
—Or his wife decided the Northwest Arkansas Mall was overrated.
The simple truth — it’s family first with Altman. Nothing sinister; no broken promises.
During a meeting with Chancellor John White, Altman made a reference to the whole-hog commitment that goes along with being the head basketball coach at Arkansas. When Altman was introduced on Monday, his 14-year-old daughter was in the audience and he mentioned she was too embarrassed to be up front.
Accompanied by a friend, she was on spring break. Severing ties can be terrifying for a teenager, and I have no problem with Altman putting his daughter’s well-being ahead of money and prestige.
However, his timing is atrocious and now Arkansas is back on the prowl for a coach.
Ironically, he ended his remarks on Monday by saying, “With your permission, I’d like to finish my career at the University of Arkansas.”
Athletic director Frank Broyles, a one-man search committee, was in transit from Augusta and White was upfront at Tuesday’s impromptu news conference. They’ll talk, but White alluded to hiring a search firm like the one that helped Minnesota land Tubby Smith.
Trying to salvage the junked column tying together Altman and the NCAA title game, I’m hoping that the next new coach will follow Altman’s philosophy of shooting 3s and pressing throughout.
In Atlanta, the defining difference was 3-point shooting — Florida made 10-of-18 and Ohio State was good on 4-of-23. Knowing only that, there should be no problem discerning the winner.
Not only were the Gators good from outside, their makes were timely punctures of Ohio State threats:
—At 24-22, Lee Humphrey, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green did their thing for an 11-point lead.
—At 53-46, Humphrey made another one.
—At 66-60, it was Green again.
Solid 3-point shooting does not guarantee a victory, but it is difficult to beat a quality opponent without the long ball. At halftime Monday night, Seth Davis reminded us that Ohio State could not win without making 3s.
Florida is so talented through and through that the Gators won although their inspirational leader, Joakim Noah, was uninspiring and sat for 19 of the 40 minutes. I love to watch him play, but his contributions were about as meaningful as the blimp’s pictures of the covered Georgia Dome.
You could argue that Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and Corey Brewer were the best players on the court, but Brewer had far more help, including designated 3-point shooter Humphrey and a rotation of inside players.
For Arkansas, outcomes and outside shooting were inseparable during the final nine games of the season.
In the look-bad losses to Auburn and Tennessee that set in motion Stan Heath’s dismissal, Arkansas made 4-of-26 from outside. While winning the next five, the Razorbacks made at least a half-dozen per game and 38-of-96. In the SEC championship game, Arkansas was 3-of-24 vs. Florida. Less than a week later, the Razorbacks were 3-of-20 in the NCAA Tournament loss to USC.
Such production or lack thereof is not always indicative of great defense — Ohio State misfired on several wide-open looks — and raw numbers make me wonder if a team that is 2-of-12 in one half is impatient and the opponent that is 6-of-12 is not.
The passivity of Heath’s last team is one of the things that turned off fans, and it is the promise of the press which can rekindle excitement in Arkansas basketball. So, too, will a coach who sticks around.
Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
About this columnist
The dean of Arkansas sports writers, Harry King updates his column five days per week with the latest on the Razorbacks. A 35-year veteran of The Associated Press, King joined the Arkansas News Bureau in May of 2002. He's covered the Razorbacks since the Arkansas-Texas game dubbed the Big Shootout in 1969.
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