Razorback basketball is a frustrating thing for its fans to watch right now. Losers of four out of five games, with a 13-7 record overall and a 2-4 mark in the SEC, a strong start to the season has faded into a distant memory. Game to game, play to play, there just isn't a lot of consistency for this team anywhere on the floor right now. Point guard Gary Ervin is clearly struggling to readjust to SEC play after a year off following his transfer from Mississippi State. Sandwiched around a couple of strong performances, Ervin has been erratic at best this season, making far too many careless turnovers, particularly in key late game spots. His play in the backcourt has almost overshadowed the strong freshman season shooting guard Patrick Beverley is turning in. A freshman from Chicago, Beverley looks like the real deal: a natural shooter who rebounds and passes well, plays strong man-to-man defense and displays boundless hustle.
Yet the dearth of depth at the guard slots has been a major thorn in the Hogs' collective sides. When Beverley is not making jumpshots, there just aren't many other options for Coach Stan Heath on the perimeter. Vincent Hunter plays smaller than his 6'10 frame and is far more comfortable staying away from the physical fray. Preston Cranford and Sean McCurdy are clearly not SEC-caliber players, while freshman Stefan Welsh hasn't shown nearly enough consistency to count on. Which leaves Arkansas' eggs at the guard spots almost exclusively in the baskets of Irvin and Beverley.
Given that note of struggling guard play, the frontcourt would be the logical next area turn to. But inconsistent performances have plagued Arkansas' big men as well. Junior forward Charles Thomas is a strong rebounder and defender, but his jumpshot still leaves much to be desired, and given his lack of range, he does not pull defenders away from the basket. Centers Steven Hill and Darian Townes remain enigmas as well. Hill---a junior and already the best shot-blocker in the SEC---does not possess any moves or shooting touch outside of point-blank range. If you don't get him the basketball in essentially perfect position, he's not going to score for you. Townes, on the other hand, has the offensive touch, but he's been astonishingly sub-par with his lack of defense in the post.
Which brings us to Sonny Weems. The University of Arkansas-Fort Smith transfer ranks right up there for the most athletic player in the league, but he's finding his own world of struggles in adjusting to the faster pace of the Division I level. How long until Weems reaches his comfort zone remains to be seen, but right now, he's been as up-and-down as anyone on the team. And it's all causing Coach Stan Heath a tremendous headache.
The fact of the matter is that Stan Heath is a likeable guy. He's nice, he's well-spoken and he's surprisingly low-key. But that stuff doesn't necessarily mean he's a great coach, let alone the right guy to steward the Arkansas basketball program going forward. Like it or not, five years into his tenure as the Razorbacks' coach, it's time to take full stock of where Stan Heath is at right now with this program. The first couple of years were not enough to judge him on alone, largely because of the damage Nolan Richardson had inflicted in his final years at the school. But right now, with Heath's own recruits on the floor, with a team that plays tremendous defense but still finds ways to get lowly losses to Ole Miss and South Carolina, you have to wonder when things are going to turn around. And if it doesn't start to happen soon---a critical stretch this week sees UA at Alabama and then home for Kentucky and Auburn---you have to wonder if it's ever going to happen at all.
-JAB
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