RAZORBACKS REPORT

Brady didn't expect slowdown from Razorbacks

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

As if LSU's 96-75 victory over Arkansas on Wednesday night in Baton Rouge wasn't enough incentive for the Razorbacks as they look to the teams' Feb. 19 rematch in Walton Arena, Tigers Coach John Brady likely added fuel to Arkansas' fire with his postgame comments.
Brady made a point to note to reporters that Arkansas, which had dominated LSU to the tune of 15-1 in SEC games the previous eight years, had to run the clock down on its last few possessions to keep the Tigers from scoring 100 points.
"When the tables have been turned, people have taken a good beating [from Arkansas], and taken it straight up," Brady said. "But, everybody has their own way of doing things."
When Brady's comments were relayed to Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson after Friday's practice, he said, "I didn't know he said that, but you've got to remember, we've done kicked ass and taken names quite a few times [against LSU]. My point is this -- when a team wins after they've had so little success against you, they're pumped up, and it can go to their heads.
"And I like that. Let it go there, because we've still got some games to play. They've still got to come here."
Brady did temper his comments when asked if he expects the Arkansas-LSU series to start going the Tigers' way after their 21-point victory.
"I don't think the worm is going to turn in this series," Brady said. "Nolan Richardson can coach. Nolan Richardson can recruit.
"They're going to have good players, so it's going to be a situation where we fight each other tooth and nail every year."

JOHNSON THIRD WITH 30
When Joe Johnson scored 30 points against Mississippi State last Saturday, he became only the third freshman in Arkansas history to score 30 or more points in a game.
George Kok was the first Arkansas freshman to do it when he scored 32 against Texas A&M during the 1944-45 season, when freshmen were eligible to play on the varsity.
No Razorbacks freshman did it until the 1992-93 season, when Scotty Thurman scored 34 against Missouri and Ole Miss.

RAZORBACKS PRESSING ON
Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said losing big at LSU hasn't changed his mind that Arkansas needs to keep using its full-court press, even on the road, where the Razorbacks will be for their next two games -- at Ole Miss on Wednesday night and at Auburn on Saturday.
"I thought our press was good, we just didn't hit enough shots," Richardson said. "Having another week to continue to work on our press and our break will help."
The Razorbacks have a full week of practice between the LSU and Ole Miss games.
"We'll fix a lot of things by the time we play again," Razorbacks sophomore guard Brandon Dean said.
Senior guard Chris Walker said the players know "defense is going to have to carry us. Even if we're not making shots, we'll still have a chance to win if we play defense."

MATH PROBLEM
Arkansas needs guard Chris Walker, its only senior, to be a consistent scoring threat. But when the Razorbacks rely too heavily on Walker to carry the scoring load, it's a bad sign for them.
Walker, who is averaging 13.2 points, has scored 20 or more points four times this season, and Arkansas is 1-3 in those games and needed overtime to get the victory.
Walker scored 21 in Arkansas' 102-95 overtime victory over Texas-Arlington, 21 in a 77-71 loss to Iowa State, 20 in a 66-52 loss to Oklahoma and 20 in a 96-75 loss to LSU.

TEN ENOUGH
Arkansas practiced with just 10 scholarship players on Friday because sophomore guard T.J. Cleveland and freshman forward Larry Satchell were ill and freshman guard Blake Eddins had a sore shoulder.
"At least with 10 we had enough to scrimmage," Coach Nolan Richardson said.
The Razorbacks took Saturday off and will practice today.

HOGGING THE TELEVISION
After having just two of its previous seven games on television, Arkansas will close the regular season with 10 consecutive telecasts of its games on Jefferson-Pilot, CBS and ESPN.

NO DEFENSE ON PLAYGROUND
Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson is amused when opponents compare playing the Razorbacks to being involved in a playground game because of the quick tempo.
"A lot of times I think people think our game is playground, but I've never seen guys play defense on the playground," Richardson said. "And everything we do is based on our defense."

ANOTHER WEDNESDAY ON THE ROAD
When Arkansas plays at Ole Miss on Wednesday night, it will mark the fourth consecutive Wednesday the Razorbacks have been on the road.
The previous three Wednesday nights they played at Georgia, Alabama and LSU.

This article was published on Sunday, January 30, 2000

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