Razorback fans will of course remember Pat Bradley as one of the Hogs’ top all-time bombers. One of the best players of the late-period Nolan era, he was voted to the All-SEC team in 1998 and 1999, and until this season still held the SEC career record for most three-pointers made (he’s still in the all-time NCAA top ten). These days he co-hosts “The Zone” radio show on 103.7 The Buzz out of Little Rock, and we were fortunate enough to chat with him yesterday to get his expert take on this year’s Hog team, the best player he ever played with, and how he’d fare in a shootout against another Arkansas legend. Read on for all that and more…
Pat, it’s great to talk to you. In 1996, Stephen and I were living together in an apartment in Memphis and watched your team’s last minute run to the Sweet 16 pretty religiously.
This year with the Razorbacks kind of brought back memories to that year [1996], when we needed to win at least one game in the SEC Tournament. I think that year we played South Carolina in the first round, won that game and that kind of assured us that we would at least be in.
It’s funny because we were the 12th seed that year, and the Hogs have a 9th seed this year, but I would take that 12th seed over this 9th seed any time. When you play Indiana first round and then have North Carolina waiting in the second round, that’s about as bad as it gets.
On that note, what do you think is going to happen against Indiana?
Sonny Weems hurt his knee yesterday in practice. In my mind that’s key because Eric Gordon for Indiana is a lottery pick…probably a top 10 pick, 6’3”, a strong, strong point guard. To me, Sonny and Beverley were going to be the two guys that would probably switch off on him, ‘cause Ervin and Welsh aren’t strong enough. Now, maybe it will fall on Beverley…I don’t know what Pelphrey’s going to do. But Sonny, I thought, was somebody who could maybe bother him just because he’s so long. Sonny is so key to the team. Gordon leads them in free throws, free throws taken, free throws made. The kid really attacks the basket. That’s huge.
But if guys keep stepping up the way they have…you know, Charles Thomas and Townes playing so well. Welsh doesn’t have to bust it out, but if he can make at least maybe one or two three’s that he shoots, that will help.
I just think that Indiana is in such a tailspin mentally. I know they’ve got a kid who’s an All-American, D.J. White, who’s an absolute beast. But, I’d put Townes up against anybody offensively. We know what Steven Hill can do defensively.
I think the Hogs — of course, there’s a lot of homer in me obviously — but looking at it from the outside in, it just seems like Indiana’s superstars — those two guys, Gordon and White — I think they’re looking at the NBA right now and couldn’t care less about the tournament.
So, you’re going with the Hogs?
Hoggies all the way, baby! But, then we’d run into North Carolina, so, really, what’s the difference?
I’m guessing you’re not optimistic about how that game would go?
Not really. What can they do? I’ll tell you the only reason why I’m optimistic: going into the SEC Tournament, I wanted to see how they would play against top teams — Vanderbilt on Friday, Tennessee on Saturday — how they would play against those two teams on a neutral floor. And they showed that they could. Tennessee’s a, what, top five team, six, seven, eight team, whatever you want to say. The SEC tournament showed me that the Hogs can compete with the best teams in the country on a neutral floor.
Obviously, they’re terrible on the road, and you can probably go crazy trying to figure out why that is. Whatever the reason is, thank God we don’t have any more actual road games. They can compete with any team in the country, we know that. You’ve gotta give ‘em a puncher’s chance, at least, in that North Carolina second round game.
The Hogs have been really inconsistent all year. Why do you think that is?
I remember a quote that Bill Parcells said on NFL Crunch Course. He was talking about guys who hit in the NFL. Basically, he said that you have guys who come up through Pop Warner football, and they can hit. In high school, they can hit. In college, they can hit. They come up to the NFL, and they continue that. They just know how to hit you in the mouth.
To win on the road…there are certain types of teams that win on the road. Obviously, you’ve got to be able to rebound, and you’ve got to be able to hit shots and make big plays when you’re on the road, because the home team is always going to have momentum and excitement on their side. So, you’ve got to be able to hit key shots.
There’s a little something you need to win on the road. I don’t want to use the word “toughness,” because everyone throws that word around, and I don’t think anybody really knows exactly what it means or how to apply it. But, there’s just a certain thing that a team has — and a team is made up by a few of its strongest leaders — that allows them to win on the road. It’s just the confidence, the ability to play under pressure. You look at some of the best college teams that I can remember – I never really watched the Triplets and just a little bit of Todd and Oliver Miller and those guys — but talking about Scotty Thurman, Corey Beck and Corliss and those guys, they could perform under pressure as good as any team. They were strong, they could shoot. I think it’s just an attitude…you have it or you don’t have it.
That’s not to say anything about these Hogs, but there are certain ingredients that you need to win on the road, and if you have that, you’re gonna have that from your freshman year. It’s tough to develop that this late in your career, mentally, if you don’t already have it as a young kid.
I don’t know if that even answers the question!
What do you think John Pelphrey’s impact has been on the team this year?
(Read on …)
