By way of Chicago, Sonny Weems has landed in Denver. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of time today to bore you with our commentary. Instead, here’s a brief round-up of media reports:

• Denver Post: Arkansas swingman Weems acquired for second rounder.

• Rocky Mountain News: Trade news ‘world class’ athletic talent for Nuggets.

• Northwest Arkansas Times: Weems drafted, traded.

• The Morning News: Weems drafted by Bulls, traded to Nuggets.

• Associated Press: Weems drafted No. 39 by Bulls, shipped to Denver.

• Hoopsworld.com: Nuggets make draft night deal.

Quick plug: According to our friends over at Razorbloggers.net, this week marks the end of the 2008 “fiscal year” for Razorback sports. Accordingly, they are marking the event in two ways: transferring their revenues to offshore entities to avoid paying their fair share of taxes (just kidding) and counting down the five best Razorback games of the past 12 months (not kidding). So, head on over and enjoy the good memories. They’re set to unveil the top of the list today. Gee, any guesses as to what that game will be?

* What was your favorite moment of the Nate Rakestraw era?

* WholeHogSports.com has a good look at the incoming Hog roundballers.

* For those interested - and we personally think that slam-dunk contests are now about as exciting as the Pro Bowl - Sonny Weems will participate in one on Thursday in San Antonio.

* From the kinda, sort-of Razorback-related news file : Eddie Sutton’s son Sean has resigned at OSU. Might we recommend as a replacement another son of a Razorback coaching legend? We hear he’s looking for work, and he might bring a needed dose of tough love.

* Brandon Marcello of The Slophouse has a good collection of articles about Bobby Petrino’s recent press conference as well as some audio files from the event.

* Finally, in honor of the April’s Fools Day that is about to pass, you should check out today’s Penthouse/Outhouse over at ArkansasSports360.com.

The downside of hiring a hard-ass, threaten-to-cancel-Christmas type of coach like John Pelphrey is that his tough ways might run the players off, right? Not exactly. Here’s what Sonny Weems had to say after the UNC game:

“He brought a lot from the stance of coaching and disciplining us. I think the guys on this team really found a coach that they can put their trust in and listen to. He will never steer you wrong. He will always tell you the truth. We learned a lot from him. Speaking for the players on the team, we love him and his coaching staff to death. I wouldn’t trade any other coach for him.”

And Darian Townes:

“I love John Pelphrey. He helped me and showed me a lot of what’s going to happen in the real world. It’s about ready to happen for me and Sonny and the rest of the seniors.”

Guess there’s more than one way to be a player’s coach.

Wow, it’s a lot more fun when you win these games! The Good Hogs certainly came to play tonight, firing on all cylinders in a most impressive 86-72 win over Indiana. It’s amazing how a big NCAA tournament win erases the bad memories of dismal midseason performances against, say, South Carolina.

Lots of thoughts are rattling around in my head right now, so rather than trying to write anything particularly coherent, here’s a rundown of a few of them:

Sonny, welcome to the club. With his 31 points on 12 for 14 shooting, Sonny Weems etched his name among the great Razorback postseason performances. Not too shabby.

I don’t know if I could pull off this quote, but I like the way it sounds. Patrick Beverley: “Sunny days when Sonny Weems plays the way he plays.”

This will probably eliminate any nostalgia for the Dana Altman era. Tonight John Pelphrey did something that Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson never did…won his first NCAA tournament game as Razorback coach.

He might not remember the name, but I’m sure he remembers the ball getting swatted back in his face. Afterwards, Indiana star Eric Gordon referred to Steven Hill as “that big 7-foot guy.”

Somebody give this man a raise. In our Q&A with Pat Bradley yesterday, the former Razorback said “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.” After Gordon’s 3 for 15 shooting night, that analysis sounds pretty dead on.

Bring on the Heels! The Hogs have a good history playing North Carolina in the tournament, routing UNC in 1990, giving the eventual national champs a scare in 1993 and beating down their star-studded team in the 1995 Final Four.

With the Hogs playing for their first NCAA tournament win of the 21st century tonight (!), it’s time to bring in a true Razorback expert: Arkansas Sports 360 editor Jim Harris. If there’s an Arkansas sportswriter doing better work than Harris right now we certainly haven’t seen it, and unlike certain other prominent local sports editors we could name, his columns are always light on fluff and heavy on interesting insights, analysis and opinions. Thanks very much to Jim for taking the time out of his busy week to answer our questions…now, check out what he has to say about Indiana, this crazy 2008 season and great Hog teams of the past:

1. What do you think of the Hogs’ chances against Indiana on Friday? And, if they win that game, how do you think they would fare against North Carolina ?

The Hogs’ chances are excellent if they bring the same game they showed against Vanderbilt and Tennessee. If Kelvin Sampson were still coaching Indiana, the Hoosiers wouldn’t be an eighth seed. But he’s not, and for good reason, and they’re playing now about like a 12th seed under Dan Dakich as interim coach. Nothing is settled there, and the team is having to rely on its two talented stars, Eric Gordon and D.J. White to carry them. Arkansas needs to focus on not letting the mystery guys beat them while trying to stop Gordon and White. They’re going to get theirs.

Arkansas must not let Armon Bassett or Jemarcus Ellis get loose on them in the backcourt, or somebody like Lance Stemler sneak in there and get 12-14 points inside. Let the two guys get their 40-50 and stop the rest. And if Charles Thomas can maintain what we saw the past two weeks, Arkansas should have a good night scoring inside, setting up the guards to deliver the knockout.

Arkansas will unlikely be able to follow that up against North Carolina . The Tar Heels have too many weapons for the Hogs to defend. Their only chance is if North Carolina is flat, and there is no reason for that.

2. What’s your take on the Razorbacks’ season so far? Have they exceeded your expectations, meet your expectations or disappointed you?

In some ways they disappointed me, because I though that all the hard work this staff put them through in the off season would have truly brought them together as people and good teammates. Instead, with the exception of a couple of people, such as Darian Townes and Weems through the SEC, they seemed to play most of the season divided again, just like they looked under the previous staff. On the plus side, Darian Townes has had a terrific year in both his scoring and his attitude. He got better defensively but had so far to go; still does. His rebounding in the tournament last week was terrific. Every time Pelphrey challenged him, he answered the call. Total opposite of the past. Don’t know where Thomas was all season, but finally when it counts he’s begun to look like the Thomas we saw at times his first three seasons.

Sonny Weems had to carry so much load for so long, and maybe it wore him out late, but his conference season was terrific. He finally looked like the comparison some made with his talents and Ronnie Brewer’s was accurate. His ballhandling was suspect, but his passing skills was never better than in the tournament. Patrick Beverley may have played too much basketball in the summer and was fighting himself for much of the league season. Finally, he has come around.

Gary Ervin has improved down the stretch. I’m not sure what took Stefan Welsh so long to show what he can do, but when Arkansas moved him to a shooting guard for the tournament and allowed him to shoot on the run without worrying about it, he was terrific. His ballhandling is not what it needs to be, as we saw against Georgia . Steven Hill had his moments, none better than beating Tennessee , plus his defense late against Vanderbilt in the tournament. I think one more season – having redshirted earlier – and we might have seen his potential realized. Michael Washington was the biggest disappointment. He just never seemed to fulfill what I thought he could do after his freshman year. He was such a defensive liability to this staff, and that in turn affected his offensive output.

This group took to coaching in rebounding, the defense improved in its rotation, and the offense had to adjust from motion to a pick-and-roll style that bothered them early but eventually they showed some efficiency.

3. It’s hard to judge a coach after only one season, but that won’t stop us from asking you this: what is your impression of John Pelphrey, and do you think he is the right person for the job?

(Read on …)

Absolutely electrifying. 

After enduring several strokes and a half dozen heart attacks, we can say that was the most thrilling Razorback basketball game - and the biggest victory - we’ve seen in a long, long time. That felt like the good ‘ole days.

The Hogs just beat the No. 4 team in the country, a team that annihilated them a month ago, on - of all things - a Steven Hill turnaround jumper! A surreal day in Atlanta just got even crazier.

We couldn’t be prouder of the team. So many heroes. They showed tons of poise out there today. On the several occasions when it looked like UT was on the verge of putting the game away, the Razorbacks came roaring back.

A few random thoughts:

* Charles Thomas Likes the SEC Tournament Semifinals. In last year’s semifinal victory over Mississippi State, he scored 18 points and hauled in 18 rebounds. Today, he was even better, in our humble opinion, leading the team with 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He’s looked out of it for much of the year, but today his focus and energy were off the charts.

* It Was a Good Day for the Razorbacks’ Frontcourt. In addition to Hill’s last-second heroics and Charles Thomas’ dominance, Darian Townes continued his recent top-notch play, totaling 16 points. For much of the last few weeks, he has looked almost unstoppable in the post. OK, maybe that’s something of an overstatement, but the point is this: he’s been damn good. If Thomas and Townes keep this up, next week just may bring the Hogs their first NCAA Tournament win since 1999.

* Battle of the Boards. If you look at the box score, you’re struck by how even the teams were: the Hogs shot 55 percent from the floor, the Vols 54. The Hogs made eight three-pointers for a 44 percent clip from behind the arc, the Vols 11 three-pointers for a 45 percent success rate.  Additionally, the teams had an identical free-throw line: 20 of 29.

The one big difference: rebounds. Overall, the Hogs grabbed 32 of them, the Vols 21. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll see that the Razorbacks had 12 offensive rebounds to the Vols’ six. That may have been the difference in the game right there.

* Just in the Nick of Time. Just when we were about to file a missing persons report on Sonny Weems, he hit three huge field goals down the stretch. Stick around for a while, Sonny: Chances are we’re gonna need you again.

* Kudos, Again, Steven Hill. We still can’t believe that you made that shot, but we couldn’t be happier for you. You’ve always struck us as a helluva guy (and your post-game interview was hilarious). Enjoy your time in the sun. You deserve it.

Now it’s onto the championship game. Here’s hoping for a repeat of 2000!

In addition to having one of the coolest names of any Razorback in recent memory, Sonny Weems can play some basketball, too. Although a bit inconsistent at times, he provided enough bad-ass moments (ex. the first few minutes of the second half in the Kentucky game) this year to be rewarded with a spot on the the All-SEC team. In related news, noted headband-wearer Steven Hill was named to the All-Defensive list.

So, congrats to Sonny (and Steven)…now let’s get a win against Vandy to end this bubble talk once and for all.

* It’s Senior Day for Vincent Hunter, Charles Thomas, Sonny Weems, Steven Hill, Darian Townes and Gary Ervin. What would you say is this group’s most memorable moment? It’s kind of strange to say this about a group that is in halfway decent shape for a third consecutive trip to the NCAA, but they haven’t produced an abundance of good memories. I’d vote for the come-from-way-behind upset of Tennessee, then ranked in the Top 10, in Knoxville two years ago.

* Nolan and ASU continue to flirt. According to the linked article, Nolan had this to say about Jonesboro: “It’s very progressive looking …” Apparently, he didn’t try to buy a drink while he was in town.

* John Moriello of FoxSports.com takes on Darren McFadden. (courtesy of ArkansasSports.com)

* Did you spend last night tossing and turning, repeatedly waking up drenched in night sweat, as you fretted about the Hogs’ chances of making the NCAA? Brandon Marcello of The Slophouse has the latest projections covered for you.

* That ‘ole hatin’ feeling: Looks like the renewal of the Razorback-Texas A&M football series is pretty much a done deal.

Enjoy today’s game. Let’s hope we’re still in the NCAA picture when it’s over.

Last year, with the help of two thrilling victories over Vanderbilt, the Razorbacks constructed a late-season, five-game winning streak that propelled them (barely) into the NCAA Tournament. If Arkansas makes it back this year, a heart-stopping March conquest of the Commodores would once again be a major reason why.

Just when we were ready to emotionally withdraw from the season, the Hogs pulled off their most impressive victory of the year and pumped new blood into their NCAA hopes. Some quick thoughts:

* Welcome Back, Patrick Beverley. Well, to be specific: Welcome back, Patrick Beverley’s jumper. After playing several weeks with his offensive game in deep freeze, No. 21 stirred visions of his magnificent freshman season by burying five of seven shots from behind the three-point line to finish the game with 17 points. We love the gaudy rebounding stats as much as anyone, but we’d much rather see Patrick making shots instead of hauling in missed ones.

 * Who Was That Team on the Free Throw Line? The Hogs provided a wonderfully refreshing change of pace on Saturday by making 72 percent of their free throws. Sonny Weems was particularly clutch, making seven of eight shots from the charity stripe and knocking down all six of his free throws in the game’s last 20 seconds. Here’s hoping such performance continues, but, frankly, we aren’t holding our breath.

* Kudos, Gary Ervin. The senior point guard can be exasperating to watch, but he put on a fine display Saturday, totaling 13 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds (including a huge one in the game’s waning seconds) and only one turnover. We’ve never doubted his effort, so it’s great to see him come through in such an important game.

* Preach On, Brother Pelphrey: We loved this post-game quote from the Boss Hog, courtesy of Nate Allen of the Northwest Arkansas Times: “I don’t know how to say this. I’m happy that we won but I’m not happy with this team. Tonight you saw courage, toughness. I want to see that when we pack up to go on the road. Bud Walton is electric, but (on the road ) we don’t need mommy cutting corners off our bread and cutting our chicken nuggets for us. We need to be men and play that way.”

On to Oxford.

There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth over the basketball team in recent weeks (we’ll admit to engaging in a bit of that ourselves). But we were impressed with last night’s 20-point stomping of No. 25 and previously-undefeated-in-the-SEC Mississippi State. Oh, it still wasn’t completely easy on the eyes (after all, the Hogs did shoot only 36 percent from the field), but after back-to-back double-digit wins, we’re not in the mood to nit-pick.

For the second game in a row, special mention goes to Sonny Weems (22 points) and Patrick Beverley (19 points, 10 rebounds). The latter has now posted a double-digit rebound total in four of his last five games.

Other items of note: the Razorbacks shot 83 percent from the free-throw line and committed only 11 turnovers, while forcing the Bulldogs to cough up the ball 22 times. Those two stat lines have haunted Pelphrey & Co. for much of the season. Sustained improvement in those areas would go a mighty long way towards helping this team live up to its pre-season billing as the best in the SEC West.