Rotnei Clark asking for his release

[okcsooner83]

according to some arkansas news outlets.

 

[hoopsaustin]

Lol uh oh.. Here comes his posse to defend his honor

 

[bgrch1350]

he does not fit into Anderson's style

 

[McJacknife]

Get 'em Freddy

 

[stanley11]

he does not fit into Anderson's style

You mean playing defense and sharing the ball? Now that's a tough system to fit in to.

 

[5hrenergy]

You mean playing defense and sharing the ball? Now that's a tough system to fit in to.

You call that crap Anderson plays defense? hahaha, uh no. 10th in scoring D last year in conference. Get by the weak press and generally you have a lay up. Offensively. Meh. Anderson was mediocre at Mizzou and honestly I don't blame him for not wanting to waste his final year under him. That said Rotnei made a poor decision to play for an unproven coach to begin with. With one year, maybe he looks at Tulsa? It will be somewhere where he can go in and be a focal point right away.

 

[stoops4pres]

You call that crap Anderson plays defense? hahaha, uh no. 10th in scoring D last year in conference. Get by the weak press and generally you have a lay up. Offensively. Meh. Anderson was mediocre at Mizzou and honestly I don't blame him for not wanting to waste his final year under him. That said Rotnei made a poor decision to play for an unproven coach to begin with. With one year, maybe he looks at Tulsa? It will be somewhere where he can go in and be a focal point right away.

Hard to argue that Anderson was mediocre when he took Mizzou to the Elite 8 with the talent they had.

This isn't shocking about Clarke. Let him transfer to a mid-major D1 school where he can shoot as much as he wants and have his team lose a significant amount of the time. He seems to relish that role, anyways.

 

[thebigabd]

 

[Smash Williams]

You call that crap Anderson plays defense? hahaha, uh no. 10th in scoring D last year in conference. Get by the weak press and generally you have a lay up. Offensively. Meh. Anderson was mediocre at Mizzou and honestly I don't blame him for not wanting to waste his final year under him. That said Rotnei made a poor decision to play for an unproven coach to begin with. With one year, maybe he looks at Tulsa? It will be somewhere where he can go in and be a focal point right away.

It's misleading to characterize a team's defense (or offense, for that matter) based on points per game when they play at a much faster pace than average (meaning more possessions per game for their opponents). It's logically inconsistent to lambast his defense based on PPG while only giving him a "meh" offensively despite being ranked highly in terms of PPG.

 

[5hrenergy]

It's misleading to characterize a team's defense (or offense, for that matter) based on points per game when they play at a much faster pace than average (meaning more possessions per game for their opponents). It's logically inconsistent to lambast his defense based on PPG while only giving him a "meh" offensively despite being ranked highly in terms of PPG.

While your point is taken I also watch a lot of basketball and their defense sucks which is why his teams were just average. Run up and down real fast and score points........ Didn't work out too well for him. I believe Mizzou's best finish in the Big 12 was 5th. Not the sign of a team that plays good defense.

 

[Sawyer]

Mizzou finished 6, 10, 3, 5 and 5 under Anderson (so the best was 3rd... and Mizzou also won the conference tournament and went to the elite eight that year).

His defense at Mizzou was good until this past year. The dropoff was primarily due to inexperience with a couple guards and a few recruiting misses in the front court.

He replaced guards like Tiller and Taylor with smaller but quicker guys. That hurt the half court defense considerably. Players were also going for steals a lot more instead of just trying to stay in front of their man, which also hurt. We also replaced a very good defensive PF/C in Keith Ramsey with Ricardo Ratliffe, a much better offensive player who was mediocre on the defensive side.

I actually just read today that Anderson may not grant Clark a release because they're losing so many other players. A couple others have already left, one of his (Pelphrey's) stud recruits failed to qualify, and a couple remaining players are dealing with some injury problems. He might need Clark to stick around.

 

[Smash Williams]

In Pomeroy's adjusted defensive efficiency, Mizzou was #7 in the Big 12 and #65 nationally last season--mediocre, but not terrible. In the two years prior to that they were #13 nationally and #2 in the Big 12 in both seasons (only behind Kansas in the Big 12). That's hardly "crap" defense.

 

[CarlWeathers]

pretty sure rotnie wants to go somewhere he can showcase his abilities (chucking) in order to ensure a spot in the lottery.

In all honesty, if he wants to go somewhere he won't be coached and can shoot all he wants Baylor is always looking.

 

[bocabull]

Would we want him at OU? I never really paid much attention to him.

 

[Sam]

Request Denied, according to Jeff Goodman

 

[Sawyer]

Was just going to post that.

Interesting that Anderson would let two other players leave (and two guys who were part of the rotation... not just complete bench warmers), but is denying Clark.

Also interesting that two recruits wanted out and he wouldn't let them. Like the article said, it's pretty standard to grant a recruit a release.

 

[yankeeDoodleSooner]

Missouri let him out of his contract. I don't get his reasoning.

 

[Sawyer]

Exactly. For Anderson to deny Clarke's release is extremely hypocritical of him (and I wish Clarke had pointed that out in his interview with CBS).

Anderson's not really unique here, though. A lot of coaches are quick to leave for better situations but don't give their players the same opportunity if they want to move on.

 

[skyvue]

I don't know if any of the below is true, but these two comments from that linked story provide some context, if accurate:

June 17, 2011 5:46 pm
What Jeff fails to mention is that Clarke has previously requested (AND BEEN GIVEN) his release less then 3 months prior, before changing his mind and choosing to stay. To compare his situation to Glenn Bryant and Jeff Peterson is just biased journalism trying to slant the story in the direction he wants to drive it.

June 17, 2011 6:01 pm
What Goodman fails to point out is that the recruits weren't immediately given their release so that Anderson would have the opportunity to essentially re-recruit them. (which is a common practice when a new coach comes in) When he did, they stuck with their LOIs. He also failed to point out that Clarke has threatened to transfer or back out of his LOI every year since he signed with Arkansas. He is a major drama queen and is selfish. He has been the focal point for the last 3 years on bad teams. He played 31 minutes a game last season. Now that he will be losing some minutes (but the team will be better) he is taking his ball and going home.

 

[Sawyer]

Those comments simply highlight the fact that Anderson is being stupid to deny this.

Clarke is a talented scorer but is not someone who is going to contribute to an Arkansas turnaround. Why keep him there? It's hypocritical and stupid.