FAYETTEVILLE — Dusty Hannahs had his heart set on going jet skiing in the Balearic Sea just off the Valencia coast during Arkansas’ basketball trip to Spain in August.
Manny Watkins wasn’t as keen on the idea, but Hannahs wasn’t about to take no for answer. After some persuading, he convinced his teammate to join him on a three-person jet ski and footed the hefty fee of 75 euros per person for 30 minutes on the water.
“He was too scared to get him his own,” Hannahs said.
Close friends off the court, the senior duo is polar opposites on it. Hannahs is a dead-eye shooter who coach Mike Anderson said couldn’t guard a telegraph pole — or long-time Razorback beat writer Bob Holt — last year. Wakins is arguably the team’s best perimeter defender but has only attempted eight 3-pointers — all misses — during his three-year career.
Moments before Hannahs relayed the Spain jet ski story, Watkins walked up and draped an arm around Hannahs shoulder just as Hannahs mentioned defense to a group of reporters.
“Defense?” Watkins asked, an air of skepticism in his voice.
“Yeah…,” Hannahs replied.
“OK,” was all Watkins said, clearly not convinced as he walked away and Hannahs started laughing.
That end of the court was an issue more often than not for the Razorbacks last year. At times, Watkins was the team’s only “plus” defender on the court.
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Arkansas’ 99.2 adjusted defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) was the worst in Anderson’s tenure save for his first season and ranked 90th in the nation. In conference play, it ballooned to a porous 104.5, ninth in the SEC.
Arkansas had a number of issues last year. The power forward position was a net negative. The team featured only two above-average shooters. The late-game offense lacked a go-to closer, evidenced by eight losses of four points or less. All those played a role in a 16-16 season but the defense may have been the biggest bugaboo.
Even with all the defensive struggles, there were positives to build on, like Watkins, on that end of the court. Senior forward Moses Kingsley, the preseason SEC Player of the Year, was a definite bright spot, averaging 2.4 blocks per game (3.2 per 40 minutes), which ranked second in the SEC. Without his rim protection, Arkansas’ defense would have been unthinkably bad. As it was, Kingsley was relied on to clean up dozens of mistakes every game. The Hogs needed him to discourage forays into the paint with his presence and thwart opposing players when they did attack the rim. Graduate transfer Willie Kouassi — the only other player on the roster who provided a semblance of rim protection — gave great effort but had a limited skill set and only averaged eight minutes a game.
The difference Kingsley made on the defense end of the court can’t be understated. Arkansas allowed 97.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, a highly impressive number that, if it were a team, would have ranked 41st in the nation. No one else on the team had a defensive rating underneath the century mark — or even 102.
But not even Kingsley’s presence could fix the litany of issues that plagued the Razorbacks. Hannahs and then-senior Anthlon Bell exceptional offensive talents who required big minutes on a team lacking many scorers, but both were subpar perimeter defenders. As a collective, the Razorbacks struggled to stop dribble penetration, allowing opposing offenses to get into the paint, draw help and force rotations. Opposing guards were oft presented with a trio of favorable options: finish at the rim, dish to duck-ins or kick to open shooters as a result of the help they forced.
Even with Kingsley’s rim protection, opposing teams shot a blistering 68.4 percent at the rim, according to Hoop-Math.com, a figure which ranked 344th out of 351 Division I teams. Yikes.
When the Hogs rotated or sunk down to help, they left opposing shooters open. The 35.9 percent allowed from 3 was tied for the 253rd-worst mark in college hoops. The Razorbacks were, as a whole, not long enough or athletic enough to consistently contest perimeter shooters.
Unlike past years, Arkansas didn’t generate enough turnovers to cover up defensive shortcomings. In fact, the Hogs generated opponent miscues less often than any other team in Anderson’s tenure — by a wide margin. The Razorbacks ranked 77th in the nation by forcing opponents into turnovers on 19.6 percent of possessions, down from 22.3 in 2014-15, 23.2 in 2013-14, 24.6 in 2012-13 and 23.1 in 2011-12.
Quick side note: The Razorbacks actually did force a solid amount of mid-range jumpers and held opponents to a nation-best 27.3 percent shooting on them. But that wasn’t enough to mitigate the problem areas.
Kingsley is still the only real rim protector on this year’s roster unless bouncy true freshman Adrio Bailey cracks the regular rotation. But the Razorbacks’ options on the perimeter appear to be markedly better.
Junior college transfer Daryl Macon figures to take Bell’s place as one of the Hogs’ best shooters, but, unlike his predecessor, he has the potential to be a plus defender thanks to his combination of quick feet, probing hands and defensive intuition.
Watkins will continue to play an important role as a strong on-ball and team defender. A year ago, then-senior point guard Jabril Durham joined him as a second reliable backcourt defender. Durham (6-1) was far from the issue on defense, but his successor, 6-3 barrel-chested junior college guard Jaylen Barford, may be an upgrade at the point of attack.
“These guards are bigger than the ones here last year,” Kingsley said. “No disrespect to them, but they’re bigger, stronger. Jaylen is bigger than the guards that were in his position last year and he’s quicker, too, for a big guy. It’s going to help us.”
Lanky freshman guard C.J. Jones has the tools to be a good defender in time. Blessed with 6-5 frame, quickness and leaping ability, Jones must learn to sit down in his defensive stance and lock in on a more consistent basis in if he hopes to carve out a larger spot in the rotation than what his offensive gifts already allot him. Oh. And he needs to continue to learn the finer points of playing off the ball on defense. But he’s far from alone.
“We’ve got some guys now that can play on-the-ball defense, but help-side defense is a foreign word to a lot of these guys here,” Anderson said in August after the Spain trip. “That’s where we’ve got to get in the gym and really, really get better.”
The long hours in the gym since the trip have no doubt helped in that regard, for Jones and the rest of the roster.
Jones’ length will help him and he fits the Anderson mold for a versatile wing in the 6-5 to 6-7 range, even if he’s the only one on the roster at the moment (Watkins is 6-4, while freshmen Adrio Bailey (6-6) and Brachen Hazen (6-8) are mostly 4s now, even if they project to grow into combo forwards in time and may play in some three-big lineups in the nonconference season as Anderson tinkers).
The dearth of length in the backcourt and on the wing will change, just not this year. Arkansas’ 2017 recruiting class includes 6-6 combo guard Khalil Garland and 6-7 combo forward Darious Hall, who possesses a massive 7-foot wingspan. Add in assumed growth to Hazen and Bailey’s games and the Razorbacks could have five switchy wings moving forward, a potential nightmare for opponents facing Anderson’s defense, which has rarely been fully unleashed because of personnel to this point in his Arkansas tenure.
That’s a year away, but it would be surprising if the defense didn’t take a marked step forward this year, given the roster makeup. Depth will be a big aid. Last year, four players averaged more than 27 minutes per game in a tighter rotation than the 2014-15 season, which featured 10 players who played at least 10 minutes per game.
“That was the thing last year: Guys paced themselves because we saw the bench was thin,” Watkins said. “We’ve just got depth and a level of toughness. Defense, a lot of it is toughness. Just mano-a-mano, you’re not scoring on me. And this team has a lot of that.”
On top of all that, Kingsley should be better, a scary proposition for the SEC. A 15-10-3 season isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but, beyond the raw block numbers, he should be a smarter defender. Consider these scouting notes by Josh Riddell of DraftExpress.com, widely recognized as the best NBA scouting service, hands down.
“Stat chaser - more interested in blocking shots than playing strong tough defense.”
“Fouls a little too often - step slow to rotate.”
“Always challenging shots and protecting the rim but will need to improve his instincts to read the play earlier and rotate sooner to not foul.”
“Not the best individual defender though - either in the post or on the perimeter.”
Of course, there were good notes, too. Kingsley is a gifted, instinctual defender.
“Uses his length and explosiveness well to protect the rim.”
“Good timing - doesn’t fall for ball fakes.”
“Motor almost always running looking to make a play.”
“Backup big man - can fill a role off the bench as a high energy, athletic big man who can make an impact all over the floor.”
The dichotomy between the pros and cons is evident. Kingsley’s motor and physical gifts — including a 7-foot-2 wingspan — make him a daunting rim protector. But he was undisciplined at times, the result of taking up the sport at a relatively late age and averaging just 11.1 minutes per game his first two years at Arkansas.
Now, a year older and armed with more experience after stepping into a starring role, Kingsley will pair a more seasoned, savvy approach to his obvious defensive gifts.
The Hogs’ defense was a joke at times last year. Hannahs’ still is to his jet-ski partner.
But with an improved supporting cast around its anchor, Arkansas is counting on a vintage version of the “Fastest 40” in Anderson’s sixth year.
“We’ve got a chance to be a very good defensive team,” Anderson said. “And that’s going to be my main objective.”