Notes from the Field: The (Uninspiring) Red-White Game

Editor's Note: The following report was filed by Whit E. Knight, an occasional contributor to our blog who knows more about the history of the Razorback basketball program than anybody we've ever met. He authored a truly outstanding 30th anniversary retrospective on the 1978 Final Four team (here are parts 1, 2 and 3). If you haven't read it before, you simply must check it out. Whit and Mrs. Whit traveled to Fayetteville last weekend for the basketball Red-White game, and he was kind enough to send us his observations. Take it away, Whit ...

Time to start thinking about basketball? Probably not.

My wife and I went to the Red-White game Friday. Pretty disappointing.

Despite free admission, there were only a few hundred people in the stands. When we went the last year under Richardson, we had to pay and Walton was 3/4 full. That also was a full-length game, while this one was 24 minutes with the clock running during free throws and out-of-bounds plays.

Clarke and Britt both had their left thighs heavily taped. Clarke did not play at all, and Britt only played the first half.

Sanchez most likely will miss the whole season with plantar fasciitis. He did not play either.

Washington looked out of shape to me. There was one sequence where his team missed the shot, and he did not even make it to half court before his man got the ball on a pass and dunked it unopposed. Another time the guy he was gurading blew past him, and Washington just grabbed him.

Fortson is still Fortson. He frequently drove into traffic or took not-in-the-flow three-pointers. The sad thing is he schooled the freshman point guard (Nobles) on defense, so we probably won't be getting much help there. Welsh is still Welsh, driving into traffic and losing his balance and/or the ball.

The freshman Powell was impressive, good underneath but able to take the three-point shot too. He got a pass up above the free-throw line while running full speed, took one dribble and dunked it with style. His free-throw shooting looks like it needs work, though, and he was wearing a cast on his left wrist.

Among the other newcomers, Farmer, a 6-5 wing player, looked good at times but also forced his shot. Peterson, who has to sit out a year, also looked like a player. The other new guys took bad shots and made bad fouls, but they were tall and spectacular leapers. One committed four fouls.

Fortson and Washington did have a good two-man game going, so that is promising.

The best thing was Cory Beck coached the Red team, and Pelphrey introduced him as the best point guard in Arkansas Razorback history. So take that, Courtney and Kareem!