5 Observations from the Red-White game

Jaylen Barford of red team shoots as Anton Beard of white defends in overtime on Sunday Oct. 23, 2016 during the Red-White game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Jaylen Barford of red team shoots as Anton Beard of white defends in overtime on Sunday Oct. 23, 2016 during the Red-White game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

— Five observations from Arkansas’ Red-White basketball game, a 118-113 overtime win for the Red team.

Everyone put up big numbers, but there were still some valuable takeaways and tendencies evident.

—Barford will run the show

Jaylen Barford is just as skilled a passer as graduated point guard Jabril Durham was, but, unlike his predecessor, the junior college transfer plays downhill and uses his strong frame and athleticism to penetrate and put pressure on the defense.

His ability as a scoring threat puts defenses in compromising situations Durham wasn’t able to. Sunday, Barford recorded seven assists. While the raw number was impressive, the fashion of the assists was more encouraging. Barford whipped a number of creative passes into the lane for easy looks in the paint, instinctive feeds that showcased his court vision.

Also encouraging: his free throw shooting. A very good shooter from the line in JUCO, Barford hit 10 of 10 on Sunday, including all four of his foul shots in the final 39 seconds of overtime to lift his Red team to the win.

Watching him and fellow JUCO transfer Daryl Macon battle was fun.

— Thomas’ skillset will be invaluable

Dustin Thomas was the most impressive player on the court early in the game, hands down. The now-eligible Colorado transfer finished with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Everyone put up big numbers (11 of the 12 scholarship players in double figures, seven with 20-plus), but it seems pretty safe to pencil the 6-foot-8, 225-pounder in for anywhere from 22 to 28 minutes a night. His versatility at the four make him a great fit next to Moses Kingsley, He’s far, far better than Keaton Miles was last year and is head-and-shoulders better than the alternatives on this roster.

His skillset was on full display Sunday, much like it was in pre-Spain practices and the actual trip abroad. He can score in a variety of ways. Early, he rose quickly to swish a baseline jumper off a Barford feed. He scored on an acrobatic, side-armed floater. He showed off the versatility by grabbing a rebound and going coast-to-coast for a finger roll layup. He gave Arlando Cook fits (more on that in a bit) with quick moves.

But he’s more than a scorer. He’s the second-best rebounder on the team. He can put the ball on the floor and is a willing and intuitive passer. On one play, he rolled to the basket, caught a pass on the right block and immediately wrapped a pass around a defender to an open Trey Thompson under the basket. Thompson couldn’t handle it, but it was a prime example of the unusual vision Thomas possesses for a frontcourt player.

He was 0 of 2 from 3-point range and kicked his feet out on both attempts, but that’s nitpicking what was a standout all-around performance, one the Razorbacks may be able to count on in the regular season.

— Frontcourt could feature three-man rotation

Preseason SEC Player of the Year Moses Kingsley (27 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks) is a mainstay. Thomas looks like he’ll be one. Thompson (11 points, 9 rebounds) can play alongside either and provides good passing and sturdy on-ball post defense. He shot less often than any player on the roster last year and passed up an open mid-range jumper early in the game even after no one closed out, but later took two, missing both. It’s a shot he’ll get and one he needs to take (and hit with some consistency).

That trio figures to soak up at least 65 of the possible 80 frontcourt minutes. That’s probably a conservative number. If the season started tomorrow, it’d probably be more.

Junior college transfer Arlando Cook started for the White team, making him the de facto fourth big. He finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds in 38 minutes, somewhat deceiving production. He went 6 of 18, tying for the second-most attempts on either team. At halftime, his 10 shots were three more than any of his teammates.

Shot selection was an issue. He had several wild drives, including one that resulted in an ill-fated reverse layup bouncing off the top of the backboard. The ball had a tendency to stick in his hands, short-circuiting offensive flow in the halfcourt. He had a hard time guarding Thomas on the other end of the court.

Cook may be the fourth frontcourt option at the moment, but to stay in that role, he will likely need to accept a defense/dirty work/glue role moving forward, which he may very well do in a non-glorified scrimmage setting. This team has enough offensive weapons. Trying to do too much could result in him losing minutes and being surpassed in the rotation.

Freshman Brachen Hazen had some impressive moments and a good stat line: 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting, including hitting all three of his 3-pointers. But he is limited to being a spot-up shooter or finishing around the rim in transition — he showed off his hops on an alley-oop dunk on a feed from Thomas. He is a liability when he puts the ball on the floor. Sunday, he turned it over four times. Defense and strength are issues for him at this point, but his shooting potential and leaping ability make him an interesting prospect down the road. Expecting him to contribute in year one may be asking too much.

Adrio Bailey is the most intriguing prospect, but it remains to be seen whether he can earn a spot in the rotation. He was the only scholarship player who didn’t score in double figures (9 points, 3 rebounds in 24 minutes, the least of the scholarship players), but continued to display some qualities that could make him a viable glue guy. Midway through the first half, he caught a pass at the elbow and immediately turned and made the extra pass to the wing to an open Anton Beard, who drilled a 3-pointer. It was the smart play, passing up a mid-range shot for an average shooter for a 3-pointer for an above-average one.

Bailey’s athleticism is enticing. He met Barford at the rim to block a would-be finish in the second half, an impressive play that isn’t an isolated occurrence for the 6-foot-6, 204-pounder. He is raw, but his athleticism and instincts could allow him to crack the rotation, especially if he owns being a glue guy. He is already the second-best rim protector on the roster.

At this point, there may not be a clear-cut, good fourth option in the frontcourt. There will certainly be playing time for Cook and the freshmen, but Kingsley, Thomas and Thompson appear to be far and away superior options now and should get the lion’s share of playing time in close games.

— Defense may be more versatile

Arkansas has the ability to be more switchy on defense, with more athletic, longer guards on the perimeter and a group of bigs who, for the most part, have the ability to switch onto guards and stay in front of them.

The teams showed with some frequency on pick-and-rolls Sunday, trapping ballhandlers. On occasion, that led to switches. Kingsley and Thomas have the ability to guard for two or three dribbles, providing a valuable tool at Mike Anderson’s disposal. If Bailey cracks the rotation, he has that ability, too. On one play, he switched onto Dusty Hannahs and stayed in front enough to be in position to contest a mid-range jumper. Hannahs was caught in mid-air against Bailey’s length and turned it over throwing a last-second pass.

The teams also switched a lot of off-ball screens and looked cohesive at times doing so, even though there were some understandable preseason breakdowns. On a string and with capable athletes, that can take a toll on opposing offenses.

The defense is clearly still a work in progress and Sunday was an open-gym, free-flowing setting not conducive to lockdown D, but the length and athlecism on the roster appears to be upgraded.

— Potentially more balanced perimeter shooting

Last year, Arkansas’ non-Hannahs and Anthlon Bell players shot less than 30 percent from 3-point range, a ghastly number that led to the Razorbacks making the least 3-pointers ever for a Mike Anderson-coached team.

Hannahs is obviously back and hit 5 of 10 on Sunday. The Razorbacks have to replace Bell. Macon is the heavy favorite to be the team’s second-best perimeter shooter. He was 4 of 8. In all, the teams hit 18 of 40 from 3-point range, an encouraging sign.

Six players hit 3-pointers and four hit three or more. While Hazen likely won’t factor into the rotation this season, true freshman C.J. Jones is increasingly looking like he will, in a potentially big way. He scored 20 and hit 4 of 7 3-pointers, often with a hand in his face. He is 6-foot-5, has great leaping ability and a very quick release, which, combined, make it easy for him to get his shot off even when tightly guarded. That was evident when he hit a wild, contested 3-pointer from the top of the key to briefly put the White team up 106-104 with five seconds left in regulation.

Anton Beard was 1 of 5 from 3-point range, but has shot the ball better leading up to this year. Barford was 1 of 2 and is a good shooter when he’s on balance, evidenced by his perfect showing at the line. Thomas missed both his and struggles when his form slips, but is more than capable when going straight up.

That’s six likely rotation players who can knock down 3-pointers. If three or four can hit at least 35 percent, spacing will be vastly improved and Arkansas’ offense could put up big numbers.

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