“The Fellas Are Locked Into The Process” Says Coach Bryan Hodgson

Ah yes! The Process! As fans of sport, we’re well familiar with The Process, even if we don’t always think too deeply on the ingredients that comprise The Process. Whatever a team or coach or player is doing, that’s The Process. The Process can mean whatever. It can be whatever. There’s even an NBA superstar who calls himself The Process. Whatever The Process is, we’re often implored to trust in it, as though it is a living, breathing thing that cares for our wellbeing.

As for head A-State men’s basketball coach Bryan Hodgson, The Process isn’t too much a mystery because Hodgson has been pretty frank with the formula: 1 part tough schedule, 1 part playing up-tempo, infinite parts shooting threes. The formula is baked into the numbers. The Red Wolves average 29.5 3-point attempts per game, good for 11th in the nation. The Red Wolves average 10.5 made the-pointers per game, ranking 12th nationally. A-State’s “strength of schedule” is among the most difficult in the Sun Belt. The Red Wolves are a top-100 team for pace of play.

“The Process is flipping the program,” said Coach Hodgson, noting that the Red Wolves have been playing at its highest level in years. “Battling through injuries. Showing up to work and preparing to win basketball games one game at a time.”

Whatever The Process may be, fans are beginning to see the impact. Stats are one metric; scoreboard is another. On Thursday night, Arkansas State hosted Georgia Southern and dropped 109 points on the Eagles – a school record for points scored in a regular-season SBC game. On Saturday, the Red Wolves set another school record –  most three-pointers made in a Sun Belt Conference game – in a 90-75 win over Old Dominion The two victories pulled Arkansas State 2-1 in conference play (only a 1-point loss at Georgia State spoiled perfection), delivered a sub-200 NET ranking of 190, and a 158 KenPom Ranking, the best seen since the last days of Grant McCasland (according to Kara Richey). It’s worth noting that the record-setting performances were achieved without the services of starting guard Freddy Hicks, currently out with a back injury sustained in Atlanta.

The Process is looking pretty good.

But it’s early. Georgia State (192), Georgia Southern (314) and Old Dominion (258) aren’t particularly pretty feathers in the KenPom hat. Furthermore, the Red Wolves have zero Quad 1, 2 or 3 wins, and are currently just 1-7 on the road. As Coach Hodgson mention in a recent tweet, the Red Wolves still have a “long way to go.”

Still, good programs defeat the teams they’re supposed to defeat. And there’s ample evidence that the team and its members are improving as the season progresses. For example, the Red Wolves averaged a whopping 15.4 turnovers per contest for its first nine games, including 22 at UA Little Rock. The last six games, the Red Wolves have averaged 9.8 turnovers, indicating that the roster is beginning to catch up with Hodgson’s expectations for speed.

“Last year, tempo wise, A-State was in the bottom 20 of the country,” said Coach Hodgson. “Now we’re asking them to play in the top 100. It’s a totally different brand of basketball. I think what we’re seeing is that (the players are) getting accustomed to this pace of play.”

There are positive individual signs as well. Early in the season, it seemed that sophomore forward Izaiyah Nelson had regressed under Hodgson, often finding himself in foul trouble while barely making a scratch on the stat sheet. However, Nelson has overcome early season struggles to emerge as a star in the starting lineup. Since recording just four points and five rebounds against UA Little Rock, Nelson has averaged 11.7 points and 6.7 boards per game. Arkansas transfer Derrian Ford has also found a groove. Since scoring back to back zeros against San Diego and Rio Grande Valley, Ford has averaged 11.4 points per game and earned a Blue Collar Hard Hat after collecting a season high seven rebounds against Georgia Southern.

Make no mistake, the Red Wolves are a somewhat different team at home than on the road. The threes fall easier in Jonesboro. The team seems to respond with greater energy to the home-crowd’s approval. The point droughts are longer on the road. But even in a road loss to Georgia State, we saw evidence of what this team could accomplish. In Atlanta, the Red Wolves found themselves down by 20, with Panthers openly enjoying themselves as the lead widened. Arkansas State fought back, eventually falling 90-91 in a contest Hodgson said “we should have won.” (Missing 9 free throws didn’t help.) But even down 20, Hodgson never believed the game was out of hand. The Red Wolves shot themselves out of a blowout – and nearly to victory.

The competition arriving to Jonesboro for the second-end of the Red Wolves’ four game home stand is a bit stouter, starting with Thursday’s opponent, Texas State (220 KenPom). Though only 6-9 on the season (0-3 in conference play), the Bobcats have historically owned the Red Wolves: 13-4 all time. On Saturday, A-State hosts seething conference foe Louisiana (154 KenPom) led by Sun Belt scoring leader Kobe Julien. To defeat the Cajuns would be an encouraging indicator as to whether or not The Process is working, or more process is required.

PHOTO CREDITS: Me