John Pelphrey’s press conference previewing the regular season finale against Ole Miss seemed more like a season wrap-up than a pre-game tuneup with the media Friday.

I guess that’s what happens when the subject is Senior Day and Arkansas’ three departing Razorbacks — Stephen Cox, Michael Washington and Stef Welsh. Those three will most likely — barring an NIT, CBI or CollegeInsider.com Tournament bid — play their last game in Bud Walton Arena on Saturday, when the Hogs host the Rebels for second place in the SEC West and a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament next week.

The Razorbacks have been through plenty this season, and if I told you they would win seven or eight games in the SEC prior to the season with suspensions and injuries hanging over their heads, you may have called me crazy.

That’s all fine and dandy, but just don’t call me Shirley.

Kidding aside, the Hogs have battled through some good and bad times. Suspensions (Courtney Fortson, Welsh, Glenn Bryant, Nick Mason and Marcus Britt) early in the season hit the Hogs hard. Fortson was the biggest loss and was out for the first 14 games due to suspension. Then there were injuries. Forward Michael Sanchez has been out most of the season with foot injuries and Washington has dealt with back, shin and ankle problems all season.

And don’t forget about the low Academic Progress Rate, the rape investigation involving three players (which is now closed after a special prosecutor reviewed the case) in the pre-season and the four-game losing streak the Hogs are experiencing today.

Yep, it’s been a topsy-turvy kind of year at Arkansas.

“Some of the things that have come our way are on us,” Pelphrey said. “… But even with those things those guys couldn’t control, I thought they conducted themselves, came back to practice and worked with small numbers.

“I remember early in the year, we went to play Louisville with a very small number of guys. Mike (Washington) was tremendous leading up to that game, was tremendous during that game, tremendous after that game. I think that we all have certain expectations in terms of winning and numbers we’d like to have or meet. Very rarely does it ever match up with those type of expectations. But I think what we get surprised by is what we learn about ourselves.”

Arkansas has dealt with four-game losing streaks three times this season, but has yet to suffer five losses in a row. Expectations surely rise, though, after the Hogs won five straight games in the SEC and had a leg up in the SEC West race last month.

“That’s good, that’s positive,” Pelphrey said. “Obviously we haven’t played very well and certainly haven’t been able to win these last few games. We’ve got some opportunities that still lie ahead of us, so we’re going to try to do as well as we can. The thing you want to do is keep putting yourselves in a situation to compete. That’s why some of these losses of late have been hard on us.”

Arkansas’ postseason hopes are slim. The Razorbacks will most likely have to reach the SEC Championship game to garner consideration for the NIT. The good news is that Washington, who injured his ankle last week and re-injured it Monday, will be ready to play Saturday, Pelphrey said.

Washington was “60 to 65 percent” healthy in Arkansas’ 89-72 loss to Vanderbilt, when he scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 22 minutes on the floor last Saturday. He re-injured the sprained ankle Monday during practice and was “50-50″ on whether he’d play Wednesday at Tennessee. But he gutted it out and did so admirably with 13 points and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes. It was the most minutes he had been on the floor since the Hogs’ 80-73 win against then-No. 18 Ole Miss on Jan. 31.

The Razorbacks need Washington the floor. Without him, they lose their identity and are 0-4 when he’s not in the lineup.

Speaking of identity, what type of a program does Pelphrey want to build at Bud Walton Arena in the future? Did we see glimpses of it this season? Where’s the pressure defense which was a hallmark during the Nolan Richardson era?

Pelphrey responded to that burning question from fans Friday, and had quite a bit to say. I’ll just leave it to Pelphrey to explain and for you to discuss in the comments section below:

“I think that’s pretty broad,” Pelphrey responded. “But to narrow that thing down, I think we want to overachieve. We want to have young men who are talented in terms of basketball … we’re going to have young men that understand what it’s all about to be a part of a team. And then have a respect level for school. You are a student-athlete. …

“Then you start talking about systems and stuff like that, taking care of the ball … We never want to turn it over. We want to have four or five guys in double figures. We want to have great depth where we’re able to run guys in and out — where foul trouble and fatigue won’t hurt us because we have strength in numbers. I think those are things that, really outside of the first year (2007-08), we couldn’t do that in the backcourt. … I think we’re moving closer to that.

“This corps of guys, I think we’ve seen that this season to a certain degree with their work, with their attitude. We’re a little bit deeper than sometimes people think. We’re not afraid to play the golfer (Cox). We started a freshman point guard (Julysses Nobles) for most of the year, that had no idea what he was doing.

“There’s been some good things amongst all the challenges and some of the adversity that’s come our way.

“… I may be getting a little ahead of myself here and shouldn’t be saying a lot of these things, because we’ve got games left to be played, but I’m pretty transparent. I think everybody knows exactly who I am and what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it. I think this program over the years has overachieved. I don’t know exactly how many McDonald’s All-Americans have come to Arkansas, but Arkansas takes a back seat to nobody when it comes to winning and competing for championships in their league or nationally.”

After Pelphrey gave this answer, I went back and did some digging. Eleven McDonald’s All-Americans have played at Arkansas. It would have been 12, but Al Jefferson chose to skip college and join the NBA ranks in 2004.

That’s a respectable amount, but you certainly see where Pelphrey is coming from when it comes to recruiting athletes at Arkansas. Not everyone was an All-American in the 1990s, and it wasn’t needed as Arkansas made runs to the Final Four.

Pelphrey was asked to expound on the stamp he wants to leave on the Arkansas program, one which he, admittedly, is still trying to build. One aspect includes pressure defense, which always opens the door for comparisons to Richardson, a Hall of Fame coach and the provider of Arkansas’ lone national championship.

Still, Pelphrey isn’t backing away, he said.

“Nobody will ever be able to duplicate Coach Richardson’s style of play. There will be a bunch of imitators, but they’ll never get to the speed and quickness … you just can’t,” the third-year Arkansas coach said. “That’s why he’s great. That’s why he is who he is. But certainly we aspire to be similar and to be even faster than we are now on offense, and take care of it and don’t turn it over, and then defensively be able to play and become even more reckless — so to speak — with our defense.”

Pelphrey mentioned the play of Britt, who was all over the floor on defense in Arkansas’ 80-73 loss at Tennessee. Arkansas is second in the SEC with steals (7.5/game) in conference games this season.

“We’re near the top there,” Pelphrey said. “I think that’s greater than it was in the first half of the season.”

Factor in Arkansas’ non-conference games, and Arkansas is sixth in the SEC in steals (7.3/game).

“There are some fundamental things you see glimpses of that will be ratcheted up a little bit,” in the future, Pelphrey said.

Make sure to check out WholeHogSports.com and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more coverage. You can also follow us on Twitter for breaking news updates with @bmarcello and @wholehogsports.

— Brandon Marcello