Unveiling of Newest Iteration of Hogs Simply Stunning

Defense, athleticism, selflessness highlight what might be deepest Arkansas roster ever

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Oct 25, 2022 12:55 AM EDT

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It hasn't been long enough for Arkansas fans to forget last year's Elite 8 game against Duke.

Wave after wave of elite talent had the Razorbacks feeling overpowered and vulnerable like...

Well, the guy who got dunked on by Anthony Black Monday night.

That feeling of being outmatched from a talent standpoint appears to be over – at least for this year.

If an exhibition game against a Division II Rogers State team that just started playing basketball a few years ago is any indication, Arkansas is going to win every game by 40-50 points while toying its opponent.

Kentucky, Auburn and Tennessee will line the aisle serving as the carpet for the SEC's reaffirmed king to stride upon on the way to the throne.

All sarcasm aside, and that definitely was sarcasm, even against a lesser opponent in a game that doesn't count, it was clear that Eric Musselman has assembled a scary amount of talent.

What's more impressive is that on a team stacked with guys who have spent their entire lives up until a few months ago being "The Man," each player seemed to get more joy making the extra pass or defensive stop that set up another Razorback for the score than when doing the scoring.

There were no hints of selfishness. No one dribbled past three guys while ignoring open men so he could get his points and highlight moment.

Because of this, the Hillcats had their heads on a swivel trying to figure out which way was up. The passes came fast and from every potential starting point.

The ball bounced around like a ping-pong ball until it landed in the hands of a man who was so wide open or mismatched that he had no choice but to forego the pass to take the shot.

The biggest takeaway is how athletic and insanely deep this team is. It's hard to imagine Musselman sticking to his usual pattern of benching most of the team to roll with six to at most eight guys for the final four months of the season.

That much talent, plus they all are invested in defense?

There are already indicators that practices will often be tougher than games considering Musselman didn't think his team could shoot from the perimeter.

The problem is the group is fierce on defense along the outer stripe. Shooting against perimeter defense as good as the Razorbacks deploy will make anyone look bad.

But once Arkansas got to face someone else, the 3-point shots began to fall.

This is going to be one of those years where, much like in the late 80s to early 90s, fans won't want to miss any games; even the ones against weak non-conference opponents.

However, a quick glance at this schedule indicates those games will be few and far between as Musselman has loaded the slate to better test this team over the course of the year.

After all, even the exhibition season has a marquis game with Texas coming up next.

This is going to be a wild year. Hog fans better soak it in while they can because what was shown on the floor in Arkansas for the first time against Rogers State is special.

And these days, special doesn't stick around for more than a year before moving on to bigger things.