Musselman Doing All He Can, But National View is Hogs Easy Meal for Blue Devils

Razorbacks have long list of things to overcome if they are to stop being seen as prey, return to feared hunters they've been past three seasons

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Nov 28, 2023 3:58 AM EST

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Prey. That's how Arkansas basketball is currently viewed at the national level.

Gone is the perception of the rabid hunters who feasted on No. 1 Gonazaga, No. 1 Auburn, No. 1 Kansas and eventual national runner-up San Diego State. In its place is an idea that Arkansas, a team networks hoped would face Duke in a showdown of Top 10 teams that might possibly be a preview of the eventual national championship game, is nothing more than a lamb being led to slaughter.

Now, that's not the view being taken in the allHogs offices. We've seen enough Eric Mussselman teams to now better than to pass judgement before early January. Still, if Arkansas goes out and get hammered, it might soon becomes the lens through which this team is seen here too.

The easiest way to tell the national respect is gone beyond the way the Razorbacks plummeted the equivalent of 21 spots out of the Top 25 is to look at Memphis. Penny Hardaway's Tigers took down Arkansas, advancing to Battle 4 Atlantis championship game before suffering their only loss of the season at the hands of No. 18 Villanova.

In years past, a win over Arkansas would have held enough sway for Memphis to vault them into a ranked spot, especially when coupled with wins over Michigan and Missouri. However, the AP voters think very little of the Razorbacks right now, so that win Hardaway wanted so desperately over Musselman's Hogs has gone to waste.

And that's how the win will continue to be viewed if this team doesn't pull it together. All the hype that came with upending current No. 1 Purdue in a charity game at Bud Walton just before the season opener has dissipated.

If Arkansas can't pull off a huge upset of the No. 7 ranked Blue Devils, there will be no quality out of conference win to point toward when trying to convince the selection committee in March. That win over Stanford sure isn't going to do it. They already have losses to Santa Clara and Northern Iowa.

Somehow, on the long plane ride back and in a few days of practice, Musselman's team is going to have to find chemistry, selflessness and a voracious thirst for defense. He has to find the savage hunter Arkansas is known for being in his tenure. Right now all this team hunts is chances to jack up a three without so much as a thought of passing or attacking the basket more often than not.

Beyond being lulled into easily thinking of themselves rather than the whole team on offense, this group of players have developed a reputation for being soft down low. They're shoved around, easily goaded into technical fouls, and tend to get into foul trouble rather quickly.

It's an obvious target that Musselman now has to figure out how to turn into a strength, which isn't going to be easy. He's already sent up warning signs with comments about having to rethink how he's going to handle defense because he hasn't seen anything that gives him confidence his team has the skills to run the defensive approach he typically employs.

That Musselman personally spent so many hours cutting up video on the way back from the Bahamas his staff had to step in and demand he take a break says all that needs to be said. He feels it too. His Razorbacks are in desperate need of a big out of conference win. He's doing all he can to keep them from becoming another light snack, this time for the Blue Devils.

The only question is will they listen. And even if they do, will they execute? After all, it's hard for prey to hold back its instincts and force itself to act like a predator.