Hogs' Musselman May Have Problem He Can't Sort Out

Don't do any ridiculous comparisons to past, Razorbacks have trouble that is new

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Dec 18, 2023 3:29 PM EST
Original:
Dec 17, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Things change. Especially these days in college athletics and trying to draw comparisons with the past is a complete waste of time. After turning a blowout loss against Lipscomb on Saturday into a nail-biting game, Eric Musselman appears at times to be at a complete loss.

"Every team is different," he said later. "Every team has got its own personality. I’m not going to have dinner with Bryan [Hunt] and Danyelle and say, ‘Hey, we’ll be all right. We’ll figure it out.’ I’m not under that mindset just because it’s happened in the past."

Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman on the sidelines against Lipscomb — Arkansas Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman working the sidelines against Lipscomb in North Little Rock, Ark.
Ted McClenning / allHOGS Image

A lot of fans are thinking that way. Now I'm all in favor of admitting we're all flying off the handle too quickly. That will come in March or April if he figures something out nobody else can really see right now. That may even include Musselman.

"We’ve got to play better in so many different areas," he said Saturday. "We’ll keep coaching and then hopefully you get some execution on the floor. But yeah, I don’t think the narrative of, ‘It’s happened in the past.’ We played really good basketball against Purdue in an exhibition game. We played really good basketball against Duke. We’ve got to get better in all the other games."

They are also fast running out of chances to improve things before Auburn comes rolling into Bud Walton Arena on Jan. 6 and everything gets serious really fast. It's way too early to start drawing record comparisons right now, either. But that's not really the issue these days.

Razorbacks kicker Cam Little Against Alabama in the First Half

Arkansas has shown a remarkable ability in the preseason to turn blowouts into close games. The 69-66 win over the Bisons on Saturday was just another example of that. It's almost like they lose focus when they get a lead, think they can turn it back on whenever they need it before finding out they can't.

Unfortunately for a lot of fans and everybody else, what we figured would happen eventually could take place this year. The big run at the end probably isn't going to happen. There is no evidence to suggest they will prevent a collapse this year.