Complete Turnover: Musselman Proves Changes Coming
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — If there was any doubt about the job Arkansas coach Eric Musselman will have to begin in a few weeks, all you had to do is listen His comments about who played well and hard in a 71-67 loss at Mississippi State on Saturday made it pretty clear.
"[Khalif] Battle was really, really good offensively," Musselman said. "Makhi Mitchell was outstanding. [Jeremiah] Davenport’s three offensive rebounds were huge for us. Chandler Lawson did an incredible job defensively along with Makhi Mitchell. Makhi’s offense plus his defense was off the charts.T-Mark (Tramon Mark) helped us in the stretches he wasn’t in foul trouble. El Ellis played his best floor game, and Baye Fall came in very limited minutes. He altered two shots, had a blocked shot. A lot of good performances from our guys tonight by a lot of guys on our team who were in uniform."
What he didn't say is out of the seven guys mentioned above only two (Fall and Mark) even can come back. In this day and age with the transfer portal, that's assuming they will even be asked to come back. Basically Musselman's going to have to put together nearly an entire team and he hasn't got much to build around.
Joseph Pinion hasn't seen the floor that often this year and the layman's guess is his development has either been something the staff thinks can contribute or he won't be, either. Jalen Graham didn't play Saturday and he's fresh out of eligibility. Who knows about Trevon Brazile. The only guys left are Layden Blocker and Lawson Blake with any eligibility left. Musselman knows all this.
"When we’re not playing as well as we would like to as a coach, I have a decision to make," Musselman said. "The decision has been to continue to try and find combinations that put us in the best position to win. [Battle] has been a worker. Tonight offensively he had a good matchup. When he’s scoring the ball and drawing free throws, we’re a much better offensive team and his defensive principles have also improved as well. Him fouling out tonight hurt us offensively in the late stages of the game."
That decision probably was whether to go with all the young guys or stick with the old guys on the team. Considering the effort has been questionable over the last few games, that may be a week to week thing. It could explain the importance of what Musselman and his staff see in practices and matchups.
It's unlikely this team is playing for anything other than catching a sudden burst in the NCAA Tournament to make any postseason tournament. How many wins they get in these final six regular-season games could make a difference, too, but there's no evidence to suggest they'll run the table.
The questions are just beginning to start for whoever Musselman has assigned the task of starting to look at next year's roster. He will probably just keep trying to win games. He won't go all-in looking ahead until there's no games left to play for this year, whether they mean anything for postseason or not.
HOGS FEED:
HOGS SHOW OFF FIELDING ABILITY AND BATS IN GETTING SECOND STRAIGHT WIN, DOWNING JAMES MADISON
RAZORBACKS STRUGGLE INSIDE WITH SHORT ROSTER AGAINST PHYSICAL MISSISSIPPI STATE
• Subscribe and follow us on YouTube
• Follow allHOGS on Twitter and Facebook
