At Some Point, Musselman's Going to Be Planning Ahead

Not his nature to slack off on remaining schedule, but not repeating it has to be concern

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Feb 3, 2024 8:07 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Don't look for any pronouncements from Arkansas coach Eric Musselman about giving up on what has become a train wreck of a season. He doesn't have a lot of experience with these types of things. That was clear after a 95-74 loss at LSU on Saturday.

"This has been unlike things I’ve experienced," Musselman said after the game. "All I know is we get in the gym on Monday and we try to get better. That’s the job of any coach of any sport. We got a lot of spots we’ve got to get better at. A lot. On both sides of the ball."

The Razorbacks are sitting at 11-11 on the season with a 2-7 record in SEC play. Nothing on the remaining part of the regular season schedule suggests anything is going to get much easier. Barring a miracle in the SEC Tournament, you can go ahead and plan to focus on baseball and spring football.

Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman on sideline against LSU

At some point, though, Musselman has to start making plans for next season. It may not be too outlandish to think at least 9 players will be gone off this roster. A lot of fans will be glad most of them are gone. While trying to make plans for a big renovation at Bud Walton Arena a year like this is not something anybody needs right now, but that's what we have.

Probably his biggest disappointment this year has been the lack of any consistency on defense. They were very balanced against LSU. The Hogs couldn't defend any outside shooting or stop people from driving to the basket.

"If we were, we’d probably have a better record," Musselman said. "It’s our job to get players to improve. It’s our job to get players to follow the game plan. We have not been good defending the three all year. Can never compare teams of the past, but we’re doing the same drills. Execution come game time is not there."

The problem is not the coaching. Musselman hasn't suddenly gone brain-dead on what to teach and how to do it. He's got a bunch of guys that haven't played up their ability and have little concept there are four other players on the floor, too. The Razorbacks are trying to put an "I" somewhere in "team" with predictable results.

Musselman's not giving up yet, although it would be hard to blame him if he started playing the young guys. At least he can find out if he wants them back. That is the option these days. Scholarships are one year renewable and both sides have the option to leave at the end of every semester. Nobody talks about the option that gives coaches in this day and age of the transfer portal. For now, though, Musselman will keep trying to salvage what he can out of this season.

"We gotta get better," Musselman said. "We gotta keep coaching. We gotta keep trying to improve."

He's probably already got somebody already working on the roster for next year and possible what-if situations with the transfer portal. He's too competitive to give up before the last horn sounds on a season.