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Hogs depth steadily squeezes life out of troublesome Cincinnati Bearcats

Arkansas Razorbacks look deadly in first outing in Calipari's sequel season
Kent Smith|
Arkansas Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff Jr (5) goes up for a dunk during the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 89-61.
Arkansas Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff Jr (5) goes up for a dunk during the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 89-61. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksCincinnati Bearcats

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fans got quite the appetizer before the Arkansas-Auburn football game last night with the debut of Razorbacks basketball.

The Hogs drilled a strong Cincinnati team coming off a win at No. 7 Michigan where the Bearcats dropped 100 points. That kind of production definitely wasn't happening at Bud Walton with John Calipari's team in mid-season defensive form compared to last year.

The Hogs held Cincy to nearly half its output from last week in an 89-61 blowout that could have been much worse. One thing Calipari wanted to see was the Razorbacks running with little labor late in the game and that is exactly what happened.

Arkansas already had the game in hand, but depth and conditioning affected the way Arkansas scored late. It was a highlight reel as the Bearcats wore down in a manner similar to Hogs' opponents in the 1990s.

There was no surprise in seeing the returning four of Trevon Brazile, DJ Wagner, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond playing at a high level, however, the integration of highly touted freshmen Darius Acuff and Maleek Thomas went surprisingly well. Acuff got hot off to a hot start to finish with 17 points and four assists on 64% shooting in 24 minutes of play.

Meanwhile, Thomas took a little longer to assimilate into the line-up and warm up his shooting game, but in the end, he posted 18 points and three assists while shooting 58% in a team high 27 minutes.

Here are some of the general takeaways from the game:

The uglier the shot, the better for Thomas

One things Arkansas fans picked up on rather quickly is freshman Maleek Thomas has an ugly shot from beyond the arc. However, the uglier it looked, the more likely it was to go in.

It's hard to even describe. Just know it's about as far from textbook as it can get.

It's efficient though, at least as long as he is open, which happened a lot Friday night. Thomas finished a healthy 3-of-6 from three.

Depth really matters

Arkansas led this game from the opening minute and never relented against a Cincinnati team that was up on Michigan by 20 just a few days ago. That's because the depth on this team prevented the lulls that killed the Hogs at times last year.

It also made it possible to keep the defensive pressure going throughout the game. Anything that came near the rim was altered in some way because of the Razorbacks' length.

Eventually, the fresh legs and constant pressure on both ends wore on Cincinnati. The lead grew consistently by roughly a point per minute as Arkansas slowly choked the life out of the Bearcats.

The most telling thing is it wasn't a huge spurt, which is how Arkansas got its points last year. Those often follow long letdowns as the energy quickly drops that lead to sloppy fouls, of which there were none Friday night.

This Razorbacks team has the number of quality players needed to blow teams out of the building so steadily they don't even realize it's happening. It's a lobster boil approach that can lead to a lot of wins.

Freshmen shooting with no one under the goal

After the game, Calipari harped on his need for the freshmen to realize they no longer have permission to roll down the court and jack up shots at will. Perhaps the thing that stood out the most is the number of times they quickly shot the ball from three with no one under the basket because the rest of the offense didn't have a chance to get down the floor.

Fortunately for them, they made most of those shots, but it was easy to see Calipari wanted to ring their necks.

"You're gonna take a lot of shots, but you can't take bad ones," Calipari said. "That's disrespectful to your teammates. They know you're gonna shoot a lot of balls, but you're not gonna shoot one foot step backs because it's in your tricks bag. No, you're not taking that. The other ones are all good. Take them. And so, they both have to learn that this isn't a pick-up game where I'm just gonna start shooting, not throw it to anybody just come down and just come down take an NBA three for no reason. What? We're not doing that. You took the most shots already. Why would you shoot that? That's stuff they have to learn."

Stop throwing up to Brazile in traffic

The way this team played Friday night, there's a good chance the only thing that can keep this from being a magical season for the Razorbacks is injuries, especially to key players. From the looks of it, no one will be more key on both ends of the floor than Brazile.

He alters just about everything defensively and is scoring from any place on the floor consistently on offense. However, he is in love with the highlight dunk, which causes him to take risks.

At one point in the game, a lob was thrown to him in heavy traffic. Hogs fans across the country winced as he surged upward among the bodies, getting bumped in mid-air and having little room to safely land.

Yes, Brazile is built much more firmly than in years past. He has hit the gym and also has thickened up simply because of natural age maturity. However, that doesn't make him invulnerable to tearing a knee or rolling an ankle.

His teammates have to learn to see the floor better and discern whether the potential highlight is worth the danger of losing Brazile for the year. He also has to learn to resist the urge to go up in that kind of dangerous situation, if for nothing else, his future in the NBA.

Arkansas moves ball well, especially with Wagner, Brazile on the floor

Perhaps the most promising aspect of the game was how well the Hogs moved the ball, especially when the returning four were in the game. The chemistry when the ball flows through Wagner and Brazile is wandering everywhere, drawing the defense while creating space is immaculate.

That is the biggest positive to the number of key returners for the Hogs. The ball moves quick, and in a blink of an eye, someone is wide open with an easy shot.

This team plays together like they have been on the court together since junior high. They know what each other is thinking and can see two passes ahead.

Defenses are going to hate themselves if these guys stay healthy.

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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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