Razorbacks Just Going Through Motions in Loss to Florida

Calipari points out lack of emotion by team in loss to Gators on Saturday but offers no solutions
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari looks on in a game against the Florida Gators at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari looks on in a game against the Florida Gators at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Don't blame John Calipari for Arkansas' apparent lack of interest at times in the games. That's not the impression you get watching the games.

The Razorbacks' first-year head coach at times looks like a shortstop jumping up and down after making the final out to win a World Series. The players all too often look like fans out for an easy jog.

In that 71-63 loss, it's not so much they aren't playing well, it looks way too often like they think the're playing AAU ball of something. There certainly isn't any emotion involved with it.

"There was emotion showed in that game in one play," Calipari said Saturday in a press conference that ended quickly. He's not spending a lot of time these days talking to us.

Guard DJ Wagner had a dunk in the game and the Bud Walton Arena sellout crowd exploded. Assistant coaches in their preview press conferences have talked about that for awhile. Razorback fans like nothing more than having something to let all their pent-up emotions loose. On Saturday, they needed it to deal with the depressing snowstorm aftermath.

They got one play from the Hogs. One freaking play where the players appeared to have much interest in even being at a game. That's probably not the way they felt, but it's the way they appeared to feel.

"He dunks it, goes to the crowd, goes crazy," Calipari said. "Why isn’t that us? Why aren’t you absolutely excited about playing?"

Like Sam Pittman in football, sometimes Calipari's answers assume folks really are following what he's talking about. In this case he's wanting to know why the Razorbacks don't have that same level of emotion on more than one big dunk.

Razorbacks Adou Thiero follows DJ Wagner up the floor in a loss to Florida
Arkansas Razorbacks Adou Thiero follows DJ Wagner up the floor in a loss to the Florida Gators at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. / Nilsen Roman-Hogs on SI Images

Calipari's trying to figure that part out. He's probably trying to put some logical reasoning behind why they simply are playing like zombies at times.

"Part of it is, if someone doesn’t play well, they can’t get out of their own way," Calipari said. "You don’t have to play great. You don’t even have to play good, just defend, dive on the floor, talk, be a great teammate, chest bump, get everybody going and you’ll bounce out of that. We haven’t learned that yet."

For a coach with an eight or nine-man layout, there may not be a lot of juggling it appears he can do. Fans, who became expert coaches decades ago in their minds, all have suggestions and recommendations.

"Do I got to play some different people?" Calipari said. "Probably. Maybe that big lineup is the answer for us for a while. You’ll say, ‘well, you won’t shoot it as well.’ We ain’t shooting it well right now."

That's the point an awful lot of people are missing right now. It's just SEC games right now and those shooting problems should have been worked out in the preseason.

We keep hearing they are in the gym shooting on their own, but the thought occurs they just aren't dealing with being able to have the same results with somebody good guarding them.

"We just got to figure stuff out," Calipari said.

He better do it quick. A road trip to play LSU is coming up Tuesday night, which is one of those quick turnaround games. They seem to appear at the worst possible times.

It's also interesting to note, Calipari doesn't try to make excuses for the ridiculously bad shooting Don't be trying to use the transfer portal as an excuse, either. The coach isn't doing that.

"It’s some of it," Calipari said. "And it’s me not knowing them. Butthere are other teams around the country that got new teams and they’re playing better. But we didn’t get to scrimmage. All that stuff starts adding up. Our execution isn’t all there, but we don’t turn it over. We’re not a team that comes down and get 17 turnovers. We miss a lot of shots and a lot of free throws for some reason."

There's not really a quick and easy answer for that one, either.

"Is it confidence?" Calipari said. "To build confidence, I can be a cheerleader and do all the stuff I’m doing and tell them, ‘I’m here for you, I’m going to help you, the staff is here,’ but you’ve got to demonstrate it yourself. You’ve got to go in that game."

At that point it's all up to the players. It sounds like an awful lot of it is mental and the players understanding the amount work required to play at the level everybody is wanting.

"There's one way of building that," Calipari said. "Just stay in the gym. Grind it. This is hard. They all had expectations individually, and then you have team expectations. This is hard, and that's why it's my job. I got to keep leading."

He's probably having to figure a little bit of this as he goes along. At Kentucky for 15 years, most of the complaining around the Wildcats' base of whiners was not winning enough in the NCAA Tournament. They knew Kentucky was going to be there. Hog fans don't know that, yet.

"I haven't been through a bunch of these stretches," he said. "This stretch could keep going for a while and I got to be stronger than them and let them know, this is all part of it. Teams go through this. I think there's an NBA team everybody screaming about right now. Celtics. Teams go through it. I've been through stuff."

Maybe the scariest part of that whole statement is that it "could keep going for a while." That's NOT what fans are wanting to hear right now, regardless if it's true or not. They weren't the problem against Florida on Saturday.

"Crowd was great today," Calipari said. "We need that, plus, every game we play here, because we got to steal some stuff here. That was a Top 10 team. We're looking at like we were dahdahdah. That's a Top 10 team, we did good stuff to them. We created good shots and good opportunities at the rim and free throws. We did some good stuff. Not enough. Not enough. Now we got to figure out what enough is."

It's troubling enough the problem exists. The fact Calipari is still trying to figure out how to fix it is even worse. LSU is just like the Hogs, sitting at 11-5 overall and 0-3 in SEC play.

Picking up a road win could help stop the bleeding immediately. They have chances before another rank team is in front of them. That will be against Oklahoma on Jan. 25.

Maybe that will give Calipari enough time to figure something out.

HOGS FEED:

• Ugliness of NIL displayed with latest 'highway robbery' of athletes

• Volunteers keep Hogs at arms length with different play style

• Aidoo, Davis taking on new roles as Hogs fall to 0-3 in SEC

• Gang that can't shoot straight squanders chance for big win

• Confidence concerns growing for Calipari's Razorbacks

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Andy Hodges
ANDY HODGES

Sports columnist, writer, former radio host and television host who has been expressing an opinion on sports in the media for over four decades. He has been at numerous media stops in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.