Musselman's Words Lay Out Practice Focus for Fordham Quite Clearly

Arkansas Razorback coach wasted no words in outlining frustrations

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Let's start off by saying that an 18-point win is a 18-point win. 

While it was in the cards early that North Dakota State lacked the depth to stick with Arkansas for a full 40 minutes, there was enough talent to put the Razorbacks in a deep hole early before wearing out and that didn't happen.

While the Bison tied the game multiple times, including 21-21 late in the first half, Arkansas never gave up the lead en route to a 76-58 win.

But with Arkansas coach Eric Musselman always harping on the educational side of the game while being a coach who strives for perfection, the Razorback basketball coach didn't hold back words when outlining specifically what his young team needs to work on heading into Friday night's game against Fordham.

While there were obvious struggles on finding a flow offensively in the first half, it was the defensive side of the ball that appears to have gotten under Musselman's skin.

With the exception of a few mental mistakes, the defense was solid from beginning to end. At least that's how it looked on paper.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman on the sidelines during season-opening win over North Dakota State on Nov. 7, 2022, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

The Hogs forced 14 turnovers and a North Dakota State team that thrives on getting open looks with a smooth shooting touch from behind the arc found itself forcing up ugly shots. 

Even when the Bison found an opening, it was easy to tell they were so rattled by the Arkansas defense that it affected them even without a defender in their faces.

However, that's not how Musselman saw it. In his postgame press conference, the head Hog appeared to be everything from annoyed to frustrated at times as he talked about his team's defensive performance.

"We played super unaggressive our last public outing so hopefully we never see a non-aggressive defensive team again," Musselman said. "After losing the way we did at Texas in that exhibition we probably had to come out overly aggressive for sure."

And while the aggression fell in favor of the Razorbacks on the offensive end, especially beginning with the final few minutes of the first half, it led to several sloppy fouls, including several behind the arc.

Musselman will be looking for his athletic team to use its attacking style to tilt the free throw game into their favor going forward, which will require more discipline on the defensive end.

"I am utterly shocked that North Dakota State, who’s a team that took 21 threes, got to the foul line the same amount as we did when our game plan was to try to be really aggressive and get to the rim," Musselman said afterward.

With freshman guard Nick Smith out, the last thing Musselman said he wanted was for a player to foul out, putting the team down another man. However, that's exactly what happened with freshman Jordan Walsh whose coach wasn't about to mince words about it.

"[Jordan Walsh needs to work on] staying out of foul trouble on loose balls," Musselman said. "I don’t know how many times he fouled on loose balls. I don’t know to help him with that because we needed him to not foul out. So that’s got to be an area on loose balls of understanding when can gamble and when he can’t gamble. 

"He’s a really talented young player. Unfortunately, in 18 minutes, you can’t foul out in 18 minutes against North Dakota State. We were down a player and we need everybody to understand we need you to be available."

Rebounding will also be a major point of focus Wednesday and Thursday. 

"We’ve got to rebound the ball a little bit better," Musselman said. "Our upfront guys, Kamani [Johnson] and Makhi [Mitchell] are two starters at the four and five who had a combined four rebounds, so we’ve got to rebound the ball much, much better up front than we did with that starting unit."

Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile drives in the lane against North Dakota State. (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

Even Trevon Brazile, whose 12 rebounds allowed him to record his first career double-double, wasn't immune to ending up on Musselman's rebounding radar.

"[Brazile] is a great range rebounder," Musselman said. "He has the ability to rebound outside his area, which a lot of people don’t have. We feel like he’s got to do a much better job going to the offensive glass."

He also wants to see more carry-over from practice to games on defense.

"We can’t rely on blocking shots," Musselman said. "We need to go vertical a little bit better against guys of equal size. We need to hold our ground in the post. We just didn’t post front like we drill every day. Our post front defense definitely has to get a lot, lot better."

As for the offense, there was one area that irritate Musselman more than others – turnovers.

"North Dakota State’s defense is compact," Musselman said. "They don’t cause a lot of turnovers. If you look at how the Las Vegas NHL team plays, they’re kind of the same way. It’s like a prevent defense almost.

"We shouldn’t have had 11 turnovers. At least nine of the 11 were self inflicted. Probably all 11."

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Davonte Davis drives inside against North Dakota State in a season-opening 76-58 win Monday night at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

And the one person who is going to hear it most in practice is the team's most experience player and defacto leader, Davonte Davis.

"I thought [Devo] played really good at times and sometimes Devo-like," Musselman said. "He tried to make two spectacular plays when a simple play will do. When your team only has 11 [turnovers] and one guy has five, that’s got to get cleaned up because he’s our most experienced player and we need our most experienced player to control the game and limit turnovers, which he’s perfectly capable of other than when he tries to make something out of nothing.

"We needed his 18 points tonight. We’ve got to have some assists too. He’s too crafty to not get other guys a few easy baskets."

So with that, the goals for the game against Fordham are laid out. 

• Cut down on fouls. 

• Do a better job rebounding.

• No unnecessary plays leading to turnovers.

• Better post front defense.

• Never stop being super aggressive.

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