Don’t Take Eric Musselman’s Reasons for Loss as Excuses

Razorbacks have been in situation before, but looks much more grim now

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Jan 13, 2023 9:39 PM EST
Original:
Jan 12, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's not too late for this Arkansas season to avoid a legendary "what-if" scenario.

Razorback fans just love to throw that out for a decade or two about things.

Hogs coach Eric Musselman is giving reasons, but some take those as excuses. They aren't.

"There is no excuse," he said Wednesday night after an 84-69 loss to No. 4 Alabama where the Hogs simply couldn't find a way to keep up scoring.

Eric Musselman-Alabama — Arkansas Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday night, Jan. 11, 2023, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

He's offering reasons because the only other option is to shrug his shoulders and walk off.

"I’ve been around the game way too long and injuries are a part of the game," Musselman said Wednesday night. "But we’re missing two guys that we had projected to play right around 60 minutes for us. We’ve got to keep searching and trying to figure it out."

That's the part that drives fans absolutely crazy. Even before a season of tremendous promise, you knew it was going to be a process.

When you have a lot of youth, that's what you're dealing with. No matter whether this talented group already has the skills to play at the next level, they don't have the maturity and need experience.

Nothing made that more clear than when the Crimson Tide came out clearly with the intention to intimidate Hogs freshman point guard Anthony Black ... almost from the opening tip, if not before then.

Both teams were chirping at each other way before then.

Maybe the most frustrating thing is the way the officials seemed to let it go on for an extent. When you're on the floor shooting pictures, you get to hear an awful lot.

It was interesting, to say the least.

That's part of the learning process Black is going through and he will have to mature his way past. Other teams will do that at the collegiate level and the next level.

Anthony Black-Alabama — Arkansas Razorbacks Anthony Black against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday night, Jan. 11, 2023, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. (Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images)

As for this Razorback team, they've got to figure out a way to score points, especially outside. Until then, teams will continue to pack things into the middle and make life miserable for their height advantage.

It's something Musselman starts straightening out about this time of the year, based on the last couple of seasons.

"We can talk about the last two years (but) we are in a completely and utterly different state," he said, "and in a way more uphill battle than we’ve been since I’ve been here, to be quite honest."

Injuries haven't been as devastating. Players have been out for a time the past two years, but they got back.

Now Trevon Brazile is gone for the season for sure and who knows about Nick Smith's status.

Plus nobody that's left appears able to shoot outside consistently and everybody appears to be figuring it out from the free-throw line.

"Just the scoring and the shooting numbers, we’re missing," he said, which is different from the past two seasons that ended up in the Elite Eight. "Much, much more uphill battle. There’s no doubt about it."

That battle resumes Saturday on the road in Nashville against Vanderbilt. That game will start at 1 p.m. and you can watch it on ESPNU and fuboTV.