Calipari Took Chance Lesson Bigger Than Possible Closer Game

Will wake-up call be enough to life Razorbacks to higher level in SEC?

Arkansas Razorbacks forward Zvonimir Ivisic (44) falls out of bounds after being fouled by the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A lot has been made of Arkansas coach John Calipari's decision to allow the basketball team to choose to sleep in Saturday rather than get up and partake in a shoot around.

It's not as big of a deal as people are making it provided it was done for the right reasons and lessons were learned. There's a lot of high end talent on this Arkansas team.

Some of it is as young as it gets and others have gotten about as confident as possible over the past few weeks. In both cases, this wasn't a bad time for a reality check.

  Calipari watches the film. He saw ahead of time what anyone else with the slightest bit of basketball knowledge could tell two minutes into Saturday's game in Knoxville knew -- Arkansas, in it's current state, isn't in Tennessee's league.

The Hogs will get there. Injuries hampering practice and cohesion on a non-stop basis has this team developmentally where it should have been back around Thanksgiving. As a result, the Razorbacks fully locked in and paying attention to the details would have lost be around a dozen.

There's no lesson in that. Other than a drop in morale, there's not much affect at all.

However, by letting guys sleep in and skip morning drills, there's an edge to be gained. The lesson is simple.

If this team thinks it can just roll out of bed and beat the best team in the country, or any other SEC team for that matter, there's clearly a 20+ point beating waiting in their future.

It's the tangible hard lesson Calipari needed to allow happen to get his team to a higher level. Otherwise, all the tape shows is a more cohesive team that is stronger physically.

By adding in that several players didn't even bother to show up, meaning weren't mentally present during the game, he painted a picture so clear of players neglecting their duty and obligation to the team that many Hogs fans were angry because they believed players rolled over in their beds and blew off their coach. That's not something that say well with them.

After all, that's the exact attitude last year's team had that immediately killed several years of momentum. Although, to be fair, it's hard to know how worried players are about fans who buy tickets, but can't be bothered to show up to games and support the team.

So far, that hasn't hurt recruiting. That's because, for now, players come to be Cal's kids, not Razorbacks. 

A big reason why they do it beyond the obvious paycheck is the lessons corner players say they learned under Calipari.

Lessons that were important and delivered firmly without coming off as a thrashing has been handed out. It's how they grew as men and athletes.

This has been another one of those lessons. Whether it takes and brings Arkansas up a few notches from where it would have been remains to be seen.

Modern day athletes can be self-absorbed to an extreme degree and stubborn. But that's exactly why the Razorbacks hired Calipari.

If there is one man who can push past that with wisdom and stern love, it's him. Fans will just have to show up for once and see how it works out.

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• Razorback set to make history according to early NFL mock drafts

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• Is Razorbacks roster showing reason for hope next year?

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