What Is Wrong with the Razorbacks?
Arkansas Basketball got a complete makeover last year as they fired head coach Eric Musselman after four years with the program and hired one of the game's best head coaches in John Calipari after his early exit against Oakland in the NCAA Tournament. As a result, they only had two players returning with the school after this move was made. So Calipari did what he does best and that’s put together a competitive overall team through the transfer portal and by signing top recruits. So what exactly has gone wrong in Calipari’s first year with the Razorbacks?
Arkansas in the preseason poll was ranked number 16th in the nation with tremendous upside. On paper, they looked like a complete team with room for a few athletes to potentially break down. Calipari was able to recruit standout prospect Boogie Fland to consign with the veterans he was able to bring in as well. He signed Johnell Davis who averaged 18.2 PPG with FAU the season prior and helped them to become one of the nation’s most exciting Cinderella teams the year before. Calipari was then able to bring Adou Thiero, DJ Wagner, and Zvonimir Ivisic with him from Kentucky. They looked like one of the top teams in a stacked SEC conference.
As it stands today Arkansas has a record of 11-6 and currently zero and four in conference play making them dead last in the SEC. The biggest problem with this team is that players who they are relying on for consistent scoring are not producing and players they expected to finally reach a higher ceiling have stonewalled. The biggest name is Johnell Davis who was the team’s starting SG and focal point of their offensive attack coming into the season has been demoted to a bench role and whooping ten points per game difference between this year and his year last season. DJ Wagner has not improved at all from his first season at Kentucky which has resulted in this team solely relying on freshmen Boogie Fland to do practically everything. Fland has shown signs of excellence in the early part of the season but he is forced to take tough contested shot after tough contested shot, making him a 40% from the field shooter as a result.
The trademark of Calipari’s best Kentucky teams were long, athletic defenses that aggressively guarded three-point shooters yet surrendered nothing easy at the rim. Arkansas is shooting 33.7% from behind the arc as a team and is 248th nationally in percentage of points scored from three-point range. Opposing defenses can afford to clog driving lanes, pack the paint, and dare the Razorbacks to jack up contested jumpers early in the shot clock. There is still time for the Razorbacks to figure this out, however, competition is only going to get harder in the SEC. The more they lose the less confidence they will have and the more likely it will be for them to miss out on the NCAA Tournament this year.
