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Look at what Musselman has to work with
Posted on 1/12/20 at 10:23 am
Posted on 1/12/20 at 10:23 am
It's truly amazing how we are 13-2 with the roster we have available. Even crazier we could easily be undefeated.
We have two primary scorers on the team(Isaiah and Mason) Neither of which are great athletes. Mason can create space to shoot, but isn't explosive around the rim. Isaiah has heavy feet and cant separate a whole lot from his man, but he moves without the ball well.
The only real athletic players on the team(that play) are Desi, Jimmy, Jalen, and Bailey.
Desi can get to the basket by beating his guy off the dribble, but his inability to knock down the open three has been hurting us. I hope he can get his shooting confidence back from last year because it will open up things in a major way.
Jimmy is typically Mr Steady, last night was a rare dud for him. His complete inability to shoot threes is unfortunate, but he makes up for it with his mid range and decision making.
Bailey has a pretty jump shot, but he's not comfortable taking too many of them. Honestly I've been more impressed with his growth as a player over any other player. I remember last year screaming at my TV over the bad mistakes he consistently made, but Musselman has molded him into a vital roll player on defense.
After that nobody on the bench has stepped up and made a significant impact.
For this team to maximize it's potential we really need another 3pt threat. Desi can be that guy, we saw it last year. I honestly want him to start shooting at least 2 more threes a game. He's been passing them up too often.
Also Jalen Harris needs to start making some kind of shot whether it's driving towards the basket, or knocking down a three here and there.
Lastly we need Chaney or Cylla to make some sort of impact. That would be huge.
With all that said Musselman finds a way to make it work. The guy is a basketball nerd, and knows what to do with the players he has. We have an exciting future ahead of us.
We have two primary scorers on the team(Isaiah and Mason) Neither of which are great athletes. Mason can create space to shoot, but isn't explosive around the rim. Isaiah has heavy feet and cant separate a whole lot from his man, but he moves without the ball well.
The only real athletic players on the team(that play) are Desi, Jimmy, Jalen, and Bailey.
Desi can get to the basket by beating his guy off the dribble, but his inability to knock down the open three has been hurting us. I hope he can get his shooting confidence back from last year because it will open up things in a major way.
Jimmy is typically Mr Steady, last night was a rare dud for him. His complete inability to shoot threes is unfortunate, but he makes up for it with his mid range and decision making.
Bailey has a pretty jump shot, but he's not comfortable taking too many of them. Honestly I've been more impressed with his growth as a player over any other player. I remember last year screaming at my TV over the bad mistakes he consistently made, but Musselman has molded him into a vital roll player on defense.
After that nobody on the bench has stepped up and made a significant impact.
For this team to maximize it's potential we really need another 3pt threat. Desi can be that guy, we saw it last year. I honestly want him to start shooting at least 2 more threes a game. He's been passing them up too often.
Also Jalen Harris needs to start making some kind of shot whether it's driving towards the basket, or knocking down a three here and there.
Lastly we need Chaney or Cylla to make some sort of impact. That would be huge.
With all that said Musselman finds a way to make it work. The guy is a basketball nerd, and knows what to do with the players he has. We have an exciting future ahead of us.
5
Posted on 1/12/20 at 10:29 am to razorbackfan4life
What's crazy is this team is far and away better than the Nevada teams he took to the Sweet 16.
Posted on 1/12/20 at 11:05 am to razorbackfan4life
We need Desi to develop into a great player. He has the potential I think. The other guards are what they are and that’s not changing. Joe is the possible exception but I’m not sure he can consistently create like he did last night. If he could that would be huge for the team and his draft stock. Every other player on the team has a very clear ceiling.
Posted on 1/12/20 at 1:23 pm to razorbackfan4life
I dont think the talent level was that low this year. we weren't a trainwreck in basektball we just wanted to go back to being elite.
musselman has done a good job this year no doubt as we are very welll coaches but Mike didnt have us totally falling apart
musselman has done a good job this year no doubt as we are very welll coaches but Mike didnt have us totally falling apart
Posted on 1/12/20 at 1:48 pm to oklahogjr
quote:
I dont think the talent level was that low this year. we weren't a trainwreck in basektball we just wanted to go back to being elite.
musselman has done a good job this year no doubt as we are very welll coaches but Mike didnt have us totally falling apart
Meh, the roster wasn't void of talent, the players on the roster took their lumps as freshmen and are now seasoned veterans as sophomores.
Some of the transfers taken knowing they would have to sit was a head-scratcher, combined with the signees this year its not clear what the roles will be next year right now. I suppose it would depend on if Joe and Jones return next year, typical Arkansas would see both enter the draft, if Joe is project near the lottery he should go, if he's second round he could come back and improve his stock by proving he can score by more than threes, which he has shown at times this year. I doubt the NBA is as lost as most as to how good of a defender he is.
If both return with the roster next year being what it will be it, keeping in mind the rotation will likely remain 7-8 deep, is Muss able to convince the freshmen to red-shirt? Does he play them sparingly and we see a few player look to transfer for playing time? Does he recruit/take transfers that will likely keep their minutes low for additional seasons?
It will be interesting to see it play out, for Arkansas to get back into blue blood status I think he's going to need to convince the young players to ride it out and develop unless he's able to recruit and sign player who normally would be going to one of the blue bloods. I do not see the logic player's have in transferring to red-shirt instead of red-shirting where they signed, especially when you can see these player having a huge role a year or two away. We've seen Whitt transfer when Macon and Barford signed thinking he wasn't going to get more minutes than he did his Fresh season. CJ Jones could have been the 3rd option behind the arc that would take Arkansas from good to elite this season had he stuck around.
For me this is where Muss will prove his worth, I remember fans calling for Pel to have a contract to keep Kentucky away from him at the starting point of the SEC season well into his 0-4 start in the SEC (only time Arkansas has ever done this) the following season.
Posted on 1/12/20 at 2:18 pm to razorbackfan4life
I disagree with the comments critiquing Joe's athleticism. He's a great athlete, but for whatever reason he isn't asked to do much off the dribble.
Posted on 1/12/20 at 3:10 pm to BoarEd
quote:
I disagree with the comments critiquing Joe's athleticism. He's a great athlete, but for whatever reason he isn't asked to do much off the dribble.
He has heavy feet. He just about falls down every game on his own trying to make a play. It is what it is. Not trying to knock him, but it's true.
It's something he can work on though. Just needs to do some training in the off season to work on his first step.
Posted on 1/12/20 at 5:37 pm to razorbackfan4life
quote:
Even crazier we could easily be undefeated.
We could easily have a few more losses too. Goes both ways.
Not being a debbie downer, just saying you can drive yourself crazy thinking about what ifs.
Posted on 1/12/20 at 6:02 pm to Stonehog
quote:
Not being a debbie downer, just saying you can drive yourself crazy thinking about what ifs.
Oh I know, I think it's more of a credit to Muss that we haven't been beaten bigly by anyone.
Posted on 1/12/20 at 6:08 pm to Stonehog
quote:
Not being a debbie downer
Yes you are, you on a St. John's board?
Posted on 1/13/20 at 10:53 am to beaverfever
quote:
We need Desi to develop into a great player.
I just want him to hit his open shots. He will keep getting wide open looks all year.
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