Just hold up on joining Lunatic Fringe ready to dump Musselman now

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Wednesday night probably can’t get here fast enough for Eric Musselman, who is now getting to see the Lunatic Fringe of Arkansas’ fan base in his second season.

Back-to-back blowout losses on the road tends to bring that out.

Not being a a basketball expert, even I can see SOMETHING is wrong … but don’t ask me for specifics because it would be a wild guess.

Of course the howling merry band of idiots doesn’t know, either. They think they do, but they don’t.

Musselman probably knows, but he hasn’t figured out how to fix it after a 90-59 loss to an Alabama team that made nearly as many three-pointers (15) as the Razorbacks attempted (17).

“I’m overly concerned,” a downcast Musselman said later.

Don’t look at the stats. As Musselman said Thursday, those are hollow numbers in blowouts like the Hogs have had the last three games (yes, that includes the win over Georgia).

To the casual observer, this team can’t score consistently, defend anything down low or provide any particular disruption when the opponent fires up a three-pointer.

That’s not what the players are being coached to do. I can say that without seeing a single second of a practice this season.

At some point, the players have to be accountable and this Razorback team may have reached that point.

“Leadership on the floor is something that’s very, very concerning,” Musselman said Saturday.

The biggest indicator is when he’s having to start taking timeouts primarily because nobody that’s on the floor either has to the know-how or guts to get teammates back on track.

“You can go back, whether it was prior to me coming to Arkansas or last year, I usually like guys to kind of play through the flow,” Musselman said. “We have some quick-hitters that we like to do when another team goes on a run.”

For whatever reason the last couple of games, nobody can seem to remember them during a game.

It too often looks like nobody on the floor wants to hold anybody else accountable. It often looks like a pouting problem when they can’t manage to get much offense going.

For whatever reason, Desi Sills has disappeared from being much of a factor lately. Against the Crimson Tide he made one more shot than a statue.

“He’s definitely struggling right now,” Musselman said.

This isn’t to pick on Sills. With the exception of freshman Moses Moody, nobody has done a whole lot this week.

“We’re just coming together and trying to make it through these couple tough games,” Moody said Saturday. “We’ve got to get through that, we’re going to learn from that and we’re going to build on it.”

That sounds like a cliché, but is probably about the only thing they can say.

The tricky part for Musselman is getting the players to believe in themselves.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt when you’re losing like we are that we definitely have some players that have lost some confidence and probably the team as a whole,” Musselman said. “The only thing I know is to continue to teach … try to build them up. That’s the only thing that you can do.”

The Lunatic Fringe doesn’t want to hear any of that, though. They’ve already declared this team is done. With a 10-4 record.

Hold off on the panic, though.

Check back after games with Auburn and Ole Miss in Bud Walton alternating with road games against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State.

The guess is the record gets better with teams not as good as the last two the Hogs have played.

Moody on carrying load: ‘It’s what my team needed me to do at the time’

Razorbacks’ Moses Moody (28 points, 9 rebounds) talked with the media after the 90-59 loss to Alabama he was just doing what was needed.

Musselman after second-straight blowout loss; Smith’s return to lineup

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman with the media following the 90-51 loss to the Crimson Tide and Justin Smith returning from injury to play.

Oates stressed defense because he didn’t want to see Hogs come back again

Alabama coach Nate Oates remembered losing an early lead at Arkansas last year and stressed defense to his team to avoid repeating that.

Listen here for Hogs’ road game at Alabama; pregame starts at 2 p.m.

Who: Arkansas Razorbacks (10-3, 2-3 SEC) at No. 24 Alabama Crimson Tide (10-3, 5-0 SEC)
What: This will be the 64th all-time meeting between the two programs
When: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2:30 pm
Where: Tuscaloosa, Ala., Coleman Coliseum
TV: SEC Network (Kevin Fitzgerald and Dane Bradshaw) WATCH HERE
ONLINE: HitThatLine.com LISTEN HERE
• Radio: ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)

Arkansas plays the second of back-to-back road games Saturday with a trip to Alabama on Saturday.

The game is set to begin at 2:30 pm (CT) and will be televised on SEC Network.

Pregame coverage begins at 2 p.m. and you LISTEN HERE or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman will have all the coverage.

• This will be the 64th meeting between Arkansas and Alabama and 54th since the Razorbacks joined the SEC. Arkansas leads the all-time series, 35-28, and is 28-25 versus the Crimson Tide since joining the SEC.

• Alabama owns a 20-8 advantage in games played in Tuscaloosa. However, Arkansas has won six straight and seven of the last eight in the series overall.

• The Razorbacks dropped nine spots in the NCAA NET to No. 29 after the loss at LSU. Alabama is No. 22 in the NCAA NET. Of Arkansas’ first six league games, four are ranked among the NCAA NET Top 30.

• With games at LSU and Alabama this week, Arkansas opens SEC play with four of its first six on the road. Add a game at Oklahoma State (SEC/Big 12 Challenge), the Hogs are in the midst of playing six of 10 games on the road.

• Moses Moody is the only player in the SEC among the top 10 in scoring, the top 10 in field goal percentage and the top 10 in free throw percentage that also ranks among the league’s top 20 in rebounding. In fact, Moody is the only player in the league to be shooting at least 45 percent from the field, 80 percent from the line and 38 percent from 3-point range.

• Alabama ranks 12th in the NCAA in 3-pointers made and eighth in 3-pointers attempted.

• Arkansas leads the SEC and ranks ninth in the NCAA in scoring offense while leading the league in offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding.

Experienced leadership has to take charge for Hogs to have chance at Bama

Aaron Torres of Fox Sports Radio told Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis on Halftime on Friday some players experienced in program have to step up for Hogs to turn things around.

TRUSTING THE PROCESS S1E2 with John Nabors of 103.7 The Buzz

Tye & John go back through his journey in radio, his trip to Washington County, the deer story and more!

 

Musselman puts big loss behind to focus on game with hot Alabama team

Hogs coach Eric Musselman said they had longest practice he’s put team through in years Thursday and only the Tide are the main focus now.

Kennedy gets excited watching Catalon’s hard-hitting style playing safety

Former Razorbacks safety Kenoy Kennedy really likes the way Jalen Catalon plays and compared him to himself and fellow legend Steve Atwater.

Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Kenoy Kennedy joins us!

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