Eric Musselman breaks down Devo Davis' improvement from three-point territory

Eric Musselman has always had high praise for the way that Davonte Davis has played for him at Arkansas. That respect came out once again when discussing Devo’s role as a shooter for the ‘Hogs down the stretch of last season.

Musselman commented on Davis’ improved shooting stroke in a press conference to start this week. He said that, as a junior, Davis just had to understand that the season was a marathon rather than a race. While others may have struggled, that, in Musselman’s eyes, is what led him to continue to play well from league play and on, especially from behind the three-point line.

“(It was) age. I mean, for freshman (and) in the NBA, some guys hit a little bit of a wall. When you get into conference play, you’re playing against longer guys, more athletic guys. The season is a little bit longer than normal, the grind is a little bit longer than normal,” Musselman said. “I think that Devo’s got a veteran mentality where, you know, he kind of paced himself in the right way. Very similar to the way we want to try and pace a team where you’re hitting your stride towards March.

“The way that he played in conference shooting the ball? And the way that he played in the NCAA Tournament, especially against Kansas? (It’s) the way you want to play as an individual and, also, as a team,” continued Musselman.

Musselman added that Davis’ particular skill set with the ball in his hands also aided his improved percentages as a shooter.

“He’s a guy that can kind of create his own three off the bounce,” said Musselman. “I think that really helped him as well to elevate his three-point percentage as league play happened.”

Davis has improved as a shooter from deep in each of his three seasons. As a freshman, he made two threes for the whole year to finish at 15.4%. Then, as a sophomore, those numbers jumped to 20 makes for a percentage of 27.4%.

Finally, as a junior, he doubled his career makes on nearly double the attempts from his sophomore season as he went 47-136 (34.6%) in ’22-’23. Over the final 24 games of the season from the start of SEC play, Davis shot 42-109 (38.5%) from three.

Davis’ development as a player has been crucial to the Razorback’s run of success over the last three seasons. If he can make yet another jump as a shooter in his upcoming senior season, there’s no telling how much better he can be for Musselman and the ‘Hogs in ’23-’24.