Eric Musselman calls for more from Arkansas on defense

Arkansas hoops has not had an easy go as of late. The Hogs are missing several key guys for the foreseeable future and are trying to piece together their offense one game at a time while barely reaching 60 points. Against Auburn this past weekend, they failed to do so, notching just 59 in a 13-point home loss to the Tigers. Offensive performances like that unfortunately aren’t very rare for this current iteration of the Arkansas roster. Instead, it was the defense that really let down Eric Musselman on Saturday.

Since joining the Razorbacks, Muss has always had strong defensive teams. These last three years especially. In the 2021, 2022 and current 2023 seasons, Arkansas boasts top-15 defenses in scoring efficiency. They’re elite units. And being elite on defense is the key to unlocking Musselman’s desired style of winning.

However, Saturday was a step back in that regard. Sure, the missing players could have helped a little bit, but even without them, Arkansas has a roster loaded with defensive skill. Offensive skill may be a whole other issue, but every dude on the Razorback roster is athletically capable of defending at the highest level.

Musselman did not see an acceptable effort on Saturday, which he said after the game is evidenced by a lack of steals:

“The defensive game plan has not changed other than the execution by some of our guys. We had four steals tonight, and two of them were by our power forward-center Kamani Johnson. So that kind of tells you what our perimeter did from a defensive, creating-turnovers standpoint. Not much at all. You can’t play 35, 36 minutes and not have a steal in our system. We’re struggling shooting, and inexperience and winning on the road is problematic for this group as well. And getting off to first-half starts has been pretty problematic as well.”

Sheesh, a lot of problems Musselman points to right there. Seems like he saw an overall lack of effort — at the start of the game, on the defensive end, and with the execution of the game plan.

Don’t worry, Hogs fans, there are plenty of ports in this storm. This Arkansas roster is still stocked head to toe in talent and athleticism. Defensive performances such as this are the exception under Eric Musselman, and far from the norm. Although, with the offensive struggles of late, he needs that defense to come through now more than ever if the Razorbacks still wish to compete for an SEC crown.