Eric Musselman calls out effort: ‘This group of guys has not carried on the tradition’

Eric Musselman and the Arkansas Razorbacks have hit rock bottom after a 30-point home loss to Auburn. But the question remains: can this Razorback group turn things around like some of its predecessors?

Coach Musselman was completely fed up with his team’s performance after Bruce Pearl’s group made a mockery of Bud Walton Arena — something that should never ever happen in the fashion it did on Saturday. He left no player off the list when critiquing the pitiful performance.

“We’re pretty disappointing 1-14 tonight,” explained Musselman. “Had a great crowd. Understanding how hard the SEC is, understanding the competitive nature, understanding the size, understanding the physicality, understanding the will to win — give Auburn a ton of credit. They came in here, they kicked our butts. That’s quite obvious.”

He went on to say that this group just isn’t comparable to the other excellent Arkansas squads of the decade.

“This team has not resembled what we built the last four years from a competitive standpoint, from a defensive standpoint, from a loose-ball-getting standpoint. So, what are we going to do? We’ve got to try to figure it out as much as we can. Guys got opportunities and didn’t seize the opportunities.”

Ever since taking over the job, and even going back to his renegade days at Nevada, Eric Musselman has played distinct basketball — great athletes flying around the court creating all sorts of havoc. But that edge is lost this year.

“Again, we built something that I thought was really special and this group of guys has not carried on the tradition, so we’ve got to try to continue to get as best we can with the group we have right now.

“This group does not understand what identity on either side of the ball. We have to try to just figure it out and keep talking about it. Whether it gets solved or not, I don’t know.”

But let’s suppose, actually, that this Arkansas team really doesn’t look that far off from some other Razorback squads in the early 2020s. Because this little December-January collapse is nothing out of the ordinary for Eric Musselman.

Last season, Arkansas kicked off SEC play with a loss to last-place LSU, beat Missouri, then lost four more in a row in January only to go on to finish 8-10 in conference and still make the Sweet 16 as a No. 8 seed.

Two years back, the second season they finished as a three-seed and made the Elite Eight, Musselman’s group started 9-0 against a soft schedule before dropping five games out of six, including losses to Vanderbilt and Hofstra.

They did nearly the same the year before that in 2021 as well, starting 9-0 before losing four of five to begin SEC play. Of course, that season also ended in a three-seed and Elite Eight appearance.

So, all of that to say: these Hogs are no strangers to midseason swoons. For the previous three years, they’ve made a habit of turning the ship around to finish the year on an absolute heater.

The lows have been a bit lower this season, but with only one truly terrible loss and still a home win over Duke to brag about, this group is far from out of the NCAA Tournament picture. If history tells us anything, it’s that you can’t count these Hogs out.