Eric Musselman gives initial impressions of Auburn's season so far

Two of the best in the Southeastern Conference will meet in Fayetteville this weekend when Auburn makes the trip to Bud Walton Arena to play Arkansas. That leaves Eric Musselman with a lot of thoughts about the Razorbacks’ first conference opponent, especially considering their depth.

Musselman spoke highly of the Tigers, a team that just broke into the Top-25, during a press conference on Wednesday. He noted how, over his time in the league, his respect has been consistent for their program considering their staff and identity.

“Well, certainly, in the four years, four and a half years that I’ve been in the SEC? Coach Pearl has done an incredible job,” said Musselman. “They understand who they are.”

That’s when Musselman broke down the true challenge that he believes the Auburn lineup presents.

With several great players on their roster, that leaves some to come off the bench as backups. The Tigers usage of those substitutes, specifically at their true positions, is what makes their production off the pine as good as it has been this season.

“They have, much like Wilmington that we just played? When they sub, they get better at times and they get better at certain positions, you could argue,” Musselman explained. “They bring (Dylan) Cardwell in for (Johni) Broome – center for center. They bring K.D. Johnson in at that off-guard spot for Denver Jones. (Chad Baker-Mazara) in at the small forward for Chris Moore, (Tre) Donaldson in for (Aden) Holloway at the one. So they bring in a true point, a true off-guard, a true small forward, a true power forward, and a true center.”

“You’re getting a steady diet of guys playing their natural positions,” said Musselman. “There’s not a lot of real big lineups, not a lot of, maybe, small-ball. It’s true, positional, position-for-position when they sub. So their bench points are phenomenal.”

Through 13 games, Auburn has seven players averaging 7.5 or more points in a balanced scoring effort. Three of those players in Baker-Mazara (9.2), Johnson (7.6), and Donaldson (7.5) come off the bench for the Tigers. That’s a big part of why they back such a wallop with their reserves as they have the nation’s sixth-highest scoring bench, and second-best in the Power Five, at 37.6 points per game.

Arkansas will have to be at their best in order to start their conference season with a win. As Musselman pointed out, though, they’ll have to avoid any let up in that effort as well with more than enough reinforcements set to come off the bench for the Tigers.