John Calipari details challenge Arkansas faces with current roster

In his first season with the Arkansas Razorbacks, John Calipari has seen his team drop three-straight games to open SEC play. That included their most recent home game to the Florida Gators.

Following that loss, Calipari detailed some of the challenges facing Arkansas right now, particularly as they relate to the team’s current roster.

“It’s some of it,” John Calipari said. “And it’s me not knowing them but it’s also — there are other teams around the country that have got new teams and they’re playing better. We didn’t get to scrimmage. So, all that stuff starts adding up. So, our execution isn’t all there, but we don’t turn it over. We’re not a team that comes down and we get 17 turnovers, but we miss a lot of shots and a lot of free throws for some reason.”

This season, Arkansas is shooting 30.2 percent from three-point range. That’s 63rd in the country. They’re also shooting 49.78 percent from the field, which is 15th in the country. However, against Florida, they shot just 39.1 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three-point range.

“Is it confidence? I mean, to build confidence I can be a cheerleader and do all the stuff I’m doing and tell them I’m here for you. I’m gonna help you. The staff is here, but you’ve got to demonstrate it to yourself. You’ve got to go in that game. There’s one way of building that. Just stay in the gym, grinding. This is hard. They all had expectations individually and then you have team expectations. This is hard. That’s why it’s my job. I’ve got to keep leading. I’ve got to lead, and I’ve got to be strong through this,” Calipari said.

“And, as you know, I haven’t been through a bunch of these stretches. This stretch could keep going for a while and I’ve got to be stronger than them and I’ve got to let them know this is all part of it. Teams go through this. I think there’s an NBA team everyone is screaming about right now — Celtics. Teams go through it. I’ve been through stuff.”

John Calipari would also praise the crowd and emphasize how much Arkansas needs them moving forward after dropping three in a row, including two games at home.

“Again, one thing I want to say is the crowd was great today. We need that plus every game we play here because we’ve got to steal some stuff here,” Calipari said. “That was a Top-10 team… We did good stuff to them. We created good shots and good opportunities at the rim and free throws, we did some good stuff. Not enough. Not enough. Now, we’ve got to figure out what enough is.”

John Calipari on how to correct things at Arkansas

When John Calipari looks at correcting the situation for Arkansas, he starts by checking into his players’ mentalities. With that, his job becomes to build them up amid a difficult stretch.

“Free throws, open shots, most of that stuff is mentality. We can talk and go — when we grew up we didn’t have the social media barrage that these guys [do]. There’s a lot of stuff coming at them. From around them. I’ve just got to hold them accountable. Let them know what’s acceptable and what’s not, and keep building them up,” Calipari said.

“But you’ve got to go in the game and perform. That’s your job, to get in the game and perform. Your job is to perform. My job is to coach. If I only play you 15 minutes, in that 15 minutes show me you should play 20… Show me. Show everybody. So, everybody’s saying so and so should be playing more. We’ll see. This isn’t easy for our fans, for our team, for our coaches, for me. It is what it is. Let’s go on to the next one and get this thing going.”

Arkansas will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Baton Rouge to play LSU.