Arkansas Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman after suffering another big loss on road against LSU on Saturday afternoon, stopping streak of good games.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Do you just give a lot of credit to LSU?
00:02 Do you think it was you guys weren't playing?
00:04 What do you think happened today?
00:06 - Yeah, certainly have to give LSU credit,
00:09 but we got to get a lot better, Bob.
00:10 I mean, you know, the defending the three
00:15 has been a problem all year.
00:18 You know, it's our job as coaches to get them
00:21 to execute the game plan.
00:24 You know, the game, we knew that they're a good
00:28 three point shooting team.
00:30 You know, Baker having a career night,
00:33 nine of 11, four for five.
00:35 I mean, those numbers are hard to do
00:36 when you're in a gym alone.
00:38 You know, so his 25 points and then, you know,
00:42 Cook's been a starter for him.
00:44 He comes in and goes seven, seven for the foul line.
00:48 And, you know, so defensively, not good.
00:52 Offensively, not good.
00:53 You know, it was hopeful that we would be able to capitalize
00:57 off our last two games.
00:58 Obviously, we did not.
01:03 And, you know, so yeah, disappointed that we weren't able
01:06 to capitalize from what we have done the last, you know,
01:11 80 minutes of play and, you know,
01:15 not a good game for us today.
01:17 - And they got off such a hot start, Baker,
01:19 especially you alluded to him.
01:20 What was he doing really well?
01:22 And just how tough was that to overcome
01:24 when they jump on you like that on the road?
01:27 - Yeah, he did everything well.
01:28 He made threes, he posted up, he beat us off the dribble.
01:32 So he, you know, I mean,
01:34 I'm sure it's a career night for him.
01:36 I don't have his CUME stats for his career in front of me,
01:39 but I would assume that's as good a game
01:42 as he's played his entire career.
01:43 - And then you guys have a week off now, halfway,
01:48 kind of, where do you assess where the team is
01:49 halfway through the league schedule?
01:51 Is it a good time to get a week off
01:53 and kind of try to fix some stuff?
01:55 - Well, I'd certainly like to have a week off after a win.
01:59 You know, we got to get better.
02:03 We got to keep coaching.
02:04 We got to keep trying to improve.
02:06 - Yeah, I might have a couple more.
02:07 I'll turn it back to Mike if time allows.
02:09 Thanks.
02:09 Anthony.
02:10 - Eric, I noticed that Califf didn't play
02:14 in that second half.
02:14 Was that a coach's decision or was it an injury there
02:17 or what kind of happened there?
02:18 - Coach's decision.
02:20 - And then just kind of talking about, you know,
02:23 the defensive week, you just talk about,
02:25 what do you feel LSU kind of did in particular
02:28 that kind of got them off to that hot start?
02:31 And how do you guys, I guess,
02:31 kind of address that going forward?
02:34 - Well, it's defending the three.
02:35 It's defending the dribble drive.
02:37 I mean, we're not doing either.
02:40 So, you know, if we were,
02:43 we'd probably have a better record.
02:44 So, you know, it's our job to get players to improve.
02:50 It's our job to get players to follow the game plan.
02:55 And we've not been good defending the three all year.
02:59 Can never compare teams of the past,
03:02 but we're doing the same drills.
03:06 We just, execution come game time is not there.
03:10 - Hans, you got a question?
03:13 - Yeah, Eric, you were really happy
03:14 about your point guard play after the last game.
03:16 I'm just curious,
03:17 how would you assess that position this game?
03:20 - We've got a lot of areas to grow in, for sure.
03:23 - Final question, Bob.
03:26 - Yeah, Eric, I guess it did look
03:29 like you guys were progressing.
03:31 That seems like a pretty big step back.
03:33 Just how frustrating is that?
03:34 And kind of how do you address things now?
03:38 - I mean, the only thing I know, Bob,
03:39 is to go back and coach.
03:40 This has been unlike, you know,
03:42 things that I've experienced.
03:44 And alls I know is we get in the gym on Monday
03:47 and we try to get better.
03:48 That's a job of any coach of any sport.
03:51 And, you know, we got a lot of spots
03:55 we got to get better at, a lot,
03:57 on both sides of the ball.
03:59 - Max, squeezing one more.
04:00 You alluded to this on the pregame show.
04:02 You guys had a quick turnaround, two road games.
04:05 They had a full week, not a real good schedule set up.
04:08 Was that disappointing that the league set it up like that?
04:12 And do you think that impacted the game today?
04:14 - Well, seeing how we lost by the margin we did,
04:17 I'm not going to comment on that.
04:19 I don't want to get fined or anything,
04:20 but that, I alluded to it before the game
04:23 'cause I thought that it was semi-important.
04:25 I think if the game's at three or five,
04:27 and, you know, I mean, we woke up and,
04:30 and, you know, 7.30 wake up call,
04:33 breakfast on the bus, you know,
04:36 but that's not why we lost.
04:37 I mean, we lost 'cause LSU completely outplayed us.
04:40 So no way, shape, or form to, you know,
04:44 has nothing to do with the results
04:46 other than the fact that it was a quick turnaround.
04:49 It was much like an NBA situation where you travel,
04:53 play, travel back home, day and a half, back on the plane.
04:57 And then, I mean, I actually, it's not like the NBA
05:00 'cause I've never had a late game and then turn around
05:03 and played a game at 11 in the morning.
05:04 I've played games at one or two or three,
05:06 but not 11 in the morning.
05:07 Has nothing to do with the loss.
05:10 - Sorry, let's go, last question.
05:12 - Yeah, Eric, there was a moment in the first half
05:14 where the broadcast got you and Mekhi
05:17 kind of go back and forth a little bit.
05:18 Was that just kind of a heated moment thing
05:19 or kind of what happened there?
05:21 - Yeah, no, I mean, I think Kai's trying
05:23 to do the right thing, you know,
05:24 and Baker was hitting threes and, you know,
05:28 it's a five-man defense.
05:29 If Kai helps on the dribble drive,
05:31 we need somebody else to stunt for him.
05:33 So, you know, we gotta get better at that.
05:37 - Thanks, coach.