Arkansas Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman obviously relieved after getting 78-75 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday evening at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
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00:00 What was your assessment of the game overall?
00:02 >> Yeah, I mean, obviously George outscored us by two in the second half.
00:06 I thought our second half defense was not nearly as good as our first half.
00:10 I thought our first half defense was absolutely phenomenal.
00:13 Obviously, we didn't wanna give up threes.
00:15 We held them to one of 12 from three in the first half.
00:19 Second half, we took away the three ball attempts.
00:24 They went three for six in the second half.
00:26 But I thought we did a good job against their 131,
00:30 scoring 44 points in the second half.
00:33 They're a good team, they're a gritty team.
00:36 They were two teams that were kind of desperate today, I thought.
00:39 We're still searching who we are and trying to figure out an identity.
00:46 Tonight we were able to play really small, and I thought it helped us a lot.
00:50 Based on matchups tonight, it allowed us to be able to do that.
00:53 And I thought we took great care of the ball, 12 turnovers,
00:57 although probably four or five of them were stepping out of bounds.
01:00 So we did not have many live ball turnovers at all,
01:03 even though they had a 131 that was really, really extended.
01:07 I thought we did a good job of handling that.
01:11 I thought it was really our second half defense was kind of what let us down.
01:16 It wasn't our offense, 44 points is enough.
01:18 And obviously shooting 73%, 14 and 19 in the second half, that's hard to do.
01:24 Passing the ball was phenomenal, we had 227 passes.
01:28 And I thought we had great contribution off the bench,
01:30 obviously outscoring them 20 to 44 on bench points was a huge part of the game.
01:36 And leading for 25 plus minutes was extremely important, especially at home.
01:41 >> And Elyon played at all the last two games, you decided to start him.
01:44 What went into that, and then he obviously played really well?
01:47 >> Yeah, I thought his practice habits were really good.
01:51 Obviously, with no midweek game, we had a lot of time to adjust a lot of
01:55 different things, and I thought he was extremely focused.
01:59 And so he got the start tonight.
02:04 As I said, we're still trying to search.
02:06 Now we have nine guaranteed games left and we're still trying to search.
02:10 And based on matchups, we might have different lineups.
02:14 That just might be who we are, it's not what we've always done.
02:18 I've mentioned the Warriors team that had the same starting lineup for
02:21 79 games straight or whatever it was.
02:24 And with this team, it might be matchups.
02:27 And Keon played really good off the bench too, and
02:32 obviously Devo changes things for us, getting loose balls.
02:35 And defensively, we're much different with Devo in there.
02:40 And he did a great job guarding four men.
02:42 And actually, El Ellis defended their four for probably about 20 to 22 minutes
02:47 tonight, and I thought he did a great job defending the four.
02:50 And we didn't get hurt in the post at that position at all.
02:53 So a lot of good things, a lot of things to build off, and
02:56 a lot of things we still gotta get a lot better at.
02:58 >> But Kyle Mitchell, after what he did against Kentucky, then Mizzou,
03:03 another game where he gives you toughness at both ends and scoring.
03:06 What did you think about his performance?
03:08 >> Yeah, I thought he did a good job on 54 in the second half, I really did.
03:13 Kai is defensively rebounding, gives us stuff, and obviously his 14 points.
03:21 I thought Kevin, his eight free throws attempted, and then being able to convert
03:25 six of them was extremely important, especially down the stretch in the second
03:29 half.
03:30 >> And then you talked about the first half three point defense after the previous
03:33 three games, what was the key there in terms of what you saw that was better?
03:38 >> Well, we worked on it, we added a bunch of drills, Kevin, that were new.
03:48 Obviously, what we've done the last four years,
03:51 those drills haven't really worked.
03:52 And so I don't know if there's already been a player in here or not, but
03:57 we did four around one, closing out to threes.
04:00 And then we did a two man communication drill guarding four people, and
04:04 I thought it really helped us.
04:06 It's not an easy drill at all, where two guys have to guard four and
04:11 not allow a three point, and we worked this week, we really did.
04:15 And I thought what they did, what our players did in practice,
04:20 helped us tonight, because four of 18,
04:26 it wasn't just that they only made four, it was that they only got 18 attempts.
04:30 I think that's the big thing, and that's what we talked about,
04:33 is it's hard to make threes if you're so close that you're run off
04:39 the three point line and you have no airspace.
04:41 So that's the best three point defense, I don't have the whole year's stats, but
04:46 that's as good as we've done against a quality team,
04:48 guarding the three without a question.
04:50 >> [INAUDIBLE]
04:53 >> Yeah, you mentioned Devo a little bit,
04:55 I believe he played 35 minutes.
04:56 Can you just talk about what you saw from him in practice this week that gave you
04:59 the confidence to play him that much, and
05:01 how that kind of translated into the game today?
05:03 >> Yeah, I think he knew the conditioning,
05:06 cuz we had discussed that on Tuesday about the importance of his conditioning.
05:12 And I saw him working, we wear those,
05:18 whatever those jackets are called, where you can monitor workload and
05:25 he really busted his behind this week to play catch up a little bit from
05:30 a conditioning standpoint.
05:31 I mean, he did ask to come out tonight, which since I've been coaching him,
05:36 that's the first time I can remember him asking to get a quick blow.
05:40 But he played really hard, he had some big loose balls.
05:44 And like I said, he's a guy that understands all four positions on the floor,
05:49 so we're able to play him at the four tonight, and our offense,
05:53 our sets, we can still get into them.
05:55 >> There was a stretch in the first half, I think it was a 15-1 run,
05:59 where y'all built a lead.
06:00 Just what was the key to that little stretch right there?
06:03 >> Well, Hutch, we played, I mean, obviously Devo in my mind is like a point guard.
06:08 We had Devo out there, we had Keon out there, we had L out there.
06:13 And even T-Mark has played point guard at times for us.
06:16 So we played with four point guards, I thought the ball really, really moved.
06:19 I think Michael said we had like 119 passes in the first half, so
06:24 the ball was moving, and the ball had energy.
06:29 Tonight we created more steals than we have, too.
06:32 I mean, there's been a lot of nights where you pick up the stat sheet and
06:36 our defensive activity missing, and not as many deflections.
06:41 Nine steals is a lot of steals.
06:45 And so if we're able to keep that defensive intensity,
06:48 create some offense through our defense, take away the three like we did tonight.
06:52 There were some things, again, that I think we can build on.
06:55 We out-rebounded our opponent, we kept our opponent under ten offensive rebounds.
06:59 So some things that are positive and
07:03 some things that obviously we gotta work on as well.
07:05 >> Yeah, Coach, Makai has scored in double figures in four straight games now.
07:11 Just what's kinda keyed the scoring stretch that he's on?
07:14 >> Well, I think he's done a good job.
07:16 Again, Scott, if you look at those four game segments,
07:20 there's a lot of free throws attempted in there in at least two of those games.
07:24 And so drawing fouls, being able to convert your foul shots,
07:27 finishing around the rim, he's done a good job of that as well.
07:31 And we're looking to throw the ball in there a little bit more, too.
07:35 Zone one scoring was a huge emphasis.
07:38 We didn't wanna settle for threes like we did in Athens.
07:42 And a big part of that is trying to throw the ball into Graham and
07:45 trying to throw the ball into Kai Mitchell and both those guys.
07:48 From a productivity standpoint, when we did get it into them,
07:51 I thought both of them were really good.
07:53 >> You guys scored 21 points off their turnovers.
07:57 I mean, how much do you think maybe the four guard lineup and
08:01 that kind of influx of maybe speed, athleticism maybe played a part there?
08:05 >> Yeah, I mean, we've struggled to score at times.
08:07 And if you don't guard the three and then you don't create some points off turnovers,
08:14 it's really hard, but tonight we created live ball turnovers that allowed us to get
08:18 out and run.
08:18 We were gonna go small regardless of what the matchup was from Georgia.
08:29 And if they decided to post us up, that meant that they would not be taking threes.
08:35 And so when the ball went into 54, the only time we were gonna go down there and
08:40 try to dig it out was if he had a blind spot, meaning the defender,
08:45 the help defender had a blind spot to go down there.
08:48 And we did get a couple steals off post strips, but for the most part,
08:53 we stayed at home.
08:54 And we thought if we went small, that might force them to post up a little bit
08:59 more, which would take away their strength.
09:03 And if you look at the number of threes that they've taken in recent games,
09:06 that was a concern coming in,
09:07 because there was some high, high numbers from three ball attempts for Georgia.
09:12 >> And you guys only made five threes, but El made three of them.
09:15 I mean, how much, when somebody can kinda step up and
09:18 make 50% of their threes, does that open up the offense for everyone else?
09:22 >> Yeah, it changes, and I know he got two of them against their one, three,
09:26 one in the left corner, both of them, I think.
09:29 But certainly when we have somebody make a three, it opens up dribble drive angles,
09:36 and then it opens up points in the paint zone.
09:38 And then all of a sudden, guys like Kyle Mitchell can get one-on-one coverage.
09:42 And certainly, we need some threes to keep the defense honest and
09:46 stretched out.
09:48 >> Yeah, Eric, you alluded to 14, 19, the second half.
09:50 I know you probably get more attempts, but they fouled you a lot too.
09:53 But what goes into,
09:54 I can't remember you guys shooting a better half percentage wise than that all
09:57 year, what went into that?
09:58 >> I think shot selection, and I mean, really, Bob, and I don't know.
10:03 Every game's different, every game's got a different theme.
10:06 But they play Rahim at the four, and they play Melendez at some four,
10:11 and those guys are kind of perimeter players.
10:14 And so I don't think that there's probably gonna be an SEC team
10:19 that Ellis can guard their four man for 20 minutes.
10:23 I just don't see that as I look at our upcoming schedule.
10:28 But tonight it allowed us to do that, and then I think you can shoot a high,
10:31 you're not turning the ball over when you got four point guards out there.
10:35 So tonight worked, matchups moving forward, we don't know.
10:43 >> And I don't know if you can think about stuff like this, you're in the game.
10:45 But when Devo got up and went in the game, big, big ovation,
10:48 I didn't hear any booing or anything.
10:50 How glad are you about that?
10:53 >> Yeah, I think when we talked about it the other day,
10:54 that was my assumption that that's what would happen.
10:57 And very thankful for the fans that that's how,
11:02 when he came in, that that's how they responded.
11:06 >> And again, I don't know if you can think about this stuff.
11:08 You guys have been on five on Saturday in the SEC, so
11:11 it's been a lot of crappy weekends.
11:13 You got the Super Bowl tomorrow, I know you got your Niners in there.
11:17 How good is it, I mean, it's good to win any day of the week, right?
11:19 But when you win on Saturday, the day before the Super Bowl,
11:22 I mean, can you enjoy tomorrow?
11:23 And just how good is it to get a Saturday SEC win?
11:26 >> It's great right now, but as soon as I leave you guys,
11:30 we gotta get ready for Tennessee.
11:32 So I don't know how great my Saturday night and
11:34 Sunday will be knowing that we have a sixth ranked team in the country.
11:38 But what a great environment, I hope it is here, playing the sixth ranked team.
11:44 They're a team that can play for a national championship, and
11:48 it'll be a great challenge coming up on Wednesday.
11:50 So as much as I would like to watch the Super Bowl, I have a feeling I'll be
11:55 watching Tennessee most of Sunday.
11:58 >> I just have a quick one, coach.
12:01 You mentioned D'Evo actually asked to come out at one point.
12:03 Do you remember if that was in the first half or the second half?
12:05 >> I can't remember, Hutch.
12:06 I wish I could, but I can't.
12:08 >> You mentioned throughout the week that you were gonna implement some new plays
12:15 for this game.
12:15 How did you, I guess, like how they were implemented and
12:19 how much can that kind of benefit you guys going forward?
12:21 >> I mean, I liked our new flow offensively, the way we did things.
12:26 I really did, and hope the players feel the same way.
12:30 I don't know if they do, but I thought offensively, again,
12:34 the biggest area of improvement for us is not stepping out of bounds.
12:38 That would certainly, I mean, we scored 44 points in the second half and
12:42 stepped out of bounds.
12:43 I've never seen anything like it in my life.
12:44 So if we can not step out of bounds, that might give us another four to eight points.
12:50 >> Looking at Abder Rahim and Thomas and combining for eight points and
12:54 0 of 7 from three, it kind of reminded some of the previous teams you've had with
12:58 defense where you're taking not one, but two or more of their top players away.
13:02 Did you get that feel that it might be that kind of a game early or just?
13:06 >> Yeah, I mean, it was a big point of emphasis, Kevin.
13:08 I certainly think with Team Ark and Devo, we're allowed to do that.
13:12 We did a really good job in Athens on Sharif, or on Rahim.
13:19 I think he was one of eight.
13:23 We did a really good job in this game guarding him.
13:26 And obviously, Thomas and having coming off the six made threes in his last game,
13:31 that was a huge point of emphasis.
13:33 And they had some other guys play really good.
13:36 I thought their freshman point guard was phenomenal.
13:39 But our game plan was the other two guys, quite honest.
13:43 And number four is a super talented player, but
13:49 we felt that four was shooting it and 54 were, that would benefit us.
13:55 Go ahead, Kevin, I got one more.
13:57 He's got one more.
13:58 What do you got?
13:59 >> Last four games, even the loss at LSU,
14:01 it seems like you guys did a lot better in 50/50 ball hustle plays across the board.
14:05 >> Much better.
14:06 >> So do you feel like there's a consistent trend there,
14:08 or is this just gonna be about matchups game in and game out?
14:11 >> Yeah, I think it'll be matchups, but certainly much better job getting 50/50.
14:16 But I think even the last few games, I thought the Kentucky game,
14:19 we did a little bit better job 50.
14:21 We're moving in the right direction, still got a lot to clean up,
14:23 still gotta get a lot better.
14:25 But happy Saturday.