• 9 months ago
Arkansas Razorbacks' coach Eric Musselman's complete press conference after a 92-88 loss in over time to the Alabama Crimson Tide at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday afternoon.
Transcript
00:00 What were your overall thoughts on the game?
00:02 Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously, you know, fans, players, coaching staff,
00:07 you know, you know, the object is to win.
00:12 And but I mean, I can't fault our our effort.
00:15 You know, we played really, really hard.
00:19 You know, I've been saying it for quite some time that we're getting better.
00:21 I think we got, you know, I mean, we look like a better basketball team,
00:25 although we didn't win.
00:26 It's a tough environment.
00:27 Alabama's only lost two games on the year.
00:29 You know, one of them was a long time ago against Clemson.
00:34 So hard building to play in.
00:37 Really talented team, a team that can, you know, final four caliber talent-wise.
00:45 And, you know, we controlled the game for, you know, for 38 minutes or whatever it was.
00:51 You know, so we, you know, played good, but not good enough to beat Alabama on their home floor tonight.
01:00 And then at the end of regulation, you know, obviously, you want the ball in battle's hands.
01:05 He's been so good at driving and drawing fouls.
01:08 Would you like to have seen him drive there rather than take the three or what was your thought on that?
01:14 Yeah, there was no need for the three.
01:15 You know, he made a read and you live with that as a coach.
01:19 So, you know, don't want to put the blame on any shot or any one play, certainly.
01:25 But we had the ball in the guy's hands.
01:26 We wanted, you know, running the clock down and, you know, because it was 11-11 from the foul line,
01:32 you know, certainly would have preferred a dribble drive and to, you know, to try to see if we could get to, you know, scoring in zone one.
01:40 You know, having said that, you know, we had a dunk that didn't go down and then we had, you know, defensively, we gave up, you know, a couple catch and shoot threes without making them floor the ball.
01:52 And really those, you know, few plays are the ones that would stand out right now without reviewing the film.
01:59 That missed dunk you referred to on Mackay looked like, well, it didn't look like there, you know, watch the replay.
02:04 There's obvious contact with Pringle on the body.
02:07 Just wondering your thoughts on not getting the call there.
02:10 Yeah, we haven't had, we haven't, that hasn't happened for us all season long.
02:16 Quite frankly, I mean, I saw the body contact and, you know, but it's not worth commenting.
02:24 It's not worth sending things in.
02:26 So I'm just, you know, Alabama beat us, no excuses, but there was contact with Kai.
02:32 I mean, what does it do, whether it didn't tell us that, you know, that after reviewing, we'll get some, you know, we'll find out tomorrow that it was missed, but it just doesn't change the outcome of the game.
02:42 Now I get you.
02:44 And like I said, I understand frustrating loss, but you guys outside of that, that, you know, bad eight minute stretch or whatever against Vandy, you guys have played pretty well going on, you know, close to a month now.
02:55 Just how do you feel like you guys are playing going into the tournament?
02:57 Well, Bob, I, you know, I think it's a, you know, it's our job as a team, as a unit, as a program to get, you know, to get better as the season progresses.
03:08 And there's no denying that we haven't done that.
03:10 Sometimes, you know, the winds haven't come like tonight.
03:14 So, you know, we'll go to Nashville and see what happens.
03:19 Every game there is, you know, it's hard to win one game there.
03:22 So we have to get ourselves mentally ready and, you know, put this loss behind us and, you know, try to get ready to win the next game.
03:34 Yeah. And Trevin played, I thought his best game since he's been back.
03:39 You know, foul trouble wasn't as bad.
03:41 Just how do you think he played?
03:42 Maybe what kind of boost can that give you going into Nashville?
03:45 Yeah, I thought he played well.
03:47 He was really good on the offensive glass with five-0 boards and, and, you know, I thought he did a good job.
03:54 You know, he had two shots blocked and got to play 30 minutes.
03:57 So I thought he played a really good game for us.
03:59 You know, he got in foul trouble the last couple games.
04:02 Do you think maybe it was just the fact he was, he'd gotten a little bit of a groove that he didn't get in foul trouble?
04:07 And how important was that that he was able to be on the floor that long?
04:10 Yeah, I mean, I think certainly, you know, defending without fouling becomes extremely important.
04:15 I mean, tonight foul trouble bothered us, you know, in the backcourt, you know, with, with El, you know, having four and, and T-Mark having four.
04:24 And, you know, certainly, you know, I want guys to be able to play extended minutes with, without fouling.
04:31 And you obviously played a lot through, through KB and, and, and Makai, like that's been the case in most of your good games here at Lake.
04:38 Just what do you thought about those two guys as a combo for you?
04:41 Yeah, I mean, they're playing, you know, really good two-man game and, and, you know, we got to clean up our turnover, certainly.
04:48 I mean, you know, we had 10 between those two guys, which were putting the ball in their hands and, and 16 turnovers as a unit.
04:55 We got to, we certainly got to clean that up.
04:58 But those two guys playing off the elbows and playing in pick and rolls have been a hard cover for the opposing teams, whoever we played.
05:04 Well, Walters was a guy for them.
05:07 I mean, obviously got a lot of great players, but sometimes, you know, when, when you do a good job on their star players, a guy like that can kind of have a game.
05:14 What, what, what'd you think of him?
05:15 Was he a guy that surprised you, that, that freshman?
05:17 No, he didn't surprise us.
05:19 I mean, we're supposed to make him floor the basketball and, and he, and he shot the ball on a catch and shoot.
05:25 And it was a crucial play in the game.
05:28 Um, you know, we didn't, we didn't, we didn't make him floor the basketball and he had a big offensive rebound, but no, he was, I mean, we talked about it and we knew he was a guy that could knock down shots and played with energy.
05:39 I might have a couple more, but I'll hand it back to Kyle if others have questions.
05:43 Anthony, you have any questions?
05:46 Yeah, just the one from me.
05:49 Uh, obviously Richelle, the trail right cell is obviously a guy who can hit the three at a couple of big ones.
05:55 Can you just talk about, you know, what you saw from him in the prep and how did he kind of, I guess, hurt you down the stretch there?
06:00 Well, he's a great three point shooter.
06:02 Um, you know, it's a, it's a great signing, um, by Alabama as a transfer who can make shots and coming from Cal State Fullerton.
06:12 And, um, you know, he's, he's a guy that, um, shoots it with confidence and, and he made two that were, you know, really, really clutch for them.
06:22 Um, you know, I thought we guarded the three point line, follow the game plan really well until maybe the last minute and a half of the game.
06:30 And then, and then into overtime, we, you know, we, we slipped up on, on, uh, not making certain guys floor it.
06:37 And, um, you know, that's, that's a difference in a, in a four point game.
06:41 Grab a sub, Bob.
06:44 Yeah.
06:46 Eric Estrada, man, you guys did a great job on him.
06:48 He was really struggling.
06:49 I don't think he scored in the first half.
06:51 He got loose a little bit in the second half.
06:52 Of course, he's a guy you saw at Hofstra.
06:54 Just wondering what your thoughts were on maybe some of the plays Estrada made down the stretch for Alabama.
06:59 Yeah.
06:59 I mean, he's a, he's a great player.
07:01 I mean, he went four for 14.
07:02 He went over five from three.
07:04 I thought we did a phenomenal job.
07:05 He had five turnovers.
07:06 Um, he made some big plays down the stretch.
07:09 He's a good player and you're not going to be able to, I mean, if you, if you hold the guy to four for 14, whenever he scores, whether it's down the stretch, whether it's the last four plays of the, I mean, we did a really good job.
07:19 It's hard to do much more than hold the guy to four for 14.
07:23 And, and, uh, and there's five turnovers.
07:25 I don't, I don't know how we could have done a better job, but he did make some big baskets down the stretch, which is what great players do.
07:31 And then you seem like you settled on this rotation now, you know, of who you're starting after so many combos, which I get why you were trying to push all those buttons during the year.
07:40 But how good is it to hear at the end?
07:42 Finally, you've been able to sell on rotation you like, and it's been pretty productive for you.
07:47 Yeah, I think the rotation's, you know, done a great job and, and sometimes with some injuries and, and, um, you know, we're, we were searching all year and I do think in the last month we've settled on a group that, uh, that's done a really good job and has competed.
08:02 And, you know, I guess you play, I think you play bandy on Wednesday.
08:06 I think I got that right.
08:07 Um, what, what, what, what's your thoughts on getting another shot, those guys and just, you know, your thoughts on the tournament in general, obviously it's a big, big ass.
08:15 You got to try to win five and five days, but you know, it's possible.
08:18 Obviously.
08:18 We'll start talking about Vanderbilt as a staff, Bob, when we get on the plane right now, we haven't talked about him at all because we, we had this game on our schedule and, uh, we'll try to get ready for them.
08:28 Um, you know, they, they, they, they're a team that competes.
08:31 They're well coached.
08:32 They understand the roles.
08:33 They have three stars.
08:34 We got to do a much better job on their center.
08:36 Uh, then we did last game.
08:38 We've got to do a much better job on their two guards, man, John and, and, uh, and T Lawrence.
08:43 And, uh, and then you got to take away the three with the other guys.
08:46 So that would be some of the game plan stuff that we've got to do.
08:50 And we've, we've got to, uh, you know, play much better than we did last game against Vanderbilt.