Hogs' Eric Musselman on Preseason Practices
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman with the media at the practice center after Thursday's practice on how summer workouts were and how they look in preseason practices have been.
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00:00 Eric, how would you say preseason practice has gone so far?
00:04 I thought we had a great summer. We had some injuries
00:08 and that allowed other players to get reps
00:12 and opportunity. I thought we had great chemistry throughout the summer.
00:16 Did a lot of team bonding stuff. So off the floor I think
00:20 the guys got to bond maybe a little bit
00:24 quicker than normal. And on the floor, I mean the effort
00:28 every day is more than we can ask. I mean they're really, really
00:32 trying. They picked up a lot of stuff.
00:36 We're probably the furthest we've ever been advanced from scheme standpoints.
00:40 We still have a lot of stuff to clean up and get better.
00:44 But right now I would say that scheme wise
00:48 we have as much in maybe like mid-year almost
00:52 as far as sets and some of the things that we do
00:56 defensively and defensively we're about where we normally are. We're not ahead
01:00 at all but we're not behind either defensively. Is there a different intensity
01:04 now that it's the fall and the season's approaching? I think so.
01:08 I think that the reason we set up our schedule the way we did
01:12 was so that they had something every week
01:16 to look forward to. So obviously we're doing the red and white
01:20 game a lot earlier than we have in the past.
01:24 That's so that they have something to look forward to.
01:28 I mean eight of the ten weeks in the summer is a long grind and then you
01:32 got this three and a half week segment without playing a game.
01:36 So I certainly think that the red and white game they'll be anxious for that.
01:40 Then we have Prodake following that up and
01:44 then we'll have the Division Two game and then obviously the Purdue game.
01:48 What are the characteristics of this team? What's it do well?
01:52 I think from
01:56 identity standpoint, Scotty, I think we're still trying to figure
02:00 that out. I don't think that...I think the beauty of what's happened here
02:04 over the last four years is just our
02:08 constant theme of getting better and trying to play at our best in March.
02:12 So what you see today is not what will be
02:16 in three weeks and what you'll see
02:20 in three weeks is not what will be...I thought last year after the
02:24 Texas exhibition game I thought we drastically improved over
02:28 a two week period after that game.
02:32 There's a reason we're playing Purdue. It challenges
02:36 us in a lot of different areas. They're a great passing team, really well coached, physical.
02:40 Have potentially the player of the year who's a big guy
02:44 inside. Play a little bit different style obviously than what
02:48 we see in the SEC with their ball movement, their shooting, and their
02:52 size. So I think we'll get a lot better after that game
02:56 as well. We need to get better between now and
03:00 our first exhibition game against the Division Two team as well.
03:04 Trevin's out today as far as the live
03:08 scrimmaging. Is there a target date for him to be able to participate full go
03:12 and can you share that with us if you do have a target? Yeah, I think the target
03:16 date, Kevin, is probably two and a half weeks
03:20 would be the target date but that target
03:24 can move. So I call it a moving target. The one thing that I
03:28 think the medical staff's done a great job, I think TB's done a great
03:32 job, is having patients throughout this and making sure
03:36 that...he did play live last week. Not with
03:40 our team necessarily but we did do three on three work.
03:44 Our staff talked to a lot of NBA people on
03:48 how they go about it. So I'm happy
03:52 with where he's at. When you start
03:56 going live five on five that changes things too. So he's gonna have an adjustment
04:00 period probably the first month of the season. I don't think that
04:04 we can expect a guy that's been out that long to just come in
04:08 and have three and a half weeks before your first game.
04:12 He's gonna be a guy that, just like our team, we hope
04:16 come March that he's taking it up another level and I think we'll see
04:20 with each month him getting better and better. He's already pretty good
04:24 too. Eric, out of any of the new guys, transfers or freshmen, anyone who you've
04:28 been overly impressed by that maybe you would say to yourself, "He's even better than I thought
04:32 he was"? I don't think the way that we structure practice that it would
04:36 be fair to say that because we don't go live that much.
04:40 Just because this is such a great media group we went live
04:44 a little bit more than we normally do. If you guys wouldn't have been here
04:48 there would have been a lot more drills. But I certainly know and respect
04:52 everyone's time here and the cameras and
04:56 the fans, whatever you guys put out, they certainly don't want to see
05:00 a four on four shell or us coaching. So we tried to
05:04 structure it. But we don't go live so it's hard
05:08 to say, "Hey, one particular player." Maybe work
05:12 ethic wise? I think work ethic wise we can't ask for anything
05:16 more from the entire group.
05:20 Guys are punctual. Guys are studying their playbook.
05:24 Guys have a work ethic on their own.
05:28 We have a mature group that's
05:32 getting into the weight room early, stretching. Guys
05:36 aren't just showing up a minute before the weight session.
05:40 We hope that that pays off. Doesn't necessarily
05:44 mean it's going to but we hope that it will. -How about conditioning, coach?
05:48 Feel like everybody's in the same place right now? -Not really, Josh.
05:52 I think that we got some guys that need to get in a lot better shape
05:56 to play at the pace that we want. Even going
06:00 live today I've never seen a team struggle so bad to get the ball inbounds
06:04 or so. You can bet tomorrow
06:08 or next time we get together there'll be a lot of inbounding drills
06:12 because we want to run. I think fatigue,
06:16 I think when we go back and watch a little bit of
06:20 today we'll probably see a lot of guys fatigue and when that happens
06:24 execution goes down. -Pinion looks like he's really
06:28 filled out. Played with a lot of confidence out there today. What have you seen from him this summer and
06:32 the strides that he's made? -I think one, athletically
06:36 he's made strides. I think that injury
06:40 that he had in high school is completely gone. I don't think
06:44 that's in his mind. He's not wearing a brace.
06:48 A year ago from today he had a heavy brace on
06:52 and that's hard for certain players, especially a guard, to wear.
06:56 I think mentally he's overcome
07:00 the injury as well. I don't think that he's thinking about it. Maybe
07:04 last year at this time. His shooting's been incredible.
07:08 He's still got some things that we want to try to
07:12 focus on defensively. Got beat back door the other day
07:16 in a situation that we're not a deny
07:20 team but certainly has been a real
07:24 pleasant piece for us since we've been
07:28 together. -You mentioned the team's kind of ahead on the offensive sets and things like that. Is that
07:32 kind of a product of having an older team this year compared to last year? -I don't think
07:36 the one thing that we don't ever want to do, Hutch, is compare teams
07:40 but we do have a veteran team.
07:44 Last year's group we went overseas so it helped
07:48 from a game standpoint and it helped from an evaluation standpoint that we don't
07:52 have those four games that we had last year to go off so our
07:56 expectations might be a little discombobulated to start the
08:00 year because we don't have that body of work that a lot
08:04 of teams in our league even got to go overseas this year and we had the opportunity
08:08 last year. I think that
08:12 we have added a lot more stuff.
08:16 If you think about what we were running last year and what we're running now
08:20 we're running a more complicated system. We've
08:24 sprinkled some stuff in that's got some
08:28 hybrid NBA things off the elbow and
08:32 we need to get a lot better. Too many turnovers and spacing's got to improve.
08:36 We're moving in the right direction.
08:40 -Davenport was knocking it down pretty good. Is that difficult?
08:44 -Yeah. It stretches. He's streaky.
08:48 JD, he's got great, great range.
08:52 We're really talking to him about trying to square his shoulders up.
08:56 He shoots a lot of off balance shots. The great
09:00 thing about him is he's able to make difficult, high degree of
09:04 difficulty shots but along with those sometimes that will
09:08 cause some inconsistency. The more we can work with him about
09:12 trying to square up and not shoot off balance shots I think it will help his
09:16 percentage. -Blocker, I guess, got his wisdom teeth pulled.
09:20 That kind of worries me at my age. -If they're not hurting, Bob, don't worry about it.
09:24 -That's what I tell the dentist every time he tells me I'm gonna get a fall. How long will he be
09:28 sidelined? -Depends
09:32 on the guy and how his body reacts. I'm not a dentist.
09:36 When I had mine out I was back
09:40 next day. -You have the two fresh from
09:44 Harvard. He really moves well. -Yeah. Bay's got great
09:48 agility, great movement. I think that some of the schemes
09:52 are a little different than he's used to so he's gotta continue
09:56 to look at the playbook and watch video of kind of what
10:00 we're doing and pick up second and third reads.
10:04 Today altered shots, ran the floor really hard.
10:08 He's gotta add body weight and get stronger but certainly has had
10:12 a great work ethic as well and is really trying hard. -How's
10:16 Walker doing on these? -He's been good.
10:20 He plays hard. He's competitive.
10:24 Plays with great speed. We have a really good team.
10:28 It's competitive
10:32 at all spots right now. -We talked earlier about TV not going live
10:36 right now but I saw him during that live session. He was off to the side kind of coaching some
10:40 guys. How much has he helped him in that regard working with guys as
10:44 kind of a coach on the floor? -He's been great. He's always got great
10:48 team concepts and team thoughts. The guys all really like him
10:52 and I think that helps tremendously.
10:56 He's one of our higher basketball IQ guys and he
11:00 understands second, third, fourth options.
11:04 I think he takes pride in the fact that he should be
11:08 buddy coaching with the guys and
11:12 we need him to have some vocal leadership as well.
11:16 -Coach, with Jalen Graham and Kai, what have you seen from them
11:20 lately? Is there anything different about them versus last year? -I think
11:24 Jalen Graham's practice habits have improved for sure.
11:28 Kai
11:32 practices hard, competes,
11:36 just working on him embracing
11:40 the team and not getting frustrated.
11:44 I think we've identified a couple areas with both those guys
11:48 to work on and I think they're both working on him.
11:52 Still got to improve in some stuff. Graham, we all know,
11:56 Jalen can really score the ball. It comes down to loose balls
12:00 defensively, physicality. Those
12:04 are the things that will allow him to have an
12:08 expanded role. Then with Kai,
12:12 he's a really underrated passer. As we went back and
12:16 watched a lot of the film, he's a willing
12:20 passer too so he can make the offense go from second side to third side
12:24 back to the fourth side.
12:28 Chandler Lawson's been really good too
12:32 for us because he can make threes. I would say that
12:36 back to the question of is there anybody that... He's
12:40 picked stuff up really, really quickly. One of our
12:44 themes this year is being all in and he's been a guy that's
12:48 been all in. We tell him to talk on defense and yell
12:52 I got ball when he closes out and he does that. I think when you get a
12:56 player that does all that type of stuff it kind of helps them
13:00 move a little bit on the depth chart
13:04 ladder. -He said some guys maybe need to get in better condition. What
13:08 guys are in really good condition? Who are kind of the leaders from a conditioning standpoint?
13:12 -Deebo runs on batteries. He's bionic.
13:16 I'm not really worried about Deebo.
13:20 I just think as
13:24 a whole other than him we got to get in better shape. We really do.
13:28 -Final question. -Wow.
13:32 -You guys' final jumpers were going in a lot during that last session. How different do you think
13:36 things could be with your offense from that standpoint? Just having guys that can convert on those
13:40 opportunities. -We can't be much worse than what we've
13:44 shot in the last three years. I do think we're a better shooting team
13:48 but that still has to happen in a game. There was times in the last
13:52 couple years that we thought we could really shoot it.
13:56 If you need more than one or two
14:00 guys to make shots for you. Obviously in year one Mason
14:04 and Isaiah could really stretch the defense out. Moses did a great job
14:08 stretching the defense out. We need to
14:12 really play as well as you want offensively. We need
14:16 three or four guys at a time to be able to make consistent
14:20 jump shots. I think right now we can shoot. The biggest thing is
14:24 consistency will be a big thing for us.
14:28 Thanks coach. What if I don't move Mike?
14:30 (audience laughing)