After completing what Coach Eric Musselman called his team’s best 80 minutes of SEC ball this year (a heartbreaking six-point loss to the high-scoring and highly ranked Kentucky Wildcats at home, followed by a seven-point road win over the lowly Missouri Tigers last Wednesday night) the Arkansas Razorbacks seemed poised to make a much needed run.
But despite the fact that Saturday was the day after Groundhog Day, Coach Muss and company continued stinking up gymnasiums across the Southeast like it was still January, falling again by double digits – this time 21 – to an average-at-best LSU team in the always-dated-and-usually-half-empty Maravich Assembly Center.
One would assume that a sports-crazy town like Baton Rouge, known for its lubed up, rowdy and faithful LSU fans, would get 100% behind their Tiger basketball team; yet the polar opposite is true. Those same fans who rise early in the morn to get their drink on for an 11 a.m. gridiron game, were noticeably absent Saturday morn but apparently not missed.
The arena is a dump and not doing any favors to Pistol Pete’s legacy. Never mind he’s the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, netting 3,667 points while playing only three seasons at LSU (1967-70) and decades before the NCAA adopted a 3-point shot. His 44.2 points/game is a monstrous 19 points higher than his closest competitor – Antoine Davis – managed to put up per game in his four years at Detroit Mercy University (2019-2023), many which were 3-pointers.
Maravich, not just a scorer, was a wizard dribbling and distributing the ball. Dude was way ahead of his time, as the NBA Pistol played in was painfully slow and deliberate, barely resembling the high-flying, professional game of the 21st century. No telling how many points he woulda racked up nightly had he been born 50 years later. Think Steph Curry only paler.
Pistol Pete ain’t ever walking through Bud Walton Arena’s door. Matter of fact, there are more tales of the opposite kind these daze, as Devo Davis, the only fifth-year Razorback and the final remaining piece of Muss’s maiden recruiting class, has “stepped away from the team;” while potential superstar, Trevon Brazille, who suffers from a sore knee, continues to unimpress when he does feel up to snuff.
Then there is Tramon Mark, the one consistently bright spot on the team, who steadily leads the Hogs in scoring and effort, despite suffering from crippling migraine headaches. The transfer from Houston proves night after night that he is tougher than a two-dollar steak. No doubt, Musselman needs others to inherit and exhibit his game-time tenacity.
Please don’t ask me what’s going on, cuz I am as confused as the next person and am trying my damndest to stay positive. There are, however, plenty of rumors flying around Fayettenam to get behind, if you’re so inclined.
But let’s put down the Kool Aid for the time being, and not fret, not just yet anyway. There is still loads of talent on this team and ample games left to secure a March Madness bid. But not playing the way they did against LSU – undisciplined on both ends of the floor, lacking any cohesion and missing free throws like every other one were contested.
Everyone, save Mark and Layden Blocker, looks to shoot first and then pass, maybe. Great teams play unselfishly and usually win cuz of it. Musselman knows this and is probably suffering from his own barrage of intense headaches, having to watch the Hogs play this uninspired form of greedy basketball. He and his staff count the total number of passes thrown every game by each team, so we know it’s a priority. Just not a reality.
Not quite yet.