In what’s becoming a familiar sight in Fayetteville, Arkansas Razorbacks (11-5, 0-3 SEC) head coach John Calipari faced the media following a conference loss. Calipari, after his team’s 71-63 loss to the #8 Florida Gators (15-1, 2-1 SEC), was fired up following his team’s third consecutive loss. In his usual fiery candor, Calipari bluntly told reporters that his Razorback team has to be more intense on the court:
“We got a lot of games left. Step on the gas. Start playing better. Make shots and make your free throws. You don’t have to make them all. Just can’t miss them all.”
Calipari’s comments come after his team struggled to get into any sort of rhythm against Florida. The Razorbacks, despite holding Florida to 39.1% shooting from the floor and 28.6% shooting from three-point range, only hit 30.0% of their own shots and only 3 shots from beyond the three-point arc. Over the course of Arkansas’s three-game losing streak, the Razorbacks have only converted on 20.6% of their three-point attempts. Arkansas has also struggled at the free throw line, making only 65.3% of their free throws over their last three games.
John Calipari Needs More Emotion From His Players
Coach Cal was also critical of his team’s emotion, stating that he could only recall one play in the game where his team showed what he wants to see on the court:
“There was emotion showed in that game on one play. What was it? [DJ Wagner] dunks it, goes to the crowd, goes crazy. Why isn’t that us?”
He continued to say that he believes that his players need to get out of their own heads and come together as a team:
“I think part of it is, if someone doesn’t play well, they can’t get out of their own self’s way. But, you don’t have to play great. You don’t even have to play good, just defend, dive on the floor, talk, be a great teammate, chest bump, get everybody going and you’ll bounce out of that. We haven’t learned that yet.”
Arkansas still has time to right this ship as the team plays together more and gets healthier. With four incoming freshman and five new players arriving from the 2024 transfer portal, this team is still figuring out how to play together. In addition, multiple players have missed time this year due to injury, including seniors Johnell Davis and Jonas Aidoo. Speaking after the game, Aidoo said that it’s up to him and the other veterans on the team to lead by example for the team’s younger players:
“We just got to lead the team. We have the most experience, played a lot of games. We’re just trying to lead by example… so we got to be more vocal.”
Changes Coming For The Arkansas Razorbacks?
Coach Calipari told reporters after the loss to Florida that he may consider changes for the Razorbacks’ rotation moving forward:
“I gotta look and say, Are we playing the right people? Are we playing the right way?”
He continued to say that it’s on him to get this team playing the way it needs to play:
“I got to do a better job… we just got to figure stuff out.”
First Season Blues For Coach Cal
It’s been a season of up-and-downs for John Calipari, a three-time Naismith Coach Of The Year Award winner, in his inaugural season with the Arkansas Razorbacks. Despite an 11-5 record, Arkansas is 0-3 to start SEC conference play and 1-4 against ranked opposition. Their lone win over a team in the AP Top 25 came on December 10 while playing against the Michigan Wolverines in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Arkansas fans are hoping that Calipari can do for them what he did for the likes of Memphis and Kentucky, a pair of programs that Calipari led to six Final Four appearances and ten conference tournament championships. Calipari won a national championship with the Kentucky Wildcats in 2012.
The Arkansas Razorbacks return to action with a trip to play the LSU Tigers on January 14.
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