John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks are fighting for their lives to get into the NCAA Tournament in March, and have notched another key victory with a big performance against a Vanderbilt team that recently upset the #14 Missouri Tigers. Calipari’s first season at Arkansas has been very rocky, partly due to a slough of injuries that have the legendary coach saying that he has had four completely different teams this season.
Key Players Continue to Go Down for John Calipari’s Arkansas
The Arkansas Razorbacks entered John Calipari’s first season with a lot of promise, due in part to Coach Cal’s reputation of winning and also the immense talent on the roster. Star freshman Boogie Fland was being joined by Kentucky transfers like DJ Wagner and Zvonimir Ivisic, with other notable transfers like Adou Thiero and Johnell Davis also set to arrive. It was a season of immense promise.
Now, in the first week of March, Calipari has had to juggle extended absences by many of these players. Aidoo and Davis both missed short periods early in the season, but as the Razorbacks entered the back half of their schedule, Fland’s season was ended by ligament damage in his thumb. The future NBA Draft pick has not played since January 18th. He was averaging over 15 points per game and almost 6 assists.
On February 22nd, Thiero hyperextended his knee and has not played since. The team’s top scorer, Thiero was stacking up 15.6 points per game and also leading the team in rebounds. Arkansas has moved forward for the last few games without their two primary offensive options.
Calipari has stressed to his team that they need to continue to figure out how to adapt to their ever-changing status quo in order to get to where they want to go.
“We’re a different team than we were two weeks ago, and we gotta figure out how we have to play to win.”
Arkansas Has Had Players Stepping Up To Keep Tournament Hopes Alive
Following Thiero’s injury, the team’s rotation has been shortened to 7 players. Against Texas, the Hogs won a massive game thanks to all five starters going for double-figures in the scoring column. Ivisic led the way with 18 points and 7 rebounds while Wagner, the only starter who has been 100% available this year, had 16 and 5 dimes.
Against Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Davis and Trevon Brazile, who has replaced Thiero in the starting lineup, both went off. Davis scored 21 points, while Brazile had 18 and 14 rebounds. As Aidoo continues to struggle, Brazile’s efforts on the glass were monumental. Calipari has been very appreciative of Brazile’s recent form.
“I’m happy for Trevon, you know, it’s been an up and down road, but I keep telling him, you’ve got stuff that a normal guy doesn’t have; now bring it.”
Calipari’s team will have to win a few games in the SEC Tournament in order to guarantee a place in the Big Dance. Before that, they will close out their regular season with a home game against #25 Mississippi State. Before the win over Vandy, Calipari emphasized that they needed to get at least one of the next two games. Now that they’ve done that, the head coach will be hoping his team can play a little more free and steal another important win against the Bulldogs.
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