HawgBeat - Musselman, players preview Stanford
Arkansas basketball HC Eric Musselman and players gave a preview of the Hogs' matchup with Stanford on Wednesday.
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The chaos of the NCAA Tournament is still months away, but the No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1) will get a taste of the madness when they face off against the Stanford Cardinal (3-1) on Wednesday in the first of three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament.
Hailing from the Pac-12, Stanford has already beaten CSUN, Sacramento State and Eastern Washington to begin the season, with its lone loss coming to Santa Clara.
Coming off an ugly 78-72 loss to UNC Greensboro, Arkansas will see a significant uptick in difficulty against Stanford, which ranks 64th in the country according to Kenpom.
"I feel like we understand that game was a tough one," Arkansas guard Davonte Davis said Tuesday. "But we have to put it behind us. We’ve got a game tomorrow and I feel that if we focus on that and try to, like I said, make sure we know our personnel and things like that and our scouting reports. Focus on the Stanford game, I think, and make sure that that game was behind us and we know that we’ve got to get better from it."
Eighth-year head coach Jerod Haase is a familiar face to Arkansas' Eric Musselman, as the two faced off against each other in a closed scrimmage when Musselman was at Nevada.
"They do a great job of knowing when to slip screens," Musselman said. "They do a great job in their pindown/DHO game now, have a lot of shooters, have a lot of experience on their roster. They have some All-League guys who are either former All-League guys or will be All-League guys."
Stanford has a potent offense, as it's only scored less than 88 points one time (77 - Santa Clara). Led by 6-foot-7 guard Andrej Stojakovic, 6-foot-5 guard Michael Jones and 7-foot-1 forward Maxime Raynaud, the Cardinal have the length and size to succeed against a team like Arkansas.
Cardinal guard Jared Bynum may not have elite size at 5-foot-10, but the point guard averages roughly 8.3 assists per game and is a dynamic playmaker for Stanford that'll command elite defense from the Razorbacks.
"We just got to come out and make sure we’re ready to play," Arkansas guard Tramon Mark said. "Make sure we’re ready to play hard on defense. I feel like that’s where it all starts for us, on the defensive side of the ball. As long as we come out ready to play I think we’ll do a good job."
Son of former professional basketball player Peja Stojakovic, Andrej is currently averaging 13.3 points per game and shooting 42.9% from beyond the arch. He'll be a point of emphasis for an Arkansas team that ranks 288th in the country in three-point defense (36.2%).
"With Stojakovic, I think it’s really unfair to compare father and son," Musselman said. "It’s a natural thing to do, for sure, but I hope nobody compares me to my dad. I hope nobody compares my sons to me. I think that these guys, they all work so hard to be great players, and Peja was incredible, and his son is an incredible offensive player when you look at he can basket cut.
"He can dribble-drive. He can shoot the three. Playing with a lot of confidence in a really short sample size. It’s one thing for a freshman to have great numbers in games 13 through 18, but he’s come out first four games and proven scorer. He’s seized the opportunity when other guys have been out."
Somewhat similar in stature to Purdue's Zach Edey, Raynaud will be a daunting task for the Hogs to defend. Currently averaging 19.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, Arkansas will need to draw from its experience from the exhibition against the Boilermakers to have success in this matchup.
"I think 42 (Raynaud), just the fact that he’s got a face-up game," Musselman said. "He can make threes. Really good on the pin-down, DHO as the roll man. He’s got a quick release on his jump hook. He can shoot a jump hook over left shoulder, right shoulder.
"They’ll go high-low with him as well, so I think there’s a lot of things that he does really well. He’s got soft hands. He runs the floor offensively very hard, so there’s a lot of things that make him special."
Arkansas and Stanford will face off on Wednesday at Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The game is set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
