An identityless Arkansas basketball team is, unsurprisingly, struggling with confidence issues in the midst of a three-game SEC losing streak. Will that force John Calipari to make changes to his lineup?
In their 71-63 loss to No. 8 Florida on Saturday, starting guards DJ Wagner, Boogie Fland and Karter Knox combined to shoot 8-of-31 (25.8%) from the field. In SEC play alone, those three are a startling 31.9% on field goal attempts.
It's a big reason why Arkansas, now 11-5 overall, is averaging a lowly 60.3 points in league play.
"I think part of it is, if someone doesn’t play well, they can’t get out of their own self’s way," Calipari said after the game Saturday. "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."
Calipari's offseason roster-building tactics — landing nine clear-cut contributors and four non-playing development pieces — came under fire from outsiders and fans alike, and now an expansion of playing time may be on the horizon for some near the bottom of the rotation.
"Do I got to play some different people? Probably," Calipari said. "Maybe that big lineup is the answer for us for a while. You’ll say, ‘well, you won’t shoot it as well’. We ain’t shooting it well right now. So, let’s, you know, we just got to figure stuff out."
Believed to be a lineup mainstay in the preseason and now finally healthy, center Jonas Aidoo expressed a different outlook on the Razorbacks' confidence.
"We have the confidence," Aidoo said after the game Saturday. "I feel like we have to have more fight throughout these games. Every game is going to be hard. We always talk about this conference is going to be hard. We got to fight for the whole 40. We need every single individual on this team to come together and play together."
Juxtaposed to Aidoo is guard Johnell Davis, who has been underwhelming through 13 games. His 4-of-21 (19.0%) shooting statline in SEC play has left a lot to be desired, and could be the result of compounding wrist issues and scoring struggles.
"(Johnell is) trying to be a leader," Aidoo said. "He called me the other day talking about me and him. 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. He’s trying to do something out of his comfort zone and out of my comfort zone too because usually we weren’t really the leaders. We just lead by example, so we got to be more vocal."
Calipari, who has coached his fair share of players struggling with the mental side of the game during his career, needs to figure out the right combination of Razorbacks ahead of a two-game road stretch.
"Free throws, open shots, most of that stuff's mentality," Calipari said. "We can talk and go and, you know, we grew up. We didn't have this social media barrage that these guys have. There's a lot of stuff coming at them, from around them. I've just got to hold them accountable, let them know what's acceptable and what's not, and keep building them up. But you got to go in the game and perform. That's your job to get in the game and perform. Your job is to perform. My job is to coach."
Up next, Arkansas will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to face the LSU Tigers. That game will tip off at 8 p.m. CT and it will air on SEC Network.
