Arkansas basketball dealing with health and...

Arkansas basketball dealing with health and personnel issues

Will the Razorbacks recover in time to play Kentucky? If they can get their roster in line, can this team even defeat Kentucky?

Ole Miss thrashed Arkansas 77-51 on Wednesday night in Oxford. Even though Tramon Mark, the Razorbacks’ best player, did not make the

trip, and Trevon Brazile, their second-best player, was out for the whole second half, the team would still probably have lost this one even if

he had been fully healthy.

Mark, who is averaging 17.8 points per game for the Hogs this season, missed practice on Monday and Tuesday due to a migraine headache.

He scored 18 points in the 77-64 defeat to South Carolina and 35 points in the 78-77 victory over Texas A&M. Brazile, who averages 8.9

points and 6.5 rebounds a game, has been experiencing pain in the knee that required surgery to repair after an ACL tear a year ago.

Musselman played 12 minutes or more with at least ten different players in an attempt to locate someone who would step up.

T-Mark skipped practice on both Monday and Tuesday. clearly has a headache. I’m not a medical professional. That’s what it is; he has a

“Hopefully, I’ve had enough experience coaching and know that injuries are a natural part of the sport. As I previously stated, an injury

gives a different athlete a chance that he may have felt he deserved or desired.”‘Next man up’ approach is required. There’s no other way I

can put it other than that injuries are a part of what occurs. While Justin Smith missed five games due to injury, other players had the

chance to play.

“We had trouble when Justin wasn’t around. Even though we had trouble winning a crucial game versus TCU while Isaiah Joe was out,

several guys came up to fill in for him. That’s a component of it. The previous year, TB was out for an entire season and we had other guys

get the minutes that TB would’ve played last year.”

On Saturday in Bud Walton Arena, the Razorbacks take on the No. 6-ranked Kentucky Wildcats (14-4, 4-2 SEC). Arkansas (10-9, 1-5 SEC)

may not have had a chance to begin with, but without Brazile or Mark, they most definitely don’t have one.

“With Brazile’s knee, he’s had soreness since Monday’s live practice and just wasn’t able to go in the second half,” Musselman stated. Since

I’m not a doctor, I will say that it’s soreness for the time being. Do you understand what I mean?

“You should return home if there is any discomfort because our team doctor is not with us at that moment. Our trainer is excellent. Since

he’s been with us, our trainer, Matt Townsend, has been outstanding. He’s typically spot-on with all the evaluations, so unless I hear

otherwise, this is what he says is discomfort. Thus, you should also let the doctor examine you for things like rehab and similar issues.”

Furthermore, with 9:42 left in the game, Khalif Battle appeared to have injured his knee, but he was back on the field with 4:08 left.

Davonte Davis played eight minutes in the first half and was not used at all by Musselman in the second half. Davis was in good health.

“I think injuries allow other people to try to step up and garner more minutes, so other guys got opportunities tonight,” he stated. Every

team experiences injuries, and every club rotates players in and out of the starting lineup. It made it possible for others to play. After that,

you watch the movie again and attempt to analyze the players’ extra minutes.”

Even though the Razorbacks were lacking a few major players, it’s arguably more crucial to focus on who they are now without. After

playing with the Hogs the previous season, Anthony Black (Orlando Magic), Nick Smith Jr. (Charlotte Hornets), Jordan Walsh (Boston

Celtics), and Ricky Council IV (Philadelphia 76ers) have all participated in NBA competition this season.

“Right now, we’re a team that we lost four guys that have played in an NBA game this year,” Musselman stated. “As we watch everything

unfold in front of us, that’s a lot to replace right now. Few collegiate basketball teams can boast of having four players who go on to play in

the NBA. We’re obviously having trouble on both sides of the ball right now, so you try to see what you can do.”