Arkansas wrapped up its European tour Monday, defeating the Bakken Bears 70-59 to go undefeated in Spain and Italy.
While it is only August and there are still months until the regular season starts, the four-game sample size provided some insight into the uber-talented Razorback team. Here are my takeaways:
Turnovers
With such a young backcourt, it might have been expected this team would struggle at times with turnovers. The first game, a blowout victory over Valencia Seleccion, 108-59, the Razorbacks only turned the ball over 13 times. From there, it got much, much worse.
In the final three games, the Razorbacks turned the ball over 23, 20, and a massive 30 times, leading to a four-game average of 21.5 turnovers per game.
To the team’s credit, over the four games there were several travel calls that would likely not be called in American college basketball. Even considering that, though, the 21.5 turnovers is unacceptable, and head coach Eric Musselman said he is concerned.
“The turnovers are ridiculous,” Musselman said. “Words can’t describe how concerned I am about our turnovers.”
For reference, the Razorbacks averaged 12.2 turnovers per game last season on their way to a second straight Elite Eight appearance.
Three-point shooting
The second area that concerned Musselman enough to address was three-point shooting, and anytime the head coach brings something up it’s noteworthy.
“Our three point shooting’s got to improve,” Musselman said. “I didn’t think it could match last year, but it kind of is.”
Using the four European games as a sample size, the Razorbacks shot 16-of-54 from beyond the arc, good enough for 29.6%. Arkansas shot just 30.4% last year. The difference, though, is the number of attempts and quality of shots.
Those 54 attempts over four games track at an average of 13.5 three-point attempts per game. Last season, the Razorbacks shot 20.7 attempts per game. This is noteworthy because the team hasn’t really taken any bad shots from the perimeter - they just aren’t falling. That’s something that can develop and come along, especially when looking at some of the players’ shot mechanics.
Guys like Anthony Black, Jordan Walsh, and Trevon Brazile might not have shot a great percentage from outside in Europe, but they didn’t take any bad shots from the perimeter and have good enough mechanics to think it’s just a matter of even more reps in practice and game situations.
Smith, Black as good as advertised
Arkansas signed a trio of McDonald’s All-Americans in the 2022 recruiting class, and with those three came lofty expectations. Those expectations haven’t just been for team success because of the amount of talent on the roster, but the individual production from these freshmen. Nick Smith Jr. and Anthony Black have proven through exhibition games that they’re as good as advertised.
In four games, Smith totaled 59 points on 24-of-49 from the field and 9-23 from three. He also went 2-of-3 from the free throw line and added 7 rebounds, 12 assists, 8 steals, and committed 12 turnovers. That put him with a final average stat line of 14.8 points, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.8 rebounds per game, but even that is somewhat misleading.
Smith only played sparingly in the final game Monday due to a grade one knee sprain, but Musselman said he should be fine. When looking at just the first three games, the freshman’s averages jump to 18.0 points per game, 3.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 2.0 rebounds on 52.4% from the field and 42.1% from three.
Anthony Black also proved himself early, albeit in a different way than Smith. While Smith was scoring at an incredible clip, Black stuffed the stat sheets across the board. He totaled 25 points, 16 rebounds, 16 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks, and committed 8 turnovers. He also shot 12-29 from the field and 1-4 from three.
Black’s per game averages were 6.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks on 41.4% from the field and 25% from three. One of the most impressive stats for the freshman had to be that he finished with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Defense
Musselman also mentioned defense being a concern of his, but the concern was largely squashed after the final game on Monday. The length and athleticism of this Arkansas team is instantly noticeable when they walk on the court.
With so much length, talent, and athleticism, defense should be one of the last things on a coach’s worry list, but that hasn’t been the case, namely because of the Razorbacks being so athletic that they overplayed, over rotated, and overcommitted on defense.
The head coach was more than pleased with the performance Monday, calling it “phenomenal,” after holding the Bears to just three points through most of the first quarter and forcing 27 turnovers on the game.
In four games, Arkansas averaged 14.3 steals and 4.8 blocks per game, both higher than last year’s team. As long as the Razorbacks remain disciplined and continue to buy in to the system on the defensive end of the floor, this team could be the best defending team Arkansas has seen in quite some time.
Frontcourt Depth
While the backcourt impressed with the freshmen and guys like Davonte Davis and Ricky Council IV playing at a high level, the frontcourt wasn’t quite as impressive.
Missouri transfer Trevon Brazile shined, as he managed to shoot 28-30 (93.3%) on two-point field goal attempts and looked like a natural in Musselman’s system. He ran the floor well, played above the rim, stretched the floor, and utilized his athleticism wonderfully.
Elder statesman Kamani Johnson proved he can be productive, demonstrating some quality low-post scoring and an elite work ethic and determination to secure rebounds. Outside of those two, there was limited production from the frontcourt.
The Mitchell twins didn’t play a ton of minutes in Europe, though while they were in the games they managed to record some modest stats. Both are definitely skilled, but might still need the extra couple months working in the system before the regular season begins for their full potential is unlocked with this team.
Arizona State transfer Jalen Graham is in a similar situation. While he wasn’t given a ton of opportunity, he didn’t capitalize off his time on the court. The highlight of his trip was scoring eight points and securing nine rebounds in the first matchup against Valencia Seleccion, but he never quite made that level of impact afterwards.
