Lack of consistent rotation a concern for Hogs
It wasn't pretty, but the Arkansas Razorbacks (7-4) escaped Simmons Bank Arena with an all-too-close 69-66 victory over the Lipscomb Bisons Saturday night in Little Rock.
Heading into the matchup, head coach Eric Musselman planned on tinkering with the rotation after an ugly 79-70 loss to Oklahoma on Dec. 9.
"There's five guys who will play with the personality we want," Musselman said on Wednesday. "We're just trying to find who those five are. There will be five. I don't know when it will be, and I don't know if it equates to a win, but we're not going to play defense like we have of late."
Arkansas trotted out an interesting starting lineup against the Bisons, which consisted of Davonte Davis, Joseph Pinion, Jeremiah Davenport, Trevon Brazile and Chandler Lawson.
Those five didn't last very long, though, as Pinion and Lawson combined for about 9:57 minutes of game action. The starting lineup as a whole scored just 23 points.
"Well, normally people are telling us we need to play more," Musselman said after the game. "Now we're playing more and we're getting asked questions should we play less. We're trying to figure out who we are. Plain and simple. We're trying to figure out who we can rely on on a nightly basis."
Of course, it's hard to figure out who you are as a team when a new player enters the fold. Washington transfer guard Keyon Menifield was granted an eligibility waiver Friday and saw his first playing time of the season against Lipscomb.
"Who plays with consistency?" Musselman said. "Who can react to loose balls? Who can defensive rebound? Who can keep the ball in front of them? There's a lot of things we are searching for (in the roation)."
Menifield ended up finishing the game with just two points but had three rebounds and two assists in 18:52 of game time. As a result, guard El Ellis took a backseat and didn't notch a single point in his 57 seconds of playing time.
Musselman said he thinks he has a better idea of the rotation going forward as the Razorbacks head into the home stretch of non-conference play, which is crucial after a night in which 13 total Hogs saw the court.
"You can play really hard, but if you’re not productive, probably can’t," Musselman said. "Yes, we do. Yep. I have a better feel now than I did, so that’s what you roll with. You roll with what you see and what you feel and what personalities fit. That’s how we’ll go."
Arkansas will have a shot to get the rotations issues fixed when it plays Abilene Christian inside Bud Walton Arena on Thursday. The game is set to tip off at 6:00 p.m. CT and will broadcast on the SEC Network.