What concerns Musselman as 2020-21 season approaches

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FAYETTEVILLE — Going into last season, Eric Musselman knew rebounding would be a struggle for his team.

With no eligible players taller than 6-foot-8, the then first-year coach even joked with media that worries about who would get rebounds for his team kept him up at all hours of the night.

Those concerns proved to be valid. Arkansas held its own on the defensive glass during non-conference play, but struggled on both ends of the court when SEC play started.

By the end of the season, the Razorbacks were out-rebounded by an average of 6.8. Not only did that rebound margin rank dead last in the SEC (well behind Vanderbilt’s minus-3.7), but it was also 344th out of 353 Division I teams.

“There were a lot of nights that you’re not going to really sleep well when you’re in the 300s of any category,” Musselman said. “And last year for us, it was the rebounding.”

Fixing that was a point of emphasis in Musselman’s second offseason with the Razorbacks and he seems to have done just that.

After playing last season with only four eligible scholarship players who were 6-foot-6 or taller, Arkansas has double that number for 2020-21.

Connor Vanover (7-3) and Abayomi Iyiola (6-9) are eligible after sitting out last season because of NCAA transfer rules, Moses Moody (6-6) and Jaylin Williams (6-10) were part of the 2020 signing class, and then the Razorbacks brought in Jalen Tate (6-6), Justin Smith (6-7) and Vance Jackson (6-9) as graduate transfers. They join Ethan Henderson (6-8), who returns for his junior season.

Iyiola is expected to miss the season with a torn ACL, but Arkansas should have plenty of players capable of rebounding. Musselman even mentioned 6-foot-3 freshman Davonte Davis as someone who has shown an ability to chase down long rebounds.

“I think Smith can really rebound at the three spot,” Musselman said. “Obviously, Connor with his size gives us rebounding at that five spot. Jaylin Williams has done a good job rebounding the basketball. Moses Moody at his position is a good rebounder.

“So I think from a roster standpoint, when you look at one through five, we are a better rebounding team than last year, which certainly we need to be.”

At least on paper, rebounding shouldn’t keep Musselman up at night this season, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have any sleepless nights.

Now the question shifts to whether or not the Razorbacks have a go-to player they can lean on during the season.

“I think we have more balance, but who steps up when my plays break down and they’re terrible play diagrams - which there’s a lot of those - then it comes down to who can go break people off the bounce,” Musselman said. “We’re trying to figure out who is that guy when we try to put something down on paper and it doesn’t work, who can go make miraculous plays when we need them?”

Last season, Arkansas had two of those players in Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe. Both of them were capable of scoring 30 points on any given night.

Jones led the SEC in scoring at 22.0 points per game, aided in part by his ability to get to the free throw line - and make most of them - better than anyone else in the country. Joe finished seventh in the conference at 16.9 points per game and was one of the most prolific three-point shooters in school history.

“The players that make coaches look good are the guys that can do stuff on their own and certainly Mason did that as well as anyone in the country,” Musselman said. “We’re going to miss that certainly from Mason and then Isaiah taking two steps across half court and having the ability to knock down a three ball or having that threat. Those are things that are just kind of evolving for us.”

The Razorbacks thought they’d get Joe back for his junior season, especially when he pulled his name out of the NBA Draft ahead of the college deadline, but he reentered a week later because of the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Throw in Jimmy Whitt Jr. graduating and Jones also declaring early for the NBA Draft, Arkansas now must replace its top three scorers from last season.

Whether it’s one of the touted freshman, a graduate transfer or even returner Desi Sills, Musselman is still waiting for someone to emerge as THE guy for 2020-21 as the team begins a three-week training camp with the first official practice Wednesday.

“Even the opening game, we knew that Mason and Isaiah had that star quality of getting shots when we needed them,” Musselman said. “They were our go-to players. Our opponents knew it, all of you in the media knew who we were going to go to and who those guys were for us. We’re still trying to figure that out.”