John Calipari demands more emotion from Arkansas basketball after another SEC loss to Florida

Posted by Admin January 12, 2025 Basketball

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FAYETTEVILLE — D.J. Wagner flexed toward the bench, then turned toward the Arkansas basketball crowd. His left-handed dunk over Alex Condon sent Bud Walton Arena into a frenzied state, trimming the Razorbacks‘ deficit against No. 8 Florida to just three points with 6:09 remaining.

That moment proved to be fleeting. The Gators grabbed an offensive rebound, and Walter Clayton Jr. drained a 3-pointer on the next possession. In total, Florida (15-1, 2-1 SEC) responded to Wagner’s dunk with a 7-0 run that killed off the Razorbacks (11-5, 0-3) in a 71-63 defeat that marks the third-straight loss by Arkansas to open up the conference slate.

The Hogs were atrocious on offense Saturday, shooting 30% from the field and 3 for 16 from behind-the-arc. Arkansas scored 24 points on free throws, but it also missed 11 chances from the charity stripe.

John Calipari knows the offensive issues need fixing, but after the game, he seemed more desperate for sensation that Wagner provided rather than better 3-point shooting from his players.

“He dunks it, goes to the crowd, goes crazy. Why isn’t that us? Why aren’t you absolutely excited about playing? I think part of it is, if someone doesn’t play well, they can’t get out of their own self’s way. But, you don’t have to play great,” Calipari said.

“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.”

Arkansas is still learning about itself. The Hogs are trying to come together on the fly after being limited to five players throughout preseason practices. Calipari continues to lament his team’s inability to scrimmage because of all the missing pieces.

Jonas Aidoo said after the Florida game that he and Johnell Davis, the only two seniors in the rotation, are still learning how to be better leaders for this team.

In their previous stops at Florida Atlantic and Tennessee, Daivs and Aidoo led by example. That’s not enough for a young team that is missing a reliable voice to turn toward when difficult situations arrive.

“We got to be more vocal,” Aidoo said.

Arkansas finds itself in plenty of adversity, now winless in what could be considered the deepest conference in the history of the sport.

There are no obvious solutions for the middling offense, with the Razorbacks shooting 34.8% overall and 20.5% on 3-pointers. Freshman Boogie Fland has cooled down and once again struggled against Florida, going 4 for 13 from the field. Davis, who was regarded as one of the best transfers in America this offseason, scored zero points for the second time in three games. Adou Thiero continued to be a bright spot with 17 points, but he fought through foul trouble in the first half.

Calipari wouldn’t rule out some confidence issues plaguing his team. Arkansas continues to miss open shots, and the Hogs miraculously went 2 for 16 on layups Saturday. Even the easy stuff feels like an uphill climb.

Caliapri suggested he might play a bigger, worse-shooting lineup with Aidoo and Trevon Brazile more minutes moving forward just to provide a spark.

“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,” Calipari said.

He and the players will continue to search for the right buttons. The first one that needs to be pressed is an instant influx of emotion.