Arkansas coach Eric Musselman wants to make sure his team is having fun even though it has to play No. 1 Gonzaga tonight. (SEC Photo)
Arkansas, the only Southeastern Conference team left in the NCAA Tournament field, takes on No. 1 Gonzaga tonight in the NCAA West Region in San Francisco. Wednesday was media day for both teams and it was interesting to hear Arkansas coach Eric Musselman’s answer to how most coaches approach a situation like this as a business trip but he was talking about having fun and taking his players to see various places.
“I do it based on experience. If anybody thinks that they sit up here and say it’s a business trip and that they think they’re preparing more than us, watching more film than us, or having more intense practice sessions than us, then they’re fooling themselves,” Musselman said.
“Nobody prepares harder than what we do. More importantly, than our players do. You could quiz them on anything, and they know every opponent inside-out. They know every option offensively that a team is going to run. It doesn’t mean that we can stop them.”
But here comes the interesting part compared to Kentucky’s loss to Saint Peter’s when UK coach John Calipari said his players felt too “anxious” and didn’t handle the NCAA pressure.
“Through experience (coaching) at Nevada, I thought I put way too much pressure on our team the last year. I look back at it. I regret it. We didn’t celebrate wins. We were ranked in the top 10 for 17 straight weeks. We got to the NCAA Tournament and played Florida, and I thought that was one of the most regrettable years I’ve ever had,” Musselman said.
“I wish we would have had more fun. I wish we would have embraced being in the tournament. My wife reminds me all the time because I would come home after wins and be miserable because we only won by 10 points, and our fans thought we should have won by 15.
“This team has had an incredible year, so we are going to celebrate. We are going to make it a business trip as well, but while we’re doing it, we’re going to make it enjoyable as well. Again, just based off experience.”
2 Responses
Coach Musselman, you have got it all wrong. Being a college coach isn’t about winning; it’s about getting selfish, entitled, ungrateful kids into the NBA. If you don’t believe me, just ask John Calipari and he is being paid $9 million dollars a year to do it! He does not answer to the University of KY, the University of KY cowers down to him. He constantly disrespects the fans of BBN with his lies and excuses for losing; but is very vocal in proclaiming that his only concern is getting kids into the NBA. If you want to be a Hall of Fame coach, all you have to do is betray your employer and not give a shit about the fans. That is what John Calipari has done and continues to do and the University of Kentucky is afraid to fire his ass because of what the rest of the college basketball world thinks about him. John Calipari is the secret weapon that UK haters have been waiting for. He is single handedly destroying everything that the University of Kentucky USED to stand for. The UK haters hope Calipari stays there for another 13 years. He will turn the University of Kentucky into another Indiana University before it’s all done. F_ck John Calipari for doing it and F_ck the University of Kentucky for letting him do it.
I wish I could disagree with you but sadly I can’t. Kentucky is a puppy mill. I have not watched a game since they got beat by Wisconsin. I hate learning a new team every year. So I stopped. I watch every football game I can. Stoops does shit the right way. I hate what our basketball program has become. I mean who beats the hell out of Kansas in Lawrence, but gets beat by Tennessee or St. Peter’s or who ever.