What has happened to the Muss Bus?

Hint: It ain't good, and it can be traced to one end of the floor for the Razorbacks

Let me peel back the curtain and show you how the sausage is made. I woke up early on Saturday morning and made myself a piping hot cup of Café Bustelo while my family continued to sleep. I was in a good mood, excited about the Arkansas Razorbacks opening conference play against Auburn later in the day, and confident that Eric Musselman still had some tricks up his sleeve for this team.

I’ve been impressed with Arkansas’s improvements from three-point range this year, with an increased volume and percentage. I did some historical research on how Final Four teams have shot from long range and found some interesting correlations for the Hogs.

So I wrote a whole article about that. It’s done. It’s edited. I even came up with one of those fun little extended metaphors I like to use as framing devices. Punch it up with a few jokes where I can and hit schedule. That’s basically the process.

So now that you know what’s in The Pig Sty hot dog, I have to tell you that I cannot, in good conscience, publish that article this morning. For starters, Arkansas shot just 29 percent from three against Auburn. Additionally, the article specifically praised Khalif Battle, Trevon Brazile, and Tramon Mark, who went a combined 2-9 (22 percent) from deep against the Tigers.

But I also can’t publish it because we have to address a much more timely, glaring issue.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are a terrible defensive team

We can talk about what the Razorbacks need to do on offense (and I have plenty in both blogs and podcasts), but it won’t matter a lick if the Razorbacks don’t fix some of the defensive woes that are plaguing this team right now. Opposing offensives pour in points against Musselman’s dudes like the first squeeze out of an aggressive ketchup bottle—just blobs and blobs of buckets.

Arkansas has already given up at least 75 points ten times through 14 games this season. That is uncharacteristic for teams during Musselman’s time here at Arkansas. Here’s how many times they’ve allowed opposing teams to score at least 75 points throughout entire regular seasons previously:

• 19-20: 14 times

• 20-21: 11 times

• 21-22: 7 times

• 22-23: 7 times

This doesn’t feel like a Musselman-coached team, as we have come to know them. The defensive identity just isn’t there. If counting stats like the ones above aren’t your particular brand of sauerkraut, then maybe some advanced metrics will top that dog.

Arkansas has ranked 57th, 10th, 11th, and 17th in KenPom’s Adjusted Defensive Efficiency Rating in each of Musselman’s years with the Hogs. This year, through 14 games, Arkansas is 93rd. That won’t cut it for an “improved offensive team” that is still only 68th nationally in offensive ratings.

Musselman has never been the offensive guru coach here, though. He relies on talented isolation scorers to go get their buckets by attacking the rim. That lack of offensive innovation hasn’t mattered with the defensive intensity his teams competed with every game. That missing defensive identity is what is frustrating about this year’s Hogs.

Arkansas still has plenty of opportunities to turn things around this season, but there must be some drastic defensive changes.