FAYETTEVILLE — With so many freshmen expected to contribute to the Arkansas men's basketball team this season, coaches are still in the process of figuring out what works best for everyone on the floor.
For Jordan Smith Jr., the reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year and No. 2 overall prospect in the 2026 class, adjusting to college basketball has been easier because so many of his teammates are going through the same process.
"I feel like it's because you know we're all young," Smith said on Tuesday. "Like we have nine...eight freshman on the team and it's just like we all came from high school so we all learn together and just to ask the same question that we have to talk about in the locker room, talk about it outside of the gym and it just really brought us up together.
"We've just had a lot of fun you know learning and going through the same stuff, you know, failing, winning, good days.. bad days. So, just overall being together as a young group has really made everybody better."
That chemistry Smith speaks of will be important as Calipari continues to experiment with different lineups and offensive sets that fit his team better than what helped his previous team led by Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas.
Changing Things Up
What Arkansas fans watched during the Baha Mar Summer League in the Bahamas may not be exactly the kind of halfcourt offense they will see come Saturday against Gonzaga.
After watching his team during practice, coach John Calipari decided to switch things up a bit by implementing some different looks that fit his personnel better.
"If I'll be trying to play nine or 10 guys, I'm looking around this room, most of you probably don't really know basketball, what would you think I should do if I'm trying to play nine or 10," Calipari said. "Probably press, would you say, then play really fast so they can only play three or four minutes at a time.
"That means you still have to be disciplined. If we block shots, we are really fast. Last year we were really fast. I hate to tell you, this team may be faster."
Playing faster and using a deeper rotation could help Calipari take advantage of his team's athleticism, but the Razorbacks still have to find a way to execute when opponents prevent them from getting out in transition
The Razorbacks already played at one of the fastest paces in the country last season with 75.4 possessions per game, which ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 13 nationally. If that's not enough data, Arkansas finished No. 2 nationally by scoring 90.2 points per game and 18.84 points per game in transition.
Calipari likes what this team can do in transition, but playing at such a frenetic pace comes with risks. Opponents could create scoring opportunities of their own if Arkansas gets careless with the basketball or struggles to get back defensively.
As usual, he'll try to figure things out when No. 15 Gonzaga comes to town on Saturday, Oct. 24 to open exhibition play.
"But the other team is going to say, If you let them get out and run, you're going to score at will," Calipari said. "We're going to have to figure out, get this, how to play in the halfcourt. That's what I changed up yesterday. I wasn't comfortable with what we were trying to do. It didn't fit the players, that stuff.
"Yes, we're athletic, which means we should defend, we should be able to guard. But the best part of it is they'll compete."
Sign up to our free newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google