2. Sharing is caring
Outside of Arkansas, the major critique of the perceived fall off of the John Calipari brand of basketball has been offensive inefficiency. More specifically, fans in Kentucky began to believe Calipari's coaching style was geared towards getting players into the NBA rather than into the Final Four.
The NBA style of play favors dynamic playmakers that breakdown an entire defense. When they have trouble going one-on-five, they rely on a secondary cast of role players to catch lobs, hit open three pointers or blow the whistle for a trip to the free throw line. Musselman and Calipari shared a similar offensive philosophy thanks to their NBA backgrounds and their NBA alumni owe much of their careers to it.
At the college level however, opposing coaches seem to have found old fashioned antidotes to hero ball in recent years. Zone defenses are still a thing at the college level after all. And in the SEC where football bodies and style of play flows from the gridiron onto the hardwood, rugged defenses still reign supreme and outside shooting is at a premium.
Hopeful that young players can look at Russ’ ball dominance and mass-fire mentality to understand that it just doesn’t translate to winning. That team was hard to watch! #HeroBall #MyTurn pic.twitter.com/WjzQfuI0Mk
— Bob Ludwig (@CoachLudwig) April 28, 2018
Wagoner, Davis and freshman Boogie Fland all have NBA aspirations and all fit the mold of ball-dominant guards who partial to captain-save-a-game heroics. Throw in the emergence of Theiro, who has most consistently worn the cape for these Razorbacks so far, there doesn't appear to be enough balls to go around.
Unless Cal can work some magic and teach this team how to share and share alike, having enough players won't be as much of a problem as having enough balls. No diddy.