Did Musselman, Davis Intentionally Create Teachable Opportunity?

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Lost in the excitement of the overtime exhibition win over No. 3 Purdue is something that stood out as excessively odd.

Very early in the fray, almost as soon as the game started, Davonte Davis fouled Ethan Morton on the three-point line. If anyone else on the team had done it, the reaction would have been different. The thought would have been "Aw, man. Watch this. Muss is about to plant this guy on the bench so fast his backside may catch fire on the way over."

But Davis may be the most educated player of the Eric Musselman way the Razorback coach will ever have. He's too well conditioned and too elite of a defender to make such a rookie mistake, especially knowing how Musselman handles a player drawing his second foul in the first half. Neither will admit it on the record, or possibly even off, but there's a better than zero chance that was a coordinated moment. If not, they should say it is anyway because it comes off as good coaching. 

It was the first game of the year to allow Musselman to see what his new players really have against elite talent. Add in a need to establish with the newcomers that no one is above the hard and fast rules the Razorbacks play by, one of which is the red line that is fouling an opponent in the act of shooting a three, and there's perfect motive to orchestrate a teachable moment.

The players respect Davis. They know he's the man on this team and the closest thing playing on the court Musselman has to a son. Yanking him out of the game after such an unacceptable mistake made sure everyone understood they're not above the Laws of Muss no matter the talent or relationship.

Had the foul occurred last season, there would have been no doubt it was just an absent-minded error by Davis. He was relied upon to be a coach on the floor too much, even in exhibition games, moving guys like Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh around on the floor to the right positions. 

However, this is a veteran team, even if a big chunk of them are rookies when it comes to Arkansas basketball. On top of that, Musselman has spent the last several months working out a long list of bad habits several of the transfers brought with them as baggage. Nothing brings out old habits like the high energy of a crowd in a high level competitive environment, so instead of having Davis in there possibly covering them up, he parked the Razorbacks' emotional leader on the bench for the next 15 minutes of the half.

What he got to see was a mixed bag. There were moments where guys, including freshman Layden Blocker, calmly did the right things and made plays. Then again, there's plenty of film of players being impatient with the ball, running down and jacking it up without so much as thinking about a teammate, or running into the trees without a secondary plan for what to do or where someone might be in the event the defense stepped up.

Musselman knows what he has in Davis, and it was on display right down to diving for a loose ball in a game that doesn't even go on the record and basically knocking himself unconscious. But the value gained by seeing El Ellis, Tramon Mark and even Trevon Brazile, who many forget has no SEC or NCAA Tournament experience under Musselman, show how much they have internalized how Musselman wants things done is far more priceless than even the experience of playing a Top 5 opponent in front of a sold out house as the first taste of Razorback basketball was for those new to the team.

The Arkansas staff learned more about this group the final 15 minutes of that first half than it may learn in any of its home games leading up to a showdown with Duke at the end of this month. There are also a lot of lessons to be pulled from this game, the first of which was already delivered five minutes in by one of the better leaders this program has ever had.

The only question is whether he was taking one for the team. And that's something may never know.