FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Eric Musselman is a numbers guy.
It isn’t much of a secret. On a consistent basis throughout the course of a season he dives into analytics in search of solutions for the Razorbacks and as part of game prep for each of Arkansas’ opponents.
Ahead of his fourth season leading the Razorbacks, he is sifting through more figures and data than in any other preseason. It is all Arkansas-centric information straight from the team’s practices and exhibitions, and it is computed in-house.
“We’re charting everything, and it’s giving us what I think is a really fair evaluation,” Musselman said Tuesday. “We’ve taken more stats this year than any other offseason. When we do 5-on-0 drills, we’re charting shots. When we go live, we’re taking full stats.
More from WholeHogSports: Musselman, players update practices and preview Red-White game on Sunday
“It’s just some things we haven’t really done this detailed in the past.”
Essentially everything the Razorbacks have done behind closed doors and in their four August exhibitions in Italy and Spain has been noted. The statistics have been broken down into three bodies of work: pre-foreign tour, foreign tour and post-foreign tour.
One takeaway Musselman has less than one week out from the team’s Red-White game in Barnhill Arena is that the group, as a whole, must become more consistent. Some players, he said, performed well overseas, but their numbers have not carried over into preseason practices.
Musselman added that the Razorbacks need to shoot the basketball with greater efficiency. The numbers in that area have remained steady, and not in a positive way, he indicated.
Various aspects of both practice and play being so closely analyzed is a tactic Musselman and his staff employed to learn more about their roster sooner than in years past. Most importantly, the data is for players to absorb so they have a greater understanding of their performance.
“We give them a daily update and then we give them a weekly update and then we give them a cumulative update,” Musselman said. “They’re getting three updates every single day of where they stand, where our team stands, where our team would rank in last year’s college basketball.
“I think it gives us a good barometer of where guys are. Maybe six guys have really established themselves. We have four bigs that are still fighting out how that rotation is going to spill out into the first couple of games. There is not a whole lot of time left after being together for an entire summer, an entire September.
“So, there’s a short window now to try to solidify where they might be to start the season.”
In addition to the basic eye test and on-court execution, another metric taken into account comes from vests worn by players in practices. They generate readings that can be viewed afterward, detailing things such as speed, energy exerted and distance covered.
Musselman noted that he currently is not pleased with the physical condition of 4-6 players. On Monday, he halted practice and implemented a three-minute conditioning drill that Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd uses with his team.
“I think because of so many new people, it was a lot of how do we evaluate as quick as possible with numbers,” Musselman said. “If somebody’s inner circle is wondering why they might not have the role that they wanted, there’s a lot of data — too much data, actually, for us to utilize.
“It’s very, very clear where each and every one of our players ranks right now. To us, it’s pretty easy where guys fall in line right now.”