Eric Musselman discusses perspective of facing Coach K with Final Four on the line
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Arkansas rolled into the Elite 8 with a dramatic upset over top seed Gonzaga Thursday night. Now, the Razorbacks get another tough task with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Saturday evening, Arkansas will face 2-seed Duke in could prove to be the final game for legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K has already announced this would be his final season coaching the Blue Devils.
During Friday’s media season, Eric Musselman was asked about the perspective of facing the legendary coach with so much on the line. Musselman admitted at this point, the focus remains on the players and getting them ready for the matchups in play.
“I would say as far as relationship, I joined (Coach K) on his radio broadcast a year ago, so I don’t really have any personal connection other than the fact that one of my best friends, Tom Thibodeau, worked with him with Team USA, and Tom speaks so highly of Coach K,” explained Musselman.
“Then just to piggyback on what our players said. We’re only concerned with how do we play up to our potential, maybe play beyond our potential, bring our “A” game, and then try to focus on game schemes that can help us offensively and help us defensively. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to a basketball team about another coach just because our guys — we have a very limited amount of time, and we just have to focus on who they might be guarding and what are their themes on both sides of the ball.”
After facing the dynamic size of Gonzaga’s big men, Arkansas will reload and prepare for Duke’s Paolo Banchero and Mark Williams who check-in at 6-foot-10 and 7-feet, respectively. Saturday’s tip-off is set for 8:49 pm EST on TBS.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
