Arkansas must improve its free-throw shooting, rebounding dominance, and interior defense before their November 3 season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Despite winning exhibition games against No. 15 Gonzaga and Memphis, head coach John Calipari has signaled that the Razorbacks are far from polished.
Winning is one thing; being satisfied is another. The Razorbacks may have walked away from their exhibition slate with a 2-0 record, including a 93-81 victory over Memphis on Wednesday, but the mood in the locker room was far from celebratory. John Calipari was notably unhappy with the performance, telling the media post-game, “Well, we got a lot of work to do.”
The stakes for these corrections aren’t about the UAPB game—a matchup the Hogs are expected to handle with relative ease. Instead, it’s about the gauntlet that follows. With a schedule featuring powerhouses like Virginia, Indiana, Michigan State, UNC, and Arizona, along with the grind of SEC play, the “small” mistakes seen in exhibition play could become season-defining liabilities.
The charity stripe crisis
The most glaring red flag is the team’s performance at the free-throw line. Across two exhibition games, Arkansas shot a dismal 32-57, resulting in a 56.1 percent success rate. In a tight game, that kind of inefficiency is an invitation for an opponent to stay in the contest or steal a victory.
The disparity in consistency is stark. Davion Thompson has emerged as the reliable hand, going 5-6 from the line during the Memphis game. Meanwhile, others struggled significantly: Jordan Smith Jr. hit 3-5, Billy Richmond III went 1-3, Miikka Muurinen shot 2-4, and Cooper Bowser went 0-2.
“Again, free-throw shooting. Free-throw shooting. Come on now,” Calipari said. “So, when you watch that, and there’s four minutes left in a close game, can you tell me the three you would absolutely not have in? They’ll dictate that.”
This isn’t just about points on a board; it’s about game management. When a team cannot convert free throws, they cannot close out games or put opponents away, regardless of how much talent they have on the floor.
Closing the gap on the glass
On paper, the rebounding numbers look acceptable. After falling 52-48 to Gonzaga, the Razorbacks flipped the script against Memphis, winning the battle 40-34. But Calipari isn’t looking for “acceptable.” He’s looking for dominance.
The concern lies in the details. Despite the overall win in the rebounding category, Arkansas surrendered nine offensive rebounds to the Tigers. For a team with the size the Razorbacks possess, allowing second-chance opportunities is a failure of effort and positioning.
Calipari’s frustration stems from the physical profile of his roster. With players standing 6-11 and 7-foot, the expectation isn’t just to win the battle, but to overwhelm the opponent. He pushed his players to aim for a margin of 10 to 12-plus rebounds, bluntly telling them, “We’re big. Go get balls.”
Hardening the interior defense
While the Razorbacks haven’t shown many catastrophic flaws, their post defense is the one area where they looked vulnerable. This was most evident during the Memphis game, where Nemanja Popovic effectively dismantled the Arkansas interior. Popovic finished with 16 points on 5-7 shooting, proving to be the most impactful player on the court.
The struggle was personal for the Hogs’ bigs. At various points in the game, Caleb Ourigou and Maper Maker were simply outplayed in the paint. While this may seem like a minor critique in a winning effort, the upcoming schedule offers no room for interior weakness. The elite big men found in the SEC and the non-conference schedule will exploit any gap in post defense far more ruthlessly than Memphis did.
The question now is how quickly these adjustments can be internalized. The transition from exhibition play to the regular season is often where the “work” Calipari mentioned becomes visible. If the Razorbacks can’t lock down the paint and convert at the line, their talent may not be enough to survive the high-pressure environment of the 2026-27 campaign.
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