John Calipari Using Exhibitions To Set Arkansas Team Culture

In just a few short weeks, the Arkansas Razorbacks — led by first-year head coach John Calipari — will hit the floor for charity exhibitions at Bud Walton Arena on Oct. 25 against Kansas followed by a matchup with TCU at Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth on Nov. 1.

With a group of mostly new players, Calipari told reporters Tuesday those games will give him and his staff a good barometer of where his team is heading into the season-opener against Lipscomb on Nov. 6.

“Probably going to get stung pretty good,” Calipari said. “But it’s perfect for us to figure out where we are right now. For our fans to see where we are. The staff, everyone, has an idea of where we are right now, and that we’ve got work to do. I’ve never promised to have a magic wand.”

The Head Hog said usually, his teams struggle early on and by the end of the year is when they start to fire on all cylinders. He said the exhibition games will help set the culture for the team heading into the season.

“You could take some spills early and they’d be what you need at that point,” Calipari said. “We may play better than we thought, but this all about building a culture. The culture of what is expected, and whatever that is, do more. What is expected of you in this program, and then do more. And then, what is unacceptable. That’s when you start building culture.”

Calipari said that there’s still a lot of work to be done before the start of the season, and mentioned several times in his press conference he didn’t even have who would inbound the ball nailed down yet.

Still, he said the team will get thrown into the fire early on.

“You say, ‘you don’t have the team stuff locked down yet and you’re going to play Kansas?'” Calipari said. “Yeah, and you’re going to get hit in the mouth and you’re hoping they swing. You’re hoping they will learn from that experience. Shoot, I want to win every game I coach. But when you’re building and you’re doing this, you got to throw them in the fire and see where they are right now, and then we’ll all know.”

Exhibition games against tough opponents are something Calipari said he’s been a proponent of for a long time. Instead of playing against low-level teams that wouldn’t test Arkansas, it could help put the players in better environments to grow.

“I like to challenge the guys, and when you’re doing this, building, you need to see where the program is against (good competition),” Calipari said. “You get hyped, you play a couple bad teams…then you come out and you get your ears clipped back because you’re not really what you think you are.”

Calipari also mentioned the possibility of doing more situational work when they play Kansas and TCU.

“(KU head coach Bill Self) and I, (TCU head coach Jamie Dixon) and I, we’re all good friends, let’s play zone for five minutes,” Calipari said. “Let’s press each other. Let’s do situation work, two- three-minute situations. We’re up eight, then we’re down eight. Let’s see how we play. Why not? It’s good for both programs.”

Up next, Arkansas basketball will play charity exhibition matchups against the Kansas Jayhawks at Bud Walton Arena on Oct. 25 and the TCU Horned Frogs at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 1. Be sure to tune in to HawgBeat for offseason updates on the Hoop Hogs ahead of season tip-off.