Desi Sills Was In Hog Heaven Last Night In The Win Against Auburn. Hogs 9-0 Play Missouri Saturday on CBS!
Desi Sills had the best game of his life last night to help the Arkansas Razorbacks defeat the Auburn Tigers on the road. When someone uses the phrase, “He was in the zone.” Desi had channeled his inner Isaiah Joe or Mason Jones last night. Desi played basically the entire game and finished with 23 points, was 4 of 7 from the 3-Point line and led the Hogs in points and rebounds with 6. It was a shooting masterpiece and a game he will remember for the rest of his life, he was in the zone and the zone is real.
What is the zone? A good example is in the new Disney movie Soul, where a jazz piano player named Joe gets in the zone playing improvisational jazz music in a quartet. The piano player listens and feeds off of the other musicians and the music just flows from his ears, to his heart down to his fingertips onto the piano keys. He lets the music come to him, inspiring him to create the rhythm, the tempo, the pace of the music, to dictate where the song will go. Desi Sills was in a special place last night, he was in the zone last night, something very few people experience in their life. For example in my entire life playing basketball I was only in the zone once, my sophomore year. Once you are truly in the zone, you never forget it, but it is hard to stay there, one must stay very focused. Now, as a senior it’s now or never for Desi Sills.
Eric Musselman has brought the fire back to The Razorback Basketball Nation. Until Eric takes The Hogs to the Sweet Sixteen I won’t say he is a better coach than Mike Anderson, but it is evident now in his second season that Coach Musselman can bring talent out of average players. He can coach. He can build these guys up, get them to play on a higher level, to reach their full potential. Yes, Desi Sills, Mason Jones and Isiah Joe were all Mike Anderson recruits, but could Mike Anderson have brought the talent out of Mason Jones that Eric did last season? I don’t know, I can’t think about it too much, I’ll hurt my brain, but we are seeing Coach Musselman do it again this season with Desi Sills. He has built Desi into a leader, he is shooting with confidence and dribbling with purpose, he looks like a completely different player.
Arkansas fans must tip their Hog Hats to Eric Musselman for not only building talent but bringing it in, with transfer player, a red shirt junior JD Notae who had his best game as a Razorback, so far, last night. He played 27 minutes and had 21 points and shot 50% from the field, and finished the game with an incredible dunk. Assistant Coach Earl Boykins must have these guys doing a lot of jumping jacks because they are jumping out the gym.
Moses Moody and Conner Vanover have become the Razorbacks version of LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the Lakers, these guys are just so good and fun to watch. Moses kind of had a bad game, because he has been playing at such a high level, he played 38 minutes, but finished with 16 points. Vanover had an off night from the 3 point line, the shot he has become known for, struggling last night going 1-6, but he was 5-11 from inside the 3 point line and finished with 17 points. And I can’t forget Jalen Tate, who had some huge baskets when the game was close, he only had 12 points but the Hogs needed all them to win last night against Auburn on the road. (12/30/20)
The Hogs are 9-0 playing Missouri on CBS Saturday morning, a nationally televised game, I cannot remember the last time Razorback Basketball was on such a primetime tip-off, at the beginning of the SEC season. If the Hogs win, the AP just has to put the Hogs in the top 25. The Hogs are like the Rodney Dangerfields of NCAA Athletics, we “Don’t get no respect”, the Hogs just have to beat everyone, so the media just has to put us in the top 25, it cannot be up for debate or on “the bubble”. A win Saturday and it won’t be up for debate any more. At 10-0, 2-0 in the SEC the Associated Press must put the Arkansas Razorbacks into the Top 25.
Happy New Year and Go Hogs.
