Unexpected incredible start for Razorback basketball

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ best start results from Razorbacks bettering at what they aren’t known best.

Example: Isaiah Joe helping Arkansas’ 6-0 best start since Eugene Lambert’s 1942 Razorbacks started 10-0.

A renowned 3-point shooter last season under former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson, sophomore guard Joe, 33 points against Texas Southern, again explodes under new coach Eric Musselman.

However, Joe hit but 2 for 10 against South Dakota. Yet he impacted significantly, tallying five assists and five boards. Joe takes more charges than American Express, leads Arkansas with 18 assists, his last assist to Mason Jones for the overtime buzzer-beating banked 3-pointer surpassing Georgia Tech, 62-61 last Monday in Atlanta, has 13 steals and plays D at A caliber.

“Isaiah is a phenomenal defender,” Musselman said. “A really underrated defender.”

Jones, a 6-5 guard forced to play power forward on this very short team, leads Arkansas scoring with 18.5, and steals with 13, while averaging 5.5 rebounds against bigger matchups.

Offseason improved shooting threes, sophomore Desi Sills inexplicably has hit but 2 of 25. Yet without him, Arkansas isn’t 6-0 going against Northern Kentucky today at Walton Arena.

Sills, only 6-1 but so athletic, fearlessly attacked the inside game of James Banks, Georgia Tech’s 6-10, shot-blocking center.

“It was really important not to let his (Banks’) shot-blocking affect our dribble drives,” Musselman said. “I thought Desi did an incredible job of attacking the rim and trying to get into his body on dribble drive penetration. Desi has really taken the challenge of guarding guys who have a few inches on him.”

Arkansas’ tallest starter at only 6-6, senior Adrio Bailey has been asked to play big. He’s done so in a big way. Bailey leads Arkansas rebounding, 5.8, and blocked shots, nine.

“Adrio has done an incredible job defensively with his lack of size,” Musselman said.

Inside man Bailey stunned the North Texas with a pivotal 3-pointer. He had attempted just 12 treys in three years.

“I thought a big key to opening up their defense was when Adrio hit that three,” Musselman said.

None surprise like Jimmy Whitt, an Arkansas freshman combo guard for Anderson in 2015-2016 returned as a point guard grad transfer via SMU.

Still without a 3-point attempt, Whitt blistered South Dakota with 24 points hitting 11 of 14 shots mostly midrange.

“For all those analytic guys who think the midrange game has gone out of basketball, welcome to Jimmy Whitt’s world,” Musselman said postgame.

A small, small world, Georgia Tech must have thought. Whitt hit but 3 of 12 in Atlanta.

Yet Arkansas couldn’t have won without him. Whitt held Tech top gun Michael DeVoe to 12 points and blocked two DeVoe shots.

“When you think about DeVoe averaging 26 points a game and he’s got to take 16 shots to get to 12 points that’s incredible defense by Jimmy Whitt,” Musselman said.

So far it’s an unexpectedly incredible start from Razorbacks subtly performing the unexpected.