Eric Musselman gives hilarious answer on why JD Notae is so dangerous
Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman often finds himself in awe of what JD Notae can do. That was the case Tuesday night in an 82-74 victory against the Florida Gators on the road.
Notae led the Razorbacks with 22 points in the win on 7-of-18 shooting. During his postgame press conference, Musselman offered his lead guard some high praise, comparing him to one of the NBA’s greatest shooters.
“I told an NBA buddy of mine today — we were talking about our team — and I said the thing that makes (Notae) so dangerous is he shoots from anywhere,” Musselman said. “He’s like Steph Curry in the fact that those guys shoot from wherever, whenever. You think they’re absurd shots and they go in and they stretch the defense out. It really puts pressure on defensive teams because I never know when he’s going to shoot, so I don’t know how the heck they ever know when he’s going to shoot. I have no idea half the time when he pulls, but I do want to ball in his hands.”
As he usually does, Notae delivered one of the most important shots of the game Tuesday. With Arkansas clinging to a 1-point lead with a little more than a minute remaining, the 6-foot-2 senior nailed a step-back 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game.
Notae also added a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to put the game further out of reach.
The guard has shown he isn’t afraid to let it fire from beyond the arc, ranking third in the SEC with 188 attempts on the season. He is shooting 32.4% from deep and leads the Razorbacks in scoring (18.7 ppg), assists (3.4 apg) and steals (2.3 spg).
Tuesday’s victory was the first for Arkansas at Florida’s Stephen C. O’Connel Center since 1995. The Razorbacks appear to be peaking at the right time, having now won 12 of their past 13 contests, including an overtime triumph over then-No. 1 Auburn. They are 22-6 on the season and were listed as a six seed in On3’s most recent bracketology projections, which were released Tuesday. If JD Notae continues with his impressive play, Eric Musselman’s team could climb even higher come Selection Sunday.
Arkansas has three games remaining in the regular season, beginning with a big-time matchup against No. 6 Kentucky at 2 p.m. ET Saturday in Fayetteville.