Battle Being Coached By Genius, Displays Alpha Mentality
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Guard play is very valuable once college basketball flips the calendar to March. Good guards with the ability to shoot at an elite clip and play tenacious defense on each night can take teams further than most people think.
Older players with plenty of experience have a history of being the difference around the country. Even during the height of the one-and-done year's, there was an emphasis on having older players playing starter minutes instead of role players off the bench. While coach Eric Musselman likes to have multiple older players surrounding the perimeter that are threats to score from deep and mid-range.
Unfortunately, last season was different as Musselman tinkered with his starting lineup and rotation longer than normal. Six true freshman and six veterans started the year with high hopes. Injuries cut out two important cogs to the head Hogs' ultimate plan. For two seasons, the Hogs depended on someone with an alpha mentality like JD Notae for buckets and last year's team didn't have that. Luckily, Arkansas may have found Mr. Dependable. A bucket getter. Khalif Battle is that guy and performed admirably playing just 19 minutes for the Razorbacks while scoring a team-high 21 points off the bench.
"I never cared about coming off the bench," Battle said. "I don't care about money. The preparation comes before the game even starts."
To the average fan, Battle's name was hardly known since he played for Temple, a non-factor in postseason play last season. He averaged 17 points per game and shot 90-percent from the charity stripe last season for the Owls. The former top-100 player signed with Butler out of high school but might have found his home at Arkansas. Fayetteville is now a destination for not only McDonald's All-American's but also transfers looking to make their way to the NBA.
While no regular player in the Razorback rotation shot a higher clip than 34 percent from three, Battle's mark while in Philadelphia was slightly higher at 35 percent. The Edison, New Jersey native connected on 3-6 of his three point attempts on Monday night finishing with 21 points and shooting 8-9 from the free throw line. Battle took a couple of drives to the basket including an acrobatic and-one finish at the rim.
The most impressive play of the night for the transfer had to be his two hand flush on an alley-oop pass from true freshman Layden Blocker. The dunk with 10:43 left in the first half showed fans that Battle is more than just a shooter but also an exceptional athlete.
While being the centerpiece of his past team's, Battle stays humble despite his success.
"I give a lot of credit to my teammates and my coaching staff for preparing me," Battle said. "Without them, I wouldn't be here. We got a lot of talented guys here, and iron sharpens iron."
Arkansas has experienced such a revival to their basketball program under Coach Eric Musselman. This team looks to make another deep March run based off a dominating win on opening night. Even though the Purdue victory during an exhibition doesn't count towards their overall record, the Battle believes that his coach is genius and knows how to wring out every ounce of energy and talent of his team -- which was a major reason the transfer decided to play for the Hogs.
"He's always crazy because he knows your potential and tries to maximize every juice inside of you," Battle said. "He's a genius. I really don't know how to describe it. He's a scientist when it comes to this basketball thing."
Musselman mentioned after the game that Battle is developing into one of the leaders for Arkansas. That quality was on display not only during warmups but increasing since the Purdue game.
"I think in the last ten days, [Battle] has been so bought in," Musselman said. "Today at shootaround, he was as vocal as anyone."
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