Arkansas coach John Pelphrey used Valentine’s Day as a chance to talk about passion.
In particular, Pelphrey spoke about the passion he feels for his job as Arkansas’ coach and for his team, which he once again described as “inspiring” at times this season. If you didn’t see the story about Pelphrey’s reponse to criticism during yesterday’s press conference, you can read it now by clicking this link.
But what about the players? How are they dealing with the criticism that seems to be surrounding the program? Guards Rotnei Clarke and Mardracus Wade spoke to the media after Pelphrey’s 20 minutes.
Here is what they said about how they deal with criticism:
Rotnei Clarke: “I try not to read anything. I try not to listen to anything. I just try to block it out. We are worried about this season and we’re worried about our team and we are worried about each other. That is really all that matters. We had a lot of fan support at the last game and we really appreciated that. We know we have some passionate fans and they expect us to win and we understand that. We want to definitely do that, but I have tried to keep my mind as focused on what is ahead of us and this season and not worry about the negative things that people are saying and just dwell on some positive things.”
Mardracus Wade: “I am a different person (than Clarke). I feed off that off that energy. It is like fuel to my fire, just to come out and play harder. When people are out there doubting you, just the underdog, I like feeling like that. Like my back is against the wall. I know my guys can do it because we have showed it and we have proven that we can do it. So it’s not that we can’t. We’ve just got to come out and be focused and ready to go. We have to be on the same page. When I hear things like that, it makes me want to go even more harder and play even more tougher.”
Arkansas’ goal, obviously, is to try to make the criticism go away.
How can that be done?
With wins.
The Razorbacks are 15-9, 5-6 in SEC play and return to the court against Florida A&M on Wednesday night. Then Arkansas closes the regular season with SEC games against Alabama, Kentucky, Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. There are opportunities out there. We all know the Razorbacks have suffered collapses late in the season the past two years, so it will be interesting to see how Clarke, Wade and the Hogs react.
