By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- Eric Musselman is preparing his team for four games in Spain and Italy next month and they are now using the 10 practices allowed to prepare for that.

Musselman has 11 new players on the 13-man roster. Among the newcomers are five-star recruits Nick Smith from North Little Rock and Anthony Black who played at Duncanville (Texas). Musselman talked how those two in particular are progressing as far as showing instincts in the three practices thus far.

"I think that the back court, they’re going to want to play out in transition," Musselman said. "We're going to want them to play out in transition. Both great court vision. Both really willing passers and both have the ability to score. Then with their size, uniquely have the ability to kind of see over the defense, around the defense and through the defense. So those two guys, it’s no secret are going to be a really important part to not just our offense, our defense, but maybe most importantly our transition game our opportunity game or quick-strike offense."

Smith talked about the role he's taken on at Arkansas. Both he and Black were point guards in high school.

"For me and AB's position, one of my positions is to be a combo guard," Smith said. "I got recruited to be a combo guard here, and coach Muss believes that I can do pretty much everything on the floor. I can get my teammates involved, I can score the basketball. I have the ability to do both. But on that side of trying to facilitate and trying to get my teammates the ball. I know I've got a lot of guys that can also put the ball in the basket, so it's not all about me. Sometimes, I might have an open shot, but I might have to swing one more to get an even better shot. So just knowing that coming in is a good thing to have. In high school, sometimes have to take more of the load, but in college, going to the next level, you don't really have to do that. So it just takes a toll off of me and makes the game easier."

Black also is working on his role with the Razorbacks playing alongside Smith and others.

"I would say being a facilitator, playing with the ball in your hands, it only takes you a couple of practices to see what players do what and how you can set up players to be successful," Black said. "So with this team, we've got a lot of athleticism, a lot of length. We've got a lot of shooters. For playmakers and facilitators, we've got a lot of a lot of options we can hit, so it kind of makes our job easier."

Musselman paid Smith a huge compliment on Wednesday when he compared him to former Razorback Moses Moody, who won a championship in his first season with the Golden State Warriors.

"I think that both those guys have a lot of similarities," Musselman said. "You know, a pro mentality of you've got to work, you've got to improve your craft. Don't be late, put in extra work, be vocal, competitiveness, all those things. Moses Moody, he was never late – not for one thing. He wasn't even close to being late for one thing in the full year that he was here. He was early for practice. He got reps up every day. We see the same thing with Nick."

Some have said Smith has no weaknesses, but on Wednesday he identified one when it came to traveling to play in another country.

"Well, I'm looking forward to it," Smith said. "One thing I'm not looking forward to is the plane ride. That's going to be kind of a struggle. But once we get there, it's going to be fun, especially connecting with the guys. We already have a connection. Everybody on the team likes each other. We all hangout. Sometimes we might go to Vo's house. Sometimes they might go to me and AB's house. Sometimes we might go to Ki's house. It's just one big family really already in the summer time. That's just going to lead to us in SEC play for sure."

Black also talked about playing in Spain and Italy and traveling overseas.

"I'll probably say it's going to be good to get there with the team," Black said. "We haven't really - it's very rare that a whole team hangs out all together at once. So, we're going to be together for all those hours on the plane, all those hours in the hotel. So I think that trip is going to be good for us as a full team just being together and kind of learn some stuff about each other, getting close with each other and stuff like that."

Musselman still has seven practices remaining before the team heads overseas. He talked about the practices and how they are going to this point as well as the benefits.

"I think just from a time perspective, we’re obviously allowed to go longer," Musselman said. "So I think that’s the biggest thing. Just the pace of practice, the intensity of practice … when we were in our 4 hours it’s pretty intense too. Now we’re able to have longer practices, which sometimes can lead to a little bit sloppier practices as well.

"You’re with your guys for a lot longer time for these 10 practices. It kind of sets them up for what practices will be like in October. So I think it’s good, especially for a new team. They probably don’t know how intense the expectations are. So I think they’ve got a feel the last three days. We have some guys that are really tired for sure right now."

Smith talked about how these practices are different than the ones the team had earlier in the summer.

"For me, it's just longer," Smith said. "It doesn't really faze me. Coming in, I knew I was going to have to take on a big role, so I just try to come in and put in the work and trust in what Coach Muss tells us."

Black also talked about the difference in the practices from earlier to now.

"Only thing really different, like he said, is the length of the practice," Black said. "Same intensity, same type of stuff. We try to come in and work as hard as we did even when it wasn't the real practice. We were still putting in work. So it's really a lot of the same stuff, just longer."

Musselman places a huge emphasis on scouting his opponent and knowing their tendencies, but this trip is different.

"No. We thought about this," Musselman said. "Our scouting will be postgame. We will take the film and coach the heck out of our guys on the film that we have, but we're not going to worry at all. I'll go into each game with a script of a rotation, and we'll go in with a script of what we want to run offensively. We'll have a script of how we want to play. Then the last five, six, seven minutes, maybe at that time we will adjust, but I don't think we will make many adjustments probably until towards the later part of each game."

While these four games are strictly exhibitions and won't count on the record that doesn't mean Musselman doesn't have some reasons for wanting to win and gain confidence.

"I think so," Musselman said. "I would like everybody to get an opportunity just because we are traveling over there. I'm going to try to do that, but it's hard with 13 guys. We'll try to give everybody an opportunity. There's some internal things. If you haven't passed your mile, you're not going to start, at least in the first game. If you've been asked to leave practice over the last eight weeks because of lack of effort, you're probably not going to start the first game or two. Hopefully, we will have enough bodies to put five out there."

Musselman is also looking forward to the non-basketball things on the trip. He used an example of a previous team he coached.

"I think the places we are going are going to be really cool places for everybody," Musselman said. "When I've gone on these before, Arizona State, we went to China. We picked the places we are going because we do think it will be fun. Costa Rica, our guys loved it, but I think from an education standpoint, these guys are all making fun of me but I said everybody that goes on the trip should have a role. Everybody should be doing something. Jacob Hoops, our academic guy, is going to get up every day and give us some kind of educational piece on where we are. That's his role where he's going to stand up and give us a little report. Otherwise, Jacob is not allowed to go on the trip."

Both Smith and Black, who are projected to be first-round picks in 2023 NBA Draft, liked the 24-second clock.

"That's NBA," Black said.

Black played for Team USA in Mexico earlier this summer and he talked about the benefit of that.

"First of all it was a blessing to get invited and to make the team, but getting to play in Mexico was fun, playing with a different group of people - some a grade younger than me, some my grade, it was just fun," Black said. "Stuff like that you'll remember for the rest of your life because not a lot of people get to do it, so yeah, it was pretty cool."

Arkansas is working on trying to stream these games thus allowing fans to watch.

The current trip itinerary includes:

• Depart Fayetteville on Aug. 6 and arrive in Valencia, Spain on Aug. 7

• GAME 1 – Aug. 9 in Valencia, Spain

• GAME 2 – Aug. 11 in Barcelona, Spain

• GAME 3 – Aug. 13 in Lake Como, Italy

• GAME 4 – Aug. 15 in Lake Como, Italy

• Return to Fayetteville on Aug. 16.