Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

2/21/2011 at 7:15pm

Image by Mark Wagner

Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell clearly hasn't been himself this season. Surely some of the production dip can be attributed to him breaking his foot in the offseason. Powell's foot might not be the only thing suffering from a fracture. His relationship with Coach John Pelphrey could be better.

Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell clearly hasn’t been himself this season.

Powell, a preseason all-SEC pick, has struggled. His scoring average is down 4.2 points from last year and his rebounds have dipped by 2.5 per game.

Surely some of the production dip can be attributed to him breaking his foot in the offseason. Powell, a 6-7 sophomore from Newport News, Va., admits he came back too quick from the injury. Whether that was his choice or somebody else’s isn’t clear, but Powell said rushing back impacted him early in the season.

“I probably started a little too soon. It’s going to get better. It will take some time.”

Powell seemed poised to take a leadership role after a promising freshman season in which he established himself as the hardest working player on the team. He said maintaining a leadership role was tough following the injury.

“I’d say not the whole season. I haven’t tried to do that the whole season due to my injury. It’s the psychological part of it. Just getting over it. But I say since the winter break, since we came back off of Christmas break, I’ve been trying to do a lot better things. Do what coach tells me to do and just suck it up no matter what is going on.”

There might be something else at work too. Powell’s foot isn’t the only thing suffering from a fracture.

Stories of Powell not getting along with Pelphrey and his staff have been floating out there since before Christmas. Monday Hawgs Illustrated writer Dudley Dawson asked Powell if his relationship with Coach John Pelphrey was “strained.” Powell’s non-answer pretty much answered the question:

“I can't really comment on that."

Powell, who admitted he had trouble focusing while scoring only five points in a 13-point loss at Alabama on Saturday, was asked several follow-up questions on the topic later in the press conference. He didn’t elaborate beyond:

“I can't talk about it. I just choose not to, man.”

Powell noted that it was a “personal” matter.

It should be noted that a player and coach not seeing eye-to-eye isn’t unusual. That happens at programs across the country. Heck, earlier this month North Carolina had a player transfer out in the middle of the season.

That does not make it OK for Powell and Pelphrey to be at odds. It certainly doesn’t make for a healthy locker room in a program that has been beset by player-player and player-coach chemistry issues since Pelphrey arrived.

Whatever is going on between Pelphrey and Powell or Pelphrey and any member of the team needs to be resolved. Any lingering issues will ensure minimal progress for the program this year.

Arkansas has four games remaining in the regular season. Kentucky (19-7, 7-5) is up Wednesday, followed by a road trip to Auburn (9-17, 2-10) on Saturday. Mississippi State (14-12, 6-6) and a trip to Ole Miss (17-10, 5-7) follow next week.

Win out and the Razorbacks will break 20 wins for the first time since 2007-08. Win three of four and Arkansas will avoid a losing record in the SEC for a third consecutive year. Go 2-2 or worse and it becomes difficult to see much in the way of improvement for the Razorbacks this year.

Powell can be a big part of the Razorbacks’ success. That is an established fact. Now Powell has to decide that he wants to be a big part of the Razorbacks’ success.

Tagged: Mississippi State Bulldogs, Ole Miss Rebels, Auburn Tigers, Kentucky Wildcats, Arkansas Razorbacks, John Pelphrey, Marshawn Powell