Aidoo Emerges as Unsung Hero In Arkansas’ Win Over LSU
Arkansas had individual performances that were more flashy or jumped off the page in the box score, but the Razorbacks likely would not have pulled away for a 70-58 win over LSU without critical minutes off the bench from struggling center Jonas Aidoo.
While sophomore big man Zvonimir Ivisic has emerged as a star in recent weeks, Aidoo has seen his role diminish to being the eighth man in an eight-man rotation with his minutes consisting of just enough time to give his counterpart a breather and a sip of Gatorade.
Aidoo’s last noteworthy performance, ironically enough, was a 12-point, 10-rebound, four-block effort at LSU on Jan. 14. In the six games since, he mustered just 11 points and nine total rebounds.
In Wednesday’s rematch with the Tigers, Aidoo’s two points, five boards, two assists and a block in 11 minutes fall well short of telling the story of the impact he made for the Razorbacks.
With Arkansas struggling to defend LSU’s middle pick-and-roll action and inability to contain freshman forward Robert Miller, coach John Calipari inserted Aidoo, who immediately changed the complexion of the game with instinctual ball-screen coverage, savvy help and recovery, physical interior defense and a rejuvenated effort on the backboards.
In a 3-minute, 19-second rotation midway through the second half, Aidoo assisted on a basket, grabbed three defensive rebounds and cut the water off for LSU around the basket as the Razorbacks went from trading blows to gaining separation and putting the Tigers away.
“(Aidoo) is a guy that came into our staff and said, ‘I know I can help this team. I want to help this team. How can I help this team?’ By him just taking that responsibility, he’s going to help us,” assistant coach Chin Coleman said. “We had to put him in. The freshman kid they had, No. 6, Robert Miller, had 16 points. Jonas went in, bigger, stronger and was able to take some of those baskets away from him.”
After arriving at Arkansas as a highly-coveted transfer and Preseason All-SEC selection before dealing with injury, surgery and unfulfilled expectations, it would be easy, almost expected, for Aidoo’s body language and motivation to dip.
According to Coleman, however, having the right attitude and approach is what has given the coaching staff confidence better days are on the horizon for Aidoo despite his recent struggles.
“Yesterday in practice, I admired him,” Coleman said. “I was so proud of his spirit and attitude. I talk about spirit a lot. You’re not going to be able to be a good player or help any team if your spirit is ugly and nasty.
“‘Oh, forget these guys. These guys are this and everybody’s the victim,’ you’re playing the victim and it’s everybody else’s fault. One thing about Jonas, and I told him, ‘I know you’re going to help us because of your spirit. I appreciate your attitude.”
If Aidoo is able to consistently give Arkansas double-digit minutes off the bench as an asset rather than a liability, it goes a long way toward lengthening the rotation and strengthening the team’s overall prospects moving forward.
Another solid performance would loom particularly large this weekend when the Razorbacks travel to Texas A&M to face a big, physical group of Aggies that leads the country in offensive rebounding percentage.
“We’ll need the next game because Texas A&M is really big, they play through their bigs, so we’re going to need Jonas,” Coleman said. “The fact that he has the right mindset, he’s going to be able to help us.”
