FAYETTEVILLE -- A lot of college basketball coaches would welcome a long break between games to get their players in the gym for a week of strictly practice.
Eric Musselman isn't like most coaches.
"Do you like going to the dentist?" Musselman, in his second season as the University of Arkansas coach, responded to a reporter's question about whether he was looking forward to practicing all week.
"Not really," the reporter said.
Musselman said he feels the same way about a week without games.
After the Razorbacks (6-0) beat the University of Central Arkansas 100-75 on Saturday night, their next game isn't until Sunday against Oral Roberts University in Walton Arena.
"I mean, I like games," Musselman said. "I like to compete. I like to get better during the games.
"I know coaches say they like practice. I think when you're part of the G League or part of the NBA, you're used to a game every other day."
Musselman coached for 17 years in the CBA, USBL, NBA and NBA Developmental League before joining the college ranks.
"You make adjustments on the fly and you make adjustments in film sessions," Musselman said of how pro teams work around their hectic game schedules. "You make adjustments in shoot-arounds.
"So I hate a week break, and I know our players do, too. I do think that helps when a coach understands that for players, a week off this time of year between games is very, very difficult. But it's a necessity as well."
Arkansas is not playing games this week because of final exams and will hold practices around the test schedules.
"It's an opportunity to get in the gym and get better each and every day," Arkansas junior guard JD Notae said. "We're going to watch film and see where we messed up and how we can get better.
"It's a good time to do that with school ending, too. We're going to get back to camp and we're going to work."
Senior guard Jalen Tate said this week is a chance for the Razorbacks to work on the little things to improve.
"We can just tighten up the screws, you know?" Tate said. "I still feel like we can move the ball better and play better as a team on both sides of the ball.
"We can definitely lock in [on defense]. Giving up 75 points [to UCA], that's way too many. We got beat on the boards, too, so just tightening up everything."
For Tate, this week also gives him a chance to heal up before playing another game. He had 17 points and 11 assists -- without a turnover -- against the Bears despite favoring a sore left ankle and having tape on his right fingers.
"We're going to rest him this week for sure," Musselman said.
Tate smiled and laughed when asked what are his specific injuries.
"Let's just say nothing for now, because nobody is really worried about what I've got injured," Tate said. "I've still got to go out there and play every game, man.
"I got a couple little nicks and bruises throughout the week. I definitely had a little ankle bruise from the last game [a 79-44 victory over Southern]. And the finger thing, I jammed it a little bit this week."
Musselman said the Razorbacks will use practices the first half of this week as "a mini training camp" and begin preparations for Oral Roberts on Thursday.
"Obviously, we've won some games so far, but that doesn't matter going forward," Musselman said. "The only thing that matters going forward is how do we get better this week in practice?
"We've got to get a lot better, and I think we will. We've got a lot of things to clean up for sure."
Musselman has a list of things the Razorbacks can improve.
"I'd like us to score at a little bit higher clip on our baseline out-of-bounds plays," Musselman said. "I'd like to add one more press defensively, just so we have it in our arsenal.
"I think when we play in transition, I think we're good, but we can clean up our spacing and become even better in transition.
"But I do think that we're starting to form some roles, some identities both individually and collectively as a team."