I am sitting in a Mellow Mushroom in Auburn, Alabama drinking a beer and contemplating the Memphis Tigers season thus far. I can’t say that life is all that bad. And honestly, I don’t know if the Tigers season this year is all that bad either.
I am from Memphis, so I get the whole “The Sky is Falling ALL THE TIME” mentality that plagues many of us in Memphis. Here is the thing though. The sky isn’t falling yet. It’s just raining. A LOT. The sky will begin to fall if the Tigers begin to struggle in conference play. Believe me, the sky will fall and it will hurt.
The Tigers, since Louisville and the crew left Conference USA, have always operated under one goal: run through Conference USA, get a decent seed in the tournament, and see what happens. I don’t know if they can still “get a decent seed in the tournament,” but I also don’t know that I am losing any sleep over having to play UAB this year.
I think it is still rather reasonable to expect the Tigers to “run through Conference USA” this year. Looking at some of the opponents in CUSA this year, I am not super impressed with any of them. Will the Tigers have their hands full some nights? Yes. Always. That comes with the territory of being Memphis in this CUSA. But for the fuss being made over Josh and Memphis being 0-300 million against ranked opponents this year, CUSA as a conference right now is 0-14 against ranked opponents. 0-14. I think the Tigers will lose a game or two, but will basically handle CUSA the way most people have become accustomed.
I think that once the CUSA games start, Josh will get a good feel for the team, and they will begin to roll over their weaker opponents. They will gain confidence. They will begin to play with the bravado that Joe Jackson and a handful of other Tigers apparently HAVE to have. They will win the CUSA tournament. They will make some noise in the big tournament (read as Sweet 16).
I don’t think that I can sit here and say that the season to this point is anything but disappointing. The Tigers SHOULD have beaten some of those teams. They didn’t. It sucks. But is the end of the world coming? No. Not yet. Lose to UAB this year? Yeah. Then I will be the first in line for the shuttles leaving earth. Right now? I am just selling umbrellas.
In my opinion the issues really comes down to one main issue which is lack of inside play. Tarik has been a major disappointment. When your main big man cannot rebound or stay on the floor you are going to have issues. Tigers basically have no inside presence. Hall has added an energetic player which will help. Last night Black had 7 points and 0 rebounds. When your trying to beat a good team that isn’t going to cut it. So….we go as our guards go. When they play good we can hang with a good team. When they play poorly (like last night…18 turnovers and poor play by JJ) the Tigers will struggle. The guards for the most part have played well this season so this is not on them. This is strictly a problem with our big men not playing to expectations.
So what would I do to cover for this? It may be time to play Simpson 30 min a game to see what he can do. I think we would be surprised. I can see him getting 8+ rebounds and producing.
What else? When you are a poor inside team (rebounding, fouling, etc.) I would use my depth and press the fire out of people for 40 min a game. I would try to take teams out of their comfort zone make it a full court game rather than have teams out “execute” me in the half court game.
Hard to win against good quality teams with no big men producing. This is the major hole in the team.
The lack of inside production is an great point when considering why the Tigers are struggling so much on the court this year. I would argue though that Memphis has never been a “big man” team and it has been an achilles heel for many Tiger teams in the past. The difference between those teams and this one is that those teams refused to let that be such a glaring and exposable weakness. This team seems ready to have excuses rolled out for them. Something is still missing between their ears more than on the court.
I agree that the inside game leaves much to be desired. I also agree that haven’t had a great inside presence in a long time. However, what I cannot understand is how a team full of players who thrive in a fast paced, dribble penetration style of basketball, are playing in a half court, low post offense. If they aren’t passing it into the low post to create plays, why are they playing Tarik down low, rotating to the ball side. It completely destroys drive ability.
Shouldn’t we be focused on how to spread the floor, create driving lanes and push the tempo? Isn’t that a coaching decision? Putting players in the best opportunities to be successful?
Yeah. I wonder how much of Cal’s success using the dribble-drive offense plays a part in Josh’s decision making for the Tigers. Maybe he doesn’t want to use what Cal used. I don’t know. All I know is that for the type of players Cal and Josh recruit, the dribble drive offense is a golden ticket to success in college and first round selection in the NBA draft. I think Josh needs to overhaul his entire mode of thinking concerning the offense.
I totally agree—but the outrage in todays c/a by jason was a letdown—1/3 of his article was over when he handed it off to experts—they even suggest that josh use a profanity some times and maybe even throw a chair now and then–josh is fine–his pre season schedule was Rough—I will back josh in what he does—he will never have to forfeit any seasons or playoff wins at all–much less at two different schools–see you in church sunday josh—–
I’m hoping Josh is taking the stance that Denny Crum did at Louiville. Play as many good teams as possible starting out and don’t be upsent if tigers go into NCAA tournment with 10-12 defeats. Win the conference, win the tournment and they will be ready to roll. As a 33 year season ticket holder, I feel things will turn around.
You could say Tom Izzo at Michigan State deploys a similar philosophy. Michigan State always seems to fly under the radar, losing 8-12 games during the year. However, I will stop very short of saying Josh is ready to be compared to Tom Izzo though.
First off, lots of quality comments. Good points about the lack of an inside presence, issues with coaching, and memories of a Coach Cal system vs. the current. I can respect all these.
But bottom line is this: The biggest issue facing the Tigers right now is the lack of the Picket Fence. Throw a drunk assistant coach named Shooter into the mix and you have a Final Four quality team.
Well, as long as the Tigers don’t get caught watching the paint dry, then they should be in great shape. Also, Josh needs to roll up a piece of paper and hold it all game long.
Very enjoyable blog. Buddy was right!