Dishearted But Not Surrendering
My beloved Memphis Tigers surrendered a twenty point lead to USF as my son and I exchanged WTF texts to each other. As a season ticker holder, it was a rare time when I watched them play on TV. Damn ice. Yet it was also a chance to verify what I thought I was seeing from the cheap seats in the FedEx Forum. And it was in Penny finally airing the team’s issues that made me realize that, yes, we have a problem.
The fact that we have a problem in Memphis is not that hard to believe. It’s part of our makeup, no matter who is coaching. No matter what year it is. No matter who the star players are. The fact that we keep having the problem rear its ugly head in January each year is the real problem. But at least it comes to light before February, before the real push to get into the tournament and get something better than the dreaded 8/9 seeds.
From my own statistical prospective, I see the following:
In base efficiency (more good than bad happens), the most efficient players available are Jones, Quinerly, Tomlin, Walton, and Jourdain for the top five. Followed by Dandridge and Young and finally Jayden Hardaway. The least efficient player with significant minutes is Ashton Hardaway.
In scoring efficiency (how hard it is to score), the best players are Jones, Quinerly, Tomlin, Jourdain, and Dandridge. They are followed by Walton and Young. Unfortunately, at this moment, Ashton Hardway is the least efficient at scoring of the players with significant minutes.
The rest of the stats point to the fact that Memphis having a deep bench is now a fallacy. With Mills and Brown out of action, the rest of the bench needs to earn their way onto the floor. From that statistical point, it appears that Cherenfant may have the best chance to move up above Ashton Hardaway in the rotation.
Of course, the biggest Tigers stat that tells it all is the paltry amount of assists. For such a high-scoring team, Memphis averages just 13.4 assists per game. That makes them 179th in the country. The Tigers have yet to learn to share the ball. Unfortunately, that is too evident, even from my cheap seats in the Terrace Level.
Overall, it is my opinion that Memphis has a solid core of Jones, Quinerly, Jourdain, Tomlin, and Dandadridge as the best options at starting. Walton is the best sixth man for the team. Then Young and, finally, Jayden Hardaway. But I’m not the coach. I’m just the stat man.
But it is also my humble opinion that It just might be Penny’s lone play to shorten the lineup, make the players earn their minutes, and get them to act like the more seasoned athletes they are. This is too good of a team to pass up on a great opportunity for the program, Penny, and the players. All they need to do is get out of their own way and TRUST each other even if they don’t like each other.