The Tigers haven’t looked quite right for the past month.
First, they were one shot away from losing to 4-7 Vanderbilt on Dec. 23. A week later, Memphis went back-and-forth with Austin Peay for nearly 30 minutes before it pulled away in the final 10. Both games were played at FedExForum.
The calendar then turned to the new year. AAC play began, but the Tigers’ new-found struggles continued. They may have lost to both Tulsa and SMU if not for Jahvon Quinerly ending both contests with 3-point daggers. After that, UTSA (No. 285 in KenPom on Jan. 10) sliced and diced Memphis’ zone defense to score 101 points. But Penny Hardaway’s team scored 107 points and escaped with an overtime win.
Weirdly enough, however, it followed that up with a 26-point demolition at Wichita State to clinch its 10th straight win. Granted, the Tigers still allowed 86 points and traded baskets with the Shockers throughout the first half. But a decisive victory in a hostile environment implied they had finally learned their lesson—don’t play with fire unless you want to get burned.
If only things were that simple.
Memphis did take that lesson to heart last week, because it no longer played with any proverbial flames. It jumped straight into them instead.
The Tigers spent most of last Thursday rolling through South Florida, but the Bulls’ switch to a 1-3-1 zone in the second half stifled the former’s offense. USF took advantage, and overcame a 20-point deficit to hand Memphis a Quad 3 loss. Not even Quinerly could salvage things this time, as he missed what would’ve been a game-winning shot at the buzzer.
Memphis hoped to bounce back at ever-annoying Tulane Sunday, but it wasn’t meant to be. Ron Hunter’s team—much like it did in two wins over the Tigers last year—took advantage of Memphis’ atrocious 3-point defense and beat Hardaway’s club 81-79. Leading scorer David Jones, like Quinerly, had a chance to win the game for Memphis at the buzzer. But his 3-pointer was off.
It’s not all bad for the U of M (15-4, 4-2 AAC) despite losing two in a row. It’s still ranked No. 19 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll, and still on pace for a conference title this season. The Tigers’ NCAA Tournament projections are dwindling, though, as bracketologists Joe Lunardi (ESPN) and Jerry Palm (CBS) have them as a No. 6 and 7 seed respectively. Their computer numbers on a similar path (No. 53 in both KenPom and the NCAA NET rankings).
Hardaway hasn’t shied away from the fact that something’s off with his team. In fact, the sixth-year coach has already cited a myriad of reasons for Memphis’ slump. Whether it be overlooking AAC teams, a lack of defensive effort or chemistry issues, Hardaway has nearly tackled it all with reporters. But he provided even more details during his weekly radio show at Brookhaven Pub and Grill Monday night.
“I see it for what it is now. I kinda sacrificed what I usually teach to try to keep guys healthy…My practices were not hard [during the non-conference schedule]. We rested a lot of guys all the time,” he said. “What’s happened is the guys are staying in that mode and not breaking that mode because we really played harder against the non-conference teams. What we’re doing is having to go backwards. With me missing the first three games of the season, it took me to a mode of being more safe than aggressive like I usually am.”
Memphis has dealt with numerous inadequacies lately. It’s regularly going on lengthy scoring droughts during games. Its effort has also been inconsistent, which is largely why the Tigers are going down to the wire with their opponents in almost every game. But one flaw stands out among the rest, since it’s rarely ever been a concern during Hardaway’s tenure.
The Tigers are struggling to guard teams right now, especially from behind the 3-point line. Opponents have shot 40.3% from beyond the arc in Memphis’ last four games. Memphis has also allowed at least 74 points in each contest during that span.
“My defense isn’t where it needs to be. I’ve allowed the older guys to try to get together and make it work, and it just hasn’t been the way we needed it,” Hardaway said. “It was like that the entire 10-game winning streak. We were trying to work through it and it just caught up to us. But the great thing is we haven’t even scratched the surface of how good we’re really gonna be once we get this group really together. Then, it will be for real…We knew [during the 10-game winning streak] after the games, going to the locker room, it looked like we lost.”
Memphis has a seven-day layoff between games before it visits UAB Sunday (4 p.m., ESPN), giving Hardaway a perfect opportunity to take the lid off the Tigers’ practices. It’ll be all systems go inside the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center this week.
“I’ve given them the first three months off really, honestly just being fair, to just being healthy and letting guys miss practices because of little knickknack injuries. [We] just really didn’t practice like I usually do…It’s gonna be a good week,” Hardaway said. “I think now after [the Tulane loss], they understand how real it is—the guys who didn’t respect our conference. They’re upset. We’re just gonna see how upset this week.”