Memphis Tigers Disbelief

[northgajacket]

I don't thin of Memphis as that much of a porgram. They excelled under a convicted felon (Dana Kirk) who has admitted paying players. They got Penny, who has admitted taking money to attend. Then they got Cal. The only conviction was for paying a kid to take the ACT/SAT for Rose, but I think we're all versed in the long standing skid mark that is Cal's penchant for paying players and breaking every rule known to man. Other than times when they / the players admitted cheating and buying talent, they're a pathetic team

Don't tell that to their fanbase. They honestly believe they are like UNC or Kentucky in terms of prestige, when in fact they have had moments of greatness followed by mediocrity.

 

[okiemon]

Like someone said one time, "If Cremins had 10 Matt Harprings, he'd only play 7 of them."

I never heard that, but it's funny.

 

[CuseJacket]

Memphis podcast talking CPast starting at 16:00 and ends around 25:00
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9033845/tiger-basketball-podcast-013017

Notes:

• Says people wishing CPast ill are wrong, but it was right to move on from him as attendance declined from 12K to 6K
• Questions about why CPast never hired a former head coach/X's and O's guy at Memphis; one reason for his success at GT; suggesting that CPast was a little stubborn
• Still made the tournament 4 years at Memphis, ran the program with class
• Easy to forget how young he is, still, after 7 years at Memphis
• "GT has games to win to get in the tournament".. other guy said he believes the last 2 wins is ultimately going to be the high point in GT's season
• Will be interested to see how Josh builds on this season... this season helps enormously

 

[LawTalkin Jacket]

Memphis podcast talking CPast starting at 16:00 and ends around 25:00
https://www.spreaker.com/user/9033845/tiger-basketball-podcast-013017

Notes:

• Says people wishing CPast ill are wrong, but it was right to move on from him as attendance declined from 12K to 6K
• Questions about why CPast never hired a former head coach/X's and O's guy at Memphis; one reason for his success at GT; suggesting that CPast was a little stubborn
• Still made the tournament 4 years at Memphis, ran the program with class
• Easy to forget how young he is, still, after 7 years at Memphis
• "GT has games to win to get in the tournament".. other guy said he believes the last 2 wins is ultimately going to be the high point in GT's season
• Will be interested to see how Josh builds on this season... this season helps enormously

I suspect part of the problem with assistants at Memphis was the pressure to hire high school or AAU coaches in order to get their kids (players, or literally their sons) on the team. There was a lot of talk about CJP making similar hires here, which he and the AD seemed to have resisted - and which may appears to have paid off.

 

[Peacone36]

Hasn't CJP admitted to as much in early interviews?

 

[Fatmike91]

Enough with Memphis. I don't care.

/

 

[Techster]

Memphis sounding like the girlfriend who broke up with her boyfriend because she thought she could "do better".

Now that they've broken up, and the ex-boyfriend is doing well and has another good looking girlfriend, the ex needs to crap all over the ex boyfriend instead of being happy that both parties are doing well.

Not saying all Memphis fans are like that, but a lot of back handed compliments are coming off that way.

 

[McCamish Maniacs]

Wasn't there there a Memphis fan who came on here after the hire and got in all sorts of arguments with people?

I'd love to find those posts again.

 

[SteamWhistle]

Wasn't there there a Memphis fan who came on here after the hire and got in all sorts of arguments with people?

I'd love to find those posts again.

More than one I believe, they were so happy and so mad that we were happy.

 

[YJMD]

Memphis and Tech are so different it's hard to really make comparisons.

 

[Chris Freeman]

The answer is simple and I saw it addressed somewhere when CJP was hired. His strength is that of recruiter and not as floor coach. He understood this and hired a brilliant staff of coaches who specialize in X's & O's. He's using the Dabo model... minus the multimillion dollar budget of course

 

[cincyjacket]

I think a big difference is that he had a hard time managing all the divas on his squad. I think over the years there he had multiple 4-star athletes competing for playing time. These guys just want to showcase themselves for the NBA. Our squad has 2 and 3 star athletes who are unlikely to have NBA aspirations and are more apt to buy into the team concept. At Memphis, they felt he underperformed given the talent he had. On the contrary, at Tech, he is overperforming given the talent at hand.

Also at Memphis, that basketball team was the only show in town. There were high expectations from the community to succeed. Here at Tech, it was the opposite situation. Here he could rebuild the program with very low expectations for the first two years.

 

[lauraee]

I agree, I think a lot of it was the type of players. Definitely a bunch of them were selfish divas & not team players. Good luck getting guys like that to play defense or to listen. See that big name Memphis talent that transfered, Nichols didn't last long at UVA before getting kicked off the team.

 

[ramblinjacket]

So how do we avoid the big letdown if as soon as we have 4* players we are dealing with divas that coach can't handle?

 

[Techster]

So how do we avoid the big letdown if as soon as we have 4* players we are dealing with divas that coach can't handle?

The makeup of all elite players are not the same. I'll leave it at that.

 

[ncjacket79]

So how do we avoid the big letdown if as soon as we have 4* players we are dealing with divas that coach can't handle?

You pay attention to character instead of feeling the pressure to take every good Memphis player, who then thinks he is bigger than the program. It feels like Josh has figured that part out.

 

[ramblinjacket]

You pay attention to character instead of feeling the pressure to take every good Memphis player, who then thinks he is bigger than the program. It feels like Josh has figured that part out.

I like to believe you are right because I am a fan but my rational side says he hasn't had a chance to prove it yet.

 

[northgajacket]

Memphis sounding like the girlfriend who broke up with her boyfriend because she thought she could "do better".

Now that they've broken up, and the ex-boyfriend is doing well and has another good looking girlfriend, the ex needs to crap all over the ex boyfriend instead of being happy that both parties are doing well.

Not saying all Memphis fans are like that, but a lot of back handed compliments are coming off that way.

Perfect analogy.

 

[InsideLB]

I think a big difference is that he had a hard time managing all the divas on his squad. At Memphis, they felt he underperformed given the talent he had. On the contrary, at Tech, he is overperforming given the talent at hand.

Also at Memphis, that basketball team was the only show in town. There were high expectations from the community to succeed. Here at Tech, it was the opposite situation. Here he could rebuild the program with very low expectations for the first two years.

Great post. Speaking to the first point above, IMO this is why Calipari when asked about J. Pastner going to GT said it's a much better fit for JP. JP values academics and his communication style is geared towards a more cerebral player. At GT he has much less responsibility to be a disciplinarian because GT has a different type of SA.

 

[LongforDodd]

We need to schedule more ranked teams...at home...and it may be too late for that this year. We seem to lose focus away from ATL.