Memphis Tigers Basketball 2012-13 Season

[SD2042]

I decided to dig this thread so anybody can talk Tigers here.

Lots of stories here like:

The move to the Big East and the shaping of the conference
What's Tarik Black's issues?
How the Tigers barely beat Marshall by one point.


Lots of stuff for ppl to bring up.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Tigers have really caught fire of late. Geron Johnson has come into his own and is a beast. Joe Jackson has evolved from bad Joe, to inconsistent Joe, to good Joe to OMG freaking great Joe. The front line rotation of Shaq Goodwin, Tarik Black, Adonis Thomas and the ESPN Top 10 Highlight Machine DJ Stephens are rounding out nicely, if not a bit inconsistent still. Chris Crawford has started to adapt to his role as the assassin off the bench. Losing Antonio Barton hurts.

All in all with the incredible guard play of late, the Tigers are poised to potentially make some noise in March!

[jman3134]

Tigers have really caught fire of late. Geron Johnson has come into his own and is a beast. Joe Jackson has evolved from bad Joe, to inconsistent Joe, to good Joe to OMG freaking great Joe. The front line rotation of Shaq Goodwin, Tarik Black, Adonis Thomas and the ESPN Top 10 Highlight Machine DJ Stephens are rounding out nicely, if not a bit inconsistent still. Chris Crawford has started to adapt to his role as the assassin off the bench. Losing Antonio Barton hurts.

All in all with the incredible guard play of late, the Tigers are poised to potentially make some noise in March!

I've liked Johnson since the first time I caught him in action. He's a combo guard with a whole lot of game and is the perfect complement to Joe Jackson, who is now able to function as more of a scorer and slasher. It's no accident that Joe Jackson is having his best season by far. (he's been a revelation) I watched him in high school against Kyrie Irving, and I honestly was shocked at how he had struggled in previous years. It was only a matter of time. Still, I'm not sure he is an ideal fit for the NBA, but he is having a tremendous college season.

DJ Stephens has had a breakout year to some degree. Crawford has played surprisingly well as an extra wing in a lineup with Johnson and Jackson.

[vanjulio]

got a bad feeling about today's game.

St. Mary's completely blew out URI earlier this season. Then URI nearly defeated Xavier. And we know what Xavier did to Memphis...

They really need this win to get the monkey off Pastner's back.

[vanjulio]

that was pitiful really. how is that both Michigan teams get home games in the NCAA tournament???? First time they EVER have both advanced past the first 2 rounds. I call shenanigans on that. I remember the tournament was held at FedEx but I thought Memphis was playing in other region like Texas or something that year... I'm all for being economical but Memphis playing in Michigan is a long way from home and a hostile environment. That's just my first complaint though.

The Tigers sucked. The comeback b4 half was awesome but they had to carry that momentum through the 2nd half. Instead MSU (I know - I want to call this MSU vs MSU) took off and never looked back.

Memphis should stay in the C-USA - they just can't hang with the big teams like this. In my memory the only times we've ever really had success is when we had Penny (elite8) and Derrick Rose (runner-up in Finals). I know we got a few rounds in here and there with Calipari with guys like Sean Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Darius Washington, Dozier, Antonio Anderson, Rodney Carney, etc.... But come on - Tigers are not big time. They are a mid-major squad that just has no chance against teams like MSU. MSU was bigger at every position and they executed on every play. Memphis played with tons of energy, tons of pride, tons of effort, but it doesn't make you 20% better on the road in the enemy stadium. And for these young guys they have no chance playing in front of a michigan crowd. Their only shot is to abandon playing team ball. They need to let guys just ball. Joe Jackson should have been given the Marshall Henderson green light and just gone crazy. Team ball in this environment is going to give you double-digit loss. I know the coaches at Memphis can't just admit "well screw it, throw out the game plan, just let Joe shoot it every play", but that's the only way Memphis can compete. Memphis was a great team to get the Finals but when we battled the big boys it came down to what I like to call "Man Time". In Man time is when guys like Michael Jordan, Lebron James, etc, takeover games. Carmelo Anthony tries to do this every time he plays. Allen Iverson made his entire carreer into "Man Time". YOU DONT WANT TO DO THAT - it's the last resort for a bad team. But Memphis was bad today... and they needed MAN TIME.

The only reason we made it to the finals that year, the only reason Syracuse won a championship with Melo, was because of MAN TIME - Derrick Rose went ape **** and donkey punched everyone on the court simultaneously. And we almost got our championship if it wasn't for Calipari not knowing how to call a timeout.... The rest of the team , schemes, plays, coaching, was just adequate and just enough for Tiger basketball - which is at best enough to win the C-USA every year but not much more. The rest of the success was because we had guys on those teams that were future NBA allstars.

[SD2042]

Time to get real.

I already knew that the Tigers were going to lose big against Michigan St. Regardless they were playing in Michigan or in Utah. The guys had to fight like crazy to get that three pt lead going into halftime after the Spartans gave them hell in the beginning. Them comes to second half when the Spartans really took the Tigers to the woodshed all kinds of furious. The Tigers ran out of gas and time. Now their season has concluded and will have to focus on getting better for the next upcoming season.

To me, they need to focus on getting some better frontcourt help. Shaq Goodwin is just a start. Black just isn't getting it done in terms of being a starter. The last time I recalled the Tigers having a known significant frontcourt player goes back to Kelly Wise and that was 10 yrs ago. This squad is always guard heavy since the days of Dejuan Wagner circa 2001. Can this Tigers team be able to attract some quality frontcourt help to help this team be able to make a stand against top 25 teams in the NCAA rankings? That's what Josh Pastner needs to work on for the offseason.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Next season should be the real deal. Veteran loaded team with the 2nd best recruiting class in the nation. Austin Nichols will be a star.

[jman3134]

Memphis had a much better season this year than most gave them credit for. Michigan St. just took it to them inside and never looked back. However, Memphis' roster may have more talent from top to bottom. Adrein Payne has played out of his mind in this tournament- if he plays anything like he did during most of the season, Memphis might have won the game. This doesn't mean that Memphis can't be an elite program. I just don't trust Pastner, but I do feel that the Jackson-Johnson-Crawford backcourt is one of the best in the country and will prove itself if everyone comes back.

[SD2042]

Been meaning to get some of yall opinions on Tarik Black transfering and what looks to be Joe Jackson may take a chance on the NBA draft?

[jman3134]

Well, Black and Antonio Barton transferring really hurts the depth. You guys still have the three headed monster in the backcourt with Jackson, Johnson, and Crawford. And, Shaq Goodwin returns to help in the frontcourt. Black transferring really hurt Memphis. Then you lose Adonis Thomas to the draft, which I have to say is likely a good move for him even though he is far from ready. This is the worst draft maybe ever. A lot of the role players graduated in Stephens, Hall, and Simpson. There is going to be a lot of pressure on freshmen Austin Nichols and Kuran Iverson to produce right away. And, Goodwin is going to have to get a lot better, especially defensively. The frontcourt is the reason Memphis got knocked out against Michigan St. and these departures really hurt.

[SD2042]

On the radio recently, it was mention that the Tigers are looking into JUCO players to fill up the frontcourt depth to replace the departed players spots. Hopefully who ever these guys they get will contribute well for the squad.

[jman3134]

Hopefully, they have more of an impact than Stan Simpson.

Best available options according to JucoRecruiting: #21 6'11 Joseph Uchebo of Chipola (Fl), #24 6'9 Remi Dibo of Casper College (WY), #31 6'9 Octavious Ellis of Trinity Valley (TX), #33 6'9 Kevin Thomas of Palm Beach St. (Fl), #43 7'0 Nkosi Ali of NE Oklahoma A&M, #54 6'10 Olalekan Ajayi of Collin County (TX), #88 6'7 Octavious Green of SW Georgia Tech, and #89 6'7 Fred Mattison of Mott College (MI).

http://www.jucorecruiting.com/2013-juco ... -rankings/

[SD2042]

Ain't no telling how things will turn out for the squad coming this fall. Whoever these guys that Pastner will pick, I hope that they have the skills to back it up on the hardwood and make a difference.

Also to note, Damon Stoudamire will be leaving the Tigers program to take a position at the University of Arizona as an assistant.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/ua/free ... coach.html

[jman3134]

Pastner better start making some moves for some of these guys. Uchebo just got signed by Pitt.

[jman3134]

Now Dibo just chose West Virginia, so Memphis is losing out on some of the top JUCO talent.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Hey Jman - can we get a 2013-2014 thread going, please? Even though this one didn't have a ton of activity, I appreciated it being here - and this season has the potential to be big for the UofM