What to expect from the Memphis Tigers Tuesday night!

[adallastiger]

You guys are in for a treat. At this point we are, without question, a legitimate top ten team. Not sure if I have EVER seen a Tiger team play this well together. So I thought I'd give you some things to look for from some of our players on Tuesday. Note the following:

Adonis Thomas-Considered an NBA first round choice out of high school. Injured much of last season. Got off to a slower start than expected this year, but last few games he is starting to realize his potential. Can't say he leaves this year, but once or twice a game he will show you why he COULD go first round. If not this year, next!

Joe Jackson-Will play at the next level, though that does not necessarily mean NBA. Extremely quick first step, shooting around 50% from three point range. Very fast open court, difficult to guard one on one because of his quickness.

D.J. Stephens-Nation's most dynamic dunker. Height is in 6'5" range, but plays taller. Watch for some of the most awesome dunks you will ever see.

Geron Johnson-JUCO player of the year last year. Many schools gave up on him because of off the court problems, but Josh gave him a chance. Got to be in every night at x time. Got to go to all classes. May be a first round NBA player, but needs minimum of one more year to get there. Did not have him first three games. Remember that losses to Minnesota and VCU did not have him in our lineup.

Won't go into all the others. But watch for Shaq Goodwin, Tarik Black, Crawford, Hall and others. We go 10 to 11 deep and EVERYONE can play. We are fast, unselfish, and probably the most athletic team in the country. If we are successful in shooting the 3 ball, no one is going to beat us.

Enjoy the game, looks like you have a nice board. Prediction?

Tigers, 82-66

Go Tigers! After this game, which is nationally televised, look for the rest of the nation to realize how good this team really is!

Enjoy the game!

[Cheesehead]

Top Ten? What are you smoking? You lost to VCU by 13. No signature wins at all.

[crolfes12]

Sounds like you overrated the whole team to the point where they can all play in the NBA. Your thinking of Kentucky 11-12 team not Memphis 12-13

[XUFan09]

I look through what Memphis has done this year and especially what they have done recently, and I just do not see a top 10 team. I do, however, see a legitimate top 25 team.

[BMoreX]

So your whole team is a future NBA player?

Ok.

[mistabeecee41]

all of this Memphis bashing is starting to make us sound like Cryer fans. Any other year - I'd be shit talking up a storm. We're horrible. We have no room to talk about any team better than us.

[Caveat]

I expect Xavier will be declared the winner in this game...

...either when the clock hits 0:00 or 3-4 years down the road when the NCAA gets done taking a look at the program.

[GetUp5]

Where are all these Memphis clowns coming from?

We're horrible this year, OP. You guys SHOULD beat us. You aren't a legitimate top ten team, though. At all.

It sucks that we suck because we can't talk any shit.

[LA Muskie]

I'm going to ignore all of the chest-puffing. I expect us to play hard, and battle to the end. I hope as hell that's good enough to win. But without Dee (and I honestly can't fathom that he'll play), it is going to be a Herculean task against a quick and athletic team (well coached or not).

[Caveat]

I'm going to ignore all of the chest-puffing. I expect us to play hard, and battle to the end. I hope as hell that's good enough to win. But without Dee (and I honestly can't fathom that he'll play), it is going to be a Herculean task against a quick and athletic team (well coached or not).

Playing w/o Dee is asking for a lot of minutes out of Brad and Semaj -- going to be a really tall order, IMO.

[LA Muskie]

Playing w/o Dee is asking for a lot of minutes out of Brad and Semaj -- going to be a really tall order, IMO.

A very tall order. This is a game in which Brad might only have seen 5-7 minutes because of matchups. Now we're going to see 30+ out of him.

[PMI]

You guys are in for a treat. At this point we are, without question, a legitimate top ten team. Not sure if I have EVER seen a Tiger team play this well together. So I thought I'd give you some things to look for from some of our players on Tuesday. Note the following:

Adonis Thomas-Considered an NBA first round choice out of high school. Injured much of last season. Got off to a slower start than expected this year, but last few games he is starting to realize his potential. Can't say he leaves this year, but once or twice a game he will show you why he COULD go first round. If not this year, next!

Joe Jackson-Will play at the next level, though that does not necessarily mean NBA. Extremely quick first step, shooting around 50% from three point range. Very fast open court, difficult to guard one on one because of his quickness.

D.J. Stephens-Nation's most dynamic dunker. Height is in 6'5" range, but plays taller. Watch for some of the most awesome dunks you will ever see.

Geron Johnson-JUCO player of the year last year. Many schools gave up on him because of off the court problems, but Josh gave him a chance. Got to be in every night at x time. Got to go to all classes. May be a first round NBA player, but needs minimum of one more year to get there. Did not have him first three games. Remember that losses to Minnesota and VCU did not have him in our lineup.

Won't go into all the others. But watch for Shaq Goodwin, Tarik Black, Crawford, Hall and others. We go 10 to 11 deep and EVERYONE can play. We are fast, unselfish, and probably the most athletic team in the country. If we are successful in shooting the 3 ball, no one is going to beat us.

Enjoy the game, looks like you have a nice board. Prediction?

Tigers, 82-66

Go Tigers! After this game, which is nationally televised, look for the rest of the nation to realize how good this team really is!

Enjoy the game!

I will take your word as gospel and empty my bank account on Memphis, selling lots of points in the process. At this point I'd be surprised if Memphis doesn't win the national championship with their starting lineup of future NBA All-Stars. If you can play that well together in the C-USA, then nothing should stand between Professor Pastnor and a title. All Xavier fans attending the game better appreciate how good they have it, as they will get to someday tell their grandkids that they saw the 2013 Memphis Tigers play live in person. Ticket stubs for this game will sell on eBay the next day for enough to pay for your weekend trip to Brooklyn in March, so scheduling this game was really just an effective way for Xavier to get thousands of its fans up to New York for the tournament. We are not worthy, but we thank you for allowing us to experience your unparalleled greatness.

[XU 87]

Trivia question- how many final fours has Memphis (or Memphis State) been to?

[memsailor]

Trivia question- how many final fours has Memphis (or Memphis State) been to?

More than Xavier? :swordfight:

[ammtd34]

Geron Johnson is from Dayton. He was arrested for burglary in high school and kicked out of two JUCOs (Garden City and Chipola). He was then suspended this season for receiving improper benefits.

[paulxu]

Geron Johnson is from Dayton... arrested....kicked out...suspended.....improper benefits.

Makes sense to me.

[GoMuskies]

Trivia question- how many final fours has Memphis (or Memphis State) been to?

Officially? Is it zero? I know that 1985 and 2008 have been wiped out. Were there any others?

Now I've cheated. They do have one appearance still.

[atljar]

On a non game related note, I honestly hope our city treats you as well as I was treated last year in Memphis. From Brother Junipers to Corkeys, to the people on Beale street, everyone I crossed paths with was super friendly. Great time.

[Tigermemphis]

We are probably a top 20-25 team. We have been playing extremely unselfishly the last dozen games or so. Yes, just about all of the Memphis players listed were over-hyped.

Adonis Thomas was pretty true. He was a McD AA, then got hurt after about 12 games into his freshman year. Tried to come back at the end of the season, but was just too slow and out of game shape. Then, this year, I feel like he has put on too much weight. When he was explosive as a freshman, he weighed about 220. Now, he is 240 and I just feel like the strength he has gained has hurt him quickness and athletically more than it has helped him. He went from a sure-fire first round pick on most mock boards to now not even getting drafted.

Joe Jackson has really matured and doesn't get as wild and throw the ball away as much as he used to. He will never play in the NBA (too small and not strong enough), but he could make money overseas.

Geron Johnson---probably has the most NBA potential, but they are going to want to see him stay clean for at least another year in my opinion.

DJ Stephens did have ESPN's # 2 college dunk of the year last year against you guys with a rebound-putback-slam that he grabbed from below his waist and tomahawked. Most improved player on the team. Can't shoot, can't really dribble, but sneaks around the goal and slams a lot of garbage baskets and he comes from the weak side to block a lot of shots. Shaq Goodwin is 6-9 and athletic, but DJ jumps center for us at the start of every game at 6-5".

Tarik Black---a load down low, but he can't stay out of foul trouble.

Shaq Goodwin--6-9 freshman McD AA who starts for us. Too hesitant offensively. Looks to pass first instead of looking to score. By the time he decides to make his move, defense has collapsed on him.

Chris Crawford--- used to start until Geron got here. There is a difference between an excellent shooter and a streaky shooter. Chris is streaky. If he hits some 3's early on, he can bomb from anywhere. If he misses his first 2 or 3, he will have an awful shooting night.

If you guys can keep the pace slow and shorten the game using the shot clock and don't turn the ball over, then I'm sure you have a pretty good chance. Those teams give us trouble.

Sorry your PG is out. I never did see footage of what happened. Knee to the head? Elbow to the head? How did he get a concussion?

TM

[ammtd34]

Sorry your PG is out. I never did see footage of what happened. Knee to the head? Elbow to the head? How did he get a concussion?

TM

Head to head on a reach in 90 feet from the bucket with no foul call.

[Tigermemphis]

We feel your pain. You should have seen our game against Louisville! If it weren't for the officiating in that game, we wouldn't be in a position to have to win every single game or end up "on the bubble" with one loss.......

Man, head to head on a reach-in attempt with no call.......that is a tough one. I'm sure your guy fell down from the collision? VCU.....they play so aggressive that they get the benefit of not having some fouls called.

TM

[XUFan09]

Welcome to the Late-Season Exhibition Game (http://fromstaaktomack.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/welcome-to-the-late-season-exhibition-game/)

[xubrew]

You guys are in for a treat. At this point we are, without question, a legitimate top ten team. Not sure if I have EVER seen a Tiger team play this well together. So I thought I'd give you some things to look for from some of our players on Tuesday. Note the following:

Adonis Thomas-Considered an NBA first round choice out of high school. Injured much of last season. Got off to a slower start than expected this year, but last few games he is starting to realize his potential. Can't say he leaves this year, but once or twice a game he will show you why he COULD go first round. If not this year, next!

Joe Jackson-Will play at the next level, though that does not necessarily mean NBA. Extremely quick first step, shooting around 50% from three point range. Very fast open court, difficult to guard one on one because of his quickness.

D.J. Stephens-Nation's most dynamic dunker. Height is in 6'5" range, but plays taller. Watch for some of the most awesome dunks you will ever see.

Geron Johnson-JUCO player of the year last year. Many schools gave up on him because of off the court problems, but Josh gave him a chance. Got to be in every night at x time. Got to go to all classes. May be a first round NBA player, but needs minimum of one more year to get there. Did not have him first three games. Remember that losses to Minnesota and VCU did not have him in our lineup.

Won't go into all the others. But watch for Shaq Goodwin, Tarik Black, Crawford, Hall and others. We go 10 to 11 deep and EVERYONE can play. We are fast, unselfish, and probably the most athletic team in the country. If we are successful in shooting the 3 ball, no one is going to beat us.

Enjoy the game, looks like you have a nice board. Prediction?

Tigers, 82-66

Go Tigers! After this game, which is nationally televised, look for the rest of the nation to realize how good this team really is!

Enjoy the game!

I know I'm saying this before the end of the game. Furthermore, I'm still expecting Memphis to come back and win....

But you're not a top ten team. Not even close. You're not even a top 25 team. I know Memphis is in the top 25, but that has more to do with how the polls trend than anything else. If you avoid losses you move up. The most important element to the top 25 is how recently a team lost, and since your schedule consists almost exclusively of teams that won't even make the NIT, it is easy for them to win. Outside of Southern Miss, who still has just three top 100 and zero top 90 wins, no one is even making the NIT.

The only time all year Memphis actually looked good against a good team was the first ten minutes of the Louisville game. They proceeded to be outscored on their home court by about a margin of 20pts after building up an early lead.

Xavier is well coached. They play well. They game plan well. In all of their losses, they've actually managed second half leads in all but two of them. They simply lack the depth and the personnel to stay with other teams because they become fatigued.

Memphis does not look well coached. They're being beaten on the boards, they're not controlling the tempo, and they're down big to Xavier. They've essentially been totally outplayed by an NIT team (if that), and although Memphis will likely come back, it's Xavier's fatigue and not Memphis's strengths that will lead to it. That's not a sign of a well prepared team, and if/when Memphis does face a tournament caliber team (which they won't for the rest of the regular season) that's a problem, and they'll likely get beat.

If Memphis gets a #10 seed, there will be no one seeded ahead of them that they actually managed to beat. They cried about their seed last year, and then went out and proved that the committee got it right. Memphis isn't as good as everyone thinks. They're the best team in a sub-NIT caliber conference. If they played in the Altantic Ten, they wouldn't be at the top. VCU beat them more easily than they beat us for crissake. They're not as good as VCU, Butler or SLU. Perhaps they are on par with La Salle or Temple, but since they don't play anyone, it's hard to say.

[xubrew]

A very good win for us, especially when you consider our situation. Memphis isn't anything special, though. At least not in regards to being a legitimate player on the national scene.

[PMI]

Do you believe in unlikelihood?!?!?!

[nuts4xu]

do you believe in unlikelihood?!?!?!

yesssssss!!!!!!!!!

[OTRMUSKIE]

Memphis fans love their basketball. 117 pages on their game thread. They do know their whole program is a sham right? http://csnbbs.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=446

[ammtd34]

I sat next to two Memphis fans in the back of section 104. They were as nice as opposing fans could be. We had a running conversation through the second half and he also ate some Skyline. They seemed like good people.

[xubrew]

I know how much Memphis fans love their basketball.

Memphis consistently leads the nation in undue praise. When Calipari was there, they did at least play a killer OOC schedule and do well against it. They often followed that up by blowing through their conference and then going on a deep tournament run.

Memphis started off in the top ten last year and fell flat. They blew through a sub par conference and everyone was talkign about how dangerous they were. They proved to not be dangerous at all.

This year they were once again ranked in the teens to start the year. I have no idea why. They proved that they belonged nowhere near the rankigns, but once they started running roughshod over a bunch of sub-NIT teams, everyone started talking about how good they were and they once again ended up back in the rankings. They've beaten no tournament teams, and outside of Southern Miss I don't think they've beaten any NIT teams. Yet, they're in the rankings.

People complain about what media darlings Gonzaga and Butler are and all the undue praise they get. At least those teams play and beat good teams on occassion. With Memphis it's a once in a blue moon affair. Their best wins last year were Xavier (at a time when we were in complete dissaray) and Southern Miss. Both at home by a combined total of six points. They beat no other tournament calbier teams.

The year before, they beat UAB in overtime, who barely made the tournament. They beat no one else.

This year, they've beaten zero tournament teams.

Yet, everyone will undoubtedly be talking about how good Memphis is. They'll probably begin next season ranked in the teens again. I don't get it. If they played in the Atlantic Ten I don't think they'd be at the top of the conference. I also don't think they're all that much better than teams like Akron, Belmont and Middle Tennessee. Why aren't those teams ever in the rankings?? They blow through weak leagues just like Memphis. I'm not knocking those teams. I think they're all good teams. I just don't think they're top 25 teams, and really don't think Memphis is either. They haven't been at any point in the last four or five years.

[UCGRAD4X]

Man - you are all rally bursting my bubble after that win. Not much of a win after all it seems. Bummer dudes.

[XUFan09]

Man - you are all rally bursting my bubble after that win. Not much of a win after all it seems. Bummer dudes.

If the rankings were accurate, they would still be one of the better unranked teams IMO.

[xubrew]

Man - you are all rally bursting my bubble after that win. Not much of a win after all it seems. Bummer dudes.

Well, we have more good wins than they do. We have four top forty RPI wins. They have two, and it was the same team. Does that make you feel better??