Memphis @ UCF will tell us alot about if Memphis is slumping or improving....

(01-07-2023 03:40 PM)maybeimhere Wrote:  Memphis talent just exerting itself.

More like their focus, then their talent. Except for Davis and Williams, we don't have a lot of talent. So we have to rely on defense, more than usual.

But this group only plays hard D when they get in trouble against a lesser team, or when they come out against a team they know could beat them from the start (Alabama and Auburn).

Problem is, anybody can beat us if we don't focus and play hard defense. Drives me batty.

(01-07-2023 04:52 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 03:40 PM)maybeimhere Wrote:  Memphis talent just exerting itself.

More like their focus, then their talent. Except for Davis and Williams, we don't have a lot of talent. So we have to rely on defense, more than usual.

But this group only plays hard D when they get in trouble against a lesser team, or when they come out against a team they know could beat them from the start (Alabama and Auburn).

Problem is, anybody can beat us if we don't focus and play hard defense. Drives me batty.

Technically, that's true of anybody that doesn't play defense. After watching the Tigers and the Knights closely, the Tigers have more talent. Both good teams don't get me wrong, but with Williams and Davis along with your complement players after them you have the best squad. That doesn't always mean you win though and as you said you'll have to be focused to beat a team like the Knights.

(01-07-2023 11:09 PM)Pirate Rep Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 04:52 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 03:40 PM)maybeimhere Wrote:  Memphis talent just exerting itself.

More like their focus, then their talent. Except for Davis and Williams, we don't have a lot of talent. So we have to rely on defense, more than usual.

But this group only plays hard D when they get in trouble against a lesser team, or when they come out against a team they know could beat them from the start (Alabama and Auburn).

Problem is, anybody can beat us if we don't focus and play hard defense. Drives me batty.

Technically, that's true of anybody that doesn't play defense. After watching the Tigers and the Knights closely, the Tigers have more talent. Both good teams don't get me wrong, but with Williams and Davis along with your complement players after them you have the best squad. That doesn't always mean you win though and as you said you'll have to be focused to beat a team like the Knights.

Yes, I didn't mean we weren't more talented than you or UCF. I meant the difference in trailing by 11 and then going on a 22-0 run wasn't that all of a sudden we discovered we were more talented, but rather, we clamped down and started playing hard.

We took you way too lightly. We aren't THAT much more talented to be able to afford to do that. Against better teams, we will get burned, like at Tulane. We were lucky you didn't get us.

For some reason, our team has trouble with intensity for long stretches. I think it starts with Penny, b/c he mentioned more than once that he thought he could lengthen the rotation and give more guys minutes, once we got out of our tough OOC and started playing conference games.

What coach thinks like that? And his team seems to reflect it. We did not have that issue against Alabama or Auburn. A classic case of playing up or down to our competition. Dangerous way to navigate a schedule. This league isn't great, but nobody is THAT easy, where you can just walk out on the floor and win, because we have more talent.

(01-08-2023 01:49 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 11:09 PM)Pirate Rep Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 04:52 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 03:40 PM)maybeimhere Wrote:  Memphis talent just exerting itself.

More like their focus, then their talent. Except for Davis and Williams, we don't have a lot of talent. So we have to rely on defense, more than usual.

But this group only plays hard D when they get in trouble against a lesser team, or when they come out against a team they know could beat them from the start (Alabama and Auburn).

Problem is, anybody can beat us if we don't focus and play hard defense. Drives me batty.

Technically, that's true of anybody that doesn't play defense. After watching the Tigers and the Knights closely, the Tigers have more talent. Both good teams don't get me wrong, but with Williams and Davis along with your complement players after them you have the best squad. That doesn't always mean you win though and as you said you'll have to be focused to beat a team like the Knights.

Yes, I didn't mean we weren't more talented than you or UCF. I meant the difference in trailing by 11 and then going on a 22-0 run wasn't that all of a sudden we discovered we were more talented, but rather, we clamped down and started playing hard.

We took you way too lightly. We aren't THAT much more talented to be able to afford to do that. Against better teams, we will get burned, like at Tulane. We were lucky you didn't get us.

For some reason, our team has trouble with intensity for long stretches. I think it starts with Penny, b/c he mentioned more than once that he thought he could lengthen the rotation and give more guys minutes, once we got out of our tough OOC and started playing conference games.

What coach thinks like that? And his team seems to reflect it. We did not have that issue against Alabama or Auburn. A classic case of playing up or down to our competition. Dangerous way to navigate a schedule. This league isn't great, but nobody is THAT easy, where you can just walk out on the floor and win, because we have more talent.

folks said the same thing about Cal, Pastner, and Tubby...teams simply have ups and downs you just have to deal with that when you roll with 18-24 year olds.

(01-08-2023 05:31 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 01:49 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 11:09 PM)Pirate Rep Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 04:52 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 03:40 PM)maybeimhere Wrote:  Memphis talent just exerting itself.

More like their focus, then their talent. Except for Davis and Williams, we don't have a lot of talent. So we have to rely on defense, more than usual.

But this group only plays hard D when they get in trouble against a lesser team, or when they come out against a team they know could beat them from the start (Alabama and Auburn).

Problem is, anybody can beat us if we don't focus and play hard defense. Drives me batty.

Technically, that's true of anybody that doesn't play defense. After watching the Tigers and the Knights closely, the Tigers have more talent. Both good teams don't get me wrong, but with Williams and Davis along with your complement players after them you have the best squad. That doesn't always mean you win though and as you said you'll have to be focused to beat a team like the Knights.

Yes, I didn't mean we weren't more talented than you or UCF. I meant the difference in trailing by 11 and then going on a 22-0 run wasn't that all of a sudden we discovered we were more talented, but rather, we clamped down and started playing hard.

We took you way too lightly. We aren't THAT much more talented to be able to afford to do that. Against better teams, we will get burned, like at Tulane. We were lucky you didn't get us.

For some reason, our team has trouble with intensity for long stretches. I think it starts with Penny, b/c he mentioned more than once that he thought he could lengthen the rotation and give more guys minutes, once we got out of our tough OOC and started playing conference games.

What coach thinks like that? And his team seems to reflect it. We did not have that issue against Alabama or Auburn. A classic case of playing up or down to our competition. Dangerous way to navigate a schedule. This league isn't great, but nobody is THAT easy, where you can just walk out on the floor and win, because we have more talent.

folks said the same thing about Cal, Pastner, and Tubby...teams simply have ups and downs you just have to deal with that when you roll with 18-24 year olds.

No kidding. College teams have ups and downs from game to game? Who knew? Duh.

We have played 3 straight poor games, after playing much better in most of our OOC. Not really ups and downs. More like up for most of 13 games, and now down for 3 straight.

But that's not what I said. I'm talking about the coach's attitude, not the players. Penny said publicly that he thought he could lengthen the rotation once he got into conference play, implying that conference play would be easier than our OOC.

Coaches usually don't underestimate the competition, like players do. My point is, Penny's attitude likely carried over to the players, thus explaining at least part of the reason for our poor play in the conference so far, as opposed to how hard we played, and how much better we played defense, in the OOC schedule.

At any rate. I don't recall Calipari underestimating anybody. I know for a fact Pastner didn't, b/c I talked to him almost every week. Tubby, WTH knows what he was thinking, lol.

But coaches in general try hard to fight that, since players are prone to it. I'm simply saying Penny seems guilty of it, as well, and that's unusual.

Penny sent the team home for a week during the holidays as if the mission was accomplished, and all we have to do now is skate through the rest of the season. This is the first year Penny didn't have the team in disarray at Christmas. Penny's the one that took a break and its reflected in his team. We've lost focus.

Now Penny as usual is still searching for the right combination mid season like he does every season. He can't manage players for ****. Rinse and repeat every frikken year.

(01-08-2023 07:49 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 05:31 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 01:49 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 11:09 PM)Pirate Rep Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 04:52 PM)TripleA Wrote:  More like their focus, then their talent. Except for Davis and Williams, we don't have a lot of talent. So we have to rely on defense, more than usual.

But this group only plays hard D when they get in trouble against a lesser team, or when they come out against a team they know could beat them from the start (Alabama and Auburn).

Problem is, anybody can beat us if we don't focus and play hard defense. Drives me batty.

Technically, that's true of anybody that doesn't play defense. After watching the Tigers and the Knights closely, the Tigers have more talent. Both good teams don't get me wrong, but with Williams and Davis along with your complement players after them you have the best squad. That doesn't always mean you win though and as you said you'll have to be focused to beat a team like the Knights.

Yes, I didn't mean we weren't more talented than you or UCF. I meant the difference in trailing by 11 and then going on a 22-0 run wasn't that all of a sudden we discovered we were more talented, but rather, we clamped down and started playing hard.

We took you way too lightly. We aren't THAT much more talented to be able to afford to do that. Against better teams, we will get burned, like at Tulane. We were lucky you didn't get us.

For some reason, our team has trouble with intensity for long stretches. I think it starts with Penny, b/c he mentioned more than once that he thought he could lengthen the rotation and give more guys minutes, once we got out of our tough OOC and started playing conference games.

What coach thinks like that? And his team seems to reflect it. We did not have that issue against Alabama or Auburn. A classic case of playing up or down to our competition. Dangerous way to navigate a schedule. This league isn't great, but nobody is THAT easy, where you can just walk out on the floor and win, because we have more talent.

folks said the same thing about Cal, Pastner, and Tubby...teams simply have ups and downs you just have to deal with that when you roll with 18-24 year olds.

No kidding. College teams have ups and downs from game to game? Who knew? Duh.

We have played 3 straight poor games, after playing much better in most of our OOC. Not really ups and downs. More like up for most of 13 games, and now down for 3 straight.

But that's not what I said. I'm talking about the coach's attitude, not the players. Penny said publicly that he thought he could lengthen the rotation once he got into conference play, implying that conference play would be easier than our OOC.

Coaches usually don't underestimate the competition, like players do. My point is, Penny's attitude likely carried over to the players, thus explaining at least part of the reason for our poor play in the conference so far, as opposed to how hard we played, and how much better we played defense, in the OOC schedule.

At any rate. I don't recall Calipari underestimating anybody. I know for a fact Pastner didn't, b/c I talked to him almost every week. Tubby, WTH knows what he was thinking, lol.

But coaches in general try hard to fight that, since players are prone to it. I'm simply saying Penny seems guilty of it, as well, and that's unusual.

If Penny’s underestimation is the primary reason for our underwhelming conference performance, then Memphis is in a good position against UCF. The game represents a Quad 1 opportunity.

(01-08-2023 11:40 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 07:49 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 05:31 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 01:49 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(01-07-2023 11:09 PM)Pirate Rep Wrote:  Technically, that's true of anybody that doesn't play defense. After watching the Tigers and the Knights closely, the Tigers have more talent. Both good teams don't get me wrong, but with Williams and Davis along with your complement players after them you have the best squad. That doesn't always mean you win though and as you said you'll have to be focused to beat a team like the Knights.

Yes, I didn't mean we weren't more talented than you or UCF. I meant the difference in trailing by 11 and then going on a 22-0 run wasn't that all of a sudden we discovered we were more talented, but rather, we clamped down and started playing hard.

We took you way too lightly. We aren't THAT much more talented to be able to afford to do that. Against better teams, we will get burned, like at Tulane. We were lucky you didn't get us.

For some reason, our team has trouble with intensity for long stretches. I think it starts with Penny, b/c he mentioned more than once that he thought he could lengthen the rotation and give more guys minutes, once we got out of our tough OOC and started playing conference games.

What coach thinks like that? And his team seems to reflect it. We did not have that issue against Alabama or Auburn. A classic case of playing up or down to our competition. Dangerous way to navigate a schedule. This league isn't great, but nobody is THAT easy, where you can just walk out on the floor and win, because we have more talent.

folks said the same thing about Cal, Pastner, and Tubby...teams simply have ups and downs you just have to deal with that when you roll with 18-24 year olds.

No kidding. College teams have ups and downs from game to game? Who knew? Duh.

We have played 3 straight poor games, after playing much better in most of our OOC. Not really ups and downs. More like up for most of 13 games, and now down for 3 straight.

But that's not what I said. I'm talking about the coach's attitude, not the players. Penny said publicly that he thought he could lengthen the rotation once he got into conference play, implying that conference play would be easier than our OOC.

Coaches usually don't underestimate the competition, like players do. My point is, Penny's attitude likely carried over to the players, thus explaining at least part of the reason for our poor play in the conference so far, as opposed to how hard we played, and how much better we played defense, in the OOC schedule.

At any rate. I don't recall Calipari underestimating anybody. I know for a fact Pastner didn't, b/c I talked to him almost every week. Tubby, WTH knows what he was thinking, lol.

But coaches in general try hard to fight that, since players are prone to it. I'm simply saying Penny seems guilty of it, as well, and that's unusual.

If Penny’s underestimation is the primary reason for our underwhelming conference performance, then Memphis is in a good position against UCF. The game represents a Quad 1 opportunity.

I don't think it's the primary reason. I think it's a factor. I think the players' attitudes about opponents is primary, and Penny is exacerbating that, which is weird for a coach.

That and his own confusion about how to manage the rotation, which he just admitted publicly. And his unnecessary line changes, which contributes to the confusion and game flow. Our issues started Saturday when we had a decent early lead, and Penny put in 3, then a fourth, with less than 5 minutes or so gone in the game.

But yeah, surely we can focus for 40 minutes in Orlando. They're good enough to beat us at their place no matter what. We'll see.

Memphis has the most manic fan base I've ever seen...

(01-09-2023 03:19 AM)UofMemphis Wrote:  Memphis has the most manic fan base I've ever seen...

Yeah, especially when someone gives an answer you don't like. I'm way too old to be manic. I don't have the energy. We just don't agree. On anything.