(03-18-2019 12:27 PM)pvtlamb Wrote:  WSU was below my initial expectations. I thought they would play like they have over the last six weeks much, much earlier in the season. With really only 1.5 players with Division 1 experience, I should have known better.

And there are a few "what if" questions too. Not losing to Louisiana Tech to start the season and then losing 10-point leads in the 2nd half against Davidson and Alabama, and of course Temple too. And I'm thinking of the big first half lead we had vs Memphis at home. A few breaks and we would have been a bubble team.

And if we beat Cincy on Saturday, I think we beat Houston. But of course we also had three last-shot victories against SMU, UConn and Tulane . . .

I think if it played out that way and wsu grabbed the auto berth, y'all would probably have knocked Temple off the bubble in the process, and while it would have been great for y'all, it'd been a wash for the conference this year.

But y'all would definitely gotten some talk time for making an epic 4-day run through the tournament. That would have helped the conference image going into next year.

(03-18-2019 12:02 PM)robertfoshizzle Wrote:  I had to laugh when fans of other teams were calling for Penny to be a bust. There was a lot of "okay he can recruit, but can he coach?" and "he won't be able to recruit once the guys he coached in high school are gone." I don't know why anyone would believe the recruiting pipeline will automatically dry up -- even once his kids are out of high school, the connections are established and Penny is the kind of guy kids want to play for.

The morons on here who said this have no idea of the level of high school basketball talent in the city of Memphis.

not really thrilled...but we have hope

All my preseason expectations were for the 2019-2020 season. This was pretty much a lame duck year.

(03-18-2019 11:13 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 10:29 AM)cotton1991 Wrote:  

(03-18-2019 10:00 AM)Atlanta Wrote:  Think it was a "what could have been" season for Memphis. Several poor finishes really hurt. TT collapse & loss to Charleston standout to me as what could have been enough to make the NCAA tourney because those games as wins would have improved team confidence & poll standing much earlier. I understand Penny is a Memphis hero & most every Tiger supporter is almost afraid to say anything negative but if Penny could have coached the first half of the season as he did the last half, the finish would surely have been better. I give Penny a C- for the first half of the season & an A- for the 2nd half (B overall). And he will have a big challenge next season with the high expectations of a strong recruiting year but the loss of leadership on the floor. Add that Penny is the responsible party for tripled attendance & a top 5-6 recruiting class coming in, the tiger program has great potential to continue its upward path. Should add Penny improving the schedule led directly to the NIT invite. And that should serve to ECU, Tulane that improving the schedule will help them & the conference.

Well said. You saved me the trouble of writing pretty much the same thing.

I have a different take. At the beginning of the season, I would have been thrilled with an NIT bid. I didn't think there was any chance in hell we would make the NCAAT. The fact we came so close is testament to the turnaround.

Plus, we had a SOS in the 30s, vs. something around 120 last year. And a KP/Sagarin ranking of about 160 last year, vs. 50-60 or so, now.

I don't view it as missed opportunity. I think it took awhile for the players to buy into Penny's game plan, and come around to playing as a team, vs. hero ball.

Review minutes played early in the year vs the last half, you may change your mind. It's not all on the players buying in but agree that is always part of a coaching change. I mentioned schedule as a Penny +. It just took Penny some games to realize he had to free up Martin & that his seniors could provide more consistent results, substitutions were more timely & productive - and defense got much better beginning with the first UCF game. Game planning also was much improved in the last half. And don't forget, the conference coaches did pick Memphis 4th (http://theamerican.org/news/2018/10/14/m...orite.aspx) & we almost got there but for an inconsistent first half of the season that extended into conference play.

Was hoping for a bit better but next year will tell the tale if we are on the right path. Maybe we can be third from last...

Expected stiffs....


Got better than i expected.