Dominating the ACC, Can Memphis Make It to the Final Four?

The Memphis Tigers have been a quality team in the American Athletic Conference this NCAA season. They have displayed some super aggressive basketball and stormed their way through to the second spot. They gave an example of their competitive attitude with their clash against the Vanderbilt Commodores Saturday night. The Tigers came back from behind and stole a 77-75 victory at the FedEx Forum.

Following this, many experts and analysts are heaping praises for this talented bunch of players. Moreover, some are even estimating that they have the caliber to make it to the Final Four. This in fact brings us to an important question: What makes Memphis a formidable team?

Experts heap praise for Memphis head coach Penny Hardway

Rob Dauster, Doug Gottlieb and Matt McCall expressed their views on how Memphis has a great chance this season to make a deep run this season. In the latest episode of the Field Of 68: After Dark, the three of them came together and discussed why Memphis is a team to look out for this time. Doug Gottlieb was the first to spare some thoughts on the Tigers. He pointed out that one of the reasons behind their success is the evolution of Penny Hardway as a head coach. He said, “Penny was not super ready when he got the job but he knew basketball a ton. It’s more of a question of running a program than coaching the team in the games.”

Penny Hardway is known to turn his players into future NBA prospects and conference superstars. The 52-year-old has been very vocal about his intentions for the team. He has earlier mentioned that he joined his alma mater to win multiple championships. Doug further added, “I think he’s coaching better. Coaches can get better too you know. We always talk about a player’s progression. We don’t talk about coaches. I think Penny’s better.” 

Who are the go-to guys in the Tigers locker room?

Memphis now has an impeccable record of 10-2 in the competition so far. As a result, they will face FAU for the American Athletic Conference Championships this year. A whole of credit for their outstanding run must be provided to their strong and forceful forward David Jones. The No. 8 was the pick of the lot in their win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. He registered 28 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Furthermore, Jones is the front runner in his team averaging 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game with a field goal percentage of 46.1.

Meanwhile, Jahvon Quinerly is perfectly playing the role of a second fiddle and provides much-needed assistance to Jones. In addition to this, he leads the team when it comes to assists per game. His current assist rate stands at 4.8 per game to complement his scoring average of 13.3. 

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Despite all these positive qualities within the team, there are still some things that need attention within the team.

Areas of improvement for Memphis

One of the primary concerns for the Tigers is that apart from Jones and Jahvon, no other player has made any significant contributions to the team. If Penny Hardway has a vision to win championships, he needs the rest of his other players to step up and deliver. If these two players are left aside, not a single player is averaging more than 9 points per game. Furthermore, they need to work on their accuracy from the 3-point range. Currently, they have a dismal conversion rate of 34.2 which doesn’t seem to be enough.

There is no denying that Memphis has what it takes to headline the Final Four in March next year. They have proven that they have the spirit and heart to perform against good teams under pressure. However, there are some gray areas they need to work on. We will have to wait and see how quickly they can improve on them.

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What are your thoughts on the Memphis Tiger’s chances this season? Let us know in the comments section.