For all the hope, hype, skepticism and speculation, Penny Hardaway’s first real chance to show the world what Memphis basketball would look like on his watch came on Tuesday night on the road against No. 22 LSU.
It was a loss, 85-76.
But if it was any glimpse of what’s to come of the program under Hardaway, the future is frenetic, fun, maybe a tad wild and still encouraging.
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No player on the roster embodies that more than guard Tyler Harris. The 5-foot-9 freshman bounced back from a scoreless effort against Tennessee Tech last week with a scintillating performance against LSU, finishing with 20 points, including six 3-pointers. In the second half, he air-balled a 30-footer but responded by drilling his next two. For the first time this season, Memphis fans got the full Tyler Harris Experience. Buckle up.
“He’s a pocket rocket,” one NBA scout in attendance told The Athletic. “Crazy quickness.”
Now for the sobering part: The shortcomings were obvious. The Tigers don’t have anybody who can protect the rim (Hardaway is hoping to address that issue with the No. 1 player in 2019, James Wiseman). LSU’s big men ate all night, mostly at the expense of stretch-four Isaiah Maurice. With no credible post player policing the paint, LSU sophomore guard Tremont Waters controlled the second half and got his bigs dunk after dunk. That’s going to cap the ceiling of this Memphis team; the Tigers will simply be at a disadvantage against teams with frontlines like LSU’s.
The good news: The Tigers won’t see many teams with frontlines as talented as LSU’s.
Offensively, Memphis mostly got the job done. It got Harris the shots he needed. It ran senior guard Jeremiah Martin in several pick-and-rolls — and got favorable match-ups in those situations. The Tigers also did a particularly good job of getting the ball down the court off of LSU’s makes and misses, which underlines Hardaway’s (likely overzealous) goal of being the No. 1 offensive team in the country.
Though the result was a loss, the team played exactly the kind of game Hardaway wants to see.
“They get it out of the net, and before the opposing team’s bench has even stopped clapping about their score, Memphis is already firing up a shot,” said Dane Bradshaw, who was on the call for the SEC Network.
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The game against LSU was the first test in a schedule with plenty of them. The Tigers will face Oklahoma State next week in the Advocare Invitational and, depending on the result, they could face reigning national champions Villanova. Tennessee, a top-five team, comes to FedExForum next month.
It all sets the Tigers up for what should be a respectable run in the American Athletic Conference. Central Florida, picked to win the league in the preseason, lost to Florida Atlantic at home last week. Wichita State lost at home to Louisiana Tech. Cincinnati is replacing two NBA players in Gary Clark and Jacob Evans. Houston lost senior leader Rob Gray. Based on Tuesday night, there’s no reason to believe Memphis can’t contend in its league.
Ultimately, of course, Hardaway won’t be judged on this season. This isn’t the final product. The Tigers have no consensus top-50 recruits on the roster; Hardaway already has at least one on the way in 2019 with Olive Branch (Miss.) forward D.J. Jeffries, who signs his National Letter of Intent later on Wednesday.
In the meantime, the guard play – particularly Harris and Martin – will keep the Tigers in most games. Hardaway doesn’t have Wiseman or Jeffries on hand yet, but he does have a group that will compete and give the city a reason to care about its beloved basketball program again.
(Top photo: Stephen Lew/USA Today)