There was nothing automatic about tonight’s Opening Night win over the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s favorite Tigers. It may have been a life-changer for rookie head coach Josh Pastner — “I’m only 799 behind Jim Boeheim,” he cracked after the game — but it was no automatic win. With seven scholarship players in his rotation, and only two players you’d classify as “big men,” Pastner will count the wins from his first season in the big chair like a 2008 stock broker counted his coins. None taken for granted, and every last one counts.
After jumping out to a 17-6 lead, the U of M went four minutes without scoring — allowing JSU to close within two — before putting 14 on the board in the next three. Sophomore guard Elliot Williams (making his Tiger debut after a freshman season at Duke) drilled two three-pointers in the spurt, on his way to leading Memphis with 19 points for the game. Jackson State started the second half on an 11-3 run to make things interesting again, only to watch Williams and another Memphis rookie — juco transfer Will Coleman — impose themselves in such a way that the final score did seem to fall in line with recent lid-lifters against the likes of Savannah State, UT-Martin, and Fairfield. A huge disparity in free throws — Memphis made 30 of 48 while JSU hit 7 of 13 — reflected the push-it-to-the-rim offense Pastner is urging out of his undersized team.
“We can’t afford lapses,” said Pastner after the game. “It can’t be 28 minutes, 32 minutes . . . it’s gotta be 40 minutes.” The challenge, though, is maintaining a lapse-free, frenetic pace that can hide the team’s lack of size, with a bench not deep enough for many reinforcements. “It’s going to be a fine line,” added the coach. “Conditioning, while also staying fresh — physically and mentally — with our lack of numbers.”
My friend Al Wise and I have been playing tennis with and against each other for 20 years. I think he’s ahead in victories but I’m ahead in the category that really matters. I’m still playing on my god-given knees and he’s about to trade his in for two manufactured ones.
Enjoy ’em while you got ’em, athletes. Here’s one man’s story of injury, decline, and hopefully recovery next year.
This is usually the time of year when all the holiday shows start opening and, humbug that I am, I have nothing to get excited about. But man, what a great week for going to the theater this is!
Finally! Something useful on Hungry Memphis.
Flyer contributer Stacey Greenberg pointed me to the link to foodwishes.com‘s video “How to Eat a Chicken Wing.”
It’s more complicated than you would think …
Our first quasi-formal survey here at Tiger Blue.
Among the five leading candidates for the almost-vacant job of football coach at the U of M — Terry Bowden, Gunter Brewer, Bud Foster, Larry Porter, Rick Stockstill — who excites you the most? (If you feel like you, yourself, would make a better candidate, send us a resume.)
Frank Murtaugh says the Tigers have some questions to answer as the 2009-2010 season tips off Friday.
UPDATE: Tigers win opener, 82-53, over Jackson State. Elliot Williams led Memphis with 19 points, followed by Will Coleman, who came off the bench to score 16 and grab 10 rebounds. For complete box score and recap, go here.
There has been much discussion lately about the burgeoning phenomenon of anonymous comments on newspaper websites. Should they be banned?
A few things on my mind as we close in on the start of the 89th season of Tiger basketball (tip-off at 8 pm tonight, FedExForum):
• How will Josh Pastner manage what is essentially a two-man frontcourt? Pierre Henderson-Niles — in a new body, it should be noted — and Will Coleman are bound to get in foul trouble (and often) this season. “Going small” isn’t a bad idea when you can put Willie Kemp, Elliot Williams, Roburt Sallie, and Wesley Witherspoon on the floor together. But when the other team “goes big” and they have to be defended? If I were to track any one variable for the 2009-10 Tigers, it would be the development of Henderson-Niles and Coleman as this team’s backbone.
• Is Willie Kemp ready for a leadership role? He was the starting point guard as a freshman for a team that went 33-4. But playing behind Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans the last two seasons, Kemp found himself clinging to the periphery of John Calipari’s rotation.
The Junkyard Museum isn’t even built yet and it’s already got people saying they should have another kid.
Or a kid.
Though the Junkyard is located temporarily at the old Marine Hospital near the National Ornamental Metal Museum, founder Lisa Williamson would like the art museum’s permanent home to be on Broad Avenue.
“I’ve been looking at Broad Avenue for a long time,” she said at a meeting of the Historic Broad Avenue Business Association last night. “If it were just up to me, I’d put it here in a second. Everybody’s rallied around me … I already feel at home here.”
The Junkyard will be an interactive art museum using found objects and architectural salvage to create climbable sculptures. Though many childrens museums try to prepare kids for adulthood, the Junkyard — and museums like it, such as the City Museum in St. Louis — would encourage teenagers and adults to be kids again.