Month: February 2021

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Sundance in Memphis: Brothers and Sisters

The Sparks Brothers

There’s a lot of remarkable things about Sundance 2021, but it will be remembered as a year of great music-related documentaries. After the shattering Summer of Soul opened the virtual end of the festival, next up was The Sparks Brothers. Director Edgar Wright made his name with snappy comedies like Sean of the Dead and the almost-musical car chase picture Baby Driver. For his first documentary, he tackled “your favorite band’s favorite band.” Sparks are the brothers Ron and Russel Mael, who are not, in fact, British, but from California. Wright makes clearing up that misconception his first order of business as he plunges into the fascinating, convoluted history of the group.

After being inspired by the British Invasion, the Mael brothers broke into the business as Halfnelson. From their first recording session in 1967, where they created a song called “Computer Girl”, the duo staked out a wry, witty outsider sound. Over the next five decades, they declined to dumb it down or repeat themselves, even when that meant alienating fans who might have just discovered them. Their work veered from Floyd-esque prog rock to the shimmering, Georgio Moroder pop of 1979’s “The Number One Song In Heaven”, which defined the New Wave synth-pop sound that would dominate the airwaves of the 1980s, and still resonates strongly today.

Wright has plenty of material to work with. Sparks made numerous television appearances over the years, including a triumphant breakout on England’s Top of the Pops and near-annual confrontations with a baffled Dick Clark on American Bandstand. (“Which one is the oldest?” Clark asked the brothers. “You are,” replied Ron.) His interviews with the brothers, still stunningly charismatic as they enter their 70s, make clear that the frequent stylistic shifts were not merely done to chase the latest trend, but were just how Ron and Russel’s collective mind works. They couldn’t keep doing the same thing over and over again if they wanted to—and at times during their epic, up-and-down career, it probably would have been better if they had shown some consistency. Even their failed projects, such as the years they spent collaborating with Tim Burton trying to create an animated musical based on a Japanese manga, were ahead of their time.

Wright is a superb filmmaker who brings his restless mind to the documentary, creating a film that is just as vibrant as his fiction work. His fanboy enthusiasm for Sparks shines, and as he devotes running time to the testimonies of fans, he shows he’s not alone. The 2-hour-plus running time seemed long at first glance, but there’s so much story, character, and style on display that it whizzes by. While it lacks the gut-punch emotionalism of Summer of Soul, The Sparks Brothers is a load of fun.

Ailey

Next, we decamped the drive-in for another documentary that proved engrossing. To most people, Alvin Ailey is a brand that is synonymous with modern dance. The American Dance Theater that bears his name in New York is considered the pinnacle of the form. But as director Jamila Wignot’s film reveals, the legend was also a human being. Ailey grew up as the only child of a single mother in Jim Crow-era Texas, where the problems of his Blackness were compounded by his obvious homosexuality. He gravitated towards dance in school, but it wasn’t until a liberating trip to Los Angeles that he found his calling and gave himself permission to pursue it.

A pitfall that docs like Ailey often fall into is assuming the audience knows too much about the famous person they’re profiling. You might know Ailey was famous, but his personal trials and tribulations don’t mean much unless you can understand his talent. If you’ve never seen Ailey himself dance before, the early filmed performances of dance pieces like “Revelations” will be a…well, a revelation.

After establishing his artistic bonafides and the legacy of the groundbreaking dance theater he founded, Wignot turns to Ailey’s personal life. Consumed with dance, he appeared to many around him as a cipher. As one dancer reveals, the world didn’t want to know who Ailey was. They only wanted the legend. The dancer loved by everyone was intensely lonely, having only one boyfriend of note who ultimately walked out on him in the midst of a house party and never returned. Ailey is a more conventional film than The Brothers Sparks, but Wignot’s transparent style is ideal for this story of sacrificing all for art.

Twins Ani and Alessandra Mesa star in the neo-noir thriller Superior.

After two docs, we returned home to cap the night with Superior. Director Erin Vassilopoulos previously collaborated on a short film of the same name with twin sister actresses Alessandra and Ani Mesa. The feature version sees the sisters reunited after six years of separation. Vivian (Ani Mesa) stayed in their small town and married straitlaced Michael (Jake Hoffman). Meanwhile, Marion (Alessandra Mesa) learned to play guitar, joined a band, and is touring the world. She returns to her hometown after trying to leave her abusive husband Robert (Pico Alexander). Apart, the twins had assumed their own identities. Once reunited, they start to look and act alike again, even as one sister tries to uncover the secrets the other is keeping.

Once again, the David Lynch influence is strong with Superior. This time, instead of the psychedelic inner explorations of Twin Peaks: The Return, whose influence is all over the narrative competition field, Vassilopoulos channels the queasy sexual charge of Lost Highway. The Mesa sisters are mesmerizing as they take an identity-swapping Persona turn on neo-noir.

Miya Cech stars as Sammy in Marvelous & The Black Hole

Tonight, the final night of Sundance screenings at the Malco Summer Drive-In kicks off with Marvelous & the Black Hole, by Adventure Time and Steven Universe writer Kate Tsang. Newcomer Miya Cech stars as Sammy, a troubled young girl who meets an unlikely mentor in the magician Margot, played by Rhea Perlman.

Larry Krasner in Philly D.A.

The final film of Sundance’s first foray into Memphis is documentary Philly D.A., directors Ted Passon and Yoni Brook’s story of civil rights attorney Larry Krasner’s 2017 run for district attorney of the city he sued more than 75 times.

To buy tickets for the final night of Sundance in Memphis, go to the Indie Memphis website.

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News News Blog

New Virus Cases Rise by 206

COVID-19 Memphis
Infogram

New Virus Cases Rise by 206

New virus case numbers rose by 206 over the last 24 hours. The new cases put the total of all positive cases in Shelby County since March at 83,235.

Total current active cases of the virus — the number of people known to have COVID-19 in the county — fell again to 3,953. The number reached a record high of more than 8,000 four weeks ago. The figure had been as low as 1,299 in September and rose above 2,000 only in October. The new active case count represents 4.7 percent of all cases of the virus reported here since March.


In Shelby County, 62,447 COVID-19 vaccines have been given, according to the health department. As of Tuesday morning, 15,277 people had been given two doses for full vaccination and 47,200 had been given a single dose.

The Shelby County Health Department reported that 1,851 tests have been given in the last 24 hours. Since March, 955,672 tests have been given here in total. This figure includes multiple tests given to some people.

As of Monday, acute care beds were 89 percent full in area hospitals, with 256 beds available. Of the 2,091 patients in acute care beds now, 233 of them were COVID-19-positive. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds were 92 percent full, with 33 beds available. Of the 362 patients in ICU beds now, 84 were COVID-19-positive.

The latest weekly positivity rate fell again for the third week in a row to 9.8 percent. That’s down from the record-high 17.5 percent in late December.

Nine new deaths were reported over the last 24 hours, though those deaths may not have all occurred within the last day. Reports come from many agencies and aren’t all reported on the day of the death. The total death toll now stands at 1,289.

The average age of those who have died in Shelby County is 74, according to the health department. The age of the youngest COVID-19 death was 13. The oldest person to die from the virus was 101.

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News News Blog

‘Protest to Progress’ Plan Hoped to Align Activist and Business Goals

CREDIT: Brandon Dill

Brandon Dill

Protesters and police officers face off during the 2016 Hernando de Soto Bridge protest

A new plan from the Greater Memphis Chamber aims to align community goals from activists with business goals of local business leaders to move from “Protest to Progress.”

The plan was presented to the Memphis City Council’s Economic Development, Technology and Tourism Committee Tuesday, February 2nd. The overarching goal for the plan is for a more positive Black economic impact in Memphis.

Greater Memphis Chamber

Memphis activists, clergy members, and business leaders were convened 10 days after the city’s first protest of the public killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last summer. Chamber president and CEO Beverly Robertson told council members the original meeting gathered about 50 people and was a “powerful listening session” and that “this has never been done before.”
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Robertson

Activists included in the discussions included members of Black Lives Matter, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH), and more. It included various clergy members from across Memphis and representatives from businesses like FedEx, Triumph Bank, November 6 Investments, and more.

“It’s important to hear the voices of activists because they are rarely heard in situations and circumstances where there can be mutual respect,” Robertson said. “I also realized that because we are charged with economic development, it is hard to attract new investment and higher-wage jobs to drive growth in cities that are rebuilding from riots and burning.

“It took us 10 years to fully recover form the past downturn of 2008. How long would it takes us to rebuild from something like burning, and looting, and breaking windows.”

Greater Memphis Chamber

Members of the business community were quiet during the first meeting, Robertson said. But they and clergy members spoke at the second. At the third meeting of the groups, they began identifying specific issues and building frameworks for solutions. The groups focused on neighborhood investment, increased spending with minority businesses, transportation, Black entrepreneurship, living wage considerations, and Black representation on corporate and community boards.

Each of these topics were tackled by working groups. Those groups then devised strategies for improvement on each. For example, a new document from banks could show where money is being invested in Memphis, a benchmark that could show where further investment is needed. Lobbying for more funding for the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) could help ease access to better-paying jobs. A Black business incubator could help Black business start-ups access capital they need to get off the ground.

Survey results from the Chamber showed a striking imbalance for Black representation on the boards for local companies. More than 82 percent of those surveyed said they now had no minority representatives on their boards. Of those companies, more than 84 percent said there were no existing barriers to consider more minority candidates.

Activists said they wanted a minimum wage standard of at least $15 per hour. A Chamber survey that included 33 companies said 64 percent of them were already paying that minimum wage. Robertson explained that many factors — like job type, benefits structure, and job geography — determine minimum wage standards and they are different across industries.

Robertson said many businesses and agencies across Memphis have committed to paying a $15-per-hour minimum wage, including FedEx, the University of Memphis, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp., and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.

Greater Memphis Chamber

The minimum wage in Memphis remains at $7.25 per hour. Data presented by the Chamber, though, showed that a living wage in Memphis for one adult with one child is $22.81; the poverty wage for that person is $8.13 per hour, just slightly above the minimum.

This drew the ire of council member Martavius Jones, who has recently been calling for reforms of tax incentives to job-creating companies in Memphis and Shelby County. He pointed council members to data that showed the living wage for one adult with two children was $26.66 per hour.

“We are incentivizing poverty … poverty rates when we are talking about wages that are barely above poverty rates when we’re … providing incentives for businesses [that provide jobs that pay] $12 and $15 per hour,” Jones said.

Greater Memphis Chamber

Council member Chase Carlisle, whose family has won more than $65 million in tax breaks to develop the ongoing One Beale project Downtown, warned against mandating higher-paying jobs from companies when they seek tax breaks. He said to get jobs that pay more than $15 per hour from companies, “it will take more incentives for them, not less” and asking for more would be to “tell those businesses, ‘thanks but no thanks’ and risk it.”

Robertson told council members that the Protest to Progress plan is being implemented now.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 96, UCF 69

CREDIT: Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

The Tigers returned to FedExForum Monday night with a roar. Playing the first of two games in three nights against UCF (the teams’ first meeting having been postponed for Covid-19 regulations in the UCF program), Memphis scored 17 of the game’s first 20 points and had all but secured its 10th win of the season by halftime. Landers Nolley led the Tigers with 20 points, DeAndre Williams scored 15, and junior guard Alex Lomax hit four three-pointers on his way to 14 points in the blowout. The Tigers hit 13 three-pointers, the fourth time in their last five games they’ve connected on at least 10 (all of those games victories).
Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

Boogie Ellis

The Tigers are now 10-6 for the season and 6-3 in the American Athletic Conference. (They trail only Houston and Wichita State in the loss column of the standings.) The Knights fall to 4-8 (2-7) with the loss.

Memphis guard Boogie Ellis started for the first time since December 4th, a span of 11 games. The sophomore scored 11 points, and picked up three assists and four steals in 17 minutes on the floor. Sophomore guard Lester Quinones had 13 points, six assists, and six rebounds.

Memphis shot a stellar 56 percent from the field, hitting almost half its three-point attempts (13 for 27). The Knights shot 40 percent from the field, slightly higher, actually, than the average for Tiger opponents this season. Brandon Mahan scored 15 points to lead the visitors. The Tigers forced 26 UCF turnovers, 19 of them before halftime.

The teams will take the floor for a rematch Wednesday night, again at FedExForum. It will be the second of a four-game homestand for Memphis. East Carolina pays a visit this Saturday.

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News News Blog

TN Voices Honors Black Mental Health Leaders for Black History Month

TN Voices, a mental health support services nonprofit, is working to increase access to mental health for Black Tennesseans by honoring Black mental health leaders on social media during Black History Month.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. are less likely to have access to mental health services, less likely to use community mental health services, more likely to use emergency departments, and more likely to receive lower quality care.

During the month of February, TN Voices is working to educate Tennesseans about the importance of improving access to mental health care and treatment. They seek to help dispel negative perceptions about mental illness.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Mental Health:

● Black Americans living below the poverty level, as compared to those over twice the poverty level, are twice as likely to report psychological distress.

● Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Black Americans ages 15-24.

● The death rate from suicide for Black men is more than four times greater than Black women.

● Black females, grades 9-12, are 70 percent more likely to attempt suicide, as compared to non-Hispanic white females of the same age.

“There’s a great stigma not only in mental health but especially the Black community,” says TN Voices chief operating officer Will Voss. “We don’t seek treatment or we don’t think these things are affecting us in a negative way, but they are, so we have to be aware of the signs and symptoms that we’re seeing and that we’re feeling.”

“By seeing the contributions that Black people have made to the mental health community, it gently chips away at the stigma associated with mental illness and seeking help in our own community,” says TN Voices chief development officer Michelle Thomas. “We are working to normalize mental illness in the Black community and beyond.”

Tennesseans who are unemployed or without insurance and in need of mental health services can call the TN Voices Hope Fund hotline for help at 615-269-7751.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Sundance in Memphis: The Potter-Lynch Generation

Mayday

On day 4 of Sundance, patterns are beginning to emerge. It’s probably perilous to declare any kind of new trend from a limited sample of moves. Maybe it’s just the films I decided to watch, which are similar. But nevertheless, there are common elements visible on the drive-in and virtual screens.

Take Karen Cinorre’s Mayday. Ana (Grace Van Patten) is a cater waiter working a wedding with her musician boyfriend. When the venue’s electrical systems start shorting out, she is sent downstairs to trip the circuit breaker. Her boss follows her, and assaults her in the freezer next to the ice sculpture. In a dissociative state, she goes to the industrial kitchen and feels called by the oven. She turns on the gas and sticks her head inside, but instead of dying, she falls into an alternate reality. She wakes up on an unfamiliar beach where she meets Marsha (the excellent Mia Goth) and a male pilot who has also washed up lost. Marsha rescues Ana, and as they’re driving away on her motorcycle, the pilot is killed by an unseen sniper.

Ana is adopted by Marsha’s group of women guerrillas, based in a mini submarine, who are embroiled in a vaguely defined war pitting women in against men. The guerrillas are like sirens from Greek myth, attracting men to their deaths on the rocks by sending out fake distress calls. At first, Ana is okay with the new arrangement, and discovers her own excellent eyesight makes her a deadly sniper. But eventually, she starts to question this weird limbo existence and plots ways to return to the real world with the help of a friendly female mechanic (Juliette Lewis).

Carlson Young in The Blazing World

A character escaping their trauma by going into a fantasy world, and who must then decide whether or not it’s worth it to return to the real world, is also the basic plot of writer/director/actor Carlson Young’s The Blazing World. In this case, the situation is more prosaic: Margaret (played by Young) has to return to her parent’s ostentatious mansion to help them move out. She is haunted by the memory of seeing her sister drown in the pool when they were kids, an event which was both caused by and exacerbated her parents’ toxic relationship. Margaret’s inner struggle manifests as increasingly florid, candy-color hallucinations.

Are we seeing the work of a generation of young filmmakers raised on Harry Potter-damaged YA fantasy who discovered David Lynch in film school? When I write that, it kind of sounds derogatory. But the influence of Lynch’s psychotropic epic Twin Peaks: The Return is everywhere at Sundance this year, and I for one am here for it. Indie social realism is all fine and good. The cheap price point of such productions means that we will never have a shortage of that aesthetic. But in the world of 2021, the desktop computer-based digital video technology that has enabled the digital indie revolution since the turn of the century has advanced considerably. Where it used to take up all the available computing power to just render the video and edit shots together, now apps such as Adobe After Effects are available in any homemade editing suite. Now we’re seeing an explosion of visual creativity as a result.

The problem with both Mayday and The Blazing World is in the writing. Both choose style over substance in a way that cannot be excused merely by the film’s budget limitations. But hey, if we’re going to continue to watch movies about the problems of privileged white people (some things never change in the film world), at least it looks cool.

In the Earth

The outlier among my day 4 Sundance viewing was In the Earth. English filmmaker Ben Wheatley is one of millions of people who spent the pandemic year of 2020 working on a new art project. The difference with Wheatley is that he managed to make an entire feature film and get it in Sundance. Wheatley, who previously directed both the chilly J.G. Ballard adaptation High-Rise and the gonzo gun-fu thriller Free Fire, seems liberated by both the speed with which he worked and the total lack of regard for creating marketable material that comes when you’re staring disaster in the face and thinking, “What have I even been doing with my life?”

There’s a world-destroying pandemic on, and two scientists (Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia) are summoned to a rural retreat to pursue their projects, which might save humanity. Instead, they find themselves the subjects of a pair of researchers (Hayley Squires and Reece Shearsmith) who have gone full Captain Kurtz in the woods. They think they have identified an alien intelligence here on Earth which is behind the pagan legends of demons who live in the English countryside, and they are using magic mushrooms, flashing lights, and sounds to try to communicate with it.

In the Earth combines folk horror elements with real-life anxiety, seasoned with a strong dash of John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness. The climax is the kind of intricate, psychedelic trip that can only come from being cooped up by yourself for months with only your editing bay to keep you company. I personally loved this minor miracle of a movie, but my recommendation comes with one big caveat. There’s a strobe light warning at the beginning of the film, and I said to my sensitive wife “Hey, how much can there be? A shot or two?” Well, there’s a lot more than a shot or two. If you’re epileptic, or just have a problem with strobe light effects and quick edits, you should sit this one out. Otherwise, when this one surfaces — as I’m sure it will — horror fans will be treated to one of the most innovative films of the past decade.

Ailey

Monday night at the Malco Summer Drive-In, two films not about the problems of rich White people. The first is Ailey, a documentary by Jamila Wignot about the life of modern dance pioneer Alvin Ailey, which just sold to a distributor hours ahead of its premiere.

Then at 9 p.m., Judas and Black Messiah, director Shaka King’s biopic of Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Chicago Black Panther Party who was hounded, and perhaps ultimately killed, by the FBI’s COINTELPRO operation. The cast is stacked with first-rate talent, led by Black Panther’s Daniel Kaluuya and Sorry to Bother You’s Lakeith Stanfield.

Sundance in Memphis: The Potter-Lynch Generation

Tickets to Sundance films at the drive-in are available at the Indie Memphis website. 

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News News Blog

Total Active Cases Fall Below 4,000

COVID-19 Memphis
Infogram

Total Active Cases Fall Below 4,000

New virus case numbers rose by 376 over the last 24 hours. The new cases put the total of all positive cases in Shelby County since March at 83,029.

Total current active cases of the virus — the number of people known to have COVID-19 in the county — fell again to 3,968. The number reached a record high of more than 8,000 four weeks ago. The figure had been as low as 1,299 in September and rose above 2,000 only in October. The new active case count represents 4.8 percent of all cases of the virus reported here since March.

In Shelby County, 61,780 COVID-19 vaccines have been given, according to health department. As of Monday, 15,120 people had been given two doses for full vaccination and 46,660 had been given a single dose.

The Shelby County Health Department reported that 953,821 tests have been given here since March. Of those, 95,425, or about 10 percent, were positive.

As of Sunday, acute care beds were 90 percent full in area hospitals with 242 beds available. Of the 2,091 patients in acute care beds now, 241 of them were COVID-19-positive. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds were 93 percent full with 29 beds available. Of the 382 patients in ICU beds now, 83 were COVID-19-positive.

The latest weekly positivity rate fell again for the third week in a row to 9.8 percent. That’s down from the record-high 17.5 percent in late December.

Fifteen new deaths were reported over the last 24 hours. Though, those deaths may not have all occurred within the last day. Reports come form many agencies and aren’t all reported on the day of the death. The total death toll now stands at 1,280.

The average age of those who have died in Shelby County is 74, according to the health department. The age of the youngest COVID-19 death was 13. The oldest person to die from the virus was 101.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Tony Manard

Music Video Monday is watching while the world burns.

I suspect we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to art made in pandemic isolation. Tony Manard is one of the legion of Memphis musicians who have turned to recording new music to make sense out of the state of the world. The lyrics of “Watching Birds and Baking Bread” describe familiar activities to many people. “It’s kind of a flipside to the hopeful tune I did with Rice Drewry a few months ago, ‘Together Alone,'” says Maynard. “This one is about creating your bubble and how the world intrudes. It’s also about turning inward, creating and doing things for yourself. By the end of the track there is a racket of voices. The cadence under the end is police pushing protestors down Beale Street. They are striking their body armor with their batons.”

The cinematic video was created by director Vincent Manard. “We mostly shot it at our creative space on Lamar that we share with Nancy Apple and a few others,” says Tony Manard. “We kept it small and safe as we could. Vincent’s girlfriend Asayah is the protagonist. This one was different because the track actually evolved with the video. Usually the track is finished before we start a video. Vincent chose to limit his effects toolbox to what was available to silent film editors.”

Music Video Monday: Tony Manard

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com. 

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News News Blog

Whitehaven Vaccination Site Opens Friday

CREDIT: Southwest Tennessee Community College/Facebook

Southwest Tennessee Community College/Facebook

A new COVID-19 vaccination site will open in Whitehaven Friday.

The Shelby County Health Department will open the new site at Southwest Tennessee Community College at 1234 Finley Drive. The site will offer only first doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Vaccinations there will be offered via drive-through and walk-in and by appointment only. Shots will be given at the site Tuesday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Saturday, February 27th.

Appointments are only available to those currently eligible to be vaccinated. So far, that includes only first responders, healthcare workers, funeral/mortuary workers, and anyone age 75 or older.

For appointments, sign up at the health department’s COVID-19 page shelby.community or by calling (901) 222-7468 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Reminders from the health department:
• Do not sign up for an appointment if you are not eligible to be vaccinated at this time.

• An appointment is required for vaccination. Do not go to the vaccination site if you do not have an appointment.

• Do not arrive more than an hour before your appointment time. Those who arrive more than an hour early will be told to return later.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tiger Truths

CREDIT: Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

You can learn a lot about a basketball team with four games in eight days. The Tigers finished January by winning three of those four games, and they displayed a few factors that will impact the remainder of the season.

Whither D.J. Jeffries? The sophomore forward from Olive Branch was a preseason second-team all-conference selection. It now seems he can’t crack the Tigers’ starting lineup. In the blowout wins over Wichita State and East Carolina, Jeffries scored a total of 13 points (and took 14 shots). He played well in the win over SMU at FedExForum (12 points off the bench; 5 of 7 from the field), but disappeared in the rematch at Dallas (a single point in 15 minutes on the floor), a game Memphis lost by two points. For now, Jeffries is this team’s enigma. He seems to have had some thunder stolen by transfers Landers Nolley and DeAndre Williams. For the Tigers to be their best in February, Jeffries must join the party.
Memphis Athletics / Joe Murphy

Penny Hardaway


Willpower is there, at least in bursts. Eight minutes into the first game against SMU, the Tigers were beaten. Down eight points, they looked to be facing a rarity: a more athletic group of basketball players. But a 17-2 run seized the lead at halftime and Memphis traded punches with the Mustangs over the final 20 minutes and earned the win. They utilized a run of precisely the same margin (17-2) to get back into the game at SMU two days later. They had a late lead. They had a chance to force overtime with free throws. It didn’t work out. But the fight was there. This is an important variable, especially with crowds still nonexistent for home games. The only way this team makes the NCAA tournament is by winning a few games in February that they shouldn’t. That will require teeth as much as talent.

The Tigers can shoot from distance. Memphis hit at least 10 three-pointers in the wins over Wichita State, East Carolina, and SMU. They hadn’t hit so many in any of their previous 11 games. Seven Tigers found the net from long range in the win over the Pirates. Not an especially strong opponent, but that kind of collective shooting is hard to beat. The beauty in this, of course, is that it’s hard for seven players to slump at the same time. Tiger coach Penny Hardaway needs to adjust his rotation to accommodate shooters who are on target, and this will surely change from one game to the next. The Tigers even hit nine treys in the loss to SMU. Add a 10th and that two-point loss is a fourth straight win. Follow this stat line the rest of the season.

This team’s “identity” is defense. It’s an overused descriptor for a group of athletes tasked with winning games and chasing championships: What’s their identity? Just as individual players have several layers to what they bring on game night, so does a team. Those layers are peeled back depending on the opponent, location, injuries, time of year. In other words, a team’s “identity” changes as a season unfolds. But these Memphis Tigers will go as far as their defense takes them. SMU guard Kendric Davis is a leading candidate for American Athletic Conference Player of the Year. In two games against the Tigers last week, Davis missed 21 of his 27 shots and committed nine turnovers. The Tigers rank 26th in the country in points allowed (62.9 through the second SMU game). They rank 13th in field-goal percentage defense (39 percent). They beat teams by stopping teams, an asset Hardaway has sought since taking the job.

Boogie is better than he’s been. It was hard seeing Boogie Ellis miss that second free throw in the final seconds of the loss at SMU. Because Ellis is the one Tiger most in need of finding his role for this team. Remember his 24 points in the season-opening win over St. Mary’s? He hasn’t put up as many as 15 in a game since. This is a scorer, one originally committed to, ahem, Duke. Ellis needs a confidence-booster, to be sure. Hardaway must find the right place and time to bring Boogie back.