I rarely laugh at a postgame press conference. Not out loud. The setting is one for listening (carefully), taking a few notes, and absorbing the vibe of a coach or player after a ball game. But I almost cracked Tuesday night after the Memphis Tigers’ 16-point handling of Saint Louis at FedExForum. Near the end of his session, Tiger coach Penny Hardaway was asked about his team’s turnovers, perhaps the lone blemish on the squad’s three-game start to the 2021-22 season. Hardaway’s reply: “Most teams have one or two ball-handlers . . . they don’t have eight or nine.” Glad I wasn’t drinking milk at the time.
Such is life for the 11th-ranked Tigers these days. The team has so much talent that the coach and players don’t seem to care who is anointed “point guard,” still a position of priority in the game of basketball. Senior Alex Lomax started against the Billikens and would technically assume the title, being (A) a guard and (B) the shortest player in the Mempis starting lineup. “A-Lo” played 19 minutes and tied for the team lead with four assists, but he was but one of seven Tigers to dish out a dime against SLU, and Landers Nolley — by no definition a point guard, and currently the team’s sixth man — also had four. Now, back to that question about ball-handling: Memphis turned the ball over 24 times, with nine Tigers coughing up the ball at least twice. A 15-24 assist/turnover ratio is not the way Hardaway, or any other coach in the country, envisions winning basketball.
But it didn’t matter Tuesday night. The Tigers faced an undermanned team for the third time in three games. (SLU star Javonte Perkins injured a knee during the preseason and will miss the season.) The Tigers turned the ball over four times in the game’s first four minutes, but freshman Emoni Bates drained a long three-pointer, freshman Jalen Duren slammed home a lob, the home team was up by six (19-13) nine minutes into the game, and firmly in control (42-27) by halftime.
Hardaway is right. Among the 10 Tigers who played at least a dozen minutes Tuesday night, you might not see Duren — a “center” by purest definition — dribble the ball up the floor (though he is a skilled passer), but any of the other nine players are in the mix. This can be very healthy for the Tigers, big picture, as it makes the team virtually impossible to trap, literally or as measured by late-game tactics to isolate a team’s primary ball-handler. And forget about foul trouble leaving the Tiger offense without a playmaker. It’s merely next man up. And next . . . .
The Golden State Warriors made “positionless basketball” vogue in winning three NBA championships from 2015 to 2018. Is Steph Curry a point guard or a shooting guard? Klay Thompson: shooting guard or small forward? Draymond Green may look like a power forward when he steps off an elevator, but don’t call him one to his face. The sport has become one of blended strengths and yes, the ability to handle the ball (regardless of a player’s size or other skills) earns time on the floor.
After Hardaway left Tuesday’s presser, Bates and senior “guard” Tyler Harris shared their takes on the win, and each corroborated his coach’s view of this team’s point-guard-by-committee. At one point, Harris smiled and actually said, “It doesn’t matter who has the ball.” Based on three blowout wins to open the Memphis season, he appears to be right. It’s enough to bring on the giggles.
The Tigers host Western Kentucky Friday night (7 p.m.) at FedExForum. They travel to New York City next week for a pair of games (Wednesday and Friday) in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
