Tag: Penny Hardaway

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Sports Tiger Blue

Penny Hardaway: Hall of Famer?

(Credit: U of M Athletics)

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame recently inducted their 2018 classes, Chipper Jones, Vlad Guerrero, Randy Moss, and Brian Urlacher, among others, joining their respective sport’s pantheon of immortals. Which has me thinking about the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the shrine in Springfield, Massachusetts, devoted to honoring and celebrating legends of the hardwood. In particular, the recent ceremonies in Cooperstown and Canton have me thinking of this city’s most popular living sports figure, and his place in basketball history.

(Credit: U of M Athletics)

Anfernee Hardaway is a Hall of Famer. Or at least he should be.

Here we are, almost 11 years since the pride of Treadwell High School played his last NBA game (December 3, 2007), and Penny Hardaway cannot be found among the greatest to play the sport he commanded for an all-too-brief professional career. And that’s the catch for Hardaway: However great he may have been, we’re tortured by the question of what he could have been, perhaps what he should have been with stronger knees.

But there’s an advantage Hardaway holds as a former basketball great. The Basketball Hall of Fame has a significantly lower standard for induction than baseball’s Hall, and even lower than football’s. Unless your name is Sandy Koufax, a career abbreviated by injury eliminates you from consideration for Cooperstown. You have to have played ten seasons just to reach baseball’s ballot, and most inductees enjoyed careers of at least 15 years. As for football, Kurt Warner and Terrell Davis have recently been inducted, joining Gale Sayers among gridiron greats who starred brightly enough during brief careers to earn enshrinement.

Then there’s the hoop Hall. Here’s a look at four recent inductees to factor into the equation of Penny Hardaway’s qualifications:

• Maurice Cheeks (will be inducted this year) — Four-time All-Star. Never named to an All-NBA team. Played a supporting role (to Julius Erving and Moses Malone) on one of the greatest teams in NBA history, the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers. Played 15 years in the NBA.

• Sarunas Marciulionis (2014) — The face of Lithuanian basketball (particularly at the 1992 Olympics). Played seven seasons in the NBA. Never an All-Star.

• Jamaal Wilkes (2012) — Three-time All-Star. 1974-75 NBA Rookie of the Year. Played supporting role (to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) for three L.A. Laker championship teams. Never named to an All-NBA team.

• Satch Sanders (2011) — Played supporting role (to Bill Russell and John Havlicek) for eight Boston Celtic championship teams. Never an All-Star and never named to an All-NBA team. Never averaged more than 12.6 points in a season.


Sorry, but these four players don’t so much as approximate the star power of Penny Hardaway in his prime. Let’s consider 50 games a “full” season for an NBA player. Penny played nine such seasons, so it’s not as though he went down after five or six no-look passes and a reverse dunk. He was named All-NBA three times, and twice first-team (after the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons). Consider his company on the 1996 All-NBA team: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, and David Robinson (all members of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team). Hardaway was a four-time All-Star and averaged more than 20 points per game three times.

 

Let’s forget the stats and accolades, though. Basketball doesn’t have a significant counting number — 3,000 hits or 10,000 rushing yards — that introduces a player into discussions about Hall of Fame status. In nearly every case, it’s an eye test. Did the player do things on a basketball court we don’t see many (if any) others do? This is where Penny Hardaway’s Hall of Fame case becomes lock-down secure. Beyond Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, who can fill — to this day — a 60-second highlight reel like Hardaway?

He was the national high school player of the year (according to Parade magazine) in 1990. He was named first-team All-America as a junior at Memphis State in 1993. And he remains an unforgettable performer at basketball’s highest level, an Olympic gold medalist. (Get this: Every member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame . . . except Penny Hardaway.) The good folks at SLAM magazine recently published an issue ranking the 100 greatest players of all time, and Hardaway checks in at 92. (None of the Hall of Famers mentioned above made the cut.)

I’m convinced the Naismith selection committee will someday get this right. But make no mistake: the Basketball Hall of Fame is incomplete without Penny Hardaway.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Penny Speaks, We Listen

Anfernee Hardaway hosted his first formal press conference as head coach of the University of Memphis basketball team last week. The pride of Treadwell High School spoke to more than 30 reporters for 30 minutes about his first 30 days on the job. He exuded a comfort with the position most rookie coaches would envy. He appeared to feel at home in the shiny new Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center. And he said a few things we’ll remember when his first college team takes the floor in November.

“We got into the [recruiting] game really late, and to assemble the talent we did is a blessing.”
However Hardaway’s career as Tiger coach unfolds, his first month will be part of his legacy. With most of the nation’s top 2018 recruits having long signed with other programs, Hardaway managed to land a pair of elite local talents — East guard Alex Lomax and Cordova guard Tyler Harris — when either one would have been a blessing, of sorts, for the departed Tubby Smith. Add a third four-star prize (shooting guard Antwann Jones from Tampa) and Memphis has a class that would have earned plaudits even if it had not been an 11th-hour fix for the 2018-19 season. Quite a fix, indeed.


“Our message was, ‘We’re gonna teach you, develop you, get you better.’ That’s what the parents wanted to hear, outside the education piece, which is most important. Most of these kids want to go to the NBA. Who better to get them there than me and Mike [Miller].”
Hardaway has preached the importance of returning the Tiger program to its glory days, connecting the current program with teams older fans remember cheering when Larry Finch, Keith Lee, and Hardaway himself wore blue and gray deep into the NCAA tournament. But the future of the Tiger program is more about three letters: N, B, and A. Whether or not the professional league’s “one-and-done” mandate remains in place for draft eligibility, elite basketball players are drawn to college programs that will clear a path to professional riches. Hardaway’s Tiger past is a nice, sentimental coating to the story he’ll craft as a college coach in his hometown. But it’s his NBA pedigree that attracts the likes of Lomax and Harris. Add Mike Miller (with his own AAU connections) and Memphis has a recruiting tandem — a combined 1,736 games in The League — unlike any other in the country.

“I want to play the big boys. That’s how you measure yourself, especially early.”
Tennessee is back on the schedule. (The Vols will start the 2018-19 season among the nation’s Top 20.) Hardaway is pursuing a home-and-home series with Kentucky. (He drew laughter when he mentioned John Calipari asking for a neutral site.) Over an 11-day period last December, Memphis hosted the following four teams: Mercer, Samford, Bryant, and Albany. And people wonder why all the empty seats at FedExForum? The training wheels must be removed from the Tigers’ nonconference schedule. Hardaway seems intent on doing so.

“Everybody’s buying in. And that’s what we wanted, to get people excited about Tiger basketball again.”
Hardaway mentioned the standing ovations (plural) he’s received since being named head coach and the gratitude Tiger fans have shown for him being willing to “help us.” I can’t speak for the new coach, but this transition feels as much like a rescue mission as it does merely the return of a native son to a position of prominence. Furthermore, with Larry Finch dead and Keith Lee a recluse, there’s only one person on the planet who could spearhead such a rescue. The community feels this and Penny Hardaway is starting to feel it.

“First it’s compliance, then Tony [Madlock] who I call every day.”
Hardaway and Madlock made for a special backcourt the one season they played together, taking the Tigers to the 1992 Elite Eight. Madlock will now serve as Hardaway’s assistant with the most experience in the college game. Whatever value Miller brings as a recruiter, Hardaway will need some guidance when it comes to game management, coordinating a rotation, and simply communicating with each of his players. Madlock will be big in these areas. [Longtime NBA coach Sam Mitchell is expected to be the final assistant added to Hardaway’s staff.]

“The smallest thing is a no-no on this level. I’m very careful.”
Hardaway wasn’t allowed to join a celebration of East High’s recent state championship . . . and he coached that Mustang team. Such is life for a modern college basketball coach, maneuvering daily within (hopefully) the rules and regs of a governing body that sometimes seems unable to define its own legislating. The rookie coach is attentive to this new job structure and appears willing to take the necessary steps to ensure a clean program on his watch.

“We want to win a national championship. It’s not far-fetched.”
Hardaway mentioned Loyola-Chicago’s story, that no one picked the Ramblers to reach the 2018 Final Four. He doesn’t expect his Tigers to be placed in the category of Kentucky, Duke, or Kansas merely by his presence on the sideline. But Hardaway does expect such a standard to be the aim of his players and coaching staff. He’s not shying from the sport’s highest bar. “With the right mindset and the right coaches pushing you, anything’s possible.”

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Sports Tiger Blue

Tubby Smith Out as Tiger Basketball Coach

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Tubby Smith has been dismissed as University of Memphis men’s basketball coach. His departure comes with three years and more than $9 million remaining on his contract. (Terms of his buyout will be updated when made available.) Smith announced he is no longer the Tiger head coach after a brief meeting Wednesday morning with U of M president David Rudd.

A brief statement from the university was released after Wednesday’s meeting: “After considerable deliberations and in the best financial interests of the University of Memphis, an agreement of separation with head men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith has been reached.”
Larry Kuzniewski

Smith posted an overall record of 40-26 over his two seasons at the Memphis helm, but failed to get the Tigers to the postseason (NCAA tournament or NIT), extending a drought that now measures four years. A significant portion of his roster at the end of the 2016-17 season — most notably brothers Dedric and K.J. Lawson — chose to transfer with eligibility remaining. This forced Smith and his staff to replenish the program with junior-college transfers like Kyvon Davenport, Kareem Brewton, and Mike Parks. Smith was unable to land prize recruits, including local talent like East High’s Alex Lomax or Cordova’s Tyler Harris. Worst of all for Smith, attendance at FedExForum plummeted to an average of 6,225 in 2017-18, the lowest figure since the Tigers played at the Mid-South Coliseum in 1969-70 (the year before Larry Finch first suited up for Memphis State).

Memphis is the first of six career stops on Smith’s head-coaching resume where he failed to take a team to the NCAA tournament. He has taken teams to the Sweet Sixteen nine times (but not since 2005) and won the 1998 national championship with Kentucky. He leaves Memphis with a career record of 597-302.

Rumors have been swirling for weeks that former Tiger and NBA star Penny Hardaway will be hired to succeed Smith. Hardaway is currently coaching the East High Mustangs, a team favored to win its third straight state title this week in Murfreesboro. The Tiger job would be the first college gig for Hardaway who happens to be a few months older than Finch was when he was fired by the university after the 1996-97 season.

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From My Seat Sports

Memphis Stars: Penny, DeAngelo, and … Christabel?

I’ve called Memphis home for 22 years now, so I’ve seen my share of University of Memphis athletes, from lithe (volleyball players at Elma Roane Fieldhouse) to large (football players at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium). Among the hundreds of student-athletes I’ve seen play live, exactly three seemed to be playing a game unfamiliar to their teammates and opponents — a level above you might say. The first was Penny Hardaway, the All-America basketball player who electrified fans at The Pyramid from 1991 to 1993. The second was DeAngelo Williams, the All-America tailback who became the fourth Division I college football player to rush for 6,000 yards during his days as a Tiger (2002-05).

Christabel Oduro (facing camera)

My third stop-what-you’re-doing-and-watch Tiger athlete can still be seen (four more home games) at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. She’s the remarkable Christabel Oduro.

First, the numbers. Having scored 39 career goals, Oduro is four shy of Kylie Hayes’s Tiger record of 43. Oduro’s 100 career points has her within two of Hayes’s record (a soccer player earns two points for a goal, one for an assist). She scored 16 goals as a sophomore for the best team Memphis has yet put together, a club that went 22-1-1 and didn’t lose until the second round of the NCAA tournament. Oduro was named Conference USA’s Offensive Player of the Year in both 2011 and 2012, the Memphis program’s last two seasons in the league before moving this year to the American Athletic Conference. And the best Oduro numbers of all? The Tigers are 54-17-5 since she first took the field for the U of M. Her ink in the Memphis record book is quite permanent.

But the numbers merely suggest the impression Oduro makes on the soccer pitch. “She’s made a tremendous impact on this program,” says Tiger coach Brooks Monaghan. “She’s a player with special traits, extremely athletic and quick. Christabel has grown not only as a player, but also as a person. She’s a game-changer. At any time, she can score. She can create changes on her own. Her ability to beat players one-on-one, and her finishing has improved over time. We like her to play wide, to isolate herself. She’s realized that playing her position the right way creates more opportunities.”

Oduro has played college soccer a long way from home, having grown up in Brampton, Ontario (west of Toronto). She was a four-sport athlete in high school, also playing basketball (point guard), volleyball, and running cross-country at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School. But don’t think soccer — or any of the other high school sports — were at the top of her childhood list. “I didn’t actually like soccer, initially,” she says with a smile. “Thought it was kind of lame. I wanted to play hockey, like all the little kids in Canada. But my parents said it was way too expensive. My older brother played soccer, so they put me in a program [at age 7]. I was terrible. The next year, I moved to outdoor soccer and something clicked. I loved the game.”

Oduro has had a scorer’s finishing touch as long as she can remember, but recognized in high school that she had to move to the U.S. if she wanted to take significant strides as a player. As for her decision to come to Memphis, it came down to her recruiter and a style of play. “I wanted a scholarship,” she notes, “to get school paid for. Coach [Monaghan] recruited me late, but the style of play really got me. It was possession-based, fun to watch. I thought it was a team I could possibly make better by the time I leave. At the end of the day, that’s what I want to be known for.”

Known casually as “Dro” by teammates and friends, Oduro’s stamp on the Memphis soccer program is evident without a score sheet. “She wears her emotions on her sleeve,” says Monaghan, “which can sometimes get you in trouble. She’s the first to challenge a referee. But she’s gotten better with that. Our players feed off her emotion. She’s a winner, extremely competitive. And you need those kind of players on a team.”

Her time in Memphis has flown by, almost as quickly as an Oduro shot from the top of the box. “It’s been a whirlwind,” she says. “I came in, unsure about things, nervous, wanting the seniors to like me. And now … I’m a senior, and I know how the freshmen feel. It can be hard coming in.”

In reflecting on the goals she’s scored, Oduro is fond of one this year against Alabama, where she split a defender’s legs with the ball before hitting the net. But her favorite memory is a larger picture, that of the 2011 season (her sophomore year), where all seemed right with her soccer world. “That was a great group of girls,” she says. “Every game, we came out like, ‘We’re gonna win this.’ If we were down, we fought back. If you have all 11 starters on the same page, you’ll have the synergy for success.”

As for the future, Oduro feels like an NCAA tournament run remains on her path. And she hopes to play in the new National Women’s Soccer League (the 8-team circuit that began play last spring). And then there’s the 2015 Women’s World Cup, to be played in, yes, Canada. Oduro is among a pool of players vying for roster spots on the Canadian national team. “I don’t consider myself a member of the team [yet],” she says. “I get called to camps. But that is my goal.”

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Sports Sports Feature

Top 15 Tigers

CREDIT: photograph by Rgbe | Dreamstime.com

Tiger coach Josh Pastner loves D.J. Stephens and has enjoyed teasing the media by proclaiming Stephens one of the “top five Tigers” of all time. He’ll acknowledge three other top-fives (Larry Finch, Keith Lee, and Penny Hardaway), then leave one slot open for us keyboard-tappers to consider.

The cold truth, of course, is that Stephens isn’t even among the top 15 Memphis Tigers of all time. Below is one man’s ranking of the top three Tigers at each of basketball’s traditional positions. It’s in no way a rebuke of all Stephens has given the 2012-13 Tiger team but more a commentary on the historic strength of the program.

My one qualifier for this ranking is that a player had to have suited up for at least two seasons with the Tigers. The “one-and-dones” were fun to watch, players like Larry Kenon, Dajuan Wagner, Derrick Rose, and Tyreke Evans. But they don’t belong here.

POINT GUARD — 1) Elliot Perry (1987-91): One of only two Tigers to score 2,000 career points (2,209), Socks led the Tigers in assists and steals for four seasons and led the team in scoring his last three seasons. He’s second in career steals (304) and fifth in career assists (546). 2) Andre Turner (1982-86): The Little General was the team’s pulse for a glorious four-year period that included a trip to the Final Four in 1985. Holds the Tiger record for assists in a game (15), season (262), and career (763). 3) Alvin Wright (1974-78): Wright led Memphis in assists all four seasons he played but is one of only two Tigers to average more than five assists in three different seasons. His 1,319 career points rank 15th in Tiger history.

SHOOTING GUARD — 1) Larry Finch (1970-73): Now and forever, the greatest Tiger of them all. Freshmen didn’t play in Finch’s day, but he still scored 1,869 career points and remains the face of the fabled 1972-73 team that reached the NCAA championship game. There should be a statue of Finch somewhere in Memphis. 2) Penny Hardaway (1991-93): The 1993 first-team All-American averaged 20.0 points per game over his two seasons while delivering the kind of passes we’ve seen only from the likes of Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd. Twice MVP of the Great Midwest Conference, Penny owns two of the program’s three triple-doubles. 3) Antonio Anderson (2005-09): It’s fitting that Anderson has the other triple-double in Memphis history. The “glue guy” for a remarkable period that saw a trip to the national championship game in 2008 and two Elite Eight appearances, Anderson is the only Tiger with 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists.

SMALL FORWARD — 1) Rodney Carney (2002-06): A second-team All-American in 2006, Carney combined high-flying dunks and three-point marksmanship unlike any Tiger before or since. Holds the school record of 287 career treys. His 1,901 career points are third in Memphis history. 2) Win Wilfong (1955-57): A 6’2″ swingman, Wilfong played only two seasons with the Tigers but averaged 22.1 and 21.0 points, leading Memphis to the 1957 NIT championship game. He was the program’s first All-American. 3) Chris Douglas-Roberts (2005-08): CDR is one of three Tigers to earn first-team All-American status. Averaged 18.1 points per game for the 2007-08 squad, which went 38-2. His 724 points that season are the third-highest in Tiger history.

POWER FORWARD — 1) Ronnie Robinson (1970-73): Finch’s running mate averaged 14.2 rebounds a game as a sophomore, then 13.3 as a junior. Fifth in Tiger history with 1,066 career rebounds and averaged 13.9 points over his three seasons. 2) Forest Arnold (1952-56): Arnold was the all-time leading scorer at Memphis (1,854 points) until Finch came along. He’s one of only four Tigers to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds and starred for the Tigers’ first NCAA tournament team in 1955. 3) David Vaughn (1991-95): Vaughn was an integral member of Tiger teams that reached the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight (1992) and Sweet 16 (1995). Despite being limited to three seasons by a knee injury, Vaughn ranks seventh in rebounds (903) and third in blocks (235).

CENTER — 1) Keith Lee (1981-85): Lee was the star of four Tiger teams that reached at least the NCAA’s Sweet 16. A four-time AP All-American, Lee is U of M’s top all-time scorer (2,408 points), rebounder (1,336), and shot blocker (320). 2) Lorenzen Wright (1994-96): Wright scored 1,026 points and averaged more than 10 rebounds over his two seasons. Chosen seventh by the Clippers in the 1996 draft and played in more NBA games (779) than any other Tiger. 3) Joey Dorsey (2004-08): Twice named C-USA’s Defensive Player of the Year. Second only to Lee in career rebounds (1,209) and blocked shots (264). Dorsey is arguably the most popular Tiger of this century. At least until D.J. Stephens arrived.

As for my top five? Forget the order: Finch, Hardaway, Lee, Perry, Robinson.

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News

Memphis Tigers’ Homegrown Talent

Frank Murtaugh reflects on the Memphis Tigers homegrown players, past and present.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Memphis’ Native Sons

CREDIT: larry

It’s been fun this season to watch three freshmen raised in Memphis make an immediate impact on the Tiger basketball team. Point guard Joe Jackson (White Station High School) is the only player to start all 23 games and leads the team in assists. Center Tarik Black (Ridgeway) leads the team in rebounds and blocks and was named a co-captain (with senior Will Coleman) last month. Despite a dreadful shooting slump of late, guard Chris Crawford (Sheffield) leads the team in three-point field goals and has proven himself the best passer on the team. Sophomore Drew Barham, a graduate of Christian Brothers High School, adds even more local flavor to the squad, having started during the Tigers’ four-game winning streak last month. (Barham had five points, seven rebounds, and five assists in the win over UCF on January 26th.)

Memphian Tarik Black

  • larry
  • Memphian Tarik Black

Should the group stay in school two or three years, it could go down as one of the finest home-grown units ever to suit up for the U of M. Which had me thinking about other Memphians to play as teammates for the Tigers. Here are a few that stand out:

1994-95 and 1995-96 — Lorenzen Wright, Cedric Henderson, Chris Garner
Wright’s freshman season was a memorable one, as the Tigers went undefeated (17-0) at The Pyramid, won 24 games, and lost (controversially) to defending national-champion Arkansas in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. Wright led the team in both scoring (14.8) and rebounding (10.2), a feat he would repeat as a sophomore (17.4 and 10.4), earning first-team all-conference honors both seasons. Garner led Memphis in assists all four seasons he played and is second only to Andre Turner in career dimes (639). Henderson was merely one of the most consistent scorers in Tiger history, averaging at least 12.6 points per game each of his four seasons. He currently ranks sixth in career scoring (1,697). This trio helped the Tigers reach number 3 in the country in 1995-96, but were upset by Drexel in the first round of the NCAAs.

Memphian Joe Jackson

1990-91 — Elliot Perry, Ernest Smith, Billy Smith
Perry’s senior season didn’t turn out the way he would have liked. The Tigers struggled on the road (4-9) and were relegated to the NIT with a final regular-season record of 16-14. (Making matters worse, Memphis lost to Arkansas State — by a single point, at home — in the second round.) The Tigers beat Tennessee, though, and beat Louisville twice before losing to the Cardinals in the Metro Conference tournament. Perry averaged 20.8 points per game and joined Keith Lee as the only Tigers in history to score 2,000 career points. The Smith boys were contributors, too, with junior Ernest averaging 8.2 points per game and sophomore Billy 5.1.

The Smiths would be joined in 1991-92 by another Memphian — guy by the name of Anfernee Hardaway — and reach the regional finals of the NCAA tournament. While Penny was a sophomore sensation (17.4 points per game), Ernest’s role was diminished; he was the rare Tiger to see his scoring average drop each of his four seasons. Billy averaged 11.2 per game. Each of the Smiths would finish his career with more than 1,000 career points.

Memphian Chris Crawford

1984-85 and 1985-86 — Andre Turner, Baskerville Holmes, William Bedford, Vincent Askew, Dwight Boyd
No Tiger fan will ever forget coach Dana Kirk’s final two teams. Over two seasons, the teams went 59-10, reached the nation’s Top 10 (twice), won the 1985 Metro Conference tournament, and reached the ’85 Final Four. The star of the 1984-85 squad, of course, was Keith Lee. But coming from across the river in West Memphis, he represented long-distance recruiting for this era. Turner (the Little General) set a Tiger record for assists in 1984-85 (224), then proceeded to break it (262) the next season. The totals remain the top two in Memphis history. Bedford was a formidable complement to Lee in ’84-’85, averaging 12.2 points, then led the team with 17.3 the next season. Askew and Holmes were dynamic scoring options both seasons, averaging 10.9 and 14.3, respectively, in ’85-’86. Three of these Memphians — Turner, Bedford, and Askew — would gain first-team all-conference recognition, and all five are in the Tiger 1,000-point club.

1972-73 — Larry Finch, Ronnie Robinson, Bill Cook
The most fabled — and certainly most significant — team in Memphis Tiger history. Led by a pair of buddies (Finch and Robinson) from Melrose High School, coach Gene Bartow’s third Memphis team went 24-6, ending their season in the NCAA championship game against mighty Bill Walton and UCLA. Finch averaged 24.0 points per game and was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. He and Robinson were named first team All-MVC all three seasons they played varsity basketball. Robinson is one of only five Tigers to grab 1,000 career rebounds. As merely a freshman, Cook averaged 5.4 points off the bench and was one of only five Tigers to score against UCLA. Finch and Cook are each in the top 10 on the Tiger career scoring chart.