BleedGopher
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per Yahoo:
The Memphis basketball team’s NCAA tournament chances disintegrated beneath the force of a hammer dunk.
UConn freshman guard James Bouknight sprinted ahead on a fast break on Sunday afternoon, corralled a laser pass from Christian Vital and imprinted Memphis freshman Precious Achiuwa on a poster. Bouknight drew a foul to add insult to infamy.
The moment rose above a rock fight of questionable aesthetics, as the dunk boosted UConn’s lead to five points with just over three minutes remaining and allowed the Huskies to grind out a 64-61 victory. The loss ostracized Memphis to the remote fringes of the NCAA tournament conversation, many hemispheres from a season that began with bold talk by Penny Hardaway about winning a national championship.
This Memphis season is instead wheezing to an end, with the Tigers (17-8) falling to 6-6 in American Athletic Conference play after their third straight loss. The national title visions that Hardaway so audaciously declared this fall have descended to whispers of NIT seeding. The chatter about a new generation’s Fab Five-caliber recruiting class has crumbled to excuses of too much youth.
“We got to win out, to me,” Hardaway said when asked about what was necessitated to get back into the NCAA tournament conversation. “I wouldn’t say win out. We got to win some big games. I wouldn’t put that much pressure on the young guys. But we have to win some impressionable games.”
If that comment on Sunday evening elicits a chuckle from some veteran coaches around college basketball, don’t be surprised. Hardaway worrying about placing pressure on his team is a far cry from what he told The Athletic this fall: “We’re going to win a national championship.”
Instead, Memphis will be remembered as the biggest disappointment of the 2019-20 college basketball season, a tease of talent undercut by attrition, injury and the same youth that gave oxygen to Hardaway’s preseason chutzpah.
sports.yahoo.com
Go Gophers!!
The Memphis basketball team’s NCAA tournament chances disintegrated beneath the force of a hammer dunk.
UConn freshman guard James Bouknight sprinted ahead on a fast break on Sunday afternoon, corralled a laser pass from Christian Vital and imprinted Memphis freshman Precious Achiuwa on a poster. Bouknight drew a foul to add insult to infamy.
The moment rose above a rock fight of questionable aesthetics, as the dunk boosted UConn’s lead to five points with just over three minutes remaining and allowed the Huskies to grind out a 64-61 victory. The loss ostracized Memphis to the remote fringes of the NCAA tournament conversation, many hemispheres from a season that began with bold talk by Penny Hardaway about winning a national championship.
This Memphis season is instead wheezing to an end, with the Tigers (17-8) falling to 6-6 in American Athletic Conference play after their third straight loss. The national title visions that Hardaway so audaciously declared this fall have descended to whispers of NIT seeding. The chatter about a new generation’s Fab Five-caliber recruiting class has crumbled to excuses of too much youth.
“We got to win out, to me,” Hardaway said when asked about what was necessitated to get back into the NCAA tournament conversation. “I wouldn’t say win out. We got to win some big games. I wouldn’t put that much pressure on the young guys. But we have to win some impressionable games.”
If that comment on Sunday evening elicits a chuckle from some veteran coaches around college basketball, don’t be surprised. Hardaway worrying about placing pressure on his team is a far cry from what he told The Athletic this fall: “We’re going to win a national championship.”
Instead, Memphis will be remembered as the biggest disappointment of the 2019-20 college basketball season, a tease of talent undercut by attrition, injury and the same youth that gave oxygen to Hardaway’s preseason chutzpah.
Where it's all gone wrong for Memphis ... and what this season says about coach Penny Hardaway
This Memphis season is wheezing to an end well short of Hardaway's preseason boasts. What exactly is the Tigers' problem? And is Hardaway capable of fixing it as a head coach?
sports.yahoo.com
Go Gophers!!
