Despite winning 84-63 over the Arkansas State Indians last Tuesday night, Coach John Calipari was not happy with his team's performance, and he let them know it.
Instead of giving his team two days off before the Thanksgiving holiday, Calipari and the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team (5-0) had an extra day of practice Wednesday to get everyone on the team on the same page before tomorrow's game against Austin Peay (2-3).
Concerned with his team's lackadaisical performance against the Indians, Calipari also said he wanted to make his team aware of the small schools that will be eying a historic upset every time they play the No. 3 ranked Tigers.
"We have to worry about getting better every day," he said. "Did we get better (against Arkansas State)? Did we do anything to improve ourselves? No. We didn't. We went way down the wrong way. It's so dangerous, these kinds of games - if that's your habit. I've got to let them know that's not acceptable.
"If you watched that game, you've got to be upset. It's obvious where we are right now. We've got some work to do. Obviously, if I think they need to practice, that's what we are going to do."
Specifically, Calipari said he thought some of his players did not approach the game ready to play. Instead, he said he thought some of his players were more than ready to breeze through the game without giving it a serious effort.
"I knew Coach was kind of upset because we were not winning by that big of a margin, and our defense wasn't clicking," said sophomore guard Willie Kemp after his career-high 22-point showing last Tuesday. "Coach always says when the bench comes in, he wants the intensity raised. And that's what we did."
Guards Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack shot well for the Tigers off the bench against the Indians, while some of the Memphis starters like Joey Dorsey and Derrick Rose struggled throughout. However, Dorsey said Sunday that his play was due to a lingering preseason shoulder injury that is still giving him problems.
Dorsey is scheduled to start tomorrow night, but forward Robert Dozier could miss his second straight start due to a left foot injury. Sophomore Shawn Taggart started in Dozier's place last week and could see his minutes increase as his teammates attempt to heal while their coach continues practice at a normal pace.
Memphis received a scare at Sunday's practice when leading scorer Chris Douglas-Roberts appeared to twist his ankle. However, the injury was not serious, and Douglas-Roberts returned to practice a few minutes later.
Despite being a bit banged up, the Tigers prepared for Austin Peay like any other opponent. Though the Governors have no one in their starting lineup over 6 feet 5 inches and only two players at 6 feet 8 inches, Calipari is not convinced that an upset is beyond the Governors' grasps because of what he called his team's inconsistent tendencies.
"The issue when people watch us - the scouts - is guys just aren't very consistent, so they don't really know how good they are," Calipari said. "That's why the jury is out so much. They just don't know how good guys are. It's the inconsistency."
The Tigers will play Austin Peay tonight at 7 at FedExForum. The game will be televised locally on WLMT-30.
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