Penny Hardaway and his highly touted Tigers finally returned to the FedExForum Thursday night for their annual exhibition matchup with Christian Brothers University. With preseason AP All-American James Wiseman sitting out, this was an opportunity for the rest of the roster to shine in front of a home crowd that was eager to see them in action for the first time.
It was apparent early that there is more fine-tuning to be done as neither side looked sharp in the contest’s opening minutes. D.J. Jeffries knocked down a pair of triples while Alex Lomax paced all scorers with eight, but the Bucs outrebounded the Tigers 18-16 and only trailed 42-33 heading into the break.
“The first half was very disappointing because it almost seemed like it worked against them that they were so hyper before the game,” Hardaway said. “I wanted to see how that was going to work because they were so anxious to get on the floor, to play their first game against someone else, here, in the arena, and it worked against them.”
In the second half, a slow start from the Bucs helped widen the gap as Memphis was able to pull away behind an all-around effort. Achiuwa led the way with 22 points, nine rebounds and four blocks while Jeffries and Lomax each finished in double figures as the Tigers went on to pick up a sloppy 86-53 win in their preseason opener.
An all-freshman starting five
One of the burning questions of the summer was who the starters would be and whether Hardaway would hesitate to roll five freshmen out to open games. He wasted little time showing that he would not as the Tigers began the contest with Boogie Ellis, Damion Baugh, Lester Quinones, D.J. Jeffries and Precious Achiuwa on the floor.
“It wasn’t a great look in the first half,” Hardaway said. “They’ve got to relax a little bit, and that’s saying a lot from young guys. They want to do so well. They want to be perfect at everything they do and not make any mistakes to the point that they’re not even having fun. And in this game, you have to have fun doing the game plan. It wasn’t great in the first half at all.”
While Wiseman’s absence creates a hole in the rotation, it will be interesting to see how the minutes are allocated once he is playing, and the games start to count. In 2018, Hardaway tended to choose his lineups on a game-to-game basis, so it will be worth watching just how much experimenting he does as the new campaign begins to ramp up.
Defense turns up the heat
The mantra has remained the same for Hardaway since he was hired: success on the defensive end translates to team success. Despite an ugly first half that saw them give up seven offensive boards, the defense turned up the intensity in the second frame and helped Hardaway’s team increase its lead.
One of the primary differences in year two of the Penny era is the presence of athletic, long rim protectors who can anchor the defense, clean up mistakes on the back end and get out and run in space, a skillset that was sorely lacking a season ago.
That athleticism was on full display Thursday as Memphis went on to record 15 blocks as a team, including four each from Achiuwa and Lance Thomas.
“We’re a very versatile team,” Achiuwa said. “We have myself, D.J., Lance Thomas, Isaiah Maurice. We have guys that are really tall and athletic also that having blocking ability, so coach just told us to make up for James not being out there on the floor today. It was a collective effort tonight protecting the glass.”
In addition to the rejections, the Tigers forced 22 turnovers and limited their opponents to 27% shooting for the night. While doubts about team cohesiveness may persist, the defense looks primed to wreak havoc all season.
Looking ahead
Although it is important to note that the results of an exhibition must be taken with a grain of salt, it was not all positives for the Tigers Thursday night. CBU won the offensive rebounding margin 15-6, and the matchup always felt closer than the score indicated. Memphis will surely get a boost from having Wiseman on the floor, but it is clear there is still a fair number of things that need cleaning up before they get to the bulk of the regular season schedule.
The Tigers will take on LeMoyne-Owen in the last exhibition matchup Monday night at FedExForum at 7 p.m.
Precious Achiuwa is announced to the crowd for the first time as a Tiger. Achiuwa led the team with 22 points in a 86-53 win over CBU.
Lance Thomas makes a zip line pass in an exhibition game against CBU. Thomas recorded 12 points, four rebounds and four blocks in a 86-53 win.
D.J. Jeffries discusses the game plan during a timeout. Jeffries ended with 12 points, six rebounds, and three blocks in a 86-53 win over CBU.
Penny Hardaway yells instructions to his team during free throws. The former Memphis State player obtained a highly anticipated No. 1 recruiting class this offseason.
Precious Achiuwa dunks the ball in an exhibition against CBU. Achiuwa finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
