A Slow Start

Last nights exhibition had much the same problem as the one before it, a slow start. Contrary to most people, however, I believe the slow start was more an offensive problem. The defensive pressure definitely picked up. Kemp and Mack were doing solid as always, but guys like Witherspoon and Barham were playing defense with much more intensity. The problem was that CBU exploited their defense. Memphis likes to play fast. The play fast offense, so they practice defense against a fast offense. CBU was perfectly content to slow it down and get a lot of ball movement. I can't tell you how many times it looked like Memphis' defense looked like they would force a clock violation when, suddenly, a shot would be made with two seconds left, usually a three pointer.

Memphis played very poorly in the first half. This can probably be attributed to a poor performance by Elliot Williams. Although he still was the leading scorer, with 15 points, he was not the same team leader we saw against LeMoyne Owen. Its obvious the team will rely on him as they were down by as much as 14 at one point, and they were still trailing by one at half time.

Wesley Witherspoon was really the reason this team survived. It's not often that we see Witherspoon play with that passion for that amount of time. He finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and six assists. He was confident, and he was good.

Will Coleman also looked good at the end of the game. He didn't play much early after being yanked for not diving after a loose ball. The loss of playing time must have affected him because he came back with a force. He ended the game with six points, making all of his attempts, excluding those from the charity stripe. He also ended with the second most rebounds, behind Witherspoon, with 5 which is pretty impressive considering his limited minutes. He also got two key blocks that helped the Tigers to get their confidence.

The only other players that stood in this game were Kemp and Sallie. Sallie did a great job in the paint once again with 11 points. He also made the only three point shot that went in for this team. Kemp was confident. I see him having a very good season this year. He wasn't afraid to drive. He didn't do it often, but when it was needed, he got to the glass. He didn't over dribble, and he didn't attack the rim with too much force like he has in the past. His stat line was nothing to write home about, but Pastner apparently agreed with me about his production as he spent more minutes on the floor than any other player.

Interesting to note, I'm not sure this team will be the three point shooting team it has been made out to be. Against LeMoyne Owen, they had a good three point shooting percentage but didn't seem comfortable relying on it. This time they shot a horrible 1 out of 12 from behind the arc. A big part of the problem is that they want to be a three point shooting team so bad that they force it. They settle for the low percentage shots when it isn't necessary. They must first establish a drive. Once they get the defense worried about them attacking the glass, they will find the open three's more readily.

Also, Memphis used a full court press during the entire second half. Will they be able to do this in future games? Roburt Sallie played point guard for small portion of the game. I Knew he played point as a JUCO, but with his shooting mentality, I never thought I would see it at Memphis.

Lemoyne Owen Exhibition

The Tigers had the first showing against LeMoyne Owen. The starters were Willie Kemp, Elliot Williams, Roburt Sallie, Wesley Witherspoon, and Pierre Henderson-Niles. Doneal Mack did not start as a punishment for showing up late to a team meeting. When on the floor together, Williams and Kemp seemed to trade the point and shooting guard positions. If a guard got a defense rebound, he often iniated the offense. Doneal Mack also played point guard for a time while Kemp and Williams were both on the bench.

The first half of the game was rather sloppy. A major part of the problem was defense. Most players, not including Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack, were simply not bringing sufficient defense to the table. LeMoyne Owen kept up with Memphis' score and even exchange the with the Tigers. Around the three minute mark, you could see that Memphis had begun to warm up. There was no looking back after that.

Field goal percentages improved from a first half 47.2% to 69% in the second half. Likewise 3pt percentages improved from 25% in the first half to 83.3% in the second. It should also be noted that most of the points came in the paint and not from three pointers.

The most memorable play of the night: Roburt Sallie got a steal and nearly swotted the ball out of bounds. He saved it and passed it to Willie Kemp. Kemp drove, when he noticed a defender was closing in on him, he pass it off the backboard for a dunk from Will Coleman.

The scariest moment of the night: Wesley Witherspoon took a hard fall and hurt his leg. He limped off the court. When he walked back to the bench he looked fine, but he sat out the rest of the game (Not much time left coupled with a high lead). It turned out to only be a cramp.

Many recruits were at the game. Chris Crawford, Joe Jackson, and Tarik Black all watched the game together. Ray Parks and Adonis Thomas were also in attendance