Rodney Carney is quick. He has quick hands, a fast first step and explosive leaping ability.
But when a reporter asked him to name Louisville's weaknesses, he was painfully slow to respond.
And when he did, he offered no revelations.
"I can't think of any," Carney said. "There's no weakness in them."So when the basketball Tigers take the floor tonight in Freedom Hall against Louisville, they will not look to exploit the Cardinals weaknesses, they will be intent on improving their own.
They are confident that will be enough.
Any team can beat any team," said Tigers forward Arthur Barclay. "If you look around the country a lot of good teams are losing.
"It all depends on who's ready to play."
The Tigers shouldn't be flat after being dismantled by Houston last weekend. Memphis committed 26 turnovers and allowed 15 offensive rebounds in a 66-53 loss. It's a performance that The U of M just can't repeat.
"I don't know what happened last game," Barclay said. "We've just got to be ready."
If they aren't ready, it won't be because Memphis overlooks the competition.
Louisville (20-3 overall, 8-1 in Conference USA) has been the toast of the league, winning conference games by an average of 23.9 points per game. The Cardinals boast the nation's fifth highest scoring average (84.8) and are ranked No. 9 in the latest coaches poll. They can score from any position on the floor. Five different players average double figure scoring, led by Francisco Garcia's 16. 7 ppg.They have also been devastating at home, posting a 12-1 home record.
"It's going to be a hostile environment and we're going to hear stuff we're not going to like," Barclay said.
So what chance do the Tigers have? According to Carney, they have to do two things well.
"The only way to beat them is hard-nosed play and defense," he said.Memphis has played good defense lately, holding their last five opponents to under 40 percent shooting. Overall this season, they rank third in C-USA in field goal percentage defense (37.9 percent). But Calipari says the hard-nosed play is where the Tigers have struggled.
"We're just not playing well when teams shove and push," Calipari said. "We turn the ball over. We just don't seem to be tough enough in those kind of games."
That's the kind of game Calipari expects tonight. Louisville's deep, athletic team will pressure the Tigers' thin backcourt with an unrelenting press and physical play.
In games against teams with similar, high pressure styles - UAB and Houston - the Tigers have fared poorly, losing both games and coughing up a total of 52 turnovers.
Against the Cougars, each of the Tigers primary ball handlers -Darius Washington, Anthony Rice and Jeremy Hunt - had five giveaways. "When we played UAB, we played their way in the first half," Calipari said. "We split traps, we spun around and then we gave them layups. Same thing happened with Houston. Houston shot six lay-ups. (Success) is about being tough with the ball and making the easiest play you can make."
Washington, a freshman point guard and primary ball handler, said having a game against pressure-happy Houston will help his decision-making against Louisville.
If Washington struggles, the Tigers solid half-court defense won't have a chance to set up, and Calipari knows the Cardinals want to score quickly and often.
"They beat Marquette by 50, they were up on East Carolina 50-12, Calipari said. "Now I'm going to tell you, if they can be up 60-12 they will ... because it's us."
How the Tigers fare mentally in the face of constant pressure will be the key. Two years ago, Memphis entered Freedom Hall in a similar, unranked position and left with an 80-73 victory over then-No. 4 Louisville. Those Tigers played well, led by gritty point guard Antonio Burks. Calipari simply hopes this team has some of those win-at-all-cost characteristics.
"It's not what I do, it's does this team have the arrogance and the swagger (to compete)," Calipari said.
"The tough, hard-nosed player will move beyond that last game, if you're soft mentally, you can't - it'll affect this game. "That's what we're going to find out."
