No. 11 Wichita State outmanned, outhustled, outcoached and outplayed Memphis on Tuesday afternoon in South Dakota.
We knew it would take some time for this new team to jell, especially with several of the guys not playing real-game minutes in two years. The problem was it looked like they had not practiced in two years.
Dribbling, passing and all the basics of the game were chores for Memphis, which went on to lose the game 71-56. The Tigers turned the ball over 24 times and assisted only four baskets.
Watching the game, you could not help but wonder what have the Tigers been doing since they started practice in October. Why are they making the same mistakes they made during the Canadian exhibition tour or the last two years for that matter?
The only comfort was the Shockers looked nearly as bad throughout the first half, but they regrouped at halftime to play a near-perfect second half, picking apart Memphis’ out-of-sync defense.
Memphis coach Josh Pastner said he expected criticism from the media and fans after the Tigers lost an exhibition to Christian Brothers a week ago. He even said the criticism was deserved, but, somehow, this performance was worse.
At least against CBU, Pastner used the exhibition format to get minutes for everyone on the team, and experimented with different sets and defenses. The same could not be said for Tuesday’s game against the Shockers. In a game Pastner was doing everything he could to win, the rotation seemed to have no rhyme or reason. Anytime a player made a small mistake the sixth-year coach motioned to the bench for a sub, rather than just riding with the player he believes are best from practice.
Basketball is a game of confidence, and yanking a player after a small mistake does the opposite of instilling confidence.
Sophomore Pookie Powell was the glaring example. After air-balling a 3-pointer in the first half, Powell passed up several wide-open looks from beyond the arc in favor of drives that ended in turnovers.
Powell was just one player in a backcourt that coughed the ball up 16 times. After complaining about the four senior guards’ play last season, Memphis fans would have killed to have any one of them on Tuesday.
It was not all bad, though. Austin Nichols, Trahson Burrell, Nick King and Avery Woodson positively impacted the game.
Nichols, despite going 2-7 from the field, got to the free-throw line and blocked six shot, altering many more at the rim.
King played better than any other Tiger on the offensive end of the floor, leading the Blue and Gray with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Burrell and Woodson each made their debut for the U of M. They combined to shoot 9-15 from the floor 21 points.
The performance just did not come close to getting the job done. So much so, that a newspaper columnist from Wichita, Kansas, floated the idea on Twitter that Pastner could be on the hot seat, and I do not think that is even remotely the case. But it does show how much Pastner and his squad need to improve as the season moves along, and it all starts with preparation.
