The Memphis Tigers 2014 season can’t end soon enough for Tiger fans.
If the Tigers didn't hit rock bottom in their loss to East Carolina on Tuesday night, they came awfully close in what has been a rebuilding season gone wrong.
Memphis wasn't expected to be much of a force on the national stage this season. But few would’ve expected the Tigers to be a lowly 14-10, sixth place in the American Athletic Conference (6-5) and with seven games to go before the conference tournament.
In sports, it’s not always about if you lose but how you lose. The Tigers have looked far from convincing in their 10 losses this season. They are 1-7 against the RPI Top 50, with their only win coming in a 63-51 home win over Cincinnati on Jan. 15.
Fans have also tuned out this season.
Sure, they were aware that a Final Four birth was unrealistic this season, but their lack of interest is showing in the empty seats.
The new norm is 12,000 to 14,000 fans showing up.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was Memphis’ most recent home loss to the Temple Owls Saturday.
The Tigers were their most energetic in the first half of this game then they’ve been all season.
However, forward Austin Nichols sprained his ankle in the second half. Even before his injury, the game looked like it was getting away from Memphis because of the two problems that have plagued them all season: scoring droughts and turnovers.
This is in large part due to the poor point guard play for Memphis this season. The loss of the four senior guards: Joe Jackson, Chris Crawford, Geron Johnson and Michael Dixon Jr. have hurt the Tigers severely this season.
Junior guard Kedren Johnson was supposed to bridge this gap for the Tigers. Johnson, a transfer from Vanderbilt, was an All-SEC point guard in his time with the Commodores. But he’s rarely shown that talent this season. He’s averaging only 5.2 points, two assists and 1.9 turnovers a game—a far cry from his Vanderbilt days.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Tigers. There’ve been a few bright spots. Freshman guard Markel Crawford has shown flashes of a player who could be special in the future. Junior guard Trahson Burrell has brought energy off the bench with his 5.4 rebounds a game, and sophomore guard Avery Woodson brings the three-point shooting Tiger fans always crave. He is shooting 41 percent from long range this season.
However, Nichols has by far been the biggest one. In 23 games this season, he's averaging 13.3 points per game and is the only Tiger averaging double figures on the season. He has made huge strides on defense averaging 3.3 blocks a game, which ranks him third in the country.
He alone cannot led the Tigers to victory.
His fellow forward Shaq Goodwin who, like Nichols, had high expectations going into this season failed to deliver. Despite averaging 10 points and 17.5 rebounds in his last two outings, Goodwin’s scoring numbers are down this season. He’s only averaging 8.1 points a game, nearly three-and-a-half points less than last season (11.5).
So where does coach Josh Pastner fit into all of this?
The fact that this is a rebuilding season means that he should not be on the hot seat. Although if things do not change next season with the addition of the Lawson brothers, then putting Pastner on the hot seat may be the only plausible solution.
Pastner does not need to lose to learn how to appreciate a win, he said during a press conference Wednesday.
“I get sick about losses,” Pastner said. “I take them very hard. I internalize them very hard. I don't sleep well. I’m the last guy who needs to know about appreciation for wins. I mean I was talking about hugging wins in the years past. I’ve never taken a win for granted.”
Being an internal optimist, he said he still believes in his players and there is no reason why they can’t turn this season around.
“The season is not over, stranger things have happened,” Pastner said. “Who says we can’t win seven in a row and win the conference tournament? Then everyone will say you’ve done one of the masterful coaching jobs or it goes the other way and you lose a lot more and you’re saying ‘look forward to next season.’”
In a season that already looks lost, any kind of awakening from the Tigers would be a coaching job for the ages.
You can only go up from the bottom.
