The Daily Helmsman recently caught up with Memphis men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner to catch up on a huge offseason for the Tiger basketball program and the upcoming 2015-16 season. While the original story was written two weeks ago, here are some of the best quotes that didn’t make it into the story.
DH: After Austin Nichols’ departure in July, that makes it seven players who have either transferred or been dismissed from the program in the last year. Is this a blip or is it a problem big picture?
JP: “Seven didn’t leave the team. A few of them were not asked to come back, because I dismissed them. I’ve had to discipline some guys. I don’t apologize for that. Maybe a guy or two wasn’t good enough to play here. So I look at it that we probably misevaluated on a guy or two, and we made a mistake on an evaluation or two but that happens. And that falls on to me. It’s not the fault of the young man or anything else. That falls on to me. Everyone uses that number, but a few of those guys I had to dismiss due to disciplinary reasons.”
DH: With a guard-heavy roster, will this season be a return to the “four guards” (Joe Jackson, Chris Crawford, Geron Johnson and Michael Dixon Jr.) of two seasons ago?
JP: “The four guards was a media driven thing, some stuff media people would say without having any facts. Because they were lazy, they didn’t want to do their homework. Rarely do we play four guards at one time. There might’ve been some small cases that we did, but most of the time we played three guards with two bigs. And then we rotated the fourth guard between the three spots, so four guards for three spots.”
“We had a couple of times when we needed to play four guys at the same time in a late-game situation, whenever we needed to we did that. So it’s not about playing four guards, it’s about spacing. That doesn’t mean you play four guards. It just means you can play a four or five man. Your spacing is different. Part of that four guard lineup rotation was a media driven deal.”
DH: You are entering your seventh season as the coach of the men’s basketball team. How have you improved as a coach over that time?
JP: “I’ve gotten better from day one to where I am (now). And I hope to be better six years from now to where I am today. Also I’ve improved. I have a better understanding of the mistakes you make along the way. You learn from them. You do things you shouldn’t have done that way. But you go. I was thrown into the fire, which I appreciate. And like I said we’ve had good success. There is no manual to tell you this is how you do it. You learn through fire. You learn through the experience.”
DH: The team has 10 new players entering this season, eight of whom are freshman, how have the new players looked to this point in workouts, practice, etc.?
JP: “The freshmen have been good as a core group. They’ve been solid. They’ve worked hard. They have a long way to go, but we’re going to depend on a lot of those guys to produce for us this year. Because they’re going to have to step up and get the job done. Just core wise, I really like that group and there is a lot to look forward to with Tiger nation with that group.”
DH: How has fan support been coming off last season’s disappointment and throughout your time here?
JP: “(I) Love the fans. We’ve got the best fans in the country. We’ve got great fans. Tremendous fans. There’s no place like it. This city is awesome. I love the city. I have tremendous pride and passion for the city, and I’m very blessed and fortunate to be here.”
DH: Finally, when you first came here Tiger football wasn’t what it was now.
JP: “(Memphis football coach) Justin Fuente what he’s done I love that guy. I love his offense. Gosh almighty I love his offense. He’s innovative. You can almost build a statute of the guy with what he’s done here with the football program. And (Memphis athletic director) Tom Bowen deserves a lot of credit. Both Tom Bowen and Justin Fuente those two deserve some much credit with what they’ve done with this football program.”
Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner and senior forward Shaq Goodwin will look to lead the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
