Haven't we seen this story before? Josh Pastner recruits the area's finest players, enters season with boatloads of hype, fails to win marquee non-conference games, struggles with expectations.
Same thing can be said for Memphis junior Tarik Black, who enters yet another season with elevated expectations.
Memphis has struggled down in the Bahamas at The Battle 4 Atlantis, losing to VCU 78-65 and to Minnesota 84-75.
No play better emphasized the Tigers recent struggles than this tremendous #POSTERIZED dunk that ended up getting called as a charge.
So much talent, so little executions.
(H/T Run The Floor)
But was it as good as these:
Ben McLemore - Kansas vs. Washington State - 11/20
Andre Roberson - Colorado vs. Murray State, 11/18
Doug Anderson - Detroit vs. Drake, 11/17
Archie Goodwin - Kentucky vs. Lafayette, 11/16
John Brown - High Point vs. Appalachian State, 11/13
Stefan Jankovic - Missouri vs. Alcorn State, 11/14
Cole Dickerson - San Francisco vs. Cal State-East Bay, 11/13
Clancy Rugg - Vermont vs. UConn, 11/13
Jamari Traylor - Kansas vs. Michigan State, 11/13
Doug Anderson - Detroit vs. St. John's, 11/13
Kris Brewer - Kent State vs. Temple, 11/13
Rakeem Christmas - Syracuse vs. San Diego State, 11/11
Deandre Daniels - UConn vs. Michigan State, 11/9
Ben McLemore - Kansas vs. Emporia State, 10/31
Keion Bell - Missouri vs. Northwest Missouri, 10/31
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Saturday, November 24, 2012
#POSTERIZED: Tarik's Black Friday |
Thursday, December 22, 2011
What's plaguing Memphis, and why they needed a two hours team meeting after losing to Georgetown |
The final buzzer sounded at just past 9 pm ET as No. 15 Georgetown put the finishing touches on a 70-59 victory over Memphis at the Verizon center, wrapping up what was a crisp, two-hour basketball game.
It wasn't until 10:45 pm, however, that Memphis head coach Josh Pastner finally emerged from his team's locker room in the bowels of the Verizon Center. For the second time in the span of 10 days, the Tigers had a team meeting in an effort to cure what ails them, this one lasting just 15 minutes less than the game itself.
"We just had a team meeting and needed to air a few things out," Memphis head coach Josh Pastner said after the game. "It was the right thing before we got to Christmas break. It was a good open discussion. I love those guys, no one in there is happy to be 6-5. Have we played a tough schedule? Darn right. But we're too good to be sitting at 6-5."
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Monday, November 16, 2009
Maybe Memphis won't miss John Calipari as much as we thought |
Josh Pastner came into Memphis with the reputation of being a great recruiter, but this is starting to get absurd.
It started with Will Barton back in June, as Pastner went into Baltimore and snagged the talented 6'6" wing and his brother Antonio.
Next came point guard Joe Jackson, a Memphis native who was all but guaranteed to be a Tiger since the first time he picked up a basketball, who committed early in November.
Both Will Barton and Jackson are top 15 recruits nationally. Put them on the court with Elliot Williams, Will Coleman, and a healthy Angel Garcia, and you got yourself a top 25 team.
But Pastner was far from done.
No doubt Pastner is smiling after this past week.
(photo credit: The Hoops Report)
In October, another Memphis native, 6'4" swing man Chris Crawford who was an AAU teammate of Jackson, committed to the Tigers as well.
But the real fireworks started on signing day last Wednesday. The day kicked off with Pastner landing a commitment from 6'8" forward Hippolyte Tsafack before inking both Barton's and Jackson to their LOI's.
Then on Saturday, another top ten recruit, 6'6" wing Jelan Kendrick from Atlanta, called an impromptu press conference to announce that he had signed a letter of intent with Memphis. This was a big surprise to the recruiting world, as Kendrick had been emphatic that he was bypassing the fall signing period. But Kendrick played with Jackson and Crawford for the Memphis Magic AAU team that won the Adidas Super 64 tournament in Las Vegas, and was convinced by the success they had over the summer that he would have a shot at a national title.
Pastner still wasn't done. Just this afternoon, Tarik Black, a 6'7", 230 lb power forward out of Memphis that also happened to be a member of the Memphis Magic, announced his intentions to play for the Tigers.
All told, Pastner's recruiting class consists of three five-star, two four-star, and two three-star recruits. Assuming everyone returns to school, take a look at this line-up:
Pretty talented, huh?
Could the Memphis Magic Elite be the second coming of Michigan State's Flintstones?
With a roster depleted by defections and injuries, next season may not come soon enough for some Memphis fans.
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