The Memphis Tigers are looking to avenge their 2008 NCAA title game loss to Kansas tonight at the Scotttrade Center in St Louis, Missouri. When this game was scheduled last year it looked like it would be the game of the year in the non conference schedule for both schools, of course things have changed dramatically since that game was originally scheduled.
The biggest change of course is the departure of the John Calipari as the Tigers head coach. Calipari bolted to take the head coaching position for the Kentucky Wildcats, and in the process dismantled what was shaping up to be one of the greatest recruiting classes in recent memory for Memphis. John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, and Juco guard Darnell Dodson all decommitted from Memphis to go to Kentucky with Calipari, and the dreams of another Final Four were shattered in the process. To top it off, Nolan Dennis left for Baylor and a pair of highly touted brothers left for another Big XII school. Memphis made a fine hire with Josh Pastner, but he was left scrambling to get a complete roster together to start this season.
“Busy!”
That was Josh Pastner’s one-word description of his daily life since being named the new Memphis basketball coach in April. The 31-year-old inherited a roster that was gutted following the departure of Coach John Calipari to Kentucky.
Returning players departed for the NBA.
Top recruits bolted to other schools. Even the secretary left, leaving Pastner to rebuild from square one.
Now seven months later, the young coach who many rank among the nation’s top recruiters, is set to make his national coaching debut on a grand stage next Tuesday – against No. 1 Kansas no less – in the fourth annual Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center. That’s the same Kansas that rallied in the final minute to capture the NCAA title in 2008 against this not-quite-the-same Memphis squad. The same Kansas who hails a super-frosh named Xavier Henry, who was bound for Memphis this fall but chose KU after the Tiger mass exodus.
So Josh Pastner, how do you prepare for such a juggernaut opponent to start the new season?
“We’re preparing for this game like any other game on our schedule,” he said. “If we were playing the Los Angeles Lakers, we would prepare for that game the same way.”
Except L.A. only boasts one college All-American on its roster. The Jayhawks claim two in the preseason – Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich.
Said Bill Self, the Kansas coach who returns for his seventh season in Lawrence: “I do think we return the best guard in the country and the best big man in the country. I think if you’re going to start a team, why not have an anchor and why not have a guard?”
And a couple of forwards, a deep bench and experienced talent galore. The Jayhawks return all five starters and their top nine scorers. But Self doesn’t shy away from the high praise and expectations in the preseason. He embraces it.
“I don’t think a coach should hold his team accountable to strictly what the outside world thinks,” Self said. “But I do think this team has great potential and it is our job to get them to play to that potential.
“ I do agree with the pollsters though, not that we’re No. 1, but we have a chance if things fall right.”
While Pastner’s Tigers will be the clear underdogs, Self is still not certain of how to prepare his team for two unknowns. His biggest worry going into the contest is simply, “guarding Memphis.”
“I don’t feel like we have been a good practice team and early in the season, you never think you are prepared to play because the other team can always do something to throw you off,” Self added.
But what could throw mighty Kansas off? What is it that Memphis could do to confuse the talented Jayhawks?
“All we can do is control what we can, play hard and execute,” said the coy Pastner. “I want to keep things simple and be sound in everything we do.”
This early in the season, no one knows, including Self, how a Pastner-coached team will play. Little, if any, game tape will be useful in developing a scouting report. To assume new Memphis will play like old Memphis – utilizing a guard-favorite, dribble-drive offense – could be a mistake for the Kansas defense.
To add to the confusion, don’t forget that Pastner played for Hall of Famer Lute Olson at Arizona. He was a member of the 1997 Wildcats’ squad that won the national championship, then started his coaching career in Tucson as well, before spending last year on staff at Memphis.
“Josh does not have a track record on how he’s going to play,” Self said. “Is he going to play like Cal (Calipari) or Coach Olson? Or does he have his own thing he will do?”
For now, that remains the surprise. It adds intrigue to this neutral site event that tips off with Louisville battling Arkansas before the Tigers and Jayhawks tip it off. Dick Vitale and Bobby Knight will be there broadcasting for ESPN. More than a dozen Hall of Famers, such as Rick Barry, Lenny Wilkens and Bob Petit, are scheduled to appear. Nearly every NBA team is sending scouts.
Both fans bases have responded strongly at the box office. Kansas sold out its allotment in less than a week in September, and quickly requested more tickets. The Memphis fan base followed suit, making a statement of support for its new coach by selling out Midnight Madness, a first for the Tigers.
But surprises are becoming commonplace for Pastner, as evidenced by the job offer he received in April. When athletics director R.C. Johnson summoned Pastner to his home– while Pastner was packing up his office to follow Calipari to Kentucky – he had no idea why.
“When he offered me the job, I thought I was on one of two television shows – either Candid Camera or MTV’s Punk’d,” said Pastner of his meeting with Johnson. “I didn’t believe him at first, but when I realized he wasn’t joking, I quickly accepted the job offer.”
On Tuesday, Pastner hopes it is Self who gets the surprise.
“It’s going to be easier for them to prepare for us than us to prepare for them,” Self said.
Courtesy of Best Collegiate
