Sunday, December 1, 2013

Congrats to Pastner and the Tigers

Josh Pastner and the Memphis Tigers bounced back against Oklahoma State to take the championship game of the Old Spice Classic. In a more organized and easy-on-the-eyes repeat of the match-up seen on 11/19, the Tiger's backcourt leadership showed up today and led the team to a 73-68 victory over the 5th ranked Cowboys.


To be fair...



I would love to see this be the beginning of something great for Pastner and the Tigers. I truly hope the coaching, the trust in the talented Tiger big men and the improved guard play were signs of good things to come for this team. While 1-13 is much nicer than 0-14, it's still 1-13. Pastner needs to take a team to or through the Sweet 16. That said, this is a well-deserved and relieving win that buys the coach the benefit of the doubt for the near future. Congrats to Coach Pastner and the Memphis Tigers.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Winds are Blowing...

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We are two games into Pastner's fifth year as the head coach of University of Memphis basketball team. Some career highlights:

0-13 vs ranked opponents.

One NCAA tournament victory - a two point victory over Saint Mary's.

Best locks in the game.

Absolutely great guy and great advocate for the city.

And, and, and...

No intelligible scheme on either side of the ball. Lots of smiling. Complete lack of team discipline. Plenty of optimism. Zero cursing. Tons of curls. Not a drop of caffeine. All talk. No results.

Not for lack of trying. I believe Pastner is one of the hardest working people in any sport. He is consistently regarded as a top recruiter for that reason alone. Yet, we've had five years of hard work, with no measurable success to show for it.

The time is drawing nigh for someone else to take the reins of the University of Memphis basketball program...


This spring, the three-year show-cause penalty levied against Bruce Pearl by the NCAA will be lifted. Frank Haith will have coached roughly 30 games by that time. There will be ADs fighting for the chance to work with Bruce Pearl. For a coach who filled the seats of Thompson-Boling in the land that Peyton built, he will assuredly succeed again.


OK, that is a bit extreme. Most fans appreciate everything Pastner has done. He took a rudderless program and maintained a high level of talent on each team he fielded for five years. The time of talent-for-talents-sake is over. It's time to win ballgames. It's time to win them on national television. It's time to win them in March.

There was a time when Memphis made a big hire, bringing in a shamed, scandal-ridden coach to revitalize their program, as well as his own. It is no stretch to think Memphis can do the same thing again and find a coach who can bring home the trophy.


BBQ at Bruce's, everybody.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Like the Fall of ACORN...

Calipari comes clean.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

It's ok, Kentucky.

You'd be forfeiting those wins in a couple years anyway.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Bubble Burst.

Bloop.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

On the Bubble!

The Tigers have clawed their way back in Bracketology. Over at ESPN, Lunardi (with a solid history of predicting the teams who'll be heading to the dance) has included the Tigers as one of his 11 teams to claim one of the bubble spots for the Big Dance! Go Tigers!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Good to Get That Monkey Off Our Back...

Nevermore... The Door.