With all of the hooplah that surrounded Calipari and the search for a perfect coach, which by the way seemed a lot like a chick flick. Think about it, the school (girl) is looking for the perfect head coach (boyfriend) in guys like Theus (pretty boy), Johnson (popular boy), and Knight (the jock) when all along Pastner (cute friend who has always been there for you) was waiting for us to ask him (to prom) to coach. Anyway with all this malarkey surrounding the coach search we forgot that we just had an amazing season in what was suppose to be our rebuilding year and witnessed one of the greatest talents to play in the NCAA.
So I would now like to turn the attention away from our new boyfriend, i mean coach (stupid metaphors) and recognize the honors our great players have been awarded with recently as their college careers come to a close.
First I would like to look at the heart of the Memphis Tiger basketball team and my favorite player of the past 4 years, Antonio Anderson.
Anderson, pictured above with Captain Dingleberry of the SS Screw You Memphis, played whatever role the Tigers needed him to play. He has played with the likes of Shawne Williams, Rodney Carney, Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey and Preston Laird. And as the team changed with leaders like Rose and Laird he always remained the glue that held it all together.
Here are just some accolades he has achieved:
Winningest 4-year player in NCAA Division 1 history
2008-09 All-Conference USA Second Team
2009 Conference USA Spirit of Service
2008 Conference USA Tournament MVP
2007-08 Conference USA All-Defensive Team
2006-07 collegeinsider.com All-America Defensive Team
2006-07 Conference USA All-Defensive Team
2007 Conference USA All-Tournament Team
We will miss you, Tony.
Second I would like to recognize our big man that looks like a 12 year old, Robert Dozier.
Dozier, pictured here with John "Memphis is where I want to coach" Calipari, was like a Phil the groundhog for the Tigers. If he started off having a great game the Tigers had a great game but if he struggled early usually the Tigers struggled early. Weak and weird metaphor with the gopher analogy but I am spent after the chick flick metaphor.
Rob was also one of the winningest 4-year players in NCAA Division 1 history and was selected to be on the C-USA All Conference Team multiple times.
You will be missed, Baby Face.
Thirdly, Chance McGrady.
And last but not least is Tyreke Evans.
Evans, pictured here with John "Wam bam thank you ma'am/your money is on the dresser" Calipari, is a ridiculous talent. We knew as Tiger fans that this was going to be probably be another great player that would inevitably leave the Tigers for the NBA after one season but that didn't stop him from making a huge impact on Memphis, the NCAA, and the nation.
The Tigers struggled at the beginning of the season without a point guard at the helm. But who could possibly follow Derrick Rose?! Tyreke Evans can. The similarities between the two players go as far as they played for the same team and thats about it. Their style of leadership and play is completely different and yet very dominant.
Here are some of the awards he has received from his very short time as a Memphis Tiger:
1. National Freshman of the Year from Collegehoops.net, ESPN.com, U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), The Sporting News, CBSSports.com and FoxSports.com2. selected to NaismithLives.com, The Sporting News, CBSSports.com and FoxSports.com Freshman All-America squads
3. CollegeHoops.net High-Major National Player of the Year
4. Collegehoops.net High-Major All-America first team pick
5. finalist for the 2008-09 Wooden Award
6. finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy
7. Conference USA Tournament MVP
8. Conference USA All Conference First Team
And the list goes on.....
Tyreke, you were a great Tiger and you will be missed. Good luck in the NBA. I hope you don't get picked up by the Grizzlies.....for your sake not ours.
-g
1 comments:
that was terrible writing. seriously
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