What’s to blame for Tigers’ offensive problems?
Hardaway makes note of lacking defensive effort
ATLANTA — Every time Memphis turned the ball over in its most recent reality check, Penny Hardaway noticed it.
When the Tigers missed a layup, a 3pointer or a free throw, their coach was reminded of it. And after Auburn made off with a 74-71 win at Memphis’ expense on Saturday, Hardaway had to admit again just how difficult it can be for him and his coaching staff to get through to the former 4- and 5-star recruits that make up his roster.
“In these games, I’ve noticed that so many guys, they check out when they’re not playing well offensively,” he said. “When they’re not making shots, that affects them on the defensive end and with rebounding.”
Memphis (4-3) committed 18 more turnovers (that Auburn turned into 18 points) at Holiday Hoopsgiving. Sixteen of the Tigers’ layup attempts were either missed or blocked, according to the official box score. They made 11. For the fifth straight game, Memphis took more than 20 three-pointers and hit less than 32% of them.
After missing 10 free throws earlier this week in a blowout win over Mississippi Valley State, the Tigers missed more attempts from the line (12) than they made (11).
These were among the more obvious factors that kept Memphis from officially leaving its slow start in the dust. But, more worrisome than that, it was further evidence that this team is in need of an attitude adjustment.
So says Hardaway, at least.
“It’s something that just has to be in you. (But) we weren’t ready to do the required work to win the game,” he said. “(Auburn) played desperate and we just played. We missed too many free throws, we shot horrible from the 3point line and we missed a ton of layups. We have to mature and grow up going into (American Athletic Conference play), because those things just hurt.”
And, they’ve been hurting. Memphis’ success rate on layups this season is 50%. In its three losses, that numbers drops to 42.6%. The Tigers’ 3-point shooting percentage (30.4%) ranks 208th in the country. Overall, their effective field goal percentage (46.8%) is 218th. Their 65.4% free-throw percentage is 231st.
“It gets to a point to where it’s so many guys that aren’t doing it that you’ve got to go to someone and beg and plead, ‘Hey, man, you have to play D. You have to make the extra pass. You have to rebound.’ We’ve just got to keep pushing as coaches.”
D.J. Jeffries wasn’t ready to do whatever it takes to help Memphis win when his sophomore season began last month, he said. The former Olive Branch star has no doubt his teammates will eventually come around and see the bigger picture the way he did after Hardaway recently took him aside. But he admits there are egos standing in the way right now.
“When guys are pouting or getting mad, we’ve got to understand we can’t just be – excuse my language – b------over not getting shots,” Jeffries said. “Every night is not going to be my night. Every night is not going to be (leading scorer) Landers (Nolley II’S) night. Guys got to learn, when the game comes to you, the game flows better. You can’t go out there and do what your parents want. My parents (are) hard on me about shooting the ball. But I don’t care about that.
“At the end of the day, I want to win. We’re playing for Memphis, not for ourselves.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.