Grizzlies take Noah’s contentious end with Knicks in stride
Bickerstaff says winning is important to player
Penny Hardaway walked into his postgame press conference, once his Memphis basketball team polished off its 88-80 win over South Dakota State Tuesday night, and never mentioned the barrage of where-did-he-just-shoot-that-from 3-pointers by freshman Tyler Harris that once again had FedExForum buzzing.
He didn't initially discuss senior Jeremiah Martin's resurgence, or the pesky defense that forced the Jackrabbits to commit a season-high 23 turnovers.
Instead, he began by praising forward Isaiah Maurice's gritty 10-point, 8-rebound, 4-block performance and the three charges the 150-pound Harris took.
"Guys got uncomfortable today and did things they weren’t normally used to doing," Hardaway said, "and we came out with a great team victory.”
To watch Hardaway during these first eight Memphis basketball games, including Tuesday's bounce back win over a team that qualified for the past two NCAA tournaments, is to watch a first-time college coach learning on the job.
About himself and about his team. About their strengths and about their limitations. About what lineups to use and, yes, even what plays to run. So what’s the lesson now that Mem-
The most recent additions to the Joakim Noah dossier are perhaps the most unflattering.
First, there was a 20-game suspension in March of 2017 for violating the NBA's anti-drug policy.
Less than a year later came a disagreement over playing time with thenKnicks coach Jeff Hornacek that reportedly became physical at a practice and led to Noah's exile from the team.
But for all the recent drama that the newest member of the Memphis Grizzlies has been through, it's something Noah, 33, did more than a decade ago that Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff views as a defining moment in evaluating Noah's character.
Bickerstaff said he had "no questions" about the way things ended for Noah in New York and then noted how Noah chose to return for a third season at Florida in 2007 after the Gators won a national championship.
"You think about a guy who, at a young age, before he had it all, that group makes a decision to go back to college so they can win another championship," Bickerstaff said. "That says enough. That winning is that important to him."
Florida won back-to-back national titles in Noah's sophomore and junior seasons before he entered the NBA draft and spent nine seasons with the Chicago Bulls.
Noah's second national champion-
commercialappeal.com
phis sits at 4-4, with nothing but home games left between now and the start of conference play?
These Tigers might give Hardaway some more gray hairs along the way, but they’re making progress.
Take the start of the second half, when Hardaway meticulously drew up a play called "Iso" on his 1 Cent whiteboard and motioned his players over as halftime came to a close.
One by one, he looked at each Tigers’ starter and detailed what their role would be in this set. He waited for verbal confirmation or a head nod, and then came the hard part. Actually seeing if they listened. So once the Tigers’ first possession of the half ended, once senior Mike Parks Jr. caught the ball in the post, drew a double team and threw a deflected pass directly to South Dakota State, Hardaway yanked him from the game in favor of Maurice by the next stoppage of play.
On the Tigers’ second possession of the half, Maurice caught the ball in almost the exact same spot. The double team came again, and this time his pass found freshman Alex Lomax cutting underneath the basket for a routine layup.
When Memphis got the ball back, Hardaway yelled out, “Same play." Then Maurice found Lomax again for another basket.
“That’s all you got to do,” Hardaway said, turning back toward his bench.
These are the moments coaches long for, moments that count for more than just consecutive baskets.
Because last week, Hardaway revealed later, he had a long discussion with Maurice. They talked about how the junior college transfer didn't feel comfortable yet, about how much the Tigers' thin front court needed him to contribute this season.
So when Maurice delivered Tuesday, Hardaway singled him out.
The same goes for this team's veterans, like Martin.
He said Hardaway challenged him Tuesday morning, when Martin was at the team's practice facility getting up extra shots and Hardaway was working out. The senior from Mitchell High then responded with a slump-busting 22point, 5-rebound, 4-assist performance.
"I feel like we’re getting better every game because we played a tough schedule," Martin said.
The seeds for Tuesday night's effort were sown over the past two weeks, when the Tigers lost three of four games during a humbling stretch that culminated a few days ago in Miami. Memphis had No. 13 Texas Tech on the ropes for about 32 minutes but couldn't seal the deal.
The Tigers had no such issues against South Dakota State, a team KenPom predicted would beat them.
Instead, Memphis pressured the Jackrabbits relentlessly, but without the full-court press that allowed so many easy baskets earlier this season.
It got another scintillating shooting display from Harris, who stopped and popped from just about anywhere on the court en route to 22 points and four 3-pointers.
It also held South Dakota State star Mike Daum to 18 points, six below his average.
And it out-rebounded a bigger opponent for the second game in a row.
More importantly, the Tigers didn't flinch. They took the lead and kept the lead. They withstood 35 points from South Dakota State's David Jenkins. They hit late free throws to hold off a frantic comeback attempt.
They looked very much like a team on the rise, like a team that's taken some lumps already and grown from them.
"The teams that we played have gotten us prepared to be pointing in the right direction," Hardaway said.
That's not to say more bumps aren't on the horizon. Or that these Tigers will make you forget James Wiseman, D.J. Jeffries, Malcolm Dandridge and maybe more are on the way next year.
But Tuesday was a reminder that next year is next year, and that better days are also ahead in the coming weeks and months.
That Hardaway is figuring out what he's got.
And that his players are figuring out what he wants.
"Everybody’s getting on the right page," Lomax said. "Even changing their games to do what’s best for the team this year.”