Hardaway vows some changes ahead of VCU game

Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway could have eased into this season, and no one would’ve blamed him.

Or, he could have done what he did and scheduled back-to-back road games out of the gate against an SEC program (Vanderbilt) and a strong midmajor most have pegged as an NCAA Tournament team (Saint Louis).

There are plenty of reasons for this. None more so, though, than Hardaway wanting reliable data and results quickly as he tries to return the Tigers to March Madness for the second straight season. He wanted to have a better feel for what he’s working with earlier, he said, so that if adjustments need to be made, he doesn’t have to wait as long to make them.

On Friday, Hardaway acknowledged changes are on the way – rather quickly. Memphis hosts VCU on Sunday (4 p.m., ESPN+) in what will be the home opener for the Tigers (1-1). The Rams (3-1) will be without their starting point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. Hardaway still expects a tough matchup, but he said he’s already begun making modifications.

“I’ve already done that,” he said. “I needed to see these two games. It’s kinda unheard of to have your first two games on the road against two tough opponents. But I wanted to see where we were. I’ve seen enough to understand we have to change things and I’ve changed things up a little bit.”

In Memphis’ first two games, Hardaway started the same lineup: Kendric Davis, Alex Lomax, Keonte Kennedy, Deandre Williams and Malcolm Dandridge. That combination has produced mixed results. Most recently, against Saint Louis, the Tigers struggled defenwas sively (allowing more points than they have in a game since February 2020) and had trouble making open looks at times (Kennedy and Lomax were a combined 3-for-19 from the field).

“We’ve thought about that,” Hardaway said when asked about shifting things within the starting lineup. “There are going to be some subtle changes, for sure. Or, some changes, because now we know where things fit. Both those games were tough enough for me to see the good sides of our team and the bad sides.”

Hardaway declined to specify whether he planned to make any changes to the starting lineup.

Another area that left Hardaway second-guessing himself was defense. The Tigers, under their fifth-year coach, have always hung their hat on being relentlessly aggressive on that side of the ball and forcing opponents to make mistakes. But Memphis waiting until there fewer than five minutes left in the game at Saint Louis to put any kind of significant pressure on the Billikens. And when Hardaway forced the issue, it worked. Saint Louis committed four turnovers inside the final four minutes and the Tigers outscored it 14-6.

Hardaway said there is a fine line with an older team that’s not as deep as he’s accustomed to coaching. But he’s seen enough now to know he has to alter that approach as well.

“I might have gotten into my press a little later than I wanted to,” he said. “I was trying to lock in on the game plan, but (Gibson) Jimerson still made shots with people in his face and Yuri Collins still played at his tempo. So, I think we’re going to get better at it moving forward and do it earlier in games.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.