NCAA: Memphis Tigers Need New Guards to Step Up
By Nathan Giese
In the weeks and months leading up to the start of practices in October, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest teams, players and stories for the 2014-15 NCAA college basketball season. Each team has one burning question we’ll take a look at.
Under John Calipari, the Memphis Tigers were a force, a consistent threat for a national championship, even getting to the championship game in 2008 (later vacated). Once Calipari left for greener pastures and an extremely high pay scale at Kentucky, Josh Pastner was left to take over where Calipari left off.
Pastner, who still rocks the flip phone despite all the advances in technology, became one of the youngest head coaches in the country. The winged-tipped shoes he had to fill were rather large. In the his last four years, Calipari took Memphis to two Elite Eights, a national championship game and a Sweet 16. When Pastner took over for the 2009-10 season, things weren’t as easy to the new coach. Memphis failed to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005, instead playing in the NIT.
Since then, Pastner has turned things around, reaching the NCAAs in each of the past four years but still not having the same fire power and star players Calipari was known for at the tail-end of his run at Memphis. Last season, the Tigers joined the transfer trend, bringing in talented guard Michael Dixon Jr. to give Memphis one of the deepest backcourts in the country to make up for it.
Along with Dixon Jr., Memphis’ guard rotation featured fellow seniors Chris Crawford, Geron Johnson and Joe Jackson. Together, those four combined for 43.5 points per game, 56 percent of the Tiger’s total offensive output during the 2013-14 season. Those four also averaged a combined total of 13.4 assists per game. As a team, Memphis averaged 17 helpers per game.
Having four scoring guards who also liked to share the ball helped Memphis spread the wealth offensively. Three players (Jackson, Dixon and Shaq Goodwin) averaged double-digit scoring figures and three more averaged between 9.3 and 8.7 points per game (Austin Nichols, Crawford and Johnson). These numbers helped Memphis earn a ranking of 35th in the country in points per game.
Things are definitely going to look different for Memphis. Their quartet of score-and-dish guards are now gone, leaving a huge gap in production from their backcourt. Luckily the Tigers do return their starting front court of Goodwin and Nichols.
Goodwin, a junior for the 2014-15 season, likes to play above the rim when he can but his physicality and toughness down low are his biggest strengths. Nichols, who will be a sophomore, has potential to be a preseason All-American. He’s a solid presence in the paint and helps turn away shots. Nichols and Goodwin combined to swat away three opponent shots per game and each shot 58 percent from the field. The down side, though, is both shot below 60 percent from the free throw line.
Two players from last year’s squad who will be expected to step up for Pastner are Nick King and and Kuran Iverson. Both were freshmen last year and totaled 20 minutes per game combined. Both are guard/wing hybrids who could really help open up the floor, allowing Goodwin and Nichols to operate without consistent double teams. That would, however, require both to shoot more than the combined 25 threes they took last season. Damien Wilson should also get a good look at more playing time this year, though in his first to seasons he averages less than two points per game.
As for incoming freshmen, Memphis has two true guards coming in. One of them is Avery Woodson, a 6’3″ guard out of Mississippi. The other is Dominic Magee, a four-star (per Rivals.com) point guard out of Louisiana. Both should be expected to be thrown into the fire and compete for starting positions for the up-coming season. The Tigers also have a three-star recruit in Trashon Burrell, a 6’7″ small forward out of Texas, and a 6’5″ small forward out of Tennessee in Chris Hawkins.
It may take some time to find out who the guards are going to be for the Tigers, but they don’t have a lot of time to spare. Their first big test of the season comes against Wichita State, a game that will be played at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., in mid-November. The Shockers feature one of the best backcourt duos in the country in reigning Missouri Valley Player of the Year Fred VanVleet and sharpshooter Ron Baker. Both are potential preseason All-Americans and Wichita State is sure to be ranked in the top 10 in preseason polls, as well as the clear favorite to win the conference again.
That game is their first big test, but with scheduled games against Baylor and Oklahoma State should also be sure to test the young and rather inexperienced Memphis squad. The non-conference schedule that’s been released for the Tigers thus far (their full slate should be released in the next few weeks) but it is going to challenge them.
Unfortunately, their conference schedule isn’t going to be daisy either. While the American Athletic Conference will be down a bit from last year, it still features some prominent talent. Connecticut is the defending national champions and brings back Ryan Boatright and transfer Rodney Purvis is now eligible to play. Cincinnati could see itself decline a bit with the losses of Sean Kilpatrick and Justin Jackson, but Mick Cronin is a very good coach. SMU may not be getting Emmanuel Mudiay, but the NIT runner-up last year returns its core from a very solid campaign in 2013-14. The conference is very winnable for Memphis, especially with Louisville now moving to the ACC, but it’s not going to be easy.
The Memphis Tigers are in for a turnover in their backcourt. With Goodwin and Nichols returning, the transition should be a bit easier to deal with, but Josh Pastner has his hands full. The need for good guards to step up before the season begins is very real for the Tigers. They can sneak their way to a conference championship, but all of that will be determined in their non-conference slate.
Memphis has until their Nov. 18 encounter with Wichita State to figure out who’s playing the guard positions. That’s going to be the key for the Tigers for the 2014-15 season. If they can figure that out and get solid production from new players, they could be in for a good season. Without it…?