Scouting Memphis
Offense
While very young, Memphis is a team that is very skilled, very
athletic and very well-tested - and they don’t have bad coaching either. This young Memphis squad that was
burned by NBA defections and graduation the past few years features a team with
talented players that are looking to come into their own this season. As of now, they are a team that relies
heavily upon more of their natural abilities then they do basketball know-how.
Scoring at over 82 points per contest, this Tiger squad does the majority of
their scoring by getting to the basket and running the open floor. They are good
in the paint and in transition, which has helped their shooting percentage climb
to 45-percent on the season, however, they struggle shooting the ball
overall. While they like shooting
the 3-pointer (7.6 makes per game) they are not particularly apt at it. Thus far, they are shooting just over
31-percent (99 of 314) from behind the arc this year. They feature only one true long-range
specialist in Hunt, but have three or four other guys that like to try their
look from the outside.
Because of their poor shooing from the outside, UC will
be able to utilize their zone a bit more often then they can against
consistently good shooting teams.
For those that believe that they struggle from 20 feet
and beyond, it is probably more accurate to say they have a difficult time from
15-plus feet, as Memphis is one of the worst free-throw shooting
squads in the country. On the
season they have knocked down a dismal 60-percent of their free-throw attempts
(195 of 325). Though getting to the
charity stripe is one of their strong suits given their up-and-down,
crash-the-paint style, it can also be one of their great weaknesses. The team
has seen only Roberts-Douglas and Dozier shoot over 70-percent from the line
this season, but Cooper has been strong (7 of 9) since his
return.
While not a terrific shooting the team, Memphis does create
numerous scoring opportunities. This is do to their terrific passing ability as
a team. The Tigers have 222 assists in only 13 games this season, and have
turned the ball at a little better than 15 times per game - which is not that
much given the quantity of possessions they have over the course of the game and
their fast-paced style. The team
has three players that have over 42 assists this season, and has two other
players average multiple assists. With that being said, one of their primary
weaknesses is when you force non-ballhandlers to create their own shots or make
decisions with the basketball. If a team is able to do that then they are able
to fluster the offensive flow of Memphis, creating turnovers, slowing down their
pace of play, and limiting their overall ability to do what they do best.
Several effective ways of forcing Memphis into this
situation are crashing the offensive glass and pressuring on the inbounds by
trapping or forcing them to move the ball slowly up the court, which will cause
the pace of the game to change.
This could potential be a strength of weakness for the ‘Cats, as they
have several players that are very apt at forcing on-ball pressure such as
Warren, Vaughn, and Gentry. However, an all-out attempt at overplaying a
particular man could leave them susceptible to the drive, the long pass or foul
trouble, which could be most devastating to the short-benched
Bearcats.
Defense
When you think about an ideal defensive team, it will
most likely resemble the team Memphis brings to the floor. The Tigers are
always on the prowl for turnovers and very successful at finding them. On average, Memphis induces 19 miscues
per game, which means 19 fewer opportunities of scoring against a dynamic team
that is capable of scoring 80 to 90 points every time they step onto the court. One way the Tigers do so is
by forcing an up-tempo pace to the team that often causes opposing teams to get
caught up in the flow of the game.
If they are able to dictate the pace of the game, it will likely force
teams that do not necessarily favor this style of play into careless turnovers.
Also, by turning teams over at the rate that they do and scoring as many points
as they have a tendency to do, Memphis is often forcing teams to play
catch-up. On the season, Memphis is outscoring
their opponents 537 (41.3) to 395 (30.3) over the first 20 minutes of action.
The likely defect a team is prone to face will often force teams into taking
more risks and settling for less-than-ideal looks at the basket in order to get
themselves back in the game.
The way that Memphis is able to accomplish this feat on
defense is by utilizing every skill set that the team has at their disposal.
While not a massive team and lacking a true maturity on the court, the team
features three of the most important assets of a dominating defensive squad:
length, athleticism and tenaciousness.
Their quickness on the perimeter enables them to swarm ball carriers and
play passing lanes, as well as take chances on doubling defenders because they
know they will have the opportunity to recover. This has helped them average better then
10 steals per game as a team.
However, it is also important to note that their overall length (two wing
players at 6-6 in the starting lineup) makes them very capable at jumping
passing lanes or denying quality looks simply by extending their outreached
arms.
This length and quickness also makes them imposing force
in the paint. The Tigers average six blocked per game, limiting the number of
shots a team will have at their basket. Even when Memphis isn’t blocking the shot outright, their
knack for doing so causes players to redirect their shot or causes them to
rethink their shots entirely. In fact, teams are often so discouraged by shot
blocking that they will often become more perimeter oriented then they would
like.
Memphis is a team that uses its quickness and athleticism as
much on the defensive end as it does on the offensive side of things. In fact,
it is their defensive ability that makes them such a good offensive squad. By forcing turnovers, limiting quality
looks and refusing to allow opposing teams to feel comfortable in their
offensive sets, Memphis assures itself the potential of having
an off shooting night and still coming away with the win. The Tigers’ overall defensive prowess
even leads directly to anywhere between 15 to 25 points per contest. Through
steals in the open court caused by a trap or poorly thought out passes at the
top of the court to blocked shots turned outlet passes to players on the wing,
Memphis best
defensive can quite literally be their best defense.
Schedule
will look
to snap While Memphis has indeed played its fair share of
“cupcakes” to help get them to their early-season total of 10 wins, the Tigers
have not shunned major conference competition thus far. Not only have they played some of the
premier programs in the country, but they have had a great deal of success
against them as well. So far this season, the Calipari-led crew has played the
likes of Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Arizona already this season. . Thus far, Memphis is 3-3 against those teams faring from
the SEC (3), ACC, Big XII and Pac 10. While several of those teams are in the
midst of what most would call “down seasons”, that term most be recognized as
relative to the conference to which they belong. In all three of there wins they
have won by at least seven points, two of which were no smaller then 12
points. In the Tigers’ three
loses they were competitive in two of the three contests, playing to within
double-digit margins against the highly regarded Georgia Tech and Arizona squads. The only
“bad” game Memphis has had this year came against
Tennessee in Knoxville on one of UT’s best overall
performances of the season. Sadly
for UC all three of Memphis’ loses this season have come away from
home. Memphis is
currently riding an eight-game home winning streak at the FedEx Forum, the very
place where they will face off against them this evening. The Bearcats will look
to end the Tigers’ eight-game home winning
streak.
Team Statistics
TEAM
STATISTICS MEM OPP
SCORING..................
1066 863
Points per
game........ 82.0 66.4
Scoring
margin......... +15.6 -
FIELD
GOALS-ATT..386-845
283-746
Field goal
pct......... .....457
.379
3 POINT
FG-ATT...... 99-314
59-193
3-point FG pct......... ...315 .306
3-pt FG made per game..7.6 4.5
FREE
THROWS-ATT..195-325 238-338
Free throw
pct......... ........600
.704
REBOUNDS.................
552 478
Rebounds
per game...... 42.5
36.8
Rebounding
margin...... +5.7 -
ASSISTS.................. 222
149
Assists per game....... 17.1 11.5
TURNOVERS................
195 246
Turnovers
per game..... 15.0 18.9
Turnover
margin........
+3.9 -
Assist/turnover ratio.. 1.1 0.6
STEALS................... 137 88
Steals per
game........
10.5
6.8
BLOCKS................... 78
43
Blocks per
game........ 6.0
3.3
SCORE BY
PERIODS: 1st 2nd Total
Memphis....................... 537 529 - 1066
Opponents.....................
395 468 - 863