HornLakeTiger
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I Root For: Memphis
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RE: Gary Parrish's take on Seth Davis column
(12-14-2017 12:27 PM)salukiblue Wrote: (12-14-2017 12:07 PM)72Tiger Wrote: Parrish like stirring the pot. Much easier role than actually researching and writing a well thought out article.
Did you even listen?
Here's a part of the transcript. It isn't perfectly translated, so it's not precise word for word correct.
It sounds VERY well researched and thought out.
Seth laid out a lot of the things that we have laid out on this show. About misses in recruiting. The transfers. The tigers' loss at the end of last season. How the roster is well below any normal Memphis historical standard. Attendance is well below any normal Memphis historical standard, in fact the Memphis attendance inside FedEx Forum is at an all time low. A modern era low. The lowest of my lifetime and projects to finish that way. As well it's just it's all bad stuff. And I'm not even saying that enthusiastically.
Or I know because it's just all bad stuff. I'm sick. When Josh Pastner was nudged out the door to go to Georgia Tech, things were obviously not good in a variety of ways. Recruiting had dropped off transfers had picked, up the winning had slipped. Back to back misses for the NCAA tournament, none of that is is untrue. But we talked about it at the time. I was on record saying Josh Pastner and Memphis need to divorce. I thought that they were probably gonna have to be like a couple that stays married just because neither one of them can afford to be divorced. But then Georgia Tech's swooped in and Memphis lowered the buyout and was able to nudge Josh Pastner out the door.
Things were bad in that moment. That was a good day for the University of Memphis and a good day for Josh Pastner, I thought. That's all true. This is also true... in every way you measure a basketball program things have gotten worse since then: attendance, recruiting, season ticket sales, rankings-- everything. You know Josh Pastner's worst kenpom ranking ever was 90th. Tubby Smith's first team finished outside the top 100. Right now they're 152. In every way you measure a basketball program, the Memphis program has gotten incredibly worse in every department without exception since Tubby Smith took over.
This isn't even an argument anymore. I don't even understand how anybody could put up a counter argument to it. I can bring you all the numbers, all the facts. You can't argue against facts. At this point if you're arguing against anything that I'm saying you're either just stubborn to a fault, interested in just being different because you like to be different, or too dumb to understand the argument. You pick. It doesn't matter to me. I'll let you pick which of the three.
And what Seth was able to do is share that with a national audience, which is something frankly I had not done. I could've written this Memphis basketball column at any point. I don't have much interest in writing that for CBS sports now. I figure we'll get to a day where I will write it. And it'll have whatever impact it has. I sometimes people say oh you're gonna write another bad Memphis column I've written one that negative Tubby Smith column in my entire life or I should rephrase it I think I might have written one back when he was at Kentucky, but since Tubby Smith has been the head coach of the University of Memphis I've written one negative Tubby Smith--that's the truth-- and it was after the Lawson's left and they were losing all of the transfers and replacing them with sub 150 prospects. And junior college players.
The reason I wrote that column then is because I knew what this was gonna look like in November/December. I'm not a psychic, I'm just also not an idiot. So while some people were trying to spin it into "you know the Lawson's were a cancer and we'll be better off without them and you don't know how good the JUCO players will be". I consistently said you don't know what you're talking about. Here's what's coming and now here we are. And so, the only people pushing back now fall in the one of those categories" too stubborn to a fault, interested in being different for the sake of being different, or too dumb to understand the argument. Too dumb to understand context.
Anybody with a brain who understands the sport of college basketball looks at what's happening with the Memphis basketball program and reaches the same conclusion I reached the same conclusions that Seth Davis wrote. And detailed in that column this morning. There's no other way to interpret it. And yet there are still a few who will jump on Facebook or on Twitter and and there was one young guy on Facebook earlier today, after I posted that davis' column, and he said "Yo they beat Albany last night. They're 7-2 now. So what is the problem?" And the point I've made to him is yeah they're 7-2 but what does it mean?
Georgetown undefeated right now what does it me right now? Nothing. Doesn't meaning anything. When you are high major program with incredible resources who plays these types of buy games now you can make your record whatever you wanna make your record until conference play starts, then you've got to play who the league tells you to play. (Brad) "I watched Mississippi State get blown out by Cincinnati last last night." Another good example. Now Mississippi State has put together a nice record--they were undefeated. I had State fans tweeting me "why isn't state ranked? Because they had not done anything. But they've beaten nobody. Those wins don't mean anything. State might might prove to be a good team but don't let it undefeated record until yesterday make you think it's a good thing then they go play a real team for the first time in and they get handled pretty easily.
Memphis is the exact same situation right now it is true they beat Albany last night. Then I got a message last night--"what are you gonna say about this?" Good, okay I think? I guess I would say beating Albany is better than losing to Albany, so like congratulations. But. Wow if we got to a point where we're Memphis fans are celebrating--if we get to the point at this point you take any win you can take, I'm not trying to pretend otherwise. But if we reached the point wirh Memphis basketball where you're celebrating victories over America east schools and not even like the best American schools. Like you you're proving my points. You're proving my point. The issue with the last night isn't that Memphis beat Albany or that Memphis could've lost Albany. Whatever the result, whatever the result is a forty minute basketball game. The issue if you wanna get right to a core of it is that Memphis basketball was only a one point favorite over Albany. Inside FedEx Forum. That should never happen. Your program should never get to a place where all the metrics and Las Vegas oddsmakers say the University of Memphis is only a one point favorite or two point favorite over Albany. Inside FedEx Forum. Once that point spread is placed on that game that tells you all you need to know about the where the university of Memphis basketball program is right now.
It's what I've been saying for months is what's Davis wrote this morning. But 7-2. Some people are happy with it. Here's what I would tell you about that 7-2 record. The seven wins have come against Little Rock, New Orleans, northern Kentucky, Mercer, Samford, Bryant, and Albany. And four of those seven teams or I should take three of the seven teams were literally missing their best player. If you combine those teams--the seven teams that Memphis has beaten, you get an average kenpom ranking of 205.6. That's what the seven wins have come against. Against teams that have an average kenpom ranking of 205.6.
The seven teams that Memphis has beaten again--Little Rock, New Orleans, northern Kentucky, Mercer, Samford, Bryant, and Albany have so far combined to play eleven different top 100 kenpom teams. You wanna guess what the record is against those top 100 Kempom teams? They played eleven games and you wanna guess what the record is? Eleven games now. 0-11. They've played eleven top 100 kenpom teams--the teams that Memphis has beaten and they've lost every single time. So that's the context of the seven and two record it doesn't mean anything.
It's not even good relative to the very low preseason expectations. Ready for this--here's proof. In the preseason they were ranked at 132nd at kenpom. The University of Memphis Tigers were. 132, which by the way should never be the case of the University of Memphis. Josh Pastners lowest point wasn't anywhere close to 132 at kenpom. The low point where you wanted Josh Pastner fired and were willing to insist that the university should pay ten million dollars to make it happen. They were never close to 132 at kenpom, but that's where they were in the preseason this season. You know they are now after nine games? 151/152.
They've actually performed at a level below what they were expected to perform even relative to the preseason expectations that were already low. They are 3-4 against the spread. They've dropped thirty places in kenpom even with the wins, even by going 7-2. So there's no way to look at this information intelligently and try to spin it into something positive. That's a dumb man's game. I don't mind if you wanna be dumb. Just don't ever expect me to be dumb with you. You can be dumb if you want to and celebrate wins over Albany and try to pretend that the 7-2 record mean something. You can be dumb about it if you want to, just do it got ask me to be dumb with you. I'm not interested in that.
Now the good news is that on Saturday if you want to prove your a real team, you've got an opportunity. On a neutral court against a real opponent. I don't think louisville as good as it was supposed to be. A lot of that have to do with their highest rated freshman was ruled ineligible. And they replaced one of the greatest coaches of all time with a 32 year old first year head coach--you know like that matters. And so I don't think Louisville is a legitimate top ten team or top twenty or right now probably top 25 team. Louisville is still good, they've got good players. So if you think this is a formula that the University of Memphis is using, this is formula to be competitive at the level at which Memphis basketball is supposed to be competitive, at the level at which your program that pays the coach three million dollars a year is supposed to be competitive. Well, Saturday your opportunity to prove it. To be clear if they beat Louisville on Saturday. I will think it says more about Louisville than it says about Memphis. It won't make me change my big views about the Memphis basketball program. But at least you'll be able to say "don't say we can't beat anybody with this roster right doing it this way, we just knocked out the Louisville cardinals in New York." The opportunity's on Saturday we'll throw the ball up and play for forty minutes.
Of course he didn't listen. It's much easier to accuse someone of "stirring the pot" instead of taking the time to listen to what they have to say.
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Gary Parrish's take on Seth Davis column
