Last Years Runner Up - The Memphis Tigers are Back
by Ian James
The Tigers got within a shot of winning the national championship last year and many people said that it will be a long time before they get that close again. When you loose a player of Derrick Rose’s caliber, not to mention Chris Douglas-Roberts and Joey Dorsey, you’re going to struggle. Apparently no one told Memphis that as they rattled off 25 straight wins to finish the season and just won their first round matchup against Cal State, although just barely.
Depth and recruiting are keeping John Calipari's team at the top, and he eventually addressed the team's two pressing needs, a point guard and a go-to scorer, with the same answer: Superstar freshman Tyreke Evans. Junior Willie Kemp started the season at point guard, but the team's early offensive woes led Calipari to move Evans to the point in late December. Yeah, that'll work.
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The offense started humming, the team shooting percentages starting climbing. And any questions there were about Evans being able to handle the role against good competition mostly disappeared when he scored 17 points, including the final seven for Memphis, in a 54-52 win over rival Tennessee.
Evans is a better penetrator than he is a shooter but at 6'6", is the kind of player Calipari likes in the backcourt, long and athletic. Antonio Anderson is a 6'6" senior who led the team in minutes in each of his first three seasons and a defensive ace because of his wingspan and all-out commitment to get the job done.
On the inside the Tigers have Robert Dozier, Shawn Taggart and slimmed-down 300-pounder Pierre Henderson-Niles who give the Tigers ample size off the bench.
One-time Nebraska signee Roburt Sallie provides a modicum of 3-point touch off the bench and he proved that today by single handedly winning the game for Memphis with 35 points. That is amazing news for Memphis, knowing they have the hot hand of Sallie coming off the bench to dump in some quick points if they need them.
With Evans in control, balance and depth, there really isn't a bad kind of matchup for Memphis. With their scare out of the way, Memphis is poised to go back to the big dance and take home the prom queen.
