Memphis basketball has fallen on hard times in the American Athletic Conference, dropping their third-straight game on Sunday to the UAB Blazers. However, it is more the manner in which Penny Hardaway and his Tigers are losing that is causing concern throughout the fandom and some frustration on the team.
Senior center/forward Malcolm Dandridge, who tallied 19 points and four steals in the 97-88 road defeat, gave his blunt assessment about Memphis’ slump.
“I think we disconnected somewhere, where people’s goals are different,” he said, per The Commercial Appeal. “If your goal isn’t for the team to win the game, then you’re thinking about self. When guys aren’t locked in on the ultimate assignment, they’re focused on what they want to focus on because they think we’re going to win the game regardless, that’s what happens.”
Suggesting the team does not have a collective mindset is surely not what fans want to hear after another sloppy showing in which the Tigers committed 22 turnovers and allowed their opponents to shoot almost 52 percent from the floor. But perhaps a bit of tough love is needed right now.
Memphis basketball must dig deep going forward
Dandridge is diagnosing a problem that has become quite apparent. Memphis basketball looks disjointed during this tough stretch, struggling to maintain their fundamental soundness and rhythm in the second half. He knows a turnaround is attainable, though.
“It’s not to say we’re not fighting,” Malcolm Dandridge said. “I don’t want to turn it into that because we’re on a three-game losing streak. We have some fighters. We’re not giving up. Once we have everybody copying and repeating exactly what Penny is saying, then we’ll take off in a different direction.”
Penny Hardaway has made the program more relevant than it has been in a decade, leading the Tigers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances with a third one likely still to come in 2024. This current skid does not have to define his team the rest of the year, but Hardaway knows the importance of accepting accountability on both an individual and team level.
“I’m not a loser,” he said. “I’ve been down before. We’ve just got to stop making excuses, man. I have to coach better, and they have to play harder.”
Memphis (15-5, tied for sixth place in AAC standings) desperately hopes to regain its footing in a home matchup against Rice this Wednesday.
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