I'm A huge Memphis fan right about now.

[TheRogers]

Here's what I don't get. Memphis has the players to match up straight man. They constantly get burned from help defense. Play them straight up for Christ sake!

As to the offense.....well......chip away at it......making free throws also helps......

 

[August_West]

Well, it's looking pretty clear who UCONN will be playing on Sunday.

No it's not. I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan st is favored.

 

[UConnDan97]

My Nostradamus-like powers are clearly crap (outside of my prediction of UConn winning it all). It's hard to understand why Memphis continues to play helter-skelter on the dribble, without moving the ball. If I were Pastner, I would have blown all of my timeouts by now....and my voice box...

 

[champs99and04]

I've been way off on a ton of things in this tournament, but Memphis being the biggest fraud in America wasn't one of them. They never had a shot to beat Virginia. Virginia is really good, folks. Bennett vs. Pastner may have been the biggest coaching mismatch in the entire tournament.

 

[UConnDan97]

Bennett vs. Pastner may have been the biggest coaching mismatch in the entire tournament.

I'm normally a person who believes that the importance of the coaches during the run of play is often overstated. However, in this case, Pastner is mezmorizing me with his do-nothing-ness. He'll love having those three timeouts left when he gets to 1 minute left and he's down by 30...

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Having watched them closely this season for the first time, I'm really not buying Pastner as a quality coach.

 

[dante]

I think memphis fans overrated the talent in their team and Josh recruiting based on how many stars Scouts, Rivals,Espn ect gave that recruit. UConn is proof that those ranks are B.S they proved it in BB & FB

 

[intlzncster]

No it's not. I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan st is favored.

I would rather play UVA than State if we win. Leaving aside the fact that MSU is better, Tom Izzo is a Final Four making machine.

 

[UofMemphis]

I love our kids, but Im ready for some new blood...we lose 5 of our main 8...next season we'll have:

PG - Pookie Powell/Dom Magee (both four-star players)
G/F - Nick King (four-star player)
G/F - Kuran Iverson (four-star player)
F - Austin Nichols (five-star player)
F - Shaq Goodwin (McDonalds All-American)
-----------------------
G - Damien Wilson
G/F - Markel Crawford
G/F - Trahson Burrell
G/F - Chris Hawkins
C - Dom Woodson

 

[kobe]

Having watched them closely this season for the first time, I'm really not buying Pastner as a quality coach.

inb4 UMemphis lists all the "quality" teams he has beaten in his career.

 

[UofMemphis]

inb4 UMemphis lists all the "quality" teams he has beaten in his career.

Yeah, you lost to Harvard in the first round....sometimes you get a bad match-up.

 

[Strummer]

The way I look at it is this. I had no feeling one way or the other about Memphis when we ended up in the AAC. But now, I figure our near term success depends, to a limited extent, on them.

So.

If you can't be with the one you love.

Love the one you're with.

 

[pj]

I love our kids, but Im ready for some new blood...we lose 5 of our main 8...next season we'll have:

PG - Pookie Powell/Dom Magee (both four-star players)
G/F - Nick King (four-star player)
G/F - Kuran Iverson (four-star player)
F - Austin Nichols (five-star player)
F - Shaq Goodwin (McDonalds All-American)
-----------------------
G - Damien Wilson
G/F - Markel Crawford
G/F - Trahson Burrell
G/F - Chris Hawkins
C - Dom Woodson

Nichols is good. Good luck with the rest.

 

[huskyharry]

Tough matchup for Memphis tonight. UVa is very disciplined, every player has ball skills and almost all of them are very muscular if not vertically athletic.
Memphis will certainly be strong next year and will have very good talent inside. However, I do expect them to take a minor step backwards next year, as losing the four quality senior guards that they had this year will be tough to replace.

 

[TRest]

I've been waiting all year for Shaq Goodwin to do something in a game.

 

[Manofplay]

I knew this game would be tough for us to win, but damn, that was embarrassing. The program has some things going for them, but we have alot of leaks to fix. Definitely starts with the coach. Not ready for him to be fired, as I think he has alot of potential to get better. Unfortunately that means another year or two of growing pains while he learns. Definitely hurt us more than helped us in game strategy this season.

Austin Nichols has a high ceiling, but if you watch the game, his defense is awful. Looks lost most of the time. Lots of improvement needed there.
Shaq plays well in spurts, but can be taken out of the game easily. Not mentally tough yet.
King may be our best future player. However, he had limited minutes, so it was hart to tell.

Next season may or may not be a challenge for us. While we are losing four senior guards, our "team leader" was Joe Jackson who lacked confidence in himself or the team all four years he was here. He seems to mentally not be very strong (type of person that you could see having a depression problem or such in the future) and yet he has supreme talent.

Anyway, its over for us. Hope you guys can carry the torch this year and somehow we figure out how to turn it around next season. Good luck.

 

[mauconnfan]

I knew this game would be tough for us to win, but damn, that was embarrassing. The program has some things going for them, but we have alot of leaks to fix. Definitely starts with the coach. Not ready for him to be fired, as I think he has alot of potential to get better. Unfortunately that means another year or two of growing pains while he learns. Definitely hurt us more than helped us in game strategy this season.

Austin Nichols has a high ceiling, but if you watch the game, his defense is awful. Looks lost most of the time. Lots of improvement needed there.
Shaq plays well in spurts, but can be taken out of the game easily. Not mentally tough yet.
King may be our best future player. However, he had limited minutes, so it was hart to tell.

Next season may or may not be a challenge for us. While we are losing four senior guards, our "team leader" was Joe Jackson who lacked confidence in himself or the team all four years he was here. He seems to mentally not be very strong (type of person that you could see having a depression problem or such in the future) and yet he has supreme talent.

Anyway, its over for us. Hope you guys can carry the torch this year and somehow we figure out how to turn it around next season. Good luck.

Sorry it ended guys……….thought there was a chance the matchup was okay for you but Virginia is "quietly" for real………

You know what we're going to do for you Manofplay and Uof Memphis?………well just watch next weekend in Madison Square Garden, we got your back!

 

[August_West]

I would rather play UVA than State if we win. Leaving aside the fact that MSU is better, Tom Izzo is a Final Four making machine.

I would too, better matchup for us. the only thing we have going for us if we play state ( and again, not looking over an Iowa state team who other than Louisville is easily the best team we will have faced this year) is the fact that Izzo doesn't have a week to prepare. I'd rather get state on a short turn around, if we have to have them at all.

However, get us to the elite eight against either and I'm happy and like our chances in the garden on a Sunday when it will be even more loaded with CT fans than Friday.

We gotta get this Iowa St game!

 

[champs99and04]

My problem with Pastner isn't necessarily x's and o's, it's the fact that, collectively, his team seems to have a very low basketball IQ. Compare the amount of forced shots Memphis took early in the shot clock with how many bad shots Virginia took, and you begin to scratch the surface of just how lopsided this contest was from a discipline standpoint. Everybody seems to be questioning Pastner's basketball intellect, but my question is this: is he simply too nice a guy? I mean, if Jim Calhoun ever watched Michael Dixon Jr. take a step-back jumper a foot inside the three point line with a hand in his face, there would probably be a major confrontation. I'm not saying Pastner, or anybody else, has to be as demonstrative as Calhoun, but at some point you have to wonder if he's just not getting through to his players for whatever reason.

 

[tcf15]

My problem with Pastner isn't necessarily x's and o's, it's the fact that, collectively, his team seems to have a very low basketball IQ. Compare the amount of forced shots Memphis took early in the shot clock with how many bad shots Virginia took, and you begin to scratch the surface of just how lopsided this contest was from a discipline standpoint. Everybody seems to be questioning Pastner's basketball intellect, but my question is this: is he simply too nice a guy? I mean, if Jim Calhoun ever watched Michael Dixon Jr. take a step-back jumper a foot inside the three point line with a hand in his face, there would probably be a major confrontation. I'm not saying Pastner, or anybody else, has to be as demonstrative as Calhoun, but at some point you have to wonder if he's just not getting through to his players for whatever reason.

Did you see his pre-game speech inside the locker room? It was pretty much a "nice guy" speech, at least in my opinion. It went something along the lines of "OK guys, we've had a great season. I know you want to play more, and I want to coach more. I've been to the Sweet 16 as a player, as an assistant coach, etc. and it's a great experience. I want you guys to have that experience." Just seemed pretty vanilla for a pre game speech with Sweet 16 on the line, and fits his "nice guy" persona.

 

[UofMemphis]

Nichols is good. Good luck with the rest.

PG - Pookie Powell/Dom Magee (both four-star players)
G/F - Nick King (four-star player)
G/F - Kuran Iverson (four-star player)
F - Austin Nichols (five-star player)
F - Shaq Goodwin (McDonalds All-American)

I like everything I've seen from Nick King...Powell/Magee are new, having two talented PGs pushing each other is a good thing.

 

[BugsyCT]

UVA-Mich St. should be a battle. Hope the winner has nothing left in the tank.

 

[Kitaman]

To all you Memphis fans, even in the BE we had to carry the conference late in Tourneys. We are used to it, and happens to be our burden which we of course don't mind. Would love to have company (I don't count ville) but Shot happens.

This is not a put down, but just letting you guys know we got you're back.

 

[SubbaBub]

Memphis didn't have the defense to overcome a poor offensive game. UVa is better than I thought they were.

 

[UofMemphis]

Oh, I'll be rooting for UConn and SMU the rest of the way...perhaps NCAA and NIT championships for the AAC?