Penny's Memphis

[Aargh]

The problem with going pro out of HS instead of going to college is that year of hype on TV inflates NBA contracts. It wouldn't surprise me if the NCAA exposure boosts starting NBA salaries by a million or more.

[mattdalt]

Not as much wiggle room as you might think. There is a rookie wage scale in place in the NBA. NFL too for that matter.

http://www.cbafaq.com/scale17.htm

[Shocknroll33]

Here's how I see it. Memphis will be similar in talent/experience to the Kentucky teams of the last 10 years. They always had talent/athleticism but in most years didn't really get it going til closer to march. As they improved, their seeding got better, and teams who beat them in noncon or early conference play benefited from those W's. Shox would have to meet em at their high point in the tourney (Kentucky) and even then, played mostly even with our particular style/toughness/coaching etc. Now, we get to play the Memphis teams of potential twice prior to post season, and can maybe start adding to our resumes prior to their pieces falling into their one year finished product. Personally, I see this as a winning situation. It also could potentially be the centerpiece of another American teams profile while they sit on the bubble. A W over Memphis should start being listed as quality wins once the bubble watch starts. As we know, name recognition of who you beat can be a huge influence on the committee. It will be nice to have 1 or 2 of those on the schedule every year.

[Dan]

I agree with it being a good opportunity for wins, but are you implying we don’t currently have opportunity for quality wins? We left the valley 2 years ago and our non-con has been very good the past few years.

[Shockm]

Kids aren't getting paid right now by the schools, so they're gonna start looking elsewhere to fulfill their 1 year period.

Which isn’t a negative imo unless the player wants to have a mini college experience. Those players who are looking only at the paid experience need to move on imo. Right now, the One and dones aren’t attending any classes after Christmas anyway. That’s a joke.

[molly jabali]

That 5 star guard decided to go play in New Zealand rather than play for Self and KU.

Well, KU DID get Jankovich's kid to walk on so there's that!:)

[ArmyShockerFan]

I agree with Shocknroll33, I think that on paper Memphis has the potential to have a roster of a Duke, Kentucky, Kansas. So we have the potential of playing a "Blue Blood" caliber team. The last two years we have had opportunities to play much better competition; however we have not had the opportunity to play (potentially) top 5 teams twice a year, once being at home.

I don't understand all of the hate or negative feelings for Memphis. Of course this is all conjecture, but a great Memphis team makes everyone better: our team, our recruiting, and our league.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Wtf is happening in this thread...

Memphis is not a blue blood. Penny is not a good coach. The AAC is not going to be stealing 5 star players on a routine basis from the likes of Kentucky and Duke. Penny is squeezing every last drop of juice from his lemons. There will be a very strong reversion to the mean sooner rather than later.


T


...:cool:

[StunningSteve]

Wtf is happening in this thread...

Memphis is not a blue blood. Penny is not a good coach. The AAC is not going to be stealing 5 star players on a routine basis from the likes of Kentucky and Duke. Penny is squeezing every last drop of juice from his lemons. There will be a very strong reversion to the mean sooner rather than later.


T


...:cool:

Kentucky didn't recruit like Kentucky before Cal got there. Those players (Wall, Cousins, Rose, etc) were going to Memphis.

Hardaway just opened that back up.

I don't see his recruiting stopping. Mike Miller already has them leading for elite 2020 and 2021 players.

[Dan]

Sounds like Mike Miller may become a hot commodity then

[ArmyShockerFan]

Memphis isn't a blue blood, but they recruited like one, at least this year. If you blindly looked at the players you would guess Duke, Kentucky...I'm arguing that Memphis recruited like a blue blood. Also, Penny doesn't have to be a good coach will he rolls out 3x lottery picks and a second string that a lot of DI schools would love to be their first string.

[ShockingButTrue]

I would rather have Evan Wessel. He won 4 state championship in high school. 3 in basketball and 1 in football. That catch he made in football to win a game after switching to wide receiver at Heights in a semifinal game is the stuff that legends are made . At WSU he was not the most talented but did all the dirty work and was a great team player. Most importantly he did what it took to win. I will never forget the big shots he made against Northern Iowa and Kansas. Chicken hawk fans still refuse to acknowledge that game.

Hell to the yeah...

Has anyone ever taken the time to compound E. Wessel's W-L record for his entire career, meaning High School and College, combined? There is undoubtedly very few L's, but a whole lotta' W's!

[Dan]

Evan was a glue guy but he played HS with Perry Ellis and college with NBA players. Luck of the draw to some degree.

[ShockingButTrue]

Did Perry play tight end? Oh, wait...

[C0|dB|00ded]

Kentucky didn't recruit like Kentucky before Cal got there. Those players (Wall, Cousins, Rose, etc) were going to Memphis.

Hardaway just opened that back up.

I don't see his recruiting stopping. Mike Miller already has them leading for elite 2020 and 2021 players.

I managed to get myself all warm and deluded and you had to go and tell me that ****.

FML.

Memphis truly is a sleeping giant. I had always hoped that one day Wichita State would become a Memphis of sorts chirping about it ad nauseam on the old ValleyTalk. We did wake up and pass Memphis at times in our history but we still have a little ways to go before we can surpass "Top Memphis". Of course "Top Memphis" is usually also cheating Memphis... Do we really want to top that? Idk.

For a crop of 5-star players?

Please pass the plate full of cheats... CB hungry!




T


...:cool:

[Shocknroll33]

I wasn't really implying anything about our current situation. Just sharing my personal version of why this Memphis recruiting situation is good for the Shox. Memphis hasn't done much since Cal left and Penny has done enough star gathering to get article after article written about it. I think that benefits the conference as a whole. My point about another resume WIN or 2 during con play wasn't meant to downplay our schedule lately. Simply stating an opinion that names on the Jerseys matter to the committee and the ESPN talking heads. A few more years of Penny doing this can make wins against them, even in down years, give us an xtra seed line or 2. For example: a win over UK during their NIT failure year would have gotten more praise than our win over St. Louis did that year. Even though St. L was a better team by all metrics. I think Penny version Memphis will start getting this biased credit. Young men that age will follow the trends to a point. A few one and dones, Memphis is on their list. Just throwing some thoughts out for us to chew on this (way too long) offseason. If they do have a season or 2 where the stars align (pun intended) and they are elite on talent alone, I could see where picking them off earlier then we ever had the fortune of meeting the Cal-cats, could help us get a more deserving top 4 seed, just by the "Ugh they beat Memphis ugh ugh" mentality that I think appears in the selection committee meetings. BTW loving everything about our AAC benefits in regards to schedule. It's a beautiful time to be a Shocker die hard.....woot

[Dan]

Remember when Delonte Hill was pulling in 5 star guys and getting paid a million bucks a year as a top assistant? Where are they now? Sometimes the well dries up.

[Aargh]

Delonte Hill ain't Penny Hardaway. Hill had AAU connections. Hardaway IS an AAU connection. Hill was an assistant coach. Hardaway was an NBA All-Star.

[Shocknroll33]

Is anybody else anxious to see how Jaime and Meaty handle Wiseman?? After the Shox beat UCF, Dawkins said we were one of the few teams with the size to contend with Tacko and their other bigs. If Wiseman is even 75 percent as productive as his ranking says he will be, our 2 bigger bigs will be vital to taking out the runaway hype train that be Memphis.

[wufan]

The reason Wiseman is so good is because of his skill and athleticism at 7-0. Our bigs are neither as skilled, nor as athletic. I don’t know that our strength advantage will be enough to neutralized Wiseman.

[Shocknroll33]

He is definitely a skilled big man. I think that's what I'm anxious to find out about. Just how our big fellers can do. College athletes are a higher level overall than he's used to butting heads with though. I think our 1,2 punch of stretch and girth can slow his roll a bit. I'm still expecting JE to play all conference level with his foot injury (hopefully) behind him. That, mixed with a continually improving AM putting some meat to him, I'm cautiously optimistic. Don't expect him shut down, but at least we have some capable size to make him work. It's these matchups that can get our men ready for the dance.