“Memphis Basketball: 3 reasons why Tigers will win AAC title in 2019-20” – FanSided Sports
by Jason Burgess
Posted: 08/14/19, 8:30am cst
“In just his second year, Penny Hardaway has Memphis Basketball poised to challenge for the title in the American Athletic Conference. Here are three reasons they will take the title….
1. Greatest group of incoming freshmen in the country
The first and most obvious reason that Memphis should be the pick to win the AAC are the newcomers that will don the Tigers uniform this season. Hardaway has brought in the nation’s top recruiting class for the upcoming season and there is no debate about that. The class consists of seven signees, according to 247Sports, the Tigers welcome two five-star and five four-star recruits and five of them are ranked in the top-60 nationally….
2. The other contenders won’t be as good as in recent years
Of course, all of this looks good on paper and the players have to gel, but the pundits are buying in (and so am I), as our resident bracketologist has the Tigers as the No. 4 seed in the South Region in his preseason edition of bracketology. In order to win the AAC, the Tigers will likely have to go through the usual suspects, namely Houston and Cincinnati and a team looking to have a bit of bounce-back season, in Wichita State. The good news for Memphis is that none of those teams have their talent level and while they will be good they are likely not to be at the level they have competed at in recent years….Wichita State won 22 games last season but do lose their top two scorers, Markis McDuffie and Samajae Haynes-Jones to graduation, while returning their next top seven scorers, that production should help the Shockers compete at the top of the conference, but it won’t be enough to hold off the ultra-talented Tigers.
3. An elite offensive unit
The last reason I think Memphis wins the AAC is that the offense could be even better than last season while continuing their aggressive style of play. In the first season under Hardaway, The Tigers averaged 80 points while giving up over 74. The defense improved as the season went on as they only gave up over 74 points twice over their last 12 games.… Memphis will win the AAC because of an even more prolific offense that will drown conference opponents with its aggressive style that will lead to more easy buckets for this super-athletic roster.”
by Jason Burgess
Posted: 08/14/19, 8:30am cst
“In just his second year, Penny Hardaway has Memphis Basketball poised to challenge for the title in the American Athletic Conference. Here are three reasons they will take the title….
1. Greatest group of incoming freshmen in the country
The first and most obvious reason that Memphis should be the pick to win the AAC are the newcomers that will don the Tigers uniform this season. Hardaway has brought in the nation’s top recruiting class for the upcoming season and there is no debate about that. The class consists of seven signees, according to 247Sports, the Tigers welcome two five-star and five four-star recruits and five of them are ranked in the top-60 nationally….
2. The other contenders won’t be as good as in recent years
Of course, all of this looks good on paper and the players have to gel, but the pundits are buying in (and so am I), as our resident bracketologist has the Tigers as the No. 4 seed in the South Region in his preseason edition of bracketology. In order to win the AAC, the Tigers will likely have to go through the usual suspects, namely Houston and Cincinnati and a team looking to have a bit of bounce-back season, in Wichita State. The good news for Memphis is that none of those teams have their talent level and while they will be good they are likely not to be at the level they have competed at in recent years….Wichita State won 22 games last season but do lose their top two scorers, Markis McDuffie and Samajae Haynes-Jones to graduation, while returning their next top seven scorers, that production should help the Shockers compete at the top of the conference, but it won’t be enough to hold off the ultra-talented Tigers.
3. An elite offensive unit
The last reason I think Memphis wins the AAC is that the offense could be even better than last season while continuing their aggressive style of play. In the first season under Hardaway, The Tigers averaged 80 points while giving up over 74. The defense improved as the season went on as they only gave up over 74 points twice over their last 12 games.… Memphis will win the AAC because of an even more prolific offense that will drown conference opponents with its aggressive style that will lead to more easy buckets for this super-athletic roster.”
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