Memphis basketball played first exhibition like a smooth, self-aware team | Giannotto

Memphis basketball had just scored on a putback Sunday afternoon, and Bruce Smith wondered aloud from inside FedExForum.

“Who’s No. 10?”

It was Jaykwon Walton, Bob Byrd reminded him from his usual seats a couple of rows up in Section 105. He already knew all of the names on this Tigers roster, he confidently declared, but suggested they could use name tags all the same.

“There’s only 13 new ones,” Phil Morgan cracked a few seats over.

This is how it began for many of the regulars who showed up for the unofficial debut of coach Penny Hardaway’s latest team, and that made the 106-49 win Memphis got over Lane College the perfect first impression.

This looked nothing like a first exhibition game should for a team working in 11 new scholarship players. This looked nothing like any previous exhibition game during the Hardaway era, certainly not last season's nine-point squeaker against Christian Brothers University. This looked cohesive and smooth, like a group that already played a bunch of games together. This looked like a balanced roster with more experience, depth, size and shotmakers than any other Hardaway has put together.

All of this is said with the requisite disclaimer that it came against a Division II foe without anyone near as good as their coach — former Memphis State star Andre Turner — on the floor.

Nonetheless, Memphis looked like a team completely aware of its circumstances, despite featuring just one starter — Jayden Hardaway — who was here when Memphis suffered that heartbreaking NCAA tournament loss to Florida Atlantic in March. And he started only because Alabama transfer Jahvon Quinerly was held out for precautionary reasons.

“These guys just enjoy playing together, and the second side of it is they understand our nonconference is pretty much our season,” Penny Hardaway said. “Not that we’re ignoring the AAC, or anything like that, but the regular season, when it starts, is going to be a tough nonconference schedule. So we’ll have to be ready for that. I think they know that.”

This is an unforgiving early season schedule, and dominating Lane isn’t going to tell us whether Memphis can successfully navigate it.

The nine-game stretch between Nov. 22 and Dec. 23 — when Memphis potentially could face some combination of Michigan, Arkansas, North Carolina or Villanova in the Bahamas, then return stateside for consecutive road games against Ole Miss, VCU and Texas A&M, and finish up with home games against Clemson, Virginia and Vanderbilt — is as daunting as any Tigers coach has taken on in recent memory.

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This, however, is what’s required in the new AAC, and Hardaway isn’t afraid to say it.

Memphis started last season with a 10-3 record in nonconference play, and perhaps it’s poised to start fast again. In Hardaway's mind, the Tigers must.

“This is the first game we played together and we already scored 100 points,” said Malcolm Dandridge, one of only two holdovers. “That really just tells it all for people who understand. We just got to keep bonding and keep getting closer, but it’s going to be dangerous this year.”

It took maybe nine minutes for the Tigers to convince one particular group of diehards to let their imaginations run wild about the possibilities. Because in those opening nine minutes or so, it felt as if every newcomer took turns showing what he could offer the program, as if to emphasize that this isn't like last season, when Kendric Davis and DeAndre Williams had to do all of the heavy lifting.

St. John's transfer David Jones calmly stroked jumpers and got to the free-throw line. Caleb Mills, by way of Houston and Florida State, sliced into the lane and hit 3-pointers. Jordan Brown, who previously played at Arizona and Louisiana, carved out space in the paint like an oak tree for a jump hook. Nick Jourdain, from Temple, broke the Lane College press by storming to the basket for a nifty 3-point play. Freshman Ashton Hardaway showed off his buttery 3-point stroke. Jayhlon Young, formerly of UCF, played harassing defense.

When Division II transfer Jonathan Pierre hit a 3-pointer and led the fast break, Byrd just cackled. He’d seen enough.

“Where these guys came from,” he said, “I bet they’d like them back.”

They’re here now, though, and they sure know how to introduce themselves.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Penny Hardaway's new-look Memphis basketball team appears smooth unit