Penny Hardaway gets brutally honest about Memphis basketball's recent 'embarrassing' efforts
Penny Hardaway usually begins postgame press conferences with an opening statement that lasts anywhere from 60 to 90 seconds.
The Memphis basketball coach typically addresses highlights and themes from the game. Then, he opens the floor for questions from the media.
But, after Saturday’s 81-70 win over Austin Peay, Hardaway was in no mood for analysis, needing just three seconds to let everyone in the room know he was not pleased.
“My statement is I’m glad we won the game,” he said while staring at the box score on the table in front of him. “That’s it.”
Hardaway provided brutal honesty over the next 10 minutes. His Tigers (11-2) are riding a six-game winning streak and ranked No. 18 in the nation, but he's convinced the good times won’t last if the team can’t snap out of a malaise that nearly netted it a Quad 4 loss last week against Vanderbilt and made Saturday’s game too close for comfort.
Memphis started fast against the much smaller Austin Peay, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. After that, the Tigers managed just made field goal (a Nae’Qwan Tomlin 3-pointer) over the next 5 minutes, 3 seconds. To Hardaway, his players “just kinda lost interest.”
Hardaway never lost his cool, instead channeling his frustration in a muted fashion. Beneath the icy exterior, however, he was seething as he watched the Governors’ Dezi White score 20 points largely by – in Hardaway’s estimation – playing harder than anyone on the Tigers’ side.
“That’s embarrassing to me as a coach, for someone to be outhustling us, outscrapping us on our home floor in front of our fans who pay money to come watch us play,” said Hardaway.
The problem, Hardaway says, is an overabundance of players on his rebuilt roster who are wired the same way. David Jones, Jaykwon Walton, Caleb Mills and others have spent much of their careers zeroed in on scoring points. But when games present limited scoring opportunities for everyone, it can start to chip away at their psyche and affect their game.
“It happens all the time,” Hardaway said. “Every year it happens on every team, because they start reading the clippings. And if they don’t see their names, you can have a problem with that. Unfortunately, it seeps into every good team.
“I have to figure out a way to stop it.”
Jones, whose 21.4 points per game leads the team and the AAC, admitted after Saturday’s game that part of the issue is playing down to the level of competition.
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“Let’s say we play Virginia tomorrow – we’re all hyped up, because we want to beat them,” he said. “Then, we say we’re gonna play Austin Peay, and it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re playing Austin Peay. We’re gonna beat them regardless.’ These days, in college, anybody can beat anybody. So, I think, we just got to work on getting prepared and getting locked in for every single team, no matter who it is.”
If the Tigers’ level of play is being dictated now by perceptions based on the profile of the opponent, it may not be a problem that will be solved anytime soon. As it stands, Memphis does not have another Quad 1 opportunity until Feb. 18 at SMU (No. 51 in the NCAA’s NET rankings). Its next game is at Tulsa on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN+). The Golden Hurricane are No. 192 in the NET.
Which is why Hardaway is so pressed to iron things out now.
“I mean, come on, we’re 11-2. It’s not like we’re 2-11,” he said. “We’re just trying to figure these things out before it comes back to bite us. I think everyone sees it. These guys just have to step up.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Penny Hardaway has serious concerns about his Memphis basketball team
