Memphis has won three of its last four games, including back-to-back wins over UAB and Charlotte, and big man Aaron Bradshaw has played a huge role in the team’s recent success. Bradshaw has averaged 10 or more points in six straight games and eight of the last nine, and he’s improved as a rebounder as well.
After transferring in from Ohio State, Bradshaw struggled early in the season, averaging only 11 minutes per game through the first five games of the year due to foul trouble and lack of production. Bradshaw missed the December 3 game against New Orleans as a coach’s decision, but he saw his minutes jump following that game.
He has played 20 or more minutes in all but one game since the game against New Orleans, and he only played 10 minutes in that game due to an injury.
The improvements have been easy to see, and Bradshaw went from averaging 4.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in the first five games to averaging 11.9 points and 5.7 rebounds through conference play. Even coach Penny Hardaway made note of the improvements his big man has made after the win over Charlotte on Sunday.
“This is definitely a remarkable turnaround from where we saw him early to where he is now,” Hardaway said. “Two totally different players.”
Hardaway went on to talk about the lack of confidence Bradshaw had when he joined the program after spending the last two seasons at Ohio State and Kentucky. Bradshaw signed with the Wildcats as a five-star recruit, but he saw limited time in his first two collegiate seasons and only made 15 combined starts at the two programs before joining the Tigers.
“He’s definitely the most improved, all the way around, because when he first got here he was kind of broken from not playing at Kentucky and really not playing at Ohio State and having so much on his plate,” Hardaway said. “For him to just weather that storm and be where he is now, he’s starting to show who he really is, and I’m very happy for him because he works really hard.”
Bradshaw even acknowledged after Sunday’s game that he isn’t the same player that he was at his previous two stops, and that Hardaway has given him a lot of confidence to get back to being the player he was out of high school that earned him that five-star rating.
“I feel like those years I wasn’t really standing on what I said, and that goes for on the court things like playing hard, being a dog,” Bradshaw said. “I feel like Penny just gives me the confidence, and he tells me to go out there and play ball. Play how you be playing when you were back at Roselle in Jersey. Have fun with it.”
Bradshaw also gave credit to other coaches and players who have made an impact, like Roy Rogers and Thierno Sylla.
Rogers was added to Hardaway’s staff prior to the season, and he has worked primarily with the big men. After starring for Alabama in college, Rogers, who played power forward, played for four different NBA teams before spending four years overseas.
Bradshaw said that Sylla has also been a big help, and he has helped him become more of a “dirty work” big man instead of a “pretty” big that he has been for most of his career.
The Tigers have clearly played better when the big man has played better, and he will be a vital piece throughout the rest of the season. As for Bradshaw, he says that he doesn’t even recognize himself from the start of the season, and he’s focused on doing what he needs to do to win.
“I don’t know who that is,” Bradshaw said. I’m going to be honest, I don’t know who that is. That’s old AB. I don’t even think about that anymore. I just want to succeed, I want to win, and I want to get to where I want to get. So, everything I’m going to have to do, I’m going to have to do.”