Memphis basketball returned home from Wichita Monday night after the winter weather conditions forced the team to remain in Kansas for a few days following its 15-point loss against the Shockers. The loss came just days after a 17-point loss on the road against Tulsa, which puts the Tigers at 9-10 on the season and in seventh place in the American Conference.
While Penny Hardaway’s team has handled business in conference play inside FedExForum, nothing has felt easy this season, and it feels like at any moment, Memphis could lose any game. Even against a Rice team, which ranks No. 11 in the conference standings, the Tigers had to respond from a 13-point deficit to record a six-point victory.
Memphis currently ranks No. 222 in adjusted offensive efficiency among 365 teams in college basketball, and it ranks 200 or worse in 10 different offensive categories.
While the offense has struggled to get much going, the defense has been a lot better, ranking No. 34 in adjusted defensive efficiency. Despite being top 40 in adjusted efficiency, they rank No. 5 in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 73.3 points per game this season.
It’s clear this team’s biggest issues are on the offensive side of the ball, but what are the issues?
Three-point shooting
Shooting has been an issue all season, and the three-point shooting has been one of the biggest issues this season. The Tigers shoot 32.2 percent from three as a team, and they’ve only shot 40 percent or better in four games this season.
In the two road games last week, Memphis shot 29.6 percent against Tulsa and 15.8 percent against Wichita State. Only four players are shooting 36 percent or better from deep, and only one player, Julius Thedford, is shooting 40 percent from three-point range.
Last season, eight different players shot 36 percent or better from three-point range, and the team shot 37.6 percent from deep, which ranked No. 22 in the country. Going into last season, three-point shooting was viewed as a problem, but Hardaway’s team identified their shooters early and took fewer three-point attempts.
This year’s team has struggled identifying its shooters, and it seems that it’s identified that it has very few three-point shooting options. After 19 games, it’s hard to imagine Memphis will improve much in the shooting category.
Turnovers
Year after year, turnovers have plagued the Tigers, and that has continued this season. The Tigers average 14.5 turnovers per game with a 20.4 turnover percentage, which ranks No. 343 in the country.
The current turnover percentage is the second-worst in the Hardaway era, and Memphis hasn’t finished a season with a turnover percentage ranking better than 196 in the country since Hardaway took over. Four different players average 1.5 or more turnovers per game, and point guard Dug McDaniel leads the team with 3.1 turnovers per game.
The Tigers have shown that they can play without turnovers, turning the ball over 12 or fewer times six times this season, but those have come few and far between. With back-to-back home games coming up, it will be interesting to see if they can limit the turnovers inside of FedExForum.
Rebounding
Rebounding wasn’t an issue earlier in the season, but it has turned into an issue over the last few weeks. Memphis has lost the rebounding battle in four of its last five games, including both road games last week.
The most alarming rebounding performance came in the road against Florida Atlantic, when the Tigers were out-rebounded by 17.
While they average 37.1 rebounds per game, the big men have struggled to rebound for most of the season, and four of the five leading rebounders are guards. Bradshaw has done a better job in conference play, but the 7-footer is still averaging just 4.1 rebounds per game.
Memphis will have an opportunity Thursday night to avenge the rebounding performance against the Owls, and it will be interesting to see if it looks any better inside FedExForum.