Top 5 Questions the Memphis Tigers Face Right Now

Memphis' 85-64 victory over East Carolina on Wednesday night reiterated something that's become quite clear over the past three years—the Tigers are still the kings of Conference USA.

Seemingly in a permanent place atop a very mediocre, almost assuredly one-NCAA-Tournament-bid league, Memphis is often in an interesting situation at this point in each season. Instead of the Tigers gauging progress on wins and losses—you know, like pretty much every "BCS Conference" school can and does—they must, with heavy scrutiny, look directly and selectively at themselves.

It's likely Memphis is going to win each of its conference games, with the exception of perhaps one. Meantime, while the Tigers are racking up those wins, they'll be evaluating themselves, both as a team and individually. There were several questions facing the team when the season began. Though some have been answered, some haven't, and some new ones have developed along the way.

Below is a listing of the top five questions facing Memphis as the Tigers delve into the middle of their conference schedule and attempt to become a team capable of advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament.

1. Can Robert Dozier and Shawn Taggart be counted on in the post?

So far, the answer is, emphatically, no. Dozier and Taggart aren't the powerful bruisers that Joey Dorsey was. Nor do they bring the intimidation factor. But that doesn't mean they can't rebound. That doesn't mean they can't block shots and keep from picking up foolish fouls. And that doesn't mean the Tigers can afford to have one or both of them completely disappear for stretches—even games—at a time.

If the answer is a definite no up to this point, then the question becomes, "How can they change?" For the answer, look no further than coach John Calipari, who's been riding the same horse all season when talking about Dozier, Taggart, and basically the rest of the team too.

"We're going to win ugly, and that's why I keep saying (it's about) toughness," Calipari told the Commercial Appeal's Dan Wolken after a 73-66 victory over Central Florida. "If we get physically tougher as the year goes on, we'll get better and better and we'll be one of those teams again. If we don't, if what you saw in the first half is us, it will end abruptly."

Tougher means Taggart has to snap out of his funk that continued Wednesday with a lackluster four-point, four-rebound effort where he was noticeably pushed around. Tougher means Dozier can't go 1-for-7 from the free throw line like he did against UAB on Jan. 17 or play at a very average level like he did against Rice on Jan. 21 (the majority of his 13 points and nine boards came in what amounted to garbage time).

2. Is Antonio Anderson a legitimate offensive contributor?

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