Bleacher Report - Articles by Phillip

Josh Pastner Accepts Job at Memphis: Is It a Good Hire?

Phillip — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:53:52 -0400

Josh Pastner has agreed to succeed John Calipari as head coach of the University of Memphis basketball team. A press conference is scheduled for noon CST today.

The current vibe among the Memphis faithful on B/R is positive. Usually, fans tend to stay positive initially and that opinion changes for better or worse based upon results.

There are exceptions, such as Kentucky's reaction to the Billy Gillespie hire.

I think Memphis fans had a reality check as several prominent head coaches from BCS schools used Memphis' interest to renegotiate their current contracts.

Was the Memphis job a desired position? Was athletic director R.C. Johnson's claim of his phone ringing off the hook a diversion tactic?

The majority of Memphis' fans and supporters don't expect the new hire to continue winning at the same rate. However, I'm sure interested coaches must have felt the pressure of following a very successful coach.

Finally, did Memphis make the right hire in the opinion of the B/R contributors both inside and outside of Memphis?

Binghamton University and the 2009 NCAA Tournament

Phillip — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:26:38 -0400

It was a beautiful Saturday in the Midwest with sunshine and high temps well into the mid-60s. As I drank my morning coffee around 9:30 a.m., I could sense the buzz brewing, one that would culminate with the Sunday evening Selection Show on CBS.

It was the beginning of college basketball's NCAA Championship weekend, where improbable teams would find themselves in the "Big Dance."

In my hazy state, I could even make out the the sounds of fans gathering and geared up for the excitement that is March Madness. I wondered if my coffee was a bit too strong because it seemed they were right outside my downtown hotel!

I heard the hustle and bustle of thousands of people, seemingly coming out of hibernation to gather for an annual event in their fair city. It seemed all of St. Louis had been pining for a day like this for months.

But wait! The people weren't gathering in their team's apparel and quibbling about who should be seeded where as I suspected. Instead, they were unified in their team colors and their team was of Irish descent. No, they weren't Notre Dame fans. This was a St. Patrick's Day weekend celebration, and it was quite a festive and carnival-like atmosphere.

As for me, I was on a different mission. I was ready to take in the final battles for the last spots in the NCAA Tournament at a sports bar with enough big screens to follow all of the action at once.

Little did I know, I was about to cross paths with a lesser-known Binghamton team in the process.

I knifed my way through a sea of green-clad revelers in the lobby, some of whom had already gotten quite a start on "celebrating." After searching for sports bars around the new Busch Stadium and asking several bystanders for assistance in locating one, I came up dry.

I later learned why. Even though the merchants association is trying to have some entertainment and restaurant establishments built, they haven't received permission from the city as of yet.

I'm sure the food vendors at the ballpark are pleased with that...

Frustrated, I hailed a cab and asked to be taken to the nearest sports bar. It was nearly game time!

Unfortunately, due to the parade route, the taxi could only get me within three blocks of the nearest bar...and on the opposite side of the parade barriers.

But I had come this far; I wasn't about to give up now!

When I had cleared all obstacles and entered a bar with plenty of TVs, I asked the host to tune one of the TVs to the Tigers game. Seeing a look of exasperation on my face, he said with a smirk: "Which one?"

How was I to know? Auburn, Missouri, Jackson State, LSU and Pacific were all playing the same day as my Memphis Tigers.

I knew I was home when I overheard a table of people next to me cheering as Binghamton secured their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. Yes, tiny Binghamton University, located in New York, had fans glued to their TVs miles away in St. Louis. In fact, two of the guys there were former players when Binghamton was a Division III team (one of them is the school's all-time leading rebounder).

So there we all were: united in cheering on our teams and breaking down the seedings and sleeper picks. I even shared my ordeal in just making it to the sports bar. One of the guys laughed and said my experience was "just like Binghamton making the 'Big Dance': worth the struggle!"

By the way, Binghamton University's team colors are GREEN and white.

Memphis-UAB: Despite Tyreke Evans' Struggles, Tigers Get Tough Win

Phillip — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:12:11 -0500

Tyreke Evans wasn't on his game tonight as Memphis won a hard-fought contest with UAB. With an NCAA tournament at large bid on the line for UAB, Evans struggled, and Tigers fans hope it was just an off night for the supposed one-and-done star guard.

Everyone has an opinion on the "hired gun" basketball recruits who basically attend college for the opportunity to display their skills and abilities to NBA scouts. This usually benefits both the university and the athlete. On occasion, a player teams up with a veteran team and helps lead that program to a national championship, like Carmelo Anthony with Syracuse.

However, that's quite rare. Even the famed Fab Five at Michigan, while exciting and intriguing, did not win it all.

In observing the development of Derrick Rose last year, I have seen it work nearly to perfection. However, this evening's performance by Tyreke Evans in a hostile environment left a lot to be desired. Evans was 3-of-14 from the field with eight points and nine turnovers.

Coach John Calipari tried to downplay the performance as something of an anomaly, but there has to be some cause for concern. This was an important game for Memphis in terms of seeding and preparation for a playoff-type atmosphere. If you are the person whom the offense goes though, it's paramount that you elevate your game in these types of situations.

UAB's best player, Robert Vaden, went 0-for-17 and 0-for-12 from the three-point line, and the Blazers were still in the game because of Evans' shoddy play. If Vaden had played up to his standards, UAB would have pulled the upset.

What prevented that was execution and selfless leadership of veteran Memphis players like Robert Dozier, Doneal Mack, and especially Antonio Anderson. Anderson made life difficult for Vaden through tenacious defense and also made plays down the stretch to win the game.

Without those types of veteran players, a team simply doesn't have the ability to advance far in the tournament.

So, which university has shown an ability to blend talented newcomers effectively with a veteran squad over the years? Is the Duke model more effective?

For Memphis fans, the question isn't how we will replace players like Evans or Rose before him. They simply want to find someone as indispensable as Antonio Anderson has been over the years.