Can the Memphis Tigers Make Another Deep Run?

In October it was hard to imagine that Memphis would be in the mix for another No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. After all they did lose the number one pick in the NBA draft, one of Memphis' most talented shooting guards, and a dominant post player.

After losing the NBA trio of Rose, CDR, and Dorsey, the Tigers were labeled as being in a "rebuilding mode" heading into '08-'09. That was the general consensus among the mainstream media.

However, some believed Memphis was returning the right pieces such as seniors Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier, three juniors who played significant minutes their first two years—Doneal Mack, Willie Kemp, and Shawn Taggart (freshman year was at Iowa State), and adding McDonalds All-American Tyreke Evans and Top 50 freshman recruit Wesley Witherspoon.

The combination of experience and talent landed Memphis enough respect to be a preseason top 25 pick however not many expected this team to be able to compete for a national championship.

If you asked me in October my opinion of where this team would end up I told most people best case would be fourth straight elite eight but I would be pleased with a more realistic expectation of making it to the sweet 16.

Fast-forward to December 20th after the Tigers just lost a close home game to Syracuse and a 6-3 start. The Tigers still didn't have a starting point guard after Willie Kemp, Antonio Anderson, and Wesley Witherspoon weren't able to play the position up to Calipari's standards.

Memphis' defense looked good over stretches, but the offense wasn't even close to being effective. The Tigers were relying on three-point jumpers and weren't executing the DDM offense.

How can you call it Dribble Drive Motion offense if you aren't doing any of those things? They often took the first open look they had and weren't creating driving lanes that CDR and Rose took advantage of last year.

Tyreke Evans wore the scoring burden on his shoulders and often took ill-advised fade-away jumpers and was out of control on contested drives to the basket. Many people were casting Tyreke as overrated and many Memphis fans were certain he would be returning next year because he just wasn't cutting at the collegiate level.

After losing at home to Syracuse the Memphis Tigers didn't have any more big games at home to win and had a little more than a month to face UT at Knoxville.

Forget about the sweet 16, this team looked like it was on pace for an eight or nine seed and would be lucky to finish 1-1 vs UT and Gonzaga and of course would drop a few games to the improving C-USA teams.

Oh how two months, a position change, and some excellent coaching can change the outcome and expectation of a college basketball team. The move was relatively simple: Move Tyreke Evans to the PG position and let the offense run through your most talented player.

The result has left Memphis fans in awe of Tyreke Evans.

Is he quicker than Rose? No, but he can get from baseline to baseline faster than Rose could with a 6'6" 220 lbs. frame. He has added a jump-stop and spin move to his driving repertoire after constantly getting called for charges on his drives to the basket. He is also knocking down more threes and taking much better jump shots.

For the past nine years Calipari has been notorious for relying on playing his brand of basketball regardless of the competition. In other words, he didn't care who the competition was he would continue to play the DDM offense (last four years) and man-to-man defense and use a wide range of players going to the bench often.

Last season in the NCAA tournament he began tightening up the rotation giving playing his starting five much more often than usual and the results were phenomenal (only exception was the Championship game).

This year he actually slowed down the DDM offense against UT and forced the Vols to defend the Tigers for nearly 30 seconds on every possession. He has also tightened the rotation more as the season has continued playing Anderson, Dozier, and Evans for over 30-40 minutes as much as possible.

Finally to address the subject: Can Memphis make another deep run? The answer is clear: Yes they can. If they win out, they will make strong case for a number one seed. If they lose one game between now and tourney time they make a strong case for a No. 2 seed.

After watching North Carolina lose to mediocre Boston College and Maryland, seeing Oklahoma lose to SEC bottom-feeder Arkansas, UCONN lose at home by double digits to the same Georgetown team Memphis took to OT at Georgetown, Duke lose by nearly 30 points, Louisville lose by over 30 points and the list goes on and on for teams that are supposed to compete for the NC.

Meanwhile, Memphis keeps on keeping on.

Knocking off UT at Knoxville and destroying Gonzaga in Spokane. In C-USA they have extended their winning streak to 53 by beating teams that are statistically comparable to the ones other "contenders" are losing to.

The lowest ranked team Memphis lost to was at Georgetown in OT at No. 37. Meanwhile UNC's losses to Maryland comes in at No. 64 and Boston College at No. 51. How about Notre Dame the team that killed UofL by 30+?

Answer? No. 75. Michigan State has lost to Northwestern at No. 77, Penn State at No. 60, and that same mediocre Maryland team.

The worst "contender" loss has to be OU losing to Arkansas at No. 127. Where do the C-USA teams stack up that everyone trash talks? UAB is No. 38, Tulsa No. 68, UTEP #78, Houston No. 93, UCF No. 110, and Southern Miss No. 116. Is it just me or do those numbers look eerily similar to the losses incurred by the nations other "elite" teams. What's the difference?

Memphis hasn't lost to these teams. They have continued to win these games while their peers can't seem to keep up. Memphis' defense will not let them get blown out by nearly 30 points like Duke or Michigan State and their offense has continued to improve as the year goes on.

Yes, I think Memphis has legitimate shot to make another deep run this year.