written by:stacia_doss.
The city of Memphis' top basketball teams once yielded pretty low expectations for wins from some residents--but the past month has brought the unexpected from both the Grizzlies and Tigers.
After the Memphis Tigers suffered the loss of Coach John Calipari to the University of Kentucky last spring, it seemed like at least three-fourths of the blues city had the blues. Many wrote the team off as having little to no chance of being as good as it was under Calipari's leadership, but things changed.
The Memphis Grizzlies started the NBA preseason with some players the team hoped would help gain more wins--like veteran guard Allen Iverson and rookies Hasheem Thabeet and DeMarre Carroll. But as time went on the team was less than victorious, with only one home win, and back to back losses on the road--and Iverson decided he did not want to be a part of the team.
Both Memphis team fans were disappointed and losing hope, if hope was existent.
Coach Josh Pastner recruited the best he could for the 09-10 season, leaving the team with a couple of new recruits, a few veterans, and even some walk-ons. There was no doubt that this was a team transformed from its previous season. The team didn't even rank in the top 25 power teams of the NCAA, but the team said differently.
On November 17, the Tigers competed against the No.1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Numerous mistakes were made by Memphis, yet the game was at a constant neck and neck score. At the end of the game, a 55-57 score with Kansas leading, the Tigers went for a long three and lost the game. It was a loss, or was it?
Memphis guard Elliot Williams said "The message we sent is that nobody is going to run over us." I guess surprised Memphians and NCAA fans as a whole could say the same. Pastner has already recruited some of the top players in the nation for the '10-'11 season...time will tell what else is in store.
Since releasing Iverson from his contact, the Grizzlies team has improved, winning four of its last five games. The team also added former Indiana Pacer-Jamaal Tinsley to its roster during the month of November. Will the victories continue with the recent team alterations?
