The word of the offseason for this Memphis Tiger men’s basketball team since netting the nation’s number one recruiting class has been expectation. How high should those expectations be, and should fans temper them a bit, with the team being uber talented, but also extremely young.
This is only coach Hardaway’s second year at the helm of the program, but Penny has never been one to mince words when it comes to expectations for himself, or his team. Going back to his playing days he has always been the ultimate competitor. Wether it’s going toe to toe with John Calipari and Kentucky for the country’s number one recruit James Wiseman or trading jabs with one of college basketball’s best in Tennessee’s Rick Barnes. If you’re looking for someone to extinguish the flames, it certainly won’t be the head coach.
In a recent interview coach Hardaway stated, when he looks at his team and looks across the college basketball landscape he believes that they will win a national championship. It didn’t appear that he meant simply sometime during his coaching tenure. He was referring to this season. A bold statement from a man who doesn’t really worry about the naysayers or anyone outside that locker room. A lot of coaches say a lot of things, but when Penny says something you tend to believe it, as he has a history of telling you exactly what he thinks. “Coach speak” is not really in his vocabulary. So if Penny says that he believes this season will end with Memphis climbing that mountain top and achieving the ultimate goal of a national championship in Atlanta, I believe that’s actually what he truly believes.
As we sit here on the eve of Memphis Madness the expectations among #TigerNation are through the roof for this years team. Netting the number one class in the nation and having a head coach and staff with the confidence, swagger and cachet of this one, tends to create those thoughts. Could those comments come back to bite Penny so to speak if they fall short of those lofty goals? Maybe, but I don’t think coach Hardaway is wired in such a way in which that would bother him. These expectations will reach an apex tomorrow night as the fans will get their first look at this years team. For one night at least, before any real games are played, or any adversity is faced, Tiger fans can dream of those expectations becoming reality and I don’t see anything wrong with that and I would imagine coach Hardaway doesn’t either. For now expectations abound!
