Four Questions to the Tigers Season

Well, today is the day.

As we start the regular season there are a number of questions that will be answered this year that will basically determine if this Memphis Tigers team can be as successful that last year's 33-4 team. I plan to cut the season down into five components. I'll do a review after each 1/4th of the season and then the postseason will be the 5th component.

So let's get started.............

1) Will the Tigers develop a consistent outside shooting threat? I believe we will definitely see a lot of zone defense from competitors. Cal will try to run the ball to limit the number of possessions requiring a 1/2 court offense, but against the likes of UCLA, Arizona, Tennessee and Houston the Tigers will have to prove they can hit the 3. The Tigers need to average 35% or better from the 3 and at least two major players need to average 39% or better.


2) Will Willie Kemp develop into a floor leader who has an assist to turnover ratio better than 1.2? The Tigers got away with not having a point guard last year and with having more turnovers than assists. I'm not so sure that lightening can strike twice. It will be better to develop a point guard who can dish consistently. While I don't expect Kemp to average more than 22 minutes a game, he needs to average 4 assists or more and less than 3 turnovers per game.

3) Will CDR and/or Antonio Anderson average more than 15 points per game? Someone must step up and probably both of these guys need to average 13 to 17 points per game. If this team averages 80 points a game, these two guys need to average 3/8th of the offense - 30 points.

4) Will Joey Dorsey develop a scoring game outside of 2 feet? Let's face it, Joey was fine taking out the trash last year. Also against lesser competition, Joey was good (though he did have a great second half against Houston in the C-USA conference semi-finals). However, Joey needs to develop a four to six foot shot and he must improve his free throw shooting to 60%.