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Saturday, December 01, 2007

Memphis Falls to #3 in Luke Winn's Latest Power Poll

Memphis Tigers (6-0)

Sometimes the divergence between the external and internal perceptions of a program can be amusing. From most fans' perspective, Memphis is an entertaining, undefeated squad that won the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic and has an All-America on the wing (Chris Douglas-Roberts) and the speediest freshman guard at the point (Derrick Rose). In coach John Calipari's eyes, the Tigers are a good team that's perpetually on the verge of a crisis. In the past week, he:

•Was so displeased with a 21-point win over Arkansas State he canceled a promised Thanksgiving break, for which Chris Douglas-Roberts had purchased a flight home to Detroit, and held one-on-one meetings with players on Wednesday.

•Brought in renowned sports shrink Bob Rotella to speak with players over the weekend. (Rotella is a pal of Calipari's; if you want him for a speech, the tab runs around $20,000.) Incidentally, one of Rotella's most popular books on Amazon is Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect. Apparently, Gunning For An NCAA Title is a Game of Perfect -- and being 6-0 in November isn't perfect enough.

Next three: 12/4 vs. USC (Jimmy V, NYC), 12/15 vs. Middle Tennessee (in Nashville), 12/19 at Cincinnati

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