Postgame blog from Nashville
Posted by Dan Wolken
Welcome back, Antonio Anderson.
Of all the things you saw Saturday night in Memphis’ 65-41 victory, what stood out the most was Anderson’s performance. Nine points, six assists, six rebounds and two turnovers? That was a typical Anderson line from last season. But this year, Anderson just looked lost. He wasn’t shooting the ball well. He was making bad decisions with the ball. And that combination was clearly affecting his defense and rebounding.
Hopefully, this is the Anderson we’ll see from now on because the Tigers certainly will need him this week against Cincy and Georgetown.
Overall, I thought the Tigers played pretty well. They didn’t give Middle Tennessee many easy looks at the basket (they went 13-for-48), and their press was ferocious. Offensively, Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts simply weren’t there tonight. CDR went 2-for-5 from the field. I don’t know if I’ve seen him play a game where he’s had less impact. Rose wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t great. In the second half, he ran the offense much better and facilitated a lot of good stuff. Dorsey, Dozier and Taggart all get big A-plusses from me. In the big picture, if the big men play they way they did Saturday, the Tigers are going to be awfully hard to beat.
Now, I’m going to shut down the computer and watch the final 14 minutes of Tennessee-Western Kentucky, which is a very competitive and fast-paced game to this point. Most of the Memphis fans sitting in the lower level have stuck around, and they’re all cheering for Western Kentucky. I’m still trying to figure out Tennessee. I don’t know that I’ve seen a good team that takes as many bad shots as the Vols. It’s astounding, really. Western Kentucky, on the other hand, is an NCAA Tournament team and will be a very tough out as an 11 or 12 seed this year.
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