In their last year in Conference USA, the Memphis Tigers are laying waste to the league, undefeated to this point and 24-3 overall. The Tigers are sneaking up in the polls and in mock brackets. How good are the Tigers? I'm not sure we really know or can know given the dearth of good teams in Conference USA this season.
They stand 18th today in RPI but their results don't inspire you. Their best wins are over Southern Miss and then Tennessee, Northern Iowa & Ohio. They lost at home early in the season to Louisville and at Atlantis to VCU & Minnesota. At the time, neither was a bad loss. The Gophers have been roughed up in conference play but are probably still bound for the dance.
In KenPom, the Tigers are 38th overall. They're AdjustedO is 60th and AdjustedD is 32nd. On offense, they shoot the ball pretty well. They have an effective fg% of 53.1 (26th). Nationally, they're the 21st best team in overall scoring. They get to the offensive glass. They are 28th in the nation in offensive rebounding %. They get to the line well above the national average but shoot only 68.8%, slightly before the national average. Their big bugaboo on offense is the turnover. The Tigers TO% is 21.3%, 240th in the nation. As is often the case, they rely on some young players. Interestingly, they share the ball well. They have an A/FGM % of 62.4%. That's 25th in the nation. Not turning the ball over is a key for them as they go forward.
Defensively, opponents only have an effective fg% of 45.3% (48th). The Tigers are susceptible to giving ups some 3's. Opponents shoot 34.5%, 209th worst defensively. Despite that, teams don't make that many overall but when they get their looks, they go down. Teams get about the national average of their points from deep against Memphis. They do force steals. Their 17th in the nation in steal %. Turnover % overall is 22.7%, 47th best. They are below average on the defensive glass. And opponents get to the line at about the national average against Memphis, so they typically have an advantage there.
JR. guard Joe Jackson is their leading scorer getting about 14ppg. His effective fg% is 61% and gets 5 dishes per game to go along with nearly 3 TOs pg. JR big man Tarik Black hasn't played as well as he did last year and shoots only 51% from the line. He still gets 8 & 8. SOPH, swing man Adonis Thomas adds 12 and 4.5rpg. He'll take some 3's which isn't good since he's 18-66 this year. Basically, he likes to shoot when he's in the game, shooting 26% of his possessions on offense. Wouldn't be an issue if his effective fg% wasn't 44.4%. The Tigers get significant contributions from Freshmen G Geron Johnson and big man Shaq Goodwin who also playes on the football team. Johnson is a stat sheet filler. He goes for 10.7/4.5/3.3 but also turns it over nearly 3 times a game. Goodwin is loose with the ball, too. Goodwin will go to the glass when he's in the game.
You give Memphis credit for taking care of business in conference and are working their way up the seed line. They dominated Southern Miss, probably the 2nd best team in the league. Still not sure what that means. If I saw them on a 5 line, they'd be tempting to pick for an upset. But, they have some numbers to like. They'll be tough to judge in March but traed carefully with them.
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