NCAA Basketball Roundtable: Worst Big 12 team, Jabari Smith No. 1 pick?

4. After the win over Alabama, is Memphis back?

Mauro 

Short answer is no.  I need to see so much more from the Tigers.  Penny Hardaway is still on the sidelines and that means that Memphis is going to have its ups and downs. They still have the head-scratching losses to Tulsa, South Florida, or East Carolina coming up. I hope they figure it out because a team that talented should make the NCAA tournament.

Burgess

I’m not going to overreact to Memphis’ best win of the year. They won’t be back for me until they show consistency in those positive tendencies they showed. They have to continue to force turnovers, get out in transition and not turn it over themselves, they still coughed it up 17 times against Alabama.

Melton

Maybe. There is no denying that the Tigers’ four-game losing stretch was disappointing, but the Tigers have all the pieces needed to be a legit contender in the AAC led by star forward Jalen Duren.

Heiser

No, Memphis is not back. A single win against a good team does not excuse the losses to an Aaron Cook-less Georgia team or a very mid-Ole Miss squad. The Tigers have very significant issues with turnovers and an atrocious offensive game plan. They have always had the talent to win games like this, but all the win does for me is reinforce how much of a disaster they have been in the games prior.

In a way, Alabama was a very good matchup for them. The best way to stop the Crimson Tide is defend the three and Memphis has the long athletes to stick out on the perimeter. As impressive as the win over Alabama is, I need to see more.

Zacher

No.  The Tigers deserve a lot of credit for their performance against Alabama, and they’re genuinely appeared to be a shift in identity and flow in that blowout win – but it’s still hard to feel optimistic after that four-game losing streak, let alone that abysmal loss to Georgia.  On top of that, even with the wins over Gonzaga and Houston, it’s not like Alabama instilled much confidence after the woeful showing against Jacksonville State a few days later.

Barring a disaster, the Tigers should start AAC play with a win at Tulane – but three of their ensuing four games will come against Wichita State, Cincinnati, and UCF.  Those three games will say a lot about the Tigers, and whether or not the win over the Crimson Tide wasn’t just a fluke.  Until then, no, I’m not convinced the Tigers are back just yet.