Memphis Tigers Create More Drama

I know this is a Minnesota basketball blog, but I am a big Memphis Tigers fan. I just have to talk about them a little bit. Last night, while I was watching the Portland vs Phoenix game, I saw on the bottom line that the Memphis Tigers suspended Wesley Witherspoon indefinitely for mimicing an assistant coach on the loudspeakers on their team bus. As I thought about this, I realized that this kind of sums up how disappointing Memphis has been for me this year. Memphis has been my team for several years. Probably since sophomore year in high school. I have always enjoyed their dribble drive offense and their energetic hustle. I have always kind of thought of them as maybe "misfits". Every year, they run into off-court turmoil. This year has been no exemption. Memphis has endured the lost of 6'11" Angel Garcia leaving the team several weeks into the season to go play pro ball in Spain (after spending the last two seasons on the bench with academic issues, and a torn ACL). Wesley Witherspoon was out for a couple games with knee surgery. In some preseason scrimmages in Puerto Rico, a couple student-athletes had to stay back because they were not cleared by the NCAA. When Memphis played Austin Peay, they had to take the redshirt off Hippolyte Tsafack, due to the lost of Angel Garcia and Wesley Witherspoon being out. Now feshman Trey Draper, who has only played a total of 4 minutes this year, was in a car accident and broke his hand after their loss to SMU. I know, Memphis is a very young team. They have 1 senior and 7 freshman. It is only Coach Pastner's 2nd season as head coach for the Tigers. These off-court struggles have been reflecting their play in games. Sure 12-4 sounds pretty nice, but they don't have any big wins and lost to SMU. They have had a handful of games that they won, but they allowed the other team to hang with them until the end. Right now, I am disappointed in the Memphis Tigers, but with that said, I am still a fan. I understand growing pains. They will come around and look like the Tigers I know. Hopefully, they can do this before tourney time. Go Tigers!