Penny Hardaway; Genius Coach or Punk?
Ten games in to his college coaching career and he’s picked a fight that could completely determine how he is perceived.
Maybe Memphis head men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway is smarter than we’re giving him credit for.
Maybe he’s trying to build an “us versus them” mentality by calling out Tennessee’s basketball team and their coach, Rick Barnes, even if his statements after the game weren’t necessarily honest.
The third-ranked Volunteers beat the Tigers, 102–92 in Memphis on Saturday afternoon. The end of the game was marred with three technical fouls, two on Memphis, one on Tennessee.
After the game Hardaway accused Tennessee of starting a fight and coming to their bench with fists clenched- though video evidence of the event disputes this.
Hardaway continued to trash talk straight out of hip-hop culture! Tennessee’s Jordan Bone made disrespectful comments to the Memphis players, thus starting the “Hey, Rube!” on the court!
Barnes, perhaps in disbelief, then unwisely and humorously wonders during his radio show with Vols announcer Bob Kessling if the 20-year-veteran of Tennessee play-by-play himself was preparing to fight.
Hardaway does not appreciate the joke! And he tells reporters yesterday “I don’t know who Rick Barnes thinks I am but I’m not a dude that likes to mess around about anything. I just call it like I see it. No matter how he’s trying to make things seem, and I think it’s kind of low class how he’s trying to downgrade my guys for flopping and all that. Man, come on, give me a break.”
No, Penny, give us a break. While nobody should blame your teams for trying to pick up fouls, and on at least one time against Tennessee it was effective, often times your players appeared to be practicing pratfalls for comedic effect while drawing the fouls.
Hardaway then ended his press conference talking out of both sides of his mouth; first stating Barnes is “a legendary coach” before leaving his press conference muttering profanities aimed at Barnes under his breath.
Hardaway’s actions were a textbook reason why college basketball head coaches should not be hired directly out of high school, as Hardaway was.
A high school coach can get away with embellishments to a sympathetic hometown reporter who might not have been at the game.
A college coach can’t. There’s video, full time reporters, and an audience made up of fans of both teams.
And while Barnes probably would have been better off to let Hardaway’s initial post-game comments just go by the wayside without humorous public comment, the Memphis coach simply looks dishonest and amateurish.
The end result will be the rivalry will only last for the remaining two scheduled dates and then be dissolved. Fans will miss out, but Hardaway can use this to his advantage.
For even if there are only two games left in the series and it is discontinued, Hardaway can continue with the “disrespect” mantra.
“They won’t play us,” he’ll say, even if the Vols beat Memphis in their remaining two contests.
Already the hometown hero, Hardaway will tell his hometown recruits, “Tennessee doesn’t care about Memphis. Why do you want to play there and sell out your home town?”
If and when the rivalry dissolves on the court, it will most certainly be played off it. Hardaway could even make Memphis look altruistic by playing schools their SEC brethren won’t touch, like the occasional visit to an in-state mid-major, be it ETSU or Belmont or UT-Martin, or play the mid-majors of Arkansas, which is something historically the Razorbacks never do.
Of course, first he has to win, which might not be as easy as it seems. The Tigers have played a tough schedule but are one of only two teams in the American Athletic Conference to not have a winning record at this point in the season.
With an assurance of 22 more games, the Tigers will have to win 16 to match the 21 victories Tubby Smith posted last year. Of course, there’s always a non-NCAA Tournament to achieve those goals if a winning record can be attained in the regular season.
But failure to reach that plateau will naturally bring critics and make Hardaway calling out Barnes look like not a former NBA star trying to save the homestead of his alma mater’s basketball program, but rather a coach only a few years removed from being a middle school assistant in over his head.
Marky Billson hosts Tri-Cities Sports NOW 12–2 p.m. ET weekdays on 1420 WEMB Sports Radio. Watch his show live and archived here and here.
