OT: Penny Hardaway Loses It
So we aren't the only U-M basketball team being coached by a former NBA star that is struggling this season. But the University of Michigan's head coach is handling things WAY better than the University of Memphis' head coach is.
If you haven't been following Memphis, they've been a disaster this season under coach Penny Hardaway and his collection of five-stars that I'm sure were all legally recruited. Memphis is 9-8 and Emoni Bates is struggling big-time and after the Tigers lost to SMU the other night, Penny lost it. Among his gems in his postgame presser was this:
“I think the one thing I can say to this media, because this media gets kind of f–ked up sometimes, when it comes to me – we don’t have our full roster,” Hardaway said. “Y’all know we don’t have our full roster. Stop asking me stupid f–king questions about if I feel like I can do something. If I had my roster like they did, then I feel like I could do whatever I want to do."
Can't quite imagine Juwan saying that. Read all about it HERE.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:06 PM ^
In other words: Hardaway has been forced to play weird guys...
January 21st, 2022 at 4:11 PM ^
Izzo says he hasn't done a good job of coaching up Penny.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:38 PM ^
Coach Pete Bell disagrees.
January 22nd, 2022 at 1:37 AM ^
Bates and his attitude might have been the end of Izzo. It had epic meltdown potential.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:06 PM ^
Man I really wish that Emoni had ended up a Spartan
January 21st, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
He's so bad. Would he even be a first round pick if he were eligible this year?
January 21st, 2022 at 4:17 PM ^
Doesn't seem like it. He's just ...unworthy of any of the hype. He seems weak and easy to rattle.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:25 PM ^
After his HS freshman year, I thought this kid was going to be a sure fire star in the NBA.
The problem is he got coddled, became entitled and probably coasted along and didn't hone his skill as hard as he should have and seems like he became a malcontent way too early in his life, he just doesn't seem to have the mental makeup to become anything special.
Also, Jalen Duren made such a stupid mistake by going there, wasted his one year in college.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:29 PM ^
Yeah, I just don't get him. I've watched a decent amount him and just don't get the hype. With a big caveat that he's only 17, this is what I see...
He's tall and lanky, but not strong at all. He also just isn't hyper athletic. Sure, he's a plus athlete, but definitely not "generational" or anything. His shot also hasn't looked all that great. He can make some nice shots, but has some atrocious misses. He also plays out of control and takes some very bad shots.
Lastly, he's a bit of a head case. Probably has something to do with his inner circle, but doesn't seem like a great teammate (as evidence by that Bates/Akins blow up last year).
I don't know, I feel bad for him as there were huge expectations placed on him. I'm sure he'll improve, but...he's just not that good, at all, right now.
If I were in his camp I'd send him abroad next season. Make a little cash, but - more importantly - get the spotlight off him. Let him work things out abroad with hopes of being a decent prospect for '23 draft.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:30 PM ^
Bates turns 18 this month. So yeah, he’s a little young for a freshman, but not that young. That doesn’t really explain his struggles.
He’s just a tall shooter - that’s it. He’s not that athletic and the rest of his game isn’t that great. And even his outside shot seems streaky.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:23 PM ^
I think anyone who watched him his last year of HS knew he had peaked and wasn't going to be good in college or the NBA, especially with Penny inexplicably using his as a PG. I'm more shocked at Duren who I thought would be averaging like 16 and 10, but I think not having a true PG is seriously hurting him
January 21st, 2022 at 5:02 PM ^
I've watched a few Memphis games this year and sometimes I forget Duren is on the floor. Seems like he floats a lot out there. Got to find a way to be effective even if your pg isn't getting you the ball in your spots.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:01 PM ^
Probably would be just because of his size and still decent amount of upside.
He has lost it and probably won’t repair it. Reminds me of Shabazz Muhammad.
Bates very much was worth the hype as a freshman at Ypsi Lincoln. I had not seen a HS player that impressive in the state of Michigan since Webber (he was better than James Young as a senior). The hype got to him and more so, his dad. He believed his son was the next Durant, and created a faux “school” which was an absolute disaster.
Emoni just didn’t do enough to prepare for the day where he wasn’t the big fish in the small pond, thought it would always come easy to him.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
Penny droppin' dimes
January 21st, 2022 at 4:08 PM ^
What a loser!
January 21st, 2022 at 4:09 PM ^
After he said that, I hope some reporter asked: “Hey Coach, Penny for your thoughts?” And then mic dropped him.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:32 PM ^
....or...."Hey Coach Penny, give us your 2 cents worth" Double mic drop.
January 22nd, 2022 at 10:00 AM ^
His reaction didn't make any cents.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:09 PM ^
Just Lose It Penny.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:09 PM ^
Penny Hardaway is obviously a terrible coach. He can recruit tons of 5 stars, but has no idea how to coach. How else do you explain Memphis continuing to be a mediocre/bad team despite the overwhelming talent?
January 21st, 2022 at 4:26 PM ^
Could def be the coaching, but could also be unlucky coin flips on which 5-stars lived up to their billing. For example, Emoni is known to have been rated too high. As of now, limited sample size... but Penny is no Juwan, that's for sure.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:36 PM ^
Was basketball scouting off this year because of Covid? Seems like a number of freshmen aren’t living up to their rankings?
January 21st, 2022 at 6:58 PM ^
This is typical every year though. It's the reason Kentucky hasn't been good in a long time.
It's not that the scouting is off, it's just that it's very rare that a freshman is able to come in and be an elite college player, regardless of the talent.
That's why after dabbling with 5 stars, Jay Wright went back to his developmental approach.
third year 4 stars >> first year 5 stars*
*typically. as noted, there are rare talents like Anthony Davis that can come in and dominate from day 1
January 21st, 2022 at 7:01 PM ^
Maybe if Hardaway had an eye for talent, and didn't just throw bags at all the hype-est players, he wouldn't miss on so many "five-stars."
January 21st, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
and then 3 more 5 stars committed immediately after.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
I'm a man! I'm 40!
January 21st, 2022 at 4:14 PM ^
Loved watching Penny Hardaway as a kid with Shaq and also Lil Penny. Too bad he's been such an embarrassment recently.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:50 PM ^
Meh, made it to one Finals with Shaq and Horace Grant and got swept by the Rockets. Never made it back or won a championship. One of the most overhyped NBA players of his generation.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:55 PM ^
I don't think he was overhyped. #3 pick in his draft. No one said he was MJ. Just fun to watch. I have pretty fond memories of watching players like Iverson, Carter, McGrady, Grant Hill, etc. just because they were fun to watch not because they couldn't beat Jordan or win a title. Loved the Hornets with Larry Johnson and Mugsy too.
January 22nd, 2022 at 9:06 AM ^
Didn’t he blow out both of his knees pretty early on in his career?
January 21st, 2022 at 4:14 PM ^
He is one pathetic loser.
Bates peaked at 16.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:20 PM ^
Penny came across like such a wormboy for this press conference. You know the expectations, you need to deal with them BRO! Nobody forced you to recruit young 5 star talent to your school. The excuses of those young kids having to play against 23-24 year olds is comedy. Penny will be a solid coach, but he looks like a total man baby here.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:29 PM ^
Patrick Ewing and Penny Hardaway are not working out well so far. This year for Juwan looks like an outlier, I hope it stays that way.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:32 PM ^
Saw Ewing last week. He is not aging at peak form.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:32 PM ^
If I were a coach, I'd be terrible at handling the pressure.
Maybe Hardaway should copy Izzo's trick, saying he's taking responsibility for not teaching his players better, but only after he's blamed them for screwing up, sometimes by name.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:42 PM ^
Emoni Bates has always been just hype. I am very glad he didn’t pick Michigan.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:42 PM ^
I feel like the single most indicative metric of how good your coaching is (not to be mistaken with how good your coach is per se, but how well you get your players to execute in a disciplined way), is turnover rate.
Memphis turns it over on 24% of their possessions. That's 352nd out of 358 teams. Down with a bunch of SWAC schools.
His team is the epitome of come play for me, get paid and don't get coached.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:03 PM ^
definitely not a good luck on Penny...
Liked the guy when he was in the league, but I've always been unsure of his coaching chops.
Snapping at the media like that is never a good path to take
January 21st, 2022 at 7:11 PM ^
It's almost like it's a horrible idea to hire a guy whose coaching resume is three years in high school (and only one as the head coach) to run your aspirational-powerhouse college program.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:20 PM ^
All he had to do was say that without cussing and he'd be getting much different press.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:31 PM ^
They’ve had their fair share of issues, but the guy so far is just an underwhelming coach
January 21st, 2022 at 5:48 PM ^
Penny needs Shaq to be successful
January 21st, 2022 at 5:56 PM ^
This is why I would be horrible at coaching,....having your lifelihood dependent on 18 and 19 year olds who come with a lot of ego would be a recipe for a lot worst than what we saw with Penny. He looks really tired, no doubt he's working hard and there is zero patience these days so results are expected yesterday. And the reporters do ask a lot of thoughtless questions.
I might last a week....
January 22nd, 2022 at 12:45 PM ^
98% of the reporters are idiots.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:00 PM ^
I enjoyed when he did have his full roster, he was blaming his upper classmen (the ones now missing) for the freshman playing bad. That was also after benching his PG for Bates since he made that stupid promise. Surprised things aren't going well there.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:24 PM ^
I soooo wish Bates had ended up at MSU.
January 21st, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^
Oh look, he cussed. So what. Next!
January 21st, 2022 at 10:00 PM ^
So that is the new professionalism of a college coach.
January 21st, 2022 at 8:51 PM ^
You are what your record says you are.