Memphis - blue blood? No.
I think a lot of people here simply overestimate the Memphis bball program. They are not a college bball blue blood. However, a lot of people here expect the results of a higher rung program.
I started looking through historical results of the NCAA tournament. Memphis is #47 in games played. They are #46 in wins. Memphis has a .500 win percentage in the NCAA tournament.
Here is a list of Final Four appearances:
App. School
18 North Carolina
17 UCLA*
16 Kentucky
15 Duke
14 Kansas
10 Louisville, Ohio State*
8 Indiana, Michigan State
6 Arkansas, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State
5 Connecticut, Florida, Georgetown, Houston, Illinois, Michigan**, Syracuse
4 Arizona, Kansas State, LSU, Oklahoma, UNLV, Utah
3 California, Iowa, Marquette, N.C. State, San Francisco, Texas, Villanova*, Wisconsin
2 Baylor, Bradley, Butler, CCNY, Colorado, Dartmouth, DePaul, Georgia Tech, Holy Cross, La Salle, Maryland, NYU, Oregon State, Providence, Purdue, St. John's, Stanford, Temple, USC, Virginia, West Virginia, Wichita State,
1 Charlotte, Dayton, Drake, Duquesne, Florida State, George Mason, Georgia, Indiana State, Iowa State, Jacksonville, Loyola (IL), Memphis**, Mississippi State, New Mexico State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rutgers, Santa Clara, Seattle, Seton Hall, SMU, St. Bonaventure, UTEP, Virginia Commonwealth, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State, Wyoming
Sure, Memphis had 2 appearances vacated, but those top programs are at a whole different level.
I'd love it if we won the NCAA during my lifetime, but I'm not going to be pissed off every year at whoever is the coach if we lose some games and "only" make it to the NCAA and win a game or two. I wouldn't blame another coach for not wanting to come here. Who would want to deal with a delusional fanbase? It is one thing to have a fanbase that is crazy supportive of the team, and one that calls for you to be fired every time you lose a game.
So much is said about CJP, but we could really blame things on the players. How many top recruits have shown up and then phoned in? You can't blame everything on the coach. Remember how DJ hustled when he was on the court? I know early on Joe had some issues, but the last 2 years he always gave it his all on the court. The coach can try to motivate, but ultimately it falls on the player if they get out their and don't play hard. Maybe we get too many prima donnas in our recruiting classes.
I also don't get some of the arguments. Coach pay? NBA arena? Quality of facilities? TV market? None of these guarantee success. I think it is great that we have those things, but so what? Are we trying to buy a championship?
What is the reasoning to expect, or rather demand, so much more from CJP than what the program has historically done?
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