Tom Bowen referring to the 45? year old Hardaway as young man, and then Penny's comments that the lack of fans attending games hurt the current kids playing. Yes.
He nailed it. Absolutely fantastic way to start his career. He gets what Memphis is about and what it takes to be successful. I cannot help but feel we are in for some fun times in the coming years!
I have been hesitant of the Penny hire but, man, he got me with the family remarks. Memphis basketball is insular in a way I am not sure any other program is. And it is nice to here that from a coach again.
"I really want to hit the ground running. I know everybody's saying be patient. Try to do this first, try to do that first. I'm not built that way, I'm not wired that way. I go for it all or for nothing at all."
"Tubby told them from the beginning it was a four- to five-year process. When he says it's a process, that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone."
"Tubby Smith on recruiting against power five schools: "Competing in the world today for Memphis is a big difference than what it was 10 years ago.”
When LeBron went back to Cleveland, he preached patience, but got to work. They made game six of the NBA Finals, won it all the next year, then made it back to the finals, and if Love and Thompson are healthy playoff time this year, may well win it again.
He went home, many beat on him, but they did the work and as mentioned above, unless you were a pure hater or had no soul, it was a moving sports experience.
Different pedigree here, but same idea. Local hero comes home so to speak, the idea is patience, but the reality is doing the work to get things back asap.
Still stung to a degree by the ending treatment of our last two Memphis guys to coach...Larry Porter...and moreso, a local Memphis legend and long time successful coach who deserved better even if it was time to move on. Even hot dog stand jokes got fatiguing.
This can be inspiring. Be moved, be supportive, be patient when necessary, and get to the games. 4115 season tickets. Man. How many THOUSANDS more will be sold before 2018-2019?? We are definitely keeping our six!
“I wore these because I want (Penny) to know we’re fully supportive of what he’s going to do. We’re all in and it’s time for everybody else to jump on board with that.” - Mike Norvell said about wearing Penny’s shoes at #Memphis’ practice today
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Video: Penny's press conference
