The never-ending offseason will be laid to rest tonight at 8 p.m. at the FedEx Forum. And so it finally begins. The unknown and unpredictable journey that will be a direct by-product of an insane summer. The University of Memphis men’s basketball team, under rookie head coach Josh Pastner, will take the court for their first official game against the Jackson State Tigers.
Despite the fact that Jackson State enter the season without two All-SWAC first-team selections from a year ago, the Tigers return three starters and 10 overall lettermen returning for the 2009-10 campaign. With depth and experience, Jackson State head coach Tevester Anderson plans to play at an extremely fast pace. By running the floor and get up and back on the break quickly, Anderson will employ a deep bench and use a number of players to keep everyone fresh.
Grant Maxey will see the most minutes for the Tigers and will be key to their success. Maxey led the Tigers in scoring a year ago with 16.4 points per game. He’ll team with Garrison Johnson (10.7 ppg last season) to give Jackson State a solid one-two scoring punch. Also returning is sophomore Rod Melvin, who was the league’s top freshman in 2008-09.
PROBABLE STARTING LINE-UP
PG Rod Melvin
G Garrison Johnson
G De’Suan Dixon
F Grant Maxey
C Gertavin Blake
FUN FACTS:
- Jackson State was the No. 2 offense in the SWAC last season. The Tigers averaged 69.9 points per game.
- F Grant Maxey is the top returning scorer in the SWAC this season after ranking second in the league with 16.4 points per game a year ago. Good outside game but can also take his defender to the post with a good back to the basket game.
- G Rod Melvin had the fifth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the SWAC as a freshman with a ratio of 1.6-to-1. He was the number one point guard in Miss coming out of high school.
BREAKING DOWN THE NEWCOMERS
Junior College transfer Gertavin Blake (junior) - 6′10″ 260lbs
Ramond Gregory (freshman) – 6′10″ 260lbs
Jazmonn Major 6′4″
Christian Williams 6′1″ 180lbs (freshman) - 12th in scoring in California High Schools last year at 26.6ppg
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THIS KEY:
Whoever Josh Pastner puts on Grant Maxey as a defender will have their hands full. Whether it is Wesley Witherspoon, DJ Stephens or any of the other Memphis 3/4’s, there will be times when throwing a double team at Maxey is unavoidable. Will Memphis double Maxey? How often? How will Memphis’ defenders react when required to rotate. If Maxey is able to find someone when trying to pass out of the double teams, it’ll force the Memphis defense to play straight-up against Maxey more often.
JSU LAST YEAR: 18-15 overall, 15-3 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference
HEAD COACH: Tevester Anderson (career 198-152); 7th year at Jackson State (95-100).
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