The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, allows college basketball coaches to work with their players for two hours per week leading up to the official start of practice on Oct. 12. Typically, these workouts are fairly basic. Coaches don’t expect to get much done, but they can use these sessions as a warm up for the long stretch of practices between Midnight Madness and the start of the season.

But if a random observer were to watch Memphis in these early workouts without knowing the date, he’d be more likely to guess that it was a December or January practice rather than the first week of October. The Tigers practiced Monday afternoon, and once again, their intensity and level of playmaking was sensational. Even the team’s harshest practice critic, John Calipari, had to stop the action at one point and exclaim, “This is like we’re a month into practice! We’re way above where we were last year. Not even close!” Of course, this isn’t too much of a surprise, given the number of veterans on the roster and possibility of Memphis’ No. 1 preseason ranking.

A couple observations:

– Sophomore forward Hashim “Big City” Bailey is positioning himself to contribute this year. Bailey slimmed down considerably during the summer, and his reshaped body is helping him becoming way more of a defensive force. During one drill, Calipari asked the team to applaud Bailey’s effort and asked rhetorically, “How much better is he than a year ago?”

– Point guard Andre Allen has had two outstanding practices in a row. Calipari knows he’ll have to find minutes for Allen, and one of the things he’s batting around is the idea of playing a very small lineup and seeing what happens.

– Sophomore forward Shawn Taggart sat out Monday. He’s been battling a sore back.

– Lou Holtz, in town to call the Memphis-Marshall football game Tuesday for ESPN, spoke to the team after practice.

– White Station sophomore Joe Jackson was in the Finch Center watching practice. Jackson has spent a lot of time at the Finch this summer, and that’s good news for Memphis. Jackson, a dynamic point guard, is a must-get recruit for the Tigers. In my opinion, he’s the best high school player in the city right now regardless of age or position.

It is very difficult to find the words that would tell you what I am feeling. I have said in other blogs that I view the Tigers as an extension of my family. Today I mourn.

I want to send my condolences to Taylor’s family, friends and teammates. You are in our thoughts and prayers. There can be no words that will ease your pain. Know that you are not alone as you have the Memphis family with you.

The Grizzlies have started training camp running at full speed…literally. One of the first exercises involved the team trying to score 100 pts in under two minutes using the full court. While the team only reached 98 pts the message was sent loud and clear. Not only can the team run but they will be expected to run and run to score not just to play at a fast tempo.

Day two of training camp began defensive planning and all indications are that the team will be focusing on defense at a fast pace as well. This should be good news for fans of the Grizzlies as previous seasons the team was less than interesting at the pace they usually played. Read the rest of this entry »

THE BIG STORY

It was Nov. 7, 1959, when LSU last played a game as the No. 1-ranked football team in the Associated Press poll. The Tigers (5-0) will play No. 9 Florida (4-1) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Tiger Stadium as the No. 1 team.

LSU jumped over USC (4-0) Sunday with 33 first-place votes to 32 in the media poll for a total of 1,593 points to 1,591 despite USC beating Washington 27-24 Saturday night. LSU trailed 40-point underdog Tulane 9-7 in the second quarter Saturday after an 11 a.m. kickoff but woke up for a 34-9 win.

“This tells you that the voters didn’t get up early in the morning to watch our game,” LSU coach Les Miles said with a smile Sunday afternoon. “I think they kind of slept in and got caught up on the score later in the day.”

Miles said USC should have remained No. 1, and it did in the USA Today coaches poll and in the Harris poll. Those two are used in the Bowl Championship Series formula that will decide who plays in the BCS national championship game on Jan. 7 in the Louisiana Superdome. USC is the first No. 1 team to win and still drop from the AP poll since Nov. 3, 2002 when No. 1 Miami dropped after beating Rutgers, and No. 2 Oklahoma moved up after a win over No. 13 Colorado.

“We played poorly,” Miles said. “We can’t afford to play like that anymore for any length of time whether it’s a half or what. I think SC is a dynamic team and under-represented right now. They should be first probably.”

A look at the league: Read the rest of this entry »