Officials at The Racquet Club of Memphis had a major announcement Wednesday.

They had been informed by the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour a few days earlier that the annual Memphis stop on the men’s pro circuit had been given a premier designation as one of the top 19 events underneath the four majors: Wimbledon, the French Open, the Australian Open and the U.S. Open.

So they scheduled a press conference. Good idea.

They held it at City Hall. Not such a good idea.

It created an awkward situation Wednesday afternoon. With most local television outlets sending news reporters to the press conference, the announcement confused those reporters not familiar with professional tennis or the annual Regions Morgan Keegan Championships at The Racquet Club.

Instead of being asked about the impact of the event’s upgrade, tournament owner Mac Winker was peppered with basic questions about the tournament. One TV reporter misinterpreted the eight-week session of Memphis-level events on the ATP Tour as being an eight-week tournament in Memphis. A wire-service reporter interrupted Winker at one point to simply ask: `What are we talking about here?’

The poor decision to hold the event downtown — which had news organizations believing the press conference to be something of a greater sports magnitude — diminished the announcement’s impact. Instead of asking about Memphis’s positioning as one of the sport’s top 25 events in the world, reporters spent 30 minutes trying to figure out what they were covering.

Realizing in some ways they had been misled, several reporters left the conference before it ended.

Perhaps next time tournament officials will take time to think through such a situation before acting. Maybe they’ll discuss the proper staging of such an announcement with those more familiar dealing with the media on a regular basis, like the University of Memphis, the Grizzlies, or the Redbirds.

The Tigers held their final pre-preseason practice on Wednesday, and it was indeed a unique experience. The 15 Chinese coaches were all there, sitting along a wall at the Finch Center, scribbling notes and getting translation from Xia Song, who I wrote about in today’s newspaper article and in my previous blog entry. Plus, camera crews documenting the journey were all over the place. The Tigers’ usual media continent was there as well, along with a reporter from Slam Magazine in town working on a feature. The Tigers had several other visitors, including Bobby Parks and his son, Bobby Parks, Jr., who is one of the best young players in the city. I had a long talk with Chris Woolard, who is in charge of men’s basketball for Conference USA. He said the league’s TV schedule should come out sometime next week.

As for the practice itself, it once again felt like a late November or December practice. Freshman point guard Derrick Rose seems to get better each time I see him. Point guard Andre Allen has a sprained thumb on his right hand, but he’s playing through it. Guard Antonio Anderson’s wrist is bothering him, but he also practiced. At one point, I thought forward Pierre Niles was going to pass out from exhaustion after a drill. But to his credit, Niles took a minute to collect himself, went back in and finished practice.

One moment that stood out was when sophomore Doneal Mack went into traffic, made a nifty up-and-under move and finished a layup with his right hand. Remember, Mack is left-handed. At this point one year ago, Mack couldn’t make an uncontested layup with his right hand, much less a difficult one. It was such an impressive move, John Calipari had to stop practice for a minute and say to no one in particular, “Whooo…if he’s doing that with his right hand…Wow.” Calipari also got pumped up when forward Shawn Taggart executed a very nice-looking give-and-go to Joey Dorsey cutting in from the backdoor. It was the kind of play that showed Calipari that Taggart indeed has good instincts and skills.

And finally, I got a little preview of Memphis’ new uniforms. Don’t expect anything much different than what they were last year. The striping on last year’s uniforms actually did not meet NCAA specification. Since that was adidas’ goof, the NCAA let Memphis and a couple other teams who were wearing that uniform template finish the year with it. Basically, this year’s edition is the same uniform with some adjustment on the stripes.

new jerseys

Taking a tour around Conference USA hometown newspapers. Click on the links to go to the entire stories:

TULANE at UAB: Blazers quarterback Sam Hunt has a shoulder injury, so UAB has simplified its offense. But it’s not the way you think. He’s passing as much as always, but he’s avoiding the quarterback runs. At Tulane, the inability to convert on third-and-short has plagued the Green Wave.

UCF at SOUTH FLORIDA: Knights’ defensive end Lezer Douzable is excited about his team playing a top-5 program, and about going home.

RICE at HOUSTON: Unhappy as a pro baseball player, Rice reserve QB James Casey is ecstatic on the Owls’ football team.

MARSHALL at TULSA: Having been outscored 48-5 in the first quarter this season, the Thundering Herd know they need to change that to find that elusive first victory. At Tulsa, the speed of wideout Trae Johnson is starting to make an impact.

SMU at SOUTHERN MISS: The clock is ticking. The Mustangs need to turn things around, and fast. In Hattiesburg, the news that defensive coordinator Jay Hopson is undergoing tests to determine if he has testicular cancer has everyone concerned.

EAST CAROLINA at UTEP: East Carolina, meet UTEP. UTEP, meet East Carolina. It will be the first meeting between the teams.

Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni conducted a long practice Wednesday when the team spent a considerable amount of time watching video of their foibles from a 102-99 preseason loss against Unicaja Malaga.

The film drew mixed reviews. Iavaroni chose to dwell on the defensive spurts as a major positive.

“I was encouraged by the defensive energy off the bench in the second half,” Iavaroni said. “Kyle (Lowry) got everybody into it. We started denying the low post. They had to go to other options. I was encouraged by our full-court pressure. That turned the game around.”

Sneak Preview

Damon Stoudamire, Hakim Warrick and Stromile Swift chat before the Grizzlies’ workout began.

Video Postcard
Damon Stoudamire talks about the meltdown in Malaga and previews Wednesday’s practice.

NBA Cares
In this position, you try hard not to become part of the stories you cover. I couldn’t help that Wednesday for one good reason: The Grizzlies’ long practice prevented Mike Miller, Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley from helping the Toronto Raptors and adidas dedicate a refurbished basketball court at a school, Ciudad de Jaen, in Madrid. Raptors players and TNT’s Kenny Smith spoke and hosted a basketball skills clinic for the students.

I arrived with NBA personnel long before the event began, and I must say it was a thrilling experience. We tend to mock the NBA’s “Read to Achieve” initiative and NBA Cares seems like fluff. Think that no more.

Having been involved first-hand with how the NBA affects the world with its basketball and community efforts, I’m forever changed. We visited a depressed area of Madrid. These kids come from low-income families. It’s an area with a lot of drugs and drug dealers. There’s a high immigrant population, which promotes the practice of girls dropping out of school to marry at 14.

There is no doubt that the NBA inspired these young people. They knew tons about basketball and their excitement over having the NBA visit was immeasurable. It was two hours those kids will never forget.

They certainly benefited from the experience and I did, too.

This young lady, Sandy, is 17 years old and has excellent ball-handling and shooting ability. She plays for the school, and hopes to play professionally someday. Sandy, who is confident as you can see, approached me and promptly challenged me to a game. What can I say? I’m competitive so I showed no mercy despite begging for oxygen afterwards.

NBA Cares is the league’s social responsibility initiative that builds on the NBA’s long tradition of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world. Through this umbrella program, the NBA, its teams and players have committed to donating $100 million to charity, providing a million hours of hands on service to the community and creating 250 places where kids and families can live, learn or play.

Postcards competition
The Grizzlies’ video postcards have received more than 3,100 views as tabulated by YouTube. It’s been an interesting competition so far in terms of where players rank in popularity.
As of noon Wednesday, here is how the top five looked:
1. Hakim Warrick, 723
2. Mike Conley, 598
3. Pau Gasol, 488
4. Mike Miller, 295
5. Brian Cardinal, 190
*Interestingly enough, a short clip of the Griz exiting a bus at the arena received 192 views. Warrick and Gasol also carry 5-star ratings.

Quotable
“They’re young but better. You don’t want to be young and inexperienced and have no talent. That’s a deadly combination. Right now, I think they’re young and talented. The lack of experience make hurt in certain areas. Having Damon back helps because that’s a strong position. And if Darko (Milicic) can continue on the progression that he had in Orlando, then that will be a good pickup. I see they’ve got a lot of shooters now. They’ve got pieces. They’re just inexperienced together.” -– TNT analyst and former NBA guard Kenny Smith on the Grizzlies

Quotable II
“It’s been an experience for me playing in Europe. I’ve had a chance to come over here and prove a lot. I’ve improved the last couple of years, and that’s what I’ve been trying to show everybody.” -– Former NBA and Tennessee forward Marcus Haslip on getting back into the NBA

THE BIG STORY

Georgia redshirt freshman running back Knowshon Moreno will get his first start as a Bulldog Saturday against Vanderbilt in place of Thomas Brown, who is out for at least a month with a broken collarbone, Bulldogs’ running backs coach Tony Ball said.

Moreno (right) leads Georgia with 462 yards rushing on a team-high 91 carries with three touchdowns and is 10th in the SEC in rushing.

“When you’re on the field, you’re a starter,” Ball said. “That’s the thing I’ve always told him. It doesn’t matter who started the game. Whether he’s out there the first play or the 10th play, you’re the starter when you’re out there. He is ready,” running backs coach Tony Ball said Tuesday night. “He understands.”

Senior Kregg Lumpkin, coming back from a broken right thumb, will share the workload, coach Mark Richt said. Each tailback should get around 15 carries. Lumpkin “hasn’t quite had the pounding that a lot of the other backs get,” Richt said. “I see a fresh Kregg Lumpkin right now and I think he’ll help us.”

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