The first game of the college hoops season just ended, and it was a thriller. Or not. For the record, Richmond won, 44-42, so assuming the Tigers win tonight, they’ll play Richmond tomorrow night for the right to go to New York and the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

I don’t think Memphis has much to worry about.

Richmond is small, slow and not very athletic – even by A-10 standards. The Spiders run Princeton stuff, and they got a few backdoors on Maine, but they were not very impressive otherwise, shooting 17-for-51 from the field and 4-for-21 from the 3-point line. I would expect Memphis to press relentlessly and try to make the game as fast as possible, which is not something Richmond will be comfortable with.

David Gonzalves, who wears No. 5, is a nice player and can break you down off the dribble. That’s pretty much what he did to draw a foul with 3.6 seconds left and the game tied 42-42 after Maine tied it on a runner with 12 seconds left. Gonzalves hit both free throws, and Maine got a last-second attempt at a 3-pointer that rattled out. There was some controversy at the end, as Maine tried to argue that a Richmond player interfered with the ball, but I thought it was a good no-call.
By the way, as an official start to the college basketball season, this was an embarrassment. At the end of the first half, there were about 100 people in the stands. By the end of the game, there might have been 200. It was almost like a C-USA Tournament game. In Tulsa.

On to the Memphis game. The players are starting to warm up as we speak. Joey Dorsey isn’t even going to try to play tonight. He’s in street clothes, and he just told me he might be ready for the Christian Brothers exhibition game next Monday. Also, Chris Douglas-Roberts apparently hurt something – it looks like his left knee, perhaps his calf – in the morning shootaround. He’s getting stretched out by trainer Chris Simmons as we speak. But he is dressed out, and it looks like he’s getting ready to play.
As a side note, Memphis is wearing its blue road uniforms tonight. UT-Martin’s blues apparently weren’t ready yet, so they had to wear their whites.

UPDATE: 15 minutes to tip. Crowd not looking good so far. Joey is in the layup line, which is strange since during the early warmups he was in street clothes and told me he wasn’t going to play. I have no idea why he’s out there.

It was a long, decidedly defensive oriented practice for the Grizzlies, who already rank third in points allowed (112.5), fourth in opponent field goal percentage (.483) and sixth in opponent assists (23) in the NBA.

“We worked on situations where we have to guard better,” head coach Marc Iavaroni said. “That would be catch-and-shoots, pick-and-rolls and post-ups.”

That would also be defending the goal. The Griz allowed tons of layups in last Saturday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers.

“Everybody has to step up,” Pau Gasol (above) said. “The guys on the perimeter have to do a better job of containing the ball and penetration. And the big men have to do a better job of stepping up and blocking shots.”

Tip-ins:

*** Gasol again didn’t practice because of back stiffness. He’s only played in games so far, a trend that may be cause for concern if it continues.

“It’s not fun knowing that his back is hurting,” Iavaroni said. “He’s missing valuable practice time. But being concerned is not going to make it better.”

*** Rudy Gay is averaging 23.5 minutes and five fouls – several of which have been offensive fouls thus his seven turnovers.

“That’s an overriding concern right now – that he’s ready to play and not getting caught with fouls,” Iavaroni said. “He’s got to be on the offensive glass. He’s got to be a presence out there at the three and four.”

Gay (left) has collected just six rebounds in two games, and NONE have come on the offensive glass. One good thing, though, is that Gay has hoisted 24 shots (second-most on the team) and he’s converted half of them.

*** Juan Carlos Navarro buried 4 of 9 3-pointers in a total of 36 minutes. But he seems to get rattled by contact, and hasn’t necessarily provided an offensive spark the Griz are looking for in reserve.

“He’s got to get used to the game,” Iavaroni said. “He has to get used to the speed and that will help him settle down.”

*** Don’t look now, but Mike Miller is the team’s leading rebounder with 10 boards a game.

THE BIG STORY

Upon on further review, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden tied the SEC’s all-time single game record for rushing in Saturday’s 48-36 win over South Carolina.

After some last-minute adjustments, McFadden was officially credited with 34 carries for 321 yards — not 323 like it was announced last Saturday night.

That means the junior tied Vanderbilt’s Frank Mordica for the Southeastern Conference single-game rushing record instead of breaking it.

After reviewing footage of the game, Arkansas officials determined Sunday that McFadden was accidentally given an extra two yards against South Carolina. McFadden was credited with a three-yard run midway through the third quarter that should have gone to fellow Arkansas tailback Felix Jones. UA officials, however, also concluded that McFadden’s first run of the game actually went for two yards instead of one because of a bad spot on the opening kickoff.

“To run for 321 yards or whatever he did and take that many carries and do that many things and then do the kickoff return and then throw (a pass) for a touchdown, it’s a phenomenal, phenomenal effort,” Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. “He’s one of the greatest players to ever walk through here (at Arkansas).”

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

Though Joey Dorsey made some progress this weekend with his injured right shoulder, I don’t see him being able to play tomorrow night in the opener against UT-Martin. I think Joey will come out for warm-ups to see where he’s at, but don’t expect him to be in the lineup. I wouldn’t rule out Tuesday at this point, though the prudent move might be to simply keep him out and play him in the exhibition game against CBU to get tuned up for New York (assuming the Tigers win the first two games).

If Dorsey doesn’t play, I think the starting lineup will be a game time decision. If UT-Martin goes small, the Tigers might put Willie Kemp and Derrick Rose together with Chris Douglas-Roberts, Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier. But I think the most likely starting lineup will be Rose, CDR, Anderson, Dozier and Shawn Taggart. Either way, this will be a big moment for Taggart. The better he plays, the more pressure it will put on Dorsey to come back and have the kind of senior season he’s expected to have.

The Tigers’ last “real” practice was Saturday, and they looked to me like a team getting in the frame of mind to play. The biggest thing that stood out was the 3-point shooting. Both Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack were making everything, so we’ll see if that carries over to the FedExForum. I think Hashim Bailey will get significant playing time in these first couple games. He did a pretty good job in the last days of preseason practice, and with Dorsey likely out, I don’t think Calipari will hesitate to put him in at center and see what he can contribute. And, of course, I’m very interested in how freshman Derrick Rose will look in a real game. If his abbreviated scrimmage performance against Saint Louis was any indication, Rose will be able to get to the rim at will against UT-Martin.

For those going to the game, remember tip-off is at 6 p.m. tonight.