clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Memphis 76, Vanderbilt 67: Back to the drawing board

Vanderbilt needs to figure things out.

By Tom Stephenson
/ new

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: NOV 07 Memphis at Vanderbilt Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Four Factors

Four Factors Vanderbilt Memphis
Four Factors Vanderbilt Memphis
eFG% 51.79% 55.66%
OR% 27.78% 33.33%
TO% 19.70% 19.70%
FT Rate 26.79% 35.85%

Tennessean: Vanderbilt basketball struggles offensively, loses to Memphis in opener

247 Sports: Sloppy offense dooms Vanderbilt in season-opening loss to Memphis

VandySports: Vanderbilt basketball falls short in opening night contest

Vanderbilt Athletics: Tough Debut for the Dores

Vanderbilt Hustler: Vanderbilt Commodores drop season opener for first time since 2016, lose to Memphis, 76-67

I hate to try to take too much away from the first game of the season, particularly when you’re playing a real opponent. As of this writing, Memphis ranks 28th in KenPom and I won’t be surprised if they’re better than that; and, in particular, defense has never been an issue for them since Penny Hardaway took over.

Still, there’s a reason why a lot of coaches elect to play a few warmup games before getting into the meat of the schedule instead of jumping right in and playing what might be a top 15 team in the country. Monday night’s minutes distribution suggests that Jerry Stackhouse is still trying to figure out his rotation, and that’s something much better done against teams you know you can beat rather than trying to figure things out on the fly in a game you could easily lose.

What should be obvious, though, is that the starting lineup that Jerry Stackhouse sent out there on Monday night isn’t going to work. When Stackhouse elected to put Jordan Wright and Myles Stute alongside a defense-first point guard (Ezra Manjon), a defense-first shooting guard (Tyrin Lawrence), and a defense-first big man (Quentin Millora-Brown)... well, Jordan Wright and Myles Stute aren’t going to carry that group. You can maybe get away with three defense-first guys on the floor when you have a Scotty Pippen Jr. to carry the team on the offensive end; it’s not going to work when Jordan Wright is the main offensive threat on the floor.

We’ll see if Stackhouse adjusts. How quickly the freshmen come along — and a couple of them, at least, look like they’re already almost there — will probably determine how long this persists, but when the offense is at its most effective when Trey Thomas is running the point... well, that’s not something I expected to write at any point.

Individual Stats

Player MIN FG FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA ORB DRB REB PTS PF AST TO BLK STL GmSc AdjGS GS/Min
Player MIN FG FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA ORB DRB REB PTS PF AST TO BLK STL GmSc AdjGS GS/Min
Tyrin Lawrence 24 4 7 2 3 4 6 2 2 4 14 2 2 4 1 1 10.2 15.05 0.63
Jordan Wright 26 2 5 1 2 2 4 0 1 1 7 3 5 2 0 3 7.1 10.48 0.40
Emmanuel Ansong 17 2 4 0 0 1 3 4 1 5 5 2 0 0 1 0 5.2 7.67 0.45
Myles Stute 25 4 9 4 8 0 0 0 2 2 12 2 0 2 0 0 5.1 7.53 0.30
Ezra Manjon 30 3 8 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 6 1 3 1 0 2 4.6 6.79 0.23
Liam Robbins 15 3 5 1 2 0 0 1 2 3 7 3 0 2 0 1 3.8 5.61 0.37
Trey Thomas 16 2 6 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 2 0 0 0 3.6 5.31 0.33
Quentin Millora-Brown 14 1 2 0 1 2 2 1 2 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 3.5 5.17 0.37
Colin Smith 12 1 3 1 3 0 0 1 3 4 3 0 1 1 0 0 2.6 3.84 0.32
Paul Lewis 7 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.3 0.44 0.06
Malik Dia 11 1 5 1 4 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 1 0 1 -0.2 -0.30 -0.03
Lee Dort 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 -0.4 -0.59 -0.20
  • Yeah, I’m not sure that I expected Emmanuel Ansong to be a top-three player for Vanderbilt in any game this season, but it only took one game for that to happen in spite of him playing only 17 minutes. That’s where we are right now.
  • We’ll see whether this improvement from Tyrin Lawrence is real or just a single game mirage, but if he can do this on a nightly basis, Vanderbilt might actually end up being okay. Four turnovers is... not good, though.
  • ...with that said, Jordan Wright is going to have to do a lot more than that for this to have any chance of working.
  • Just like it’s problematic to have Jordan Wright as your first offensive option, having Myles Stute — basically a one-dimensional three-point shooter — as your second option is a problem, too.
  • Ezra Manjon is a good defender! It’s just... the scoring threat isn’t there.
  • No, I have no idea why Liam Robbins is coming off the bench, either. I like Quentin Millora-Brown for what he is, but this feels like the galaxy brain thing Stack did in his first year when he had Saben Lee come off the bench. Robbins being limited to 15 minutes seems like it was mostly a result of foul trouble.
  • Trey Thomas really should always just be the instant offense guy off the bench, but he might have to start for this team. Yeah, I really wrote that.
  • The freshmen are probably going to have to play more than I thought they would, because that group represents the most talented players on the team. Colin Smith should be starting for this team by conference play at the latest, and while Malik Dia had a rough debut, I think he can be a good player. Lee Dort only played three minutes and Noah Shelby didn’t play, and... I can’t think of a dumber idea than giving those guys the kind of playing time that will send them to the transfer portal after the season.

What’s Next

Vanderbilt hosts Southern Miss on Friday at 6:00 PM CT on the SEC Network+. Vanderbilt should (should) easily handle Southern Miss, a team that went 7-26 last season and currently ranks 321st in KenPom. If they’re not easily handling Southern Miss, well, I am going to be concerned.

More From Anchor Of Gold

Loading comments...