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MEMPHIS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

Memphis is known as hoop city, but fans of the University of Memphis Tigers basketball team have not been showing up lately.

Some fans insist they stay away because the Tigers aren’t playing a relevant team. Others say they stay away because Memphis doesn’t have any good players. Admittedly, the team may look quite different, with 11 new players on the team and only two returning players.

Jeremiah Martin, one of two players that returned from last year’s team, was recently asked about the fans’ perspective of the Tigers. He said he is not letting any of it affect what he does on the court.

On multiple occasions, Martin said winning is the most important thing to him this season. He’s not concerned about scoring career-high points as he did against Little Rock and Louisville and is only focused on winning the game at any cost.

The Tigers (9-3) are undefeated at home this season, but are winless on the road or on neutral sites. The Tigers in the past were a fixture on local and national television, but now most of the Tigers games have been shown on ESPN3.com.

The lack of exposure or interest could be the reason most people are staying away. Memphis fans tend to support players that they know and who they like to see play. Most of the highly decorated high school players from Memphis have chosen to play at other schools instead of playing with the Tigers.

The most recent example is highly regarded Alex Lomax, the two-time Mr. Basketball player. Lomax will play in Memphis once a year, when he suits up for the Wichita State Shockers. The Shockers joined the American Athletic Conference last season as a basketball-only school and were able to sign Lomax before the Tigers had a chance.

Constantly losing the recruiting wars for local talent is another reason Tiger fans choose to stay at home instead showing up at FedExForum. Darrick Hawk, a Tigers basketball fan who graduated from a Southwest Athletic Conference school, has become frustrated with the Tigers program. “Tubby is not willing to do what it takes to compete at a high level,” Hawk said.

Hawk doesn’t want the Tigers to break any rules but he wants Memphis to do what it takes to get highly talented players, even if that means firing the current coach to bring in a new one.

Another reason for the lack of attendance at Tigers games is the availability of good seats. The Tigers currently have a system that allows major donors of the program to purchase the best seats in FedExForum. Fans may want to go to the home games, but are not able to get some of the prime seats.

Other fans are still upset about the former coach not developing the program to their liking and have not forgiven him for that. To some, Josh Pastner started the unwanted tradition of local players transferring from the program to other Division I programs. That trend hit its pinnacle last season when every player except three left the program for various reasons.

Whatever the reason may be for fans staying away, it is noticeable. The attendance for the last few games have been announced at 4,702, 4,373 and 4,168. Now consider that FedExForum seats approximately 18,000 people.

The fans that are staying away from watching the Tigers are missing a team that has improved incrementally since the embarrassing loss to Alabama to start the season. This is a team that always plays hard like most teams coached by Tubby Smith. The opponents will get better as the team gets into conference play and should finish higher than the projected ninth place.

There are three reasons real hoop fans should support the Tigers. The Tigers always play hard and rarely take plays off. They have a will to win and have improved in every game they have played this season.

Secondly, the new additions to the team are slowing building a chemistry so that if one or two key players are added to the mix, this team could be the foundation to returning the Tigers back to the national spotlight.

Finally, the FedExForum is a much better place when it is filled with energy. The energy the fans give to the team propels them to play beyond their average abilities. That same energy can be used to intimidate opposing teams. Also, the Tigers have a great incentive to get their attendance over a certain level to receive a financial windfall from the Memphis Grizzlies as stated in their contract.

So if you are a basketball fan and enjoy watching good basketball, give this year’s team a try.

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