When Memphis coach Penny Hardaway declared this week that he was (again) installing a new offense, dubbed the “lion set,” reactions ranged from relief to apprehension. 

There was no doubt something needed to change for the struggling Tigers, but there was also skepticism among fans and media that an offense last employed by Hardaway with his middle school and high school teams would do the trick. 

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On Tuesday night in Memphis’ 58-57 win over USF, the lion offense debuted not with an earsplitting roar, but a series of sporadic mews and purrs.

There was the bad: The Tigers scored fewer than 60 points for the second straight game, shot 27% from 3-point range, and had 15 turnovers. 

And there was the good: They shot better than 45% from the field for just the second time this season, including 11 of 17 on layups (compared to a combined 8-of-29 layup mark in the previous two games). 

But the biggest problem was that the lion frequently and without warning slipped away quietly, leaving Memphis prone to scoring droughts and unveiling a path for USF to become the predator, not the prey. 

In other words, the Tigers were still the Tigers: frustratingly inconsistent. 

Hardaway acknowledged the missed reads and the blown nine-point lead, but was optimistic about the lion’s future as the players’ comfort levels increase. 

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“We’re going to keep getting better,” he said. “As long as our defense stays where it is, our offense is going to catch up. I promise.” 

When he introduced the new offense to reporters on Monday, Hardaway stated a few key goals: More movement, aggressive offensive rebounding and ample scoring opportunities in the paint. 

Memphis mostly delivered. It finished with 17 assists on 24 field goals, seven second-chance points on eight offensive rebounds and 36 paint points. 

There were still the usual boneheaded turnovers, and the Tigers big men seemed lost when the Bulls began overplaying them on the elbows. But it looked a lot more cohesive than the last couple of weeks. 

“I love it,” guard Alex Lomax said. “I feel like we got a lot of easy points that we don’t usually get, and those are the type of points that we need. It was a lot of different options open today that we didn’t see. So I feel like when once we figure those out and everybody starts to pay attention to the offense and the plays on the reads, we’ll give you even more easy points.”

This was not the first time this season the Tigers revamped their offense, but Hardaway said after the game he thinks they’ll stick with it while adding a few “wrinkles.” 

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Lester Quinones, who started at point guard for the second consecutive game, admitted the new system will take some getting used to. 

“I felt like it was kind of tougher on my end, especially with me being the starting point guard now,” he said. “I have to know the 1 through the 5. I have to know where everybody’s supposed to be at all times. And if they mess up, it’s on me. ... These past couple of days I really had to lock in on watching film and really understanding the offense.” 

Things got off to a promising start following tipoff. While it didn’t look exactly like the “five bodies moving” scheme Hardaway had promised (there were multiple possessions where at least three Tigers were at a standstill for the first 15 seconds), there was a notable uptick in patience and a shared scoring responsibility. 

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Four minutes into the game, Memphis had made four of its first five shots and attempted just one 3-pointer (a make by Landers Nolley II). Twelve minutes into the game, Memphis had a 19-11 lead and nine players had contributed a field goal apiece. 

“I feel like this is a great offense to get everyone involved,” Lomax said. “If you can get eight to nine different guys scoring early it just brings more energy. You know, once the guys see the ball go in the goal, they just play harder.” 

There were flashes of savvier decision-making: When Lance Thomas was caught off guard by a lob from Boogie Ellis, instead of attempting the alley-oop, he brought the ball down and collected himself for a dunk off two feet.

A few possessions later, DeAndre Williams threw a pass over the top to Moussa Cisse, who caught it in the restricted area, facing away from the hoop, with a defender pressed against his back. The freshman center pivoted slightly to his left and dumped the ball off to D.J. Jeffries, who was barreling down the baseline for an uncontested slam. 

But the Bulls defense quickly adjusted. The Tigers’ disjointed performance for a stretch comprising the end of the first half and start of the second prompted me to share on Twitter the most niche Memphian joke I’ve made since moving here: 

The most impressive aspect of the win — Memphis’ comeback from 14 points down in the second half — wasn’t so much the result of the offense stealthily deciding to pounce as it was the defense prodding it with a stick. 

Defensive effort — Lomax diving on a loose ball, Williams snatching a steal — and transition run-outs helped the Tigers pull off the win. But the grit-and-grind style with which they did it breeds confidence that they hope will carry over into the offense. 

“I hope that sparks something on this team because I feel like those last six minutes, we looked like a team that nobody’s seen all year,” Quinones said. “Everybody was scrapping, everybody was fighting, everybody was just communicating and talking on defense and we were executing on offense. ... I hope we really just pick up from where we just left off on this game.” 

And what’s more, the tight game gave Hardaway a chance to shorten the rotation. Seven players were on the floor in crunch time: Cisse, Jeffries, Lomax, Quinones, Williams, Nolley and Jayden Hardaway.

“I think the group that I had on the floor had the mental toughness,” Penny Hardaway said. “If they play more minutes together, that group, we blow South Florida out. That’s how I look at it. So I just have to do a better job of understanding, those guys that fought at the end are the guys that don’t want to lose.” 

So though the test drive of the lion offense didn’t definitively prove it a well-oiled machine, Hardaway is confident film review and continued practice will get it there. 

“It’s coming, man,” he said. “I’m feeling that this is something that they like better.”