Memphis will soon begin a 10-day stretch that has the potential to define its season.

That may sound like an exaggeration when discussing college basketball in December. But starting with their road game against No. 21 Texas A&M on Sunday (3 p.m., ESPN2, 98.9 FM), the Tigers (6-2) will have three games in a row versus teams either ranked in the AP Top 25 or in the top 30 of KenPom.

They’ll only have two such opportunities after this month — one each against 11th-ranked Florida Atlantic in late February and early March. So it’s easy to see why it’s now or never for coach Penny Hardaway’s group when it comes to its quest to earn a No. 7 seed or better in the NCAA Tournament.

Martin: Tigers’ ugly victory against VCU could turn out to be a good thing

The problem, however, is that Memphis doesn’t look anywhere near ready to seize the moment. Its overtime road win over VCU on Wednesday marked a third consecutive underwhelming outing — with a blowout loss to Villanova and a close defeat at Ole Miss leading up to it.

But the Tigers know they have the talent to get back on track. And they’re confident their upcoming matchup with the Aggies can be a turning point.

“Really it’s been about us and trying to get our mindset right,” Hardaway said Friday. “We want to be a tough, physical, energetic team out on the court every time we play. And we’re just not. We’re talking about it, but we’re not doing it out there on the court.”

Hardaway also spoke with media members about the importance of accountability within the Tigers’ locker room, the absence of Jordan Brown and how he’ll handle his team’s rotation moving forward.

Ruffling feathers

Despite picking up a victory over VCU, guards Jahvon Quinerly and Caleb Mills were visibly frustrated after the game Wednesday.

Both players feel Memphis is better than what it put on display that night in Richmond.

Tigers Basketball Insider: Memphis’ NCAA NET rankings, what it means

Quinerly and Mills admitted the team isn’t on the same page and has struggled to execute plays and remain engaged throughout games.

Hardaway said Friday that the Tigers lack a “bad cop,” or, in other words, a player or two willing to call out their teammates when instructions aren’t followed and standards aren’t met. The sixth-year coach said his players seem to be “afraid” of the sort of conflict that holding others accountable could bring.

“These guys, in this era, they really don’t like to ruffle any feathers,” Hardaway said. “They just try to stay away from that — which makes it worse.

“To me, when you want to win, you’ll do whatever it takes. You’ll talk about the hard stuff. You’ll identify the things that aren’t being done right.”

Memphis has lacked cohesion on the offensive end, failed to effectively communicate on the defensive end and has given up way too many offensive rebounds. There have also been times players simply haven’t run the plays Hardaway and his staff have called.

All this must be corrected if the Tigers hope to make some real noise before the start of AAC play in January.

Anyone seen Jordan Brown?

After struggling through the first seven games of the season, Jordan Brown did not travel with Memphis on the team’s trip to VCU.

Hardaway said Wednesday that the 6-foot-11 Louisiana transfer center was “sick,” but he didn’t go into further detail.

The absence came after Brown — who was expected to be a key piece for the Tigers — had averaged just 6.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game through the early stretch of this season.

Though Hardaway had hoped Brown would be back with the team when it regrouped following the VCU game, Brown still hadn’t reported back to the program as of Friday afternoon.

“JB’s still sick, man,” Hardaway said. “I’ve gotta knock on (his) door today — for real. He’s been ill. … This is crazy.” 

Hardaway added that he didn’t have an estimation on when Brown would return either but that he is “hoping that he shows up (Saturday)” so that Brown can “get his legs under him” before Memphis takes on Texas A&M on Sunday.

If Brown isn’t back before then, though, Hardaway said Dandridge, Nick Jourdain and Jonathan Pierre would be in line for more minutes.

Memphis center Jordan Brown not available against VCU

Veteran big men Dandridge and Jourdain have been staples of the Tigers’ rotation thus far. Pierre, on the other hand, has registered just six minutes a game and averaged two points. 

Length of rotation

After 11 Tigers played in the VCU game and players were subbed in and out at seemingly every media timeout, Hardaway said in a postgame radio interview that he had to stick with playing his “studs.”

The comments made some believe he would shorten his team’s rotation heading into Sunday’s matchup with Texas A&M.

But when asked Friday about how he’d handle the length of his rotation and substitution patterns moving forward, Hardaway defended his decision to play several players and sub guys in and out fairly quickly. 

“I think it’s fatigue a lot of times,” Hardaway said of his reasoning for making quick substitutions. “A lot of these guys are playing so hard, you don’t wanna keep them on the floor tired. And the next thing is just trusting that my bench can go out and get some things done and give them confidence, as well.” 

Ten different Tigers took the court less than five minutes into Wednesday’s game after Hardaway checked in a new five just 4:59 after tipoff.

Rick Stansbury on Memphis basketball attendance: ‘I’ve been disappointed’

Hardaway did point out, though, that his three stars — Quinerly, Mills and David Jones — all played at least 29 minutes of the 45-minute overtime game.

The trio combined for 50 of the team’s 85 points.

“You’ve gotta lean on those guys,” he said, “and they had good games last game.”