Buckley: ‘Complete domination.’ The Tigers have Andy Kennedy’s endorsement.
UAB coach Andy Kennedy, left, talks with Blazers guard Tony Toney, right, during Sunday’s loss to Memphis. (Nikki Boertman/AP Photo)
Tim Buckley
Tim is a veteran sportswriter who graduated from CBHS in Memphis and the University of Missouri. He previously covered LSU sports in Baton Rouge, and the University of Louisiana football and basketball for The Daily Advertiser/USA TODAY Network in Lafayette, the NBA’s Utah Jazz for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, and West Texas State basketball for the Amarillo Globe News in Texas.
Having spent 12 seasons down the road as a certain SEC team’s head coach, Andy Kennedy knows something about the Mid-South.
He knows how folks here think. He knows what they say and why they say it.
As UAB’s coach now, he knows a little something about American Athletic Conference basketball, too.
Kennedy has heard the criticism of strength of schedule and quality of play in the AAC and understands how difficult it is for teams that lose too many league games to make it to the NCAA Tournament.
Accordingly, Kennedy realizes resumes matter — especially their notations next to November and December.
“You’ve got to win in your non-league in order for these league games to have any relevance,” said Kennedy, a Louisville, Mississippi, native who has coached UAB since 2020.
“I’m pretty familiar with Memphis from my time at Ole Miss (2006-18), and I know there’s always angst about ‘Well, you can’t lose these league games because it’s (not) gonna do anything but hurt you.’ Well, they’re right. It’s not gonna do anything but hurt you.”
Which is why it must have pained Kennedy to say two words Sunday: “Complete domination.”
Yet he said them anyway.
Over and over.
Topics
Memphis Tigers Basketball Subscriber Only Dain Dainja Andy KennedyThank you for supporting local journalism.
Subscribers to The Daily Memphian help fund our not-for-profit newsroom of nearly 40 local journalists plus more than 20 freelancers, all of whom work around the clock to cover the issues impacting our community. Subscriptions - and donations - also help fund our community access programs which provide free access to K-12 schools, community organizations, and more. Thank you for making our work possible.
Related stories
Despite flawed performance, Tigers pick up bounce-back road win at Charlotte
Led by PJ Haggerty’s 18 points and 14 points and nine rebounds from Dain Dainja, the Tigers pick up the road win to improve to 4-1 in the AAC and 14-4 overall.Related content:
Martin: Memphis wins! All is well — if it can keep it up for the next 50 days.
The challenge for the Memphis Tigers is to be this locked in every night, often against teams at the bottom of the barrel. And a loss the game before shouldn’t be a prerequisite to coming out with that kind of energy.
Love it, Like it or Hate it: Memphis’ win over Charlotte features highs and lows
“When we play poorly, it looks bad,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said of the No. 18 Tigers after they beat AAC bottom-feeder Charlotte by single digits Sunday. “But when we play great, it looks great. We have our moments.” Despite flawed performance, Tigers pick up bounce-back road win at CharlotteRelated content:
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.