Memphis Will Give Mississippi State More Than a Familiar Name to Prepare For

Mississippi State knows the Memphis name. Understanding this Memphis team requires a different kind of preparation.

Penny Hardaway brings a rebuilt roster to Humphrey Coliseum on Friday for a 7 p.m. exhibition against the Bulldogs. The opponent carries familiar expectations, but the personnel should not be evaluated through memories of previous Tigers teams. Mississippi State will be facing a group still establishing its own responsibilities, combinations and identity.

That makes the game useful for both sides. The Bulldogs are trying to define the team around Josh Hubbard, while Memphis is integrating players whose previous production came in different programs and different circumstances. The final score will provide one result. The possessions underneath it should supply a more valuable explanation of where each reconstruction stands.

Memphis’ Expectations Begin With Two Proven Producers

The American Conference’s preseason coaches’ poll placed Memphis second, with four first-place votes and 131 points. Wichita State finished first with 140 points and nine first-place votes. That is evidence of conference expectations, not proof that the Tigers have already developed the continuity necessary to meet them.

Jayden Reid and Tylik Weeks help explain why the expectations exist. Reid earned preseason first-team all-conference recognition, while Weeks was named to the second team. Both arrived with substantial college experience, giving Hardaway players whose evaluations extend beyond recruiting projections.

Reid averaged 10.1 points at Northwestern last season. Before that, he played at South Florida, where his sophomore season included averages of 12.6 points, 3.6 assists and 1.8 steals. Those numbers establish a background involving scoring and playmaking, although they do not determine precisely how Memphis will distribute those responsibilities.

Weeks supplies another kind of production. He averaged 19.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists at Southern Miss last season, scoring in double figures in 32 of 34 games. At 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds on Memphis’ current roster, he presents a forward assignment Mississippi State should evaluate carefully.

The Bulldogs do not need to treat either player as unstoppable. They need to identify how Memphis uses them, which opportunities they create and what the rest of the lineup does when they receive defensive attention. Individual credentials are the starting point for preparation, not the conclusion.

The Roster Requires Observation Rather Than Assumption

Memphis’ guard group includes Reid, Josh Holloway, Brandin Cummings, Julius Thedford and Luke Almodovar, along with freshmen competing for opportunities. Their previous schools and listed positions provide background. They do not establish a confirmed rotation or a hierarchy of late-game responsibilities.

That distinction matters because preseason coverage can become too confident too quickly. A familiar program often acquires a fixed description before its current players have demonstrated the relevant habits. Mississippi State should prepare for possibilities without treating every historical Memphis tendency as an established feature of this roster.

The frontcourt provides a similar examination. Weeks, Corneilous Williams, Jerry Deng, Rihards Vavers, William Whorton and Maxim Logue offer different listed sizes and backgrounds. Nemanja Popovic and freshman Fred Smith Jr. add further options. The roster indicates choices for Hardaway, but the effectiveness of those choices must be established on the floor.

For Mississippi State, the useful questions will be specific. Who initiates Memphis’ half-court possessions? Which players remain involved when the first action is defended? How do the Tigers arrange their rebounding responsibilities? Which combinations create difficult defensive decisions?

Those observations are more valuable than declaring Memphis a certain type of team before the game. The Bulldogs need to recognize the opponent in front of them, not the version suggested by a familiar logo.

Mississippi State Bulldogs Josh Hubbard driving to the basket in a game against Alabama State on Monday night at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss. | Mississippi State Athletics

State’s Evaluation Must Extend Beyond Winning

Mississippi State enters after a 77-73 exhibition loss to NC State. That result establishes that the Bulldogs have already faced outside competition, but the score alone does not explain which areas improved or require correction. Friday provides another opportunity to gather evidence before the regular-season opener against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 2.

The most important examination concerns repeatability. Can State produce organized offense when Hubbard is not responsible for every initial decision? Can its different combinations complete defensive possessions? Do substitutions preserve useful habits, or does the team’s structure change dramatically whenever the lineup changes?

Memphis is valuable because its experienced additions can challenge those questions without Friday carrying regular-season consequences. The Bulldogs can compete seriously while recognizing that the coaches may also be evaluating combinations and responsibilities. Those purposes should inform the interpretation of the result.

A win would be preferable to a loss. It would not automatically establish that Mississippi State has solved its offensive balance or rotation questions. A defeat would require examination without turning an exhibition into a final judgment on the season.

The stronger standard is whether the Bulldogs demonstrate identifiable progress. Memphis brings enough individual experience and uncertainty of its own to make that examination meaningful. Friday should help Mississippi State learn what it can trust, what still requires work, and which preseason assumptions deserve to be reconsidered.

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