(female announcer)
This is a production
of WKNO-Memphis.

Production funding for "Sports
Files" is made possible in part

by..

My guest today on "Sports Files"
is the head coach of the Memphis

Tigers Men's Basketball team,
Josh Pastner.

[theme music]
♪♪♪

The Memphis Tigers will open up
play in the N-C-A-A Tournament

Tomorrow night when they
face George Washington from the

Atlantic 10 Conference.

The Tigers are an eight seed
after producing a 23 and 9

record that
included five top 25 wins.

Their first round ouster in
last week's American Conference

Tournament was a
shock to the system,

one that has left Head Coach
Josh Pastner at a loss for

words.

But now the Tigers have a chance
to redeem themselves with a good

showing in the big dance.

Last year, Pastner picked up his
first tourney win but this year

would likely have to knock off
number one Virginia to advance

to the second weekend.

And if they don't, there will
be many that will consider the

season a bust, especially when
you consider the fact the Tigers

were in the top 25
all season long.

Today a special tourney preview
with the head coach of the

Tigers, Josh Pastner,
next on "Sports Files."

[theme music]
♪♪♪

Well Josh, I know
it's been a crazy week preparing

for tomorrow's game.

We thank you so
much for your time.

Well I appreciate you having me.

And I tell ya what.

I love watching your show.

You do a great job.

Thank you.

You have great guests and you
ask great questions -- and not

even just basketball
people, just anyone,

any other sports, just
interesting figures.

And you ask
really good questions.

Well I appreciate that.

An eight seed.

I know you thought
maybe six, maybe seven.

You drawed G-W in
an eight nine game.

Your thoughts on that?

Well I had felt on Sunday
when the brackets were being

announced and, you know,
here we are watching them on,

you know, earleir in the week.

When I saw
Louisville go to the four..

Because I had thought
Louisville was playing maybe..

I think they're playing as maybe
the best team in the country.

Patino thought they were one.

Yeah.

And so for them not to be
one, I was a little surprised.

Eh, I thought maybe
they ended up being a two.

But when I saw them be four, I
thought everyone was going to

drop down.

Because I originally thought
we were going to be a six or a

seven because of our strength of
our schedule and the strength of

our league.

I thought because of the league,
they were gonna really value our

league.

But obviously, they did.

And so everyone
dropped down a spot or two.

And what it probably shows you
is two things because a lot of

people were asking about the
S-M-U all through the week.

They've been asking well,
what do you think about S-M-U.

Obviously they weighed the
non-conference schedule.

And we played a great schedule.

And obviously
they were in high..

They were in the
300's for non-conference,

what mattered.

That's one.

I also think it
mattered and we have to do,

as a league, a better
job is from top to bottom,

everyone's gotta
have good numbers.

And that starts in
the non-conference.

You've got to schedule teams.

You've also got to win.

And those things matter.

So if you do take a loss or
two to different teams in the

league, it doesn't
drop you and bury you.

That league needs to
be where it's not.

There are no such
thing as a bout loss,

if that makes sense.

It does.

There is no easy game
in this tournament.

Obviously you lose, you go home.

But for all things considered,
this eight nine match up with

G-W, which will be tough.

You're in the region in the east
with Virginia who's the fourth

number one.

They play a
completely different style.

So if you win tomorrow and
they take care of business,

you guys will meet
up with Virginia.

So with again, all
things considered,

I guess it could
have been worse.

Still be a challenge though.

Well I mean look.

Greg, you're at this tournament.

Who's not good that's in it?

Right.

I mean there's 68 teams.

There's 361 Division I teams.

That means there's 293 teams who
are not playing in the N-C-A-A

tournaments.

So only 68 and you're
talking 68 that are really good.

And it's becoming
increasingly harder.

And I said this on Sunday.

I said it Monday.

I said it Tuesday.

I said it Wednesday.

It's becoming increasingly
harder to get in the tournament.

And people in the
profession understand that.

And it's not a birthright
to be a part of the N-C-A-A

tournament.

It's not a birthright.

It's hard to do.

And..

But once you get in --
hey, it's a fresh start.

Everyone's good.

Greg, you've been
covering this long enough.

You know this.

If a team starts
making a bunch of threes,

whether it's us or the opponent,
you're gonna have a great chance

of winning the game.

Right.

And really, that's
what it comes down to.

You've got to make some shots.

We got to make some shots.

It's become
possession by possession.

But hey, people talk about
guards winning in tournament

time.

And we do have
four senior guards.

And I know they've been not
all been good at the same time.

At different games, there's been
some highs and lows with them.

But there will be no better time
by the law of average to work

itself out and be all
on sync tomorrow night.

And with that said..

And I completely agree because
there are people that are

critical.

Oh, Josh is bringing up that
four guard thing and there's too

much dependency on
the four guards.

What are your other options?

Well people that say that..

And again, I've said
this and I've said it,

you know, this past Sunday at my
press conference where there's a

minority of people.

And I call it the squeeky wheel.

I mean it's a very small
minority who I don't really look

at as they're true Tiger fans.

They just..

They're negative nellies.

Right.

They just want to
complain no matter what it is.

We could be 40 and 0
and they would complain.

But the majority of
true Tiger Nation fans.

I'm talking the 99.9%.

They're going to be critical
when you don't play well.

They're going to be
critical of line ups.

They're going to be critical
of things don't go right.

They're going to be critical
if we don't win tomorrow.

They're going to be critical
if we don't play well or don't

shoot the ball well.

But they're all going to be
excited when we play well.

And they also
understand it's a long season.

And they don't go so high and so
low after each individual game.

I mean they might me upset
some and be excited on others.

And so I think the majority
of people understand hey,

okay.

You've got four guards.

I mean what coach in
the country wouldn't,

you know, use those four guards.

And we have not.

And again, this is an
absolute perception.

We have not played
four guards at once.

We played it very
rarely since early,

early in the season.

Perception is you play
them a lot but you don't.

We don't.

We play the four guards not
at all once but rotating.

And there's maybe a couple of
times possession here and there

because of defense.

But we've really been two posted
all times pretty much from the

beginning after the Oklahoma
State game at Stillwater.

We've really done two posts.

Now let me ask you this.

I mean I think you and I can
agree and a lot of other people

will agree.

I mean you've had
a lot of big wins.

And you had a lot of
bounce back wins as well.

So you really bounce
back from adversity,

what you're
trying to do tomorrow.

How tough was it in
preparation for this tournament,

the mental aspect of
things after the dud against

Connecticut in the tournament,
the conference tournament?

You know, Greg, let me say this.

I didn't see the dud coming
because we had a great week of

practice.

We had our best shoot around
since I've ever been here.

We just laid an egg.

We stunk.

We were not good.

And U-Conn kicked our
butt on our home floor.

And it was no fun.

And I apologize for the fans.

I apologize to the FedEx Forum.

I apologize to the University.

You took the blame.

I take full responsibility
because when we lose,

the head coach has got
to accept responsibility.

And so I don't..

I didn't see that coming.

I would have put my entire
salary that we weren't gonna

play like that.

I'm serious.

I just have no idea.

You know it usually is a team
you feel that you're gonna.

We were just in a daze.

So you get punched and
punched and punched and then the

negativity.

And now you've got
to get the guys back.

So we've had a good week.

And I think actually what the
best thing to happen was we

practiced Friday and Saturday.

I was originally gonna give
the guys a day off on Friday.

Probably the best thing I did.

Because my assisstants
told me we need to practice.

And they were right.

And we practiced and we had
a great practice on Friday,

great practice on Saturday.

Gave them the day off on Sunday
and the day of selection on

Sunday.

And then we've had
good practice this week.

Hopefully ready to
go for it tomorrow.

They need to buy in to it
that it was an anomaly,

that it was very rare.

It was just one of those
things and we're gonna be ready.

Well the other thing -- I
think people in Memphis,

Tiger nation..

I think because
we've had so much.

And we've had a
great regular season, Greg.

I don't want to take away.

We've had a very
good regular season.

And we had a bad game
versus U-Conn in that conference

tournament.

But also, I think some of that
because of the U-Conn -- that

dud, as you called it.

And I called it a stinker.

I think because we've had some
of those games where it kind of

avalanched on us
throughout the year,

some of our losses.

And so I think
that bothers people.

And that's just somewhat of a
make up of our team, two things.

One -- we haven't
done a great job.

We've gotten better but
when it's kind of gone south,

we haven't stopped it.

It's gone south
and south and south.

On the other hand, we are.

And because of how it's gone
south because we haven't scored

meaning that we're a team,
because of whatever it is..

Usually teams want to
be a defensive identity.

We're really an
offensive identity.

And we are best when we score.

And when we're not scoring
for whatever it with our team..

They get down.

We just don't.

And it's hard for us to stop.

We've done some games where
we've stopped the avalanche.

But there's been other games
where it's just gone south.

And part of that is
everyone talks defense,

defense.

No.

It's because when
we're not making shots,

we're missing lay-ups.

We're missing freethrows.

It just sucks the life out
of us on the defensive end.

Snowballs.

That's just our
make up of our team.

And again, people
might not like it.

And I took criticism
and it can go to me.

But that's what our..

That is what our personalities
and the personnel with our team

for this year..

That's kind of where it's at.

And we are third in
the country in assists.

But again, if we
can start scoring,

you know a lot of
that stuff gets,

you know, washed under and
we're able to win games.

One more quick thing on
the conference tournament.

And this is beyond your control.

Obviously you have
the decision to make.

It's coming back to
Memphis next season.

Do you believe this tournament
will come back with the Tigers

falling in the quarters?

The crowds weren't as
big as they expect.

Do you think it'll be
back at FedEx Forum?

I think that we lost
in the quarter finals.

The teams won't
be so upset about,

you know, The other
coaches will be okay with us.

Bring it back to Memphis!

So you know I don't know.

I think we'll be back.

I don't think it'll
be back after '15.

But I do think it
will be back for '15.

And then I think we'll
be somewhere else at '16.

David Pellom, one
of the seniors,

one of the six that you have.

Actually, we saw
seven on senior day.

But six active
players played at G-W.

Obviously he was injured
and did not play last year.

Can you learn something from
Pellom talking about his old

team?

Yeah, I'm sure you
can learn somethings,

maybe the nature of what Coach
likes to do and things like

that.

But you know I've had a lot of
people text me through the week.

Hey, do you know
all their calls?

Do you know what
they're going to do?

This is a different team.

I mean..

Horrible change in knowing.

But we don't know.

You know we're not gonna.

He doesn't have all their calls.

And people change year-by-year
on what they call stuff.

But we got to watch films.

And again, Greg, I believe this.

Basketball is so much
different than football.

Football -- so much of
it, you can have strategy.

And you have a week to prepare
break downs and all these.

I think basketball,
you are who you are.

And again, you're not gonna
change a bunch of things.

We got to play
how we got to play.

And like I said, we're a
little bit offensive minded.

And we've got to make shots.

And if we make shots, we got
a great chance of winning the

game.

Who is the single most
important player for you guys?

No question.

It's not one.

It's two.

It's Joe Jackson
and Chris Crawford.

And if they're in a
daze and not playing well,

just pack the airplane
up and we'll head home.

If they're both at a high level,
we've got a great chance in

advancing.

We've seen them both in
high levels at times,

a lot of times more at
a high level than not.

But when they're not, it hurts.

And that's also a
snowball effect.

Let me ask you this.

They have not.

You really don't have this
big vocal guy on the court,

this big vocal leader.

You have four seniors.

You have two that have been
with the program for four years.

Does that hurt?

Yeah, you know I think it hurts.

I also think we
probably don't have a true,

true point guard at
times, too, you know.

Because Joe and Chris
have done a great job of,

you know, handling the ball.

But you know they both had the
ability to be combos and scoring

guards, even coming
from high school.

But you know.

So they've really
improved in that area.

But I think some of the natural
tendencies where you're talking

about a vocal guy, we
don't have that vocal guy.

And you know those are
things that we've got to,

you know.

Hopefully through
recruiting and everything else,

we'll have a nice, vocal
guy in the leadership role.

But I don't want to take
anything away from Chris and

Joe.

Those guys have
won a lot of games.

They've won a lot of games.

They've been tremendous here.

They graduated.

They've been
tremendous, you know,

role models for the university
and for the athletic department

and that Memphis jersey.

And they've also won a part of a
class that's won a lot of games.

You've been very successful with
the high-low going inside to

Austin, going inside to Shaq.

And see, that's another thing.

Not a lot of
people talk about that.

I've had more people, you know.

Why don't we play
high-low basketball?

We do play high-low basketball!

And that's what
I'm talking about.

That's the minority.

And that's being uneducated as
in terms of uneducated about

understanding the game.

Do you need to do a better
job and stop listening to them?

Could be but it's hard not
to because it's everywhere.

So..

And here's my thing.

And I hope people respect thing.

I don't, like, hide from it.

Like I don't.

I'm very transparent.

I don't have a dialogue.

Fans can be up.

I can dial anything with media.

I don't ever duck.

And so I'm upfront about stuff.

And I think, you know, as much
as people get on to me about

coaches speak about talking
about other programs and other

players and coaches, one thing
I don't give coaches speak is

about our team and about
how I feel on this and that.

And I think I've been
extremely transparent,

maybe as any head coach in
the country about their team.

Because I don't
look at it as my team.

Yep.

It's Tiger nation's team and
they deserve to be transparent.

Shooting has been inconsistent.

You even said you thought it
would be better going in to the

year.

With that said, do you think
G-W sags in the middle and makes

you, forces you to take shots?

They're gonna do the
same thing that U-Conn did.

They're gonna do the same
thing that S-M-U has done.

They're gonna do the same
thing Cincinnati's done.

We're gonna have to make threes.

If we don't make some threes,
it's just gonna suck the life.

I mean they're
gonna be sucked in.

And if we don't
make some threes,

it makes it much more difficult.

And it doesn't mean we have to
shoot 20 threes or 30 threes.

Like we beat Louisivlle.

We only shot nine threes.

We were six and nine.

That's why we won the game.

Lousiville was four
and twenty-three.

We don't have to shoot a bunch.

But it gives them
something to think about.

You've got to make some.

And Greg, we're
not a selfish team.

Not at all.

We move the ball so
well, our shots are open.

And so I've had
people tell me well,

why don't you just tell
them not to shoot threes.

Again, you're not going to.

Guys are open.

You've got to give
them confidence.

And if they're open,
they've got to make shots.

I always say there's two grades
-- how you guys did in the

regular season, ultimately
how you did in the post season.

How would you grade
out the regular season?

I would..

Greg, our regular
season -- a B, B as in boy.

And I say that because we had
a lot of five -- top 25 wins,

swept Louisville and won the Old
Spice preseason tournament in a

new league in a
much tougher league.

And where U-Conn, Lousiville,
Cincinnati had the advantage of

being the Big East all those
years to understand that this is

our first year.

So we had to grow
and learn from it.

Obviously I grade ourselves an
F as in Frank in the conference

tournament.

And then the grade -- to be
determined in the third season

with the N-C-A-A tournament.

What do you think this team
has to do in the post season?

You can talk about wins.

You can talk about just
play, how they play to call it

successful.

I think I put a lot on the
regular season as being a

success or not.

Personally as a coach, I put
a lot on the regular season.

Like I said, I
graded a B as in boy.

But all signs say
road to the Final Four.

It doesn't say road
to the regualr season.

So everything's gonna be judged
on what we do in the N-C-A-A

tournament.

And I understand that.

I'm not ducking it.

I'm not hiding from it.

You and everybody
else in the media,

print, tv, radio,
fans -- they're gonna.

They said in the pre-season hey,
if Memphis has got to get to the

second weekend for us.

When I say us,
meaning to consider.

I mean I heard you
say it many times.

Second weekend to
consider successful.

So I think if you ask..

If you're asking me, I feel
our regular season has been

successful.

But I think Tiger nation, for
them to say it's a success,

we're gonna have to get
to the second weekend.

Do you think -- this seems like
it's an obvious answer to this

question -- playing in the
American has prepared you

better?

One-hundred percent.

We're just a better team because
of the better competition we

play night-in, night-out.

And again, I'm a huge
fan of Conference U-S-A.

And there were some
really good teams.

But the
Cincinnatis, the Connecticuts,

the Louisvilles, the S-M-Us now.

I mean, you know,
even, you know,

we've played a heck of a league.

And I think that's going to
better prepare us going to the

N-C-A-A tournament.

We also got to get
the job done tomorrow.

Without question.

Athlete for athlete,
you're as good as anybody.

Absolutely.

The phsyicality of this
team is not quite there.

You're not playing a
real physical team in G-W.

If you win or Virginia
wins, you're not playing a real

physical team in Virginia.

But that's been
kind of a bug-a-boo.

For the future as far
as the physicality,

what's the game plan?

I think one of my most important
hire will be who I hire in the

spring on a strength coach.

I think that's gonna be probably
the most important hires that

I've made since I've been here .

Moving in to a
league like we're in,

is hiring a strength coach.

Final question for ya.

The seniors going in to the game
adn really all the players but

the seniors going in to
the conference tournament,

I think in the back of
their mind they realize hey,

you know if we lose or even
if we win the tournament,

we still got
another game to play.

Possibly tomorrow
is their last game.

Possibly Sunday or
hopefully it's down the road.

North Texas, yeah.

That makes it.

I mean this is really do or die
but especially for a bunch of

seniors.

And when you have a
bunch of seniors,

do you like that?

Because they got to go in
knowing that this is it.

I do like it.

And..

But Greg, there's
no time for rah-rah.

We got to earn it.

We got to get on the floor.

And we know what we need to do.

And the guys
understand what we need to do.

We just got to get the job done.

Purely a business trip, right?

Straight business trip.

Again, people want to
know why we didn't do the..

On Sunday.

This past Sunday, the selection
show with the party like we

usually do.

Because I just want to keep
it a straight business trip.

Plus, the last three
years we've done it,

we didn't get out of
the first weekend.

[laughter]
Yeah, he's a little

bit like that, Josh.

We know sometimes you want to
break things that are going bad

and continue to do things.

But part of it's my job to give
us the best chance what I feel

to keep us locked in and give
us the best chance to have an

opportunity to win the game.

Josh, thanks so
much for your time.

Thanks, Greg.

And you're not the minority.

You're the majority.

I'm not the negative nellie!

Overtime is coming up next.

[theme music]
♪♪♪

Once again thanks
to Josh for his time and we'll

have more on the
Tigers later in the show.

But first, as we
introduced to you last month,

"Sports Files" is going to help
you learn how to play the game

of golf.

And if you already play, we're
going to try to make you better.

More specifically, Greg King
is going to make you better.

Greg is the director of
golf at Mirimichi Golf Course,

and today is lesson number
two in good golf made easy.

So today, we're gonna work on
the next set of fundamental

disciplines of
good golf made easy.

We're gonna work on three things
today and that is measuring

yourself to the ball, the
alignment that you need to

possess in the game
of golf and, as well,

the ball position, also known
as where do you play the ball

between your feet.

So I'll get started with
a down the line view of.

The question that I get
asked all of the time is how far

should I set up from the ball?

And what I want to
display to you here,

I've got a six iron in my right
hand and I've got a driver in my

left hand.

And I've got two
golf balls down here.

And when I establish a set up
with the six iron right there

and a driver right here, what
you'll notice is that these two

golf balls on the ground
are dramatically different in

distances that I am
away from the ball.

The constant that you see
when you look down the line,

and I'm just gonna
mimic a grip here is..

The constant is the distance
between the end of the grip and

the front line on my thighs.

So after you made your athletic
set up and you let your arms

hang from your shoulder, you let
the club tell you where it wants

to rest when the bottom of the
club is sold flat on the ground.

This is the constant.

Where do I set up for my hands?

You let the club tell you how
far you are away from the ball.

So for fundamental alignment ,
I'm gonna ask you to visualize a

railroad track.

Two parallel lines.

And so that when
you set up the ball,

the club face, the
bottom of the club face,

you always want to aim
with the bottom scoring line.

If you can see that that's aimed
directly perpendicular to your

line, once I set up, I've got
these alignment rods on the

ground to illustrate to you that
I'm going right down this target

line right here through
the middle of the ball.

That's my target line.

So I've got these alignment rods
on the ground and I want to set

up my body parallel
to my target line,

which includes and
encompasses feet,

knees, hips and shoulders.

And if I can get my body
set up in correct alignments,

that's a great start
to good golf made easy.

Greg, why don't you come
and show us a little bit?

So he's gonna set up to the
ball in his great stance.

His arms are hanging.

He's got a great grip.

And his lines are really good.

You can see that when I set a
club down right here on the

front of his
toes, very parallel.

He;s got parallel
alignments in feet,

knees, hips and shoulders.

He's ready to play the game.

For the last fundamental we're
gonna work on today is ball

position.

Where do I play the
ball between my feet?

And as an
important note for you,

I would like to really sort of
drive home that when you measure

yourself the distance away form
the ball and where do you play

the ball between your feet, you
could have the greatest swing in

the world.

But if you're not
measured correctly,

you're not gonna strike it in
the sweet spot of the club.

So let's go over ball
position just for a minute.

I've got two clubs in
my hand -- a driver,

which is the longest club in
the bag and I've got a six iron,

sort of a middle
of the road club.

And what I'd like to illustrate
over here is that with the

driver, the
longest club in the bag,

I'm gonna play the ball
forward in my stance,

just off the in
step on the left heel.

Some players even play it in
step of the arch of my left foot

or front foot.

With the six iron, because
obviously it's a shorter club.

So I'm gonna have to get closer.

But also in ball
position, where between my feet,

it's much closer to
the center of my stance.

It's about half way between my
belt buckle and inside of my

left foot.

Every club has a
different length,

which means that we're different
distance away from the ball.

And also, a good rule of thumb
is just to know that the longest

club in the bag, the
driver, the fairway metals,

we play the farthest
forward in our stance.

And as we get in to
the shorter clubs,

those get closer to center.

For fundamental shots, I'm gonna
play everything from the center

of my stance, forward.

So Greg, let's come in
and have you illustrate.

We'll start with the
driver on the ball position.

So we've got it set up for ya.

Will you set up right.

Inside the arch, you said?

Yes sir.

Okay.

Very good.

You could probably even move
your feet a little bit to the

right to play the ball a little
bit closer to the front of your

stance.

Okay.

There you go.

That's a great
position with driver.

Now let's do the six iron.

Obviously again, you'll have to
get closer to the ball because

the shorter club.

And we're gonna play the ball
closer to the middle of the

stance.

So each club in the bag has
you set up uniquely a little bit

different.

Measure yourself.

Uniquely a little bit different.

So now you see he's got it
about half way in the center.

He's letting his hands
hang from his shoulders,

that correct distance away from
the front line of the thighs.

Greg, you're ready to go.

So with the six iron, I've got
the ball played about half way

between the belt
buckle and my left foot.

Everything as a fundamental
rule to know is that the driver,

the longets club,
the fairway metals,

are played the furthest
forward in my stance.

As I get in to my
shorter clubs, my six irons,

about half way between
belt buckle and left foot.

And the shortest
clubs, the wedges,

are played close to center.

But generally, everything's
played forward of center.

So now you know a bit about
where to play the ball between

your feet, ball position and how
to measure yourself to the ball.

Another great
lesson from Greg King.

Hey, March Madness
is firmly underway,

although the Tigers won't hit
the court until tomorrow night

at around 6:00 central time.

We heard from Coach Josh Pastner
earlier in the show as they get

set to play G-W.

And now, some thoughts from
senior guards Chris Crawford and

Michael Dixon Jr.

Just we just need
to stay focused,

locked in, you know,
just stay the courts,

just do our job and
like I just said,

get the job done.

You know we can be successful.

We just got to go out there and
do what we've been doing well

for, I mean, 23 games.

And I think that
we should be fine.

We've got a good team and we've
got a lot of good players on

this team.

I think that the perparation and
the time that guy's gonna put in

the gym is going to pay off.

And we're gonna
be ready to play.

And that will put a
wrap on this week's show.

Remember, you can catch any of
our previous programs by going

to WKNO-dot-org and
clicking on 'Kno Tonite.

Have a great week.

Go Tigers!

And we'll see you next time.

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