Jerry Stackhouse will start off his fourth season as Vanderbilt’s head coach by patrolling the sideline in one of college basketball’s marquee opening-night matchups.
The Commodores will start their pursuit of becoming Stackhouse’s first team to reach the NCAA tournament as Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers roll into Memorial Gymnasium.
Monday night’s matchup will officially start the post Scotty Pippen Jr. era in the Commodores program, with the loss of the highly touted guard, not much is a certainty around the program. Meaning, there will be plenty to watch for in Monday night’s important matchup.
How the Commodores handle the press
After Memphis’ final exhibition game, Hardaway made it clear that the Tigers are not going to sit on their hands when they step into Memorial Gymnasium.
“I think when the season starts we’ll be pressing way more,” Hardaway said. “At Vandy we’ve got to throw the entire kitchen sink.”
How well Ezra Manjon, Trey Thomas, and the rest of the Commodores backcourt handle the press from a long, athletic Memphis team could determine the outcome of this game early on.
If the Commodores can get the ball up the floor quickly, it will create opportunities to get easy baskets in transition, something that would be a huge lift against a defensive-minded team like Memphis.
If Vanderbilt’s guards succumb to the pressure that Hardaway’s group puts on them, they will give away valuable possessions in a game where possessions will be valuable and every basket will have to be worked for.
Manjon vs Kendric Davis
When Stackhouse was asked about Davis in Tuesday’s press conference, the fourth-year head coach immediately brought up his own point guard.
“We know he’s big talent in a small package, similar to how we see Ezra (Manjon) Stackhouse said.
Manjon has drawn big time praise for his quickness and relentlessness on the defensive end, but his ability will quickly be tested against the former SMU transfer, who averaged nearly 20 points per game last season and is a preseason nominee for the Bob Cousy award, which is awarded to college basketball’s best point guard.
Arguably the biggest knock on Manjon is that he has little experience playing against high-major teams. In his three seasons at UC Davis, the only power five teams that Manjon faced were Oregon State, Utah, and Cal.
Manjon hasn’t been tested much by high major guards, but that won’t be the case for long.
Davis may be the best point guard that Vanderbilt sees this season. How much Manjon can contain him will be a determining factor in whether Vanderbilt can compete with the highl- touted Tigers.
Davis is also regarded as a solid defender that can challenge opposing ballhandlers.
How effectively Manjon can get downhill and start the chain of events for Vanderbilt will largely determine the direction of Vanderbilt’s offensive night.
Memphis vs Vanderbilt is obviously more important than Manjon vs Davis, but the way that Manjon handles Davis will show us a lot about how he will stack up with Southeastern Conference-level guards on a nightly basis.
Vanderbilt’s freshmen
Stackhouse seemed encouraged by the progress his freshmen have made throughout the offseason.
What he seemed even more encouraged by, however, is that he doesn’t necessarily need them to play right away even though he trusts them.
Vanderbilt’s veterans are likely in line to receive the bulk of minutes early on, but Stackhouse did not close the door on the possibility that his talented 2022 class can play their way into bigger roles as the season goes on.
The fourth-year coach believes that Colin Smith and Malik Dia are his two freshmen who will probably see the floor most right away. Stackhouse also brought up that he trusts Noah Shelby, who is currently behind Manjon, Tyrin Lawrence, and Thomas on the depth chart.
Vanderbilt’s other freshman guard, Paul Lewis, was in the concussion protocol when Stackhouse met with the media. His status for the game is still unknown.
For the Commodores to hit their ceiling this season, a few of members of their highly touted freshmen class need to step in to sizeable roles.
The environment
Stackhouse doesn’t only want his program to step up on the floor, it is abundantly clear that the fourth year coach wants to make his program into a bigger brand and a bigger attraction around Nashville.
Monday night’s opening night matchup is a great potential jumping off point.
“I’m expecting a big crowd, I think there’s a lot of excitement from everywhere, from the city, just in general” Stackhouse said
Monday’s highly anticipated game will be a white out and looks to be one of Vanderbilt’s most anticipated athletic events of the year.
The contest will be the first after Stackhouse’s contract extension and will be the debut of his first top-30 recruiting class.
Stackhouse doesn’t want the environment to stop on Monday night, though.
“Hopefully it's not just for the Memphis game, hopefully we’ll be able to see them here all year.. We want to continue to grow our fanbase,” Stackhouse said.
The highly anticipated opening night matchup will be an opportunity for Stackhouse and his team to potentially play in an environment similar to what they hope to consistently create.
How are the minutes split between Quentin Millora-Brown and Liam Robbins?
Vanderbilt has a luxury that most division one programs would love to have, two veteran bigs in the rotation.
The Commodores rotation will almost certainly feature senior forwards Robbins and Millora-Brown. That isn’t a question.
But the bigger question is how much each of them will be featured.
Last season, Robbins averaged a just about 18 minutes per game in limited action as he worked his way back from a stress reaction in his foot. Milora-Brown took the bulk of the frontcourt minutes with around 24 per outing.
Milora-Brown is a steady presence in the frontcourt. However, Vanderbilt has a significantly higher ceiling if Robbins, who has averaged double digit points twice in his college career, can take the majority of minutes.
Keonte Kennedy’s return to Vanderbilt
It’s odd to call Kennedy playing at Memorial Gymnasium a return because he never actually stepped on the floor as a member of the Commodores.
Monday night will certainly be a reunion of sorts for Kennedy and the Vanderbilt program, though.
After averaging 14.1 points per game in his final season at UTEP, the 6’5 guard entered the transfer portal and committed to the Stackhouse and his staff.
Kennedy was considered one of Vanderbilt’s best players and a crucial piece of their backcourt.
About a month and a half later, that all went out the window…
The UTEP transfer announced on June 24 that he would be backing out of his pledge to Stackhouse and instead transferring to Memphis.
When asked about how Kennedy’s situation transpired, Stackhouse made it clear, that information is “not for everybody to know.”
In a dramatic turn that only college hoops could provide, Kennedy’s Tigers will roll into Nashville for his first game since entering the portal.
“That’s gonna be a crazy game, I know the atmosphere is gonna be insane with myself and coach Faragi (Phillips) coming from Vanderbilt, it’s gonna be hostile for sure” Kennedy said.
Kennedy’s “return” may not be the most important thing to monitor throughout Monday night, but it could be the most unique storyline surrounding a game the Commodores play in this season.
Although Monday night’s game will not make or break the season for Stackhouse’s team, it will serve as a significant test and will provide plenty of storylines with short and long term implications to watch for.
