On Tuesday morning, Penny went on air on a local Memphis sports radio show on Sports56, which is hosted by Peter Edmiston of The Athletic. He brought to light some grievances regarding Tiger forward Kyvon Davenport.

I mentioned how candid Penny Hardaway was when I asked him about Kyvon Davenport this morning on the show. I transcribed his full response for those of you who missed it. I don't think you'll see a more brutally honest answer from a coach about a current player. pic.twitter.com/UdkYEsSz2n — Peter Edmiston (@peteredmiston) February 26, 2019

Davenport has been somewhat inconsistent for Coach Hardaway and his Tigers this season – sometimes leading the team on the court, to sometimes failing to show up at all. Through 28 games, Davenport is averaging 13.7p/7.2r/1.1a for Memphis. He is shooting 50% from the field and 37% from three in over 25 minutes per game.

Davenport has scored in double figures 22 times this season including 30 or more points against both Tennessee Tech and the University of Tennessee. He also has earned 9 double-doubles on the year.

These stats are solid – Kyvon leads the team in rebounds and is second in scoring – but Penny has had issues identifying Davenport’s role in the rotation this season. Kyvon started the first four games of the season and then came off the bench in the next 12 before being reinstated in the starting lineup for the majority of the games.. These rotation decisions seem to be based on more than just basic performance on the court, but may be rooted deeper into the behind-the-scenes effort in the film room and practice facility.

Also, this problem is not unique to the first year coach and his staff.

Some context on Kyvon Davenport and Tubby Smith: Kyvon's combo of talent, inconsistency and indifference drove Tubby nuts, too. He rode Kyvon hard, to the point that many around the program last year felt Kyvon would transfer if Tubby had kept the job. — Mark Giannotto (@mgiannotto) February 26, 2019

As anyone can tell, Penny Hardaway is a fierce competitor, and it isn’t hard to imagine that he looks for (and expects) the same from his players.

Memphis (17-11, 9-6) is currently in 5th place in the AAC and they take on the Temple Owls tonight inside the FedExForum at 8pm cst.

Zak (@BarnBurnerBro) is a native Memphian who covers the Memphis Grizzlies, Tigers, and St. Louis Cardinals for The Barn. He spends his free time exploring breweries, restaurants, and leading the Ivan Rabb stan club.

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Feature Image [Memphis Athletics]

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