Holiday Bowl Basketball Preview : Memphis State Doing Just Fine, Thank You, Without Keith Lee

SAN DIEGO —  So now that All-American Keith Lee has moved on to the Cleveland Cavaliers, it obviously means Memphis State’s basketball team is in transition.

What kind of transition? Does it mean the Tigers definitely won’t make their second straight appearance in the NCAA Final Four this year?

Don’t bet too heavily against it.

Without Lee, Memphis State is 9-0 and ranked 10th nationally going into its Holiday Bowl tournament game against Fresno State at 6:35 tonight at the Sports Arena. San Diego State plays North Carolina-Charlotte at 8:45.

Why is Memphis State doing so well in Lee’s absence?

It’s simple, according to the players. Instead of spelling team “L-E-E,” they now spell it “T-E-A-M.”

“Now that he’s gone, there is more of a team concept,” said 7-foot center William Bedford. “It’s not just one man. I’m surprised at how well we have all fit in.”

Actually, four of this year’s starters knew they were good enough to start for Memphis State. Lee was the only starter whose eligibility expired after last season.

But there’s no doubt that Lee was the man for the Tigers as they finished 31-4 last season. He averaged team-highs of 19.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

Bedford was second in scoring (12.2) and rebounds (7.6) last year. He has team-high averages of 18.3 points and 11 rebounds this season.

Even so, he is not viewed as a one-man team like Lee often was.

“Everybody on the team is unselfish this year,” guard Dwight Boyd said. “It’s not that Keith was selfish. With the kind of player he was, you knew he would score. We’d try to give the ball to him. We don’t have it like that this year.”

In a sense, Boyd was Lee’s replacement. He is the only current Tiger starter who did not start last season.

“You can’t replace Keith Lee,” Boyd said. “He was a four-time All-American. We’re able to do a lot more without him. We’re doing well on our pressure defense, and we have a quick team.”

With Lee, Memphis State was not as quick as it is this season. Several players said last year’s team often waited for Lee to come down court before the offense would set up.

Statistically, the 1985-86 Tigers are running all over the opposition. They have averaged 88 points a game to the opposition’s 60.4, an average winning margin of 27.6 points.

Part of the reason may be that each player is more involved in the offense without Lee.

“We’ve become more of a fast break team, which is our style,” swingman Vincent Askew said. “When we had the fast break last year, sometimes we would have to wait for Keith to get down. The team was centered around him. This year, we have a lot of swing people like myself. Everybody is involved in the offense.”

In last year’s NCAA playoffs, point guard Andre Turner was extremely involved in the offense. He made last-second winning shots against Alabama-Birmingham and Boston College in consecutive games. Then, in the Midwest Regional final against Oklahoma, Turner had 12 assists as Memphis State won, 63-61. The Tigers were beaten by Villanova, the eventual NCAA champion, in the semifinals, 52-45.

Turner, who stands 5-10, is again the point guard in 1985-86. He has 575 career assists, second best in school history. He considers himself the chauffeur of the Tigers, who are two wins shy of tying the school record for their best start ever.

“Right now, we’re in a Cadillac,” Turner said. “If we keep working hard, we’ll be in a Rolls Royce at the end of the season. Hopefully, I’ll be the driver.”

Wherever the ride ends this season, Memphis State should enjoy what transpires. Because, after this season, there is a good chance that NCAA probation will be staring the Tigers in the face.

A grand jury recently handed down 35 indictments against Memphis State in an alleged point-shaving scandal. And the NCAA is also investigating the school.

Before the Tigers arrived at a Thursday luncheon, a team spokesman said Coach Dana Kirk would not discuss the investigations. And he didn’t.

Instead, Kirk focused attention on what life after Keith Lee is like.

“I said before that you can’t replace an All-American,” Kirk said. “We’re trying to make up for it as a team with more balance. We’re more up-tempo this year. We’ve tried to make it a team situation as opposed to one player.”

All but two players on this year’s team are from Memphis. Reserve forwards David Jensen (Greenville, S.C.) and Vincent Robinson (Bridgeport, Ala.) are the exceptions.

“I made it a goal to recruit inside-out locally,” Kirk said. “Every city has good players. We recruit on potential. We’ve taken some guys who didn’t average as much as 10 points a game in high school. I don’t know if it’s the best system, but it’s a happy one. The players can be home in 10 minutes for a meal, and it makes our turnstiles click.”

Said Turner: “The guys from Memphis take a great deal of interest in Memphis State because it has been building a very good program with Memphis guys. Guys from Memphis used to think it wasn’t the best place to be. Keith Lee might’ve changed all of that.”

Even without Lee, little has changed in regard to Memphis State basketball tradition.