Penny Hardaway: Moving Jeremiah Martin back to point guard paying off for Memphis

Memphis senior Jeremiah Martin splashed the opening 3-pointer of the Tigers' 78-71 win over Connecticut on Sunday afternoon and immediately looked to his right to let the Huskies bench know they could be in for a long day. 

“You better shut his (expletive) mouth!" Connecticut coach Dan Hurley yelled at the official as his team transitioned to the offensive end.

But it was the Tigers (14-10, 6-5 AAC), led by the play of Martin and Kyvon Davenport, that would eventually silence the Huskies. Add it to the list of notable performances by Martin since the start of conference play. On Sunday, he dialed back his shot attempts to dish six assists and help rebound. 

"He amazes me on a nightly basis," Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said of his senior guard a day later on the AAC coaches teleconference. 

Martin's next chance to impress Hardaway will come at 6 p.m. Wednesday when the Tigers play at East Carolina (9-14, 2-9).  

Lesson learned

Whenever Hardaway asks, Martin delivers.

If that means taking the ball out of his senior leader's hands and moving him to small forward – as happened at the season's beginning – Martin always has obliged.

But that's no longer the case.

"I think that kind of disrupted his rhythm a little bit," Hardaway said, "but ever since I moved him back to point guard, he just found that rhythm and his (mentality) is right."

Hardaway has since decided to move freshman guards Alex Lomax and Tyler Harris to the bench, instead opting for a starting lineup that includes Martin as the primary ball handler in every game since Jan. 10.

For the most part, Martin has been fantastic since the adjustment, scoring 20-plus points or dealing six assists in all but one game since that mark. 

And there's been no better stretch for the senior than his past three games, when he's combined for 79 points, 14 assists and nine steals.

In fact, it's a run that has impressed Hardaway so much that it inspired the Tigers coach to say Martin has been the best player in the AAC.

"To see him on a nightly basis be the best player in our league, and that’s basically what he’s been – although, our record doesn’t indicate that – but him as an individual has played as good of basketball as anybody in this league," Hardaway said.

Piling up the stats

While Hardaway clearly has some bias for his own player, Martin's climb of the AAC's statistics leaderboard – and the Memphis record book – certainly helps that claim. 

The senior now ranks 19th in school history in scoring, just six points from catching Hardaway with 1,319 career points. 

"Wait! Hold on, I better hold him out for the rest of the year then," Hardaway joked on his radio show Monday. 

Martin has scored more points than any other AAC player in the three games since the start of February. His recent hot streak has catapulted him to third in the AAC in scoring during conference play (18.5 points per game), behind only Cincinnati's Jarron Cumberland (22.2) and Wichita State's Markis McDuffie (19.1).

But Martin also has been a great distributor, dishing the fifth-most assists in the league (4.4) and ranking in the top 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5). 

On the defensive end, Martin ranks second in the AAC in steals (2.3) behind only South Florida's Laquincy Rideau (3.0), who ranks fourth in the nation.

He's also one of only two guards to fall in the top 10 of the league in five statistical categories (scoring, assists, steals, assist-to-turnover ratio and minutes played). Temple's Shizz Alston is the other.

"Everything I've asked of him, he's done, and I'm really proud of his success," Hardaway said. 

At the least, the senior's current run has made him look like the first-team all-conference player he was predicted to be at the season's beginning. 

But Hardaway and the rest of the Tigers know it won't be the same without the AAC tournament run that could send Martin off with an NCAA tournament appearance. 

"It would be great for me," Martin said. "I want to experience it. Everybody has been telling me it's a great experience, that it's the best basketball going on throughout the whole year, and everybody will be watching it."

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Memphis at ECU

Wed. Feb. 13 at 6 p.m.

Records: Memphis (14-10, 6-5 AAC), ECU (9-14, 2-9)

TV: ESPN3

Radio: 600 WREC / Rock 103