Coaches And Their 'So-Called Boys In The Media' Keep Going After Penny Hardaway Because His NBA Experience Is Intimidating Them
[ESPN] - “I’m getting used to this as a coach because it’s a little jealousy from a lot of these coaches around the country,” Hardaway said Monday. “I do understand that because we are NBA players trying to come back, and we didn’t have any experience as college coaches. So we didn’t quote, unquote, ‘Pay our dues.’ So the coaches and their so-called boys that are in the media they’re going to always throw jabs at us.
I know I’m supposed to hate Penny because he’s taken a couple of jabs at Calipari and landed DJ Jeffries and James Wiseman, but I can’t. Mostly because I’m not worried about Memphis being better than Kentucky. But, also because he’s too cool to hate.
Plus, he keeps giving quotes of gold. Like this.
Penny has ruffled everyone’s feathers this year, starting with the Rick Barnes and Tennessee fight.
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Now he’s going in on media backing up coaches that have been around forever. It’s no secret that media and coaches have a different sort of relationship. You become friends with certain guys and end up shilling for them. It’s just part of the game. I love that Penny is calling it out, just because it will lead to a million takes about it.
For me? Just give me a good old fashioned villain in college basketball. It’s easy to hate K and Calipari and Self. Give me someone like Penny to come in and piss people off.
There’s no doubt that if he succeeds with the bench of Mike Miller and Sam Mitchell while not having any college experience it will only create a new way to look at the game. We’ll stop seeing the same coaching hires and routine of how it goes about. We’ll see AD’s be more willing to go after someone like Penny who has AAU/HS experience while having an NBA career.
He said there’s a bit of a backlash and negativity with the NBA approach Memphis is taking with him, Miller and Mitchell and that their NBA experience is “a little intimidating to a lot of people.”
Wonder if he’s talking about this for being intimidating?