Hardaway praises Minott improvement

In a college rookie season where he has had to find his way, national basketballer Josh Minott had a standout performance for the University of Memphis, helping them to an 82-64 win over Witchita State last Saturday.

Minott scored a team-high and career-high 15 points, complemented by six rebounds and two steals during his 19 minutes on the court. It helped the team to rebound from its 85-84 loss to Tulane University on December 29. Minott's previous career points high was 12 against Saint Louis on November 16.

His performance received praise from his head coach, former NBA-All Star Penny Hardaway, who said that he has seen the gradual growth in Minott's game even with his limited time on the court so far.

"He's getting better. He is not the same Josh now that he was five games ago. So he is actually getting better," Hardaway said during the post-game press conference. "Athletically, he is off the charts but now he is starting to figure it out."

His play was highlighted by a one-handed dunk with five minutes and 17 seconds left in the first half, which stretched the lead to nine points. While life at Memphis has not been a smooth start for Minott, he says that he is committed to making the necessary adjustments to help the team win. In an interview with the Daily Memphian on December 4, Minott said that he has prided himself in being a team-first player during a difficult patch where they lose three games in a row.

"Sacrifice is something I'm willing to do for the team," he said. "That includes body, that includes minutes, that includes everything. I've always been a team-oriented person. I'll never try to go out of my way. I feel like I'm capable of trying to go out there and trying to iso ball, but I feel like I'm sacrificing all that because overall, all I care about is the wins and losses."

In his previous 11 games this season, he averaged 4.3 points a game while playing on average 9.3 minutes per game. While he admits that he may not have the biggest role on the team, Minott says that he feels that his spark can make the difference to help the team win.

"I feel like if I knock the first domino over in bringing us together, then we can continue to progress and come together as a team," Minott said. "I might not be the biggest domino, but I feel like a small one can have enough force to know overall the bigger dominoes and bring us together. I feel like that's what we need more than ever right now."