Bama roared in like a lion, and almost finished like a lamb. The key word was almost. Bama almost hung on to beat Arkansas before losing by 5. The Tide held an 11 point lead in Fayetteville. Against the SEC royalty of Kentucky the Tide exploded to a 20 point lead only to see it dwindle to 1. The lead dwindled but never away. When you score one field goal in the last 10 minutes of any game you are going to lose. The stats just never lie. The Tide only made one field goal but won. They won despite some pretty shabby work on the offensive end. The Tide won the behind some hard fought defense. The final was 68-66 in favor of the good guys as Chris Stewart likes to say.
If the Tide stumbled they would not fall. Kentucky supposedly started 3 fabulous freshmen. These guys were all billed as one and done. It might be more like two and we're through. It might even be like three and we're free. Whatever happens in the world Calipari ball doesn't really have much to do with Alabama. Alabama's basketball team is more of blue collar bunch. Alabama wins by doing things the hard way. They have no size. They aren't good shooters, and they have a freshman point guard. On ESPN and before a national television audience Kentucky was introduced as the second coming. Alabama just came along because Kentucky needed someone to showcase their considerable talent.
Hmm... A funny thing happed because Alabama proved they are big enough by winning the battle of boards 41-32. They shot well enough to make 7 three point baskets, and the freshman point guard played like he might be one and done. Trevor Releford played his heart and body out. He finally cramped up so bad the coaches made him sit down. With less than 11 seconds to play mighty mouse limped to the bench.
I had seen TR play twice in high school when I found out we might land him. He was special. He flowed up and down the court like quicksilver. He handled the rock like it had a rubber band attached. He was faultless. He wasn't flashy. He didn't pound his chest after a great pass. Not Releford. He'd done all those things so many times before it wasn't special to the young man. It was to me. Last night he was special to the Bama Nation.
JayMichaelGreen has a new best buddy. He has someone who can dribble inside and dish. Or he can dribble inside and score. He can look to his left while he radars a pass to his right. He has put the Alley in the Tide's Alley oop. Sure he kicked a ball out of bounds. He took into the wild big blue yonder when he didn't need to. But when the game was on the line the freshman wanted the ball. More than anything else he wanted to get the ball to Green.
Instead of making the winning shot or making a great pass he hobbled to the bench a man victim of causing his own hit and run. Davis and Eblen got top billing at the end. Davis deflected a UK pass which Eblen picked up. His one made free throw made the lead two. Kentucky couldn't find a miracle on in the last 2.5 seconds. The little crimson train that thought it could, did. You almost expected Bama to take off their hard hats, pick up their lunch boxes, and ride home in the back of an F-150 and have a cool one. Boy are they fun to watch or what.
No comments:
Post a Comment