Bama's patience pays off in big road win...

HInes hits big basket late 

How quickly we all seem to forget.  There are so many posts about Alabama’s lackluster performance against LSU it baffles me.  Hey guys, we won.  For all the football fans that are just getting on board with basketball last night was the equivalent of blocking to field goals against Tennessee.

Alabama could have gotten beaten last night but they didn’t. They could have folded after a game start that was like a sprinter hitting a hurdle and falling. They didn’t. They could have done a million things wrong to lose the game. They didn’t. Granted (sorry coach) they only did a half million things wrong and still won. They couldn’t score. They didn’t defend. They looked like a team that was under too much pressure to handle. Yet, despite all those things they won the game.

They won the game because of persistence. Get the ball inside. Get the ball inside, and get the ball inside every time you have the ball. The world knows what’s coming but Bama continues to pound the rock down the paint and score. LSU knew the game plan and couldn’t stop the Tide even when playing at Maravich.

So what does that mean?  It means that Alabama is a highly motivated, keenly disciplined team and understands that execution will kick your butt every game. The team understands that the defense can help win home or away. Just have the patience and discipline to pound the rock.

Boy did they ever. I bet 90% of our shots came from within handshaking distance.  For good measure the Tide did attempt to shoot a few threes and came up short. Davis continues to be 0 for the road from the outside. Steele made one. Mitchell made one. The Mitchell three must have seemed like a dagger stab to the Tigers who were mounting a comeback. The Tigers made three second half runs to whip the Tide. All three came up short. It was Mitchell, Green, or Releford who made key baskets.

In a game where scoring was hard to come by a five point lead seemed almost insurmountable. Alabama fell quickly behind in the first half. It was as much as eight. It could have twelve or fourteen. By halftime the good guys had the lead.  And even if the team stunk like a dead possum on the side of the road they were our dead possum. We have learned to appreciate winning ugly. Make no mistake we won ugly in a lot of respects. But if you are what they call a basketball purist the team did a lot of things that made you smile. None made me smile more than the final score.  Our number was more than their number.

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