New Look Tide?

Fast and quick...

Hankerson needs big year for
Alabama to excel...

    The Crimson Tide is going to play a different type of game this season if I had to guess. This team may very well play small with four guards and JayMichael Green inside. This team will score a lot of points. When I say four guards I'm counting Tony Mitchell as a guard. He'll go inside and outside as needed. 


     Charles Hankerson looks like some kind of Grecian statue. No body fat on this kid at all. Hankerson has some real shooting and defending skills but last season that layer of baby fat held him back. He looks much stronger as well. Hankerson is also big enough to cause some match up problems if a man defense tries to defend him with a guard. 


   Releford is simply amazing. After being the best freshman in the SEC last season he may end up being the best point guard regardless of class.  He has a chance to be a truly great player. A lot of attention is given to his average shooting. He is shooting better, but what he really needs to improve is his assist total. With all the great shooters around him he might lead the league is assists. The kid can penetrate. Now he has someone to dish it back outside who can fill it up. 


     Bama's freshmen look pretty good. You can quickly notice they are having a little trouble with the speed and quickness of the SEC. But they all possess both of those qualities when they get a few games under their belt. I think that Levi Randolph has been the most effective to date. Lacey is a player but is still hindered a little by having his knee scoped earlier in the summer. He'll be full speed by SEC play. Cooper can flat out nail the three ball. Randolph can chest up on defense and is very effective around the basket. He can also shoot it outside. 


     I'd expect the Tide to run the floor and press almost as much as last season although the improved shooting may not make that "defend 'til they drop" won't be a necessary. I didn't say they wouldn't play hard defense, but the half court defense looks better. When you start with Releford, Mitchell, and Green you have a basketball trinity to build on. I'd bet Hankerson will start as well. Hankerson may well be this season's Chris Hines.  Losing Steele hurts. Between our freshman guards the Tide can make up for his loss in time. 


   The big Swede is still big. He isn't much quicker or faster. The key question in my mind is how long will it take Nick Jacobs to get some quality minutes. The problem for Bama is going to be quality insider players. Bama will be better than last season, but 25 wins may be hard to match. 

'Bama # 17 in USA Poll

Tide getting some respect...

     The Crimson Tide of Alabama picked up enough votes in the initial USA Today Poll to be ranked #17. I have no idea if that is high, low, or just right. No one else does either. What I do know is that Alabama won 25 games last season and returns almost everyone. Throw in a top five national recruiting class and that spells    h i g h  e x p e c t i o n s around this State. Only Kentucky and Florida won more at 29 each. 

    Coach Grant's extraordinary success in recruiting began with convincing Green to return his senior season. It was a move that will benefit everyone. The late Al McGuire who coached at Marquette was fond of saying " you give a good point guard and a great inside player and I've got a team."  When you look at the Tide the first thing you see is great guard play at the point. Great inside play, and one player who plays in the ozone. Releford, Green, and Mitchell are an impressive trio to build a team around. There is a fourth player that deserves recognition on this team. He doesn't have a number, but he does have everyones number, Defense. 


    First and foremost, an Anthony Grant team is built on the end floor you find out who wants to really play basketball. All summer people asked me about Lacey. "Will he help us immediately?" was the most asked question. My answer was always the same, "he will if he can play defense". And you will play defense at Alabama or you won't play at all. 

    The Tide is a NCAA team and I believe not a one and done deal type squad. This team can be very good. If everyone plays defense as well as last season and some consistent outside shooting is found the Tide will be scary. Playing basketball in Coleman Coliseum will be known as "Fright Night" for opposing teams. The Tide was undefeated last season at home. The very well might be again.

Some observations

•      Releford is going to hurt some teams with his improved outside shooting
•      Green is going to hurt everyone inside. He is fired up for his senior season.
•      Jacobs will surprise people with his solid inside play
•      All three of Bama's need guards, Lacey, Randolph, and Cooper can shoot

     And everyone is killing themselves on the defensive end. First hand knowledge. Got to the public scrimmage and see for yourself. One thing you might want to consider before you go - get that neck good and warmed up because it will need to be.

How close is 'Bama basketball to becoming 'Bama football?

An interesting question...
     

     Conventional wisdom would tell us that Alabama is a football school and will never become a great basketball power.  The problem with that answer is that there nothing conventional about wisdom. Wisdom is rare and hard earned. On the other hand, it would be easy to make a statement that the Tide can do so, and national prominence is just around the corner. Neither is true...


     Here's what I believe. Given enough time, money, and support Tide basketball can become a national power. By that I don't mean we go to the Final Four every year. I would define basketball success as reaching the Sweet Sixteen almost every season. Alabama has an athletic director who hopes to be remembered as the man who returned the basketball program to prominence.That is important to Mal Moore. He's told me that. He has taken the steps to make that happen.  Alabama has the money. They have loads of money, and because basketball only deals with 13 or so players it is less expensive to run a great basketball program. More importantly, Alabama has a coach in place that is as good as any coach in the nation.


    Let me put it this way - If Florida and LSU can be national powers in hoops there is no reason why Alabama cannot do the same thing. Will Alabama ever be a UCLA? A better question would be can anyone ever be another UCLA? If Boise State can make if from being a junior college to being a prominent national football contender Alabama can do the same in hoops. I think the greatest impediment to Bama's  basketball success is assuring football fans such a rise in prominence will not be at the expense of the football program. 


     There is no logical reason why a highly successful basketball program would do anything but enhance the football program. Success breeds success in my opinion. Great players like to associate themselves with other great athletes. If you have ever seen Green, Mitchell, and company they are elite athletes who are just as good as our football players. Bama just needs more of them. Grant and Saban are a lot alike. They are are detail oriented, highly motivated, and understand the key to having a great program is to find great players. No coach, regardless of how well he can coach, will consistently win with inferior players. 


     I always get amused when Butler is called a Cinderalla story. They have great coaching, great players, and find exactly the type of great player to fit there system. Going to the Final Four last season didn't occur by having a magic wand waved by some mystical power. I don't know whether Coach Saban is a great x's and o's coach. I do know that he has great players and a great system which allows Alabama to succeed. How much coaching goes into handing the ball to Trent? The same is true in hoops. How great does a coach have to be when he has a penetrating point guard and someone like Green inside? I don't care how good a coach is they become better with great players. I have to admit that understanding what a basketball coach does while a game is being played is much easier for me to understand than football. In basketball the action rarely slows down and you don't have a huddle before every play. Your players have to play offense and defense. That means you have to find great players to do that.  Bama is carefully finding those type players who are also good citizens. Anyone can recruit a thug. At 'Bama we don't recruit thugs and we still manage to find good players. Sometimes we find great players as this past season's recruiting class will show the SEC. 


   So can the Tide be as good in basketball as they are in football?  I equate Alabama football and UCLA basketball programs as excellent models. I think we can come close, and being close in that regard is better than anyone else in the SEC at present. Kentucky is in a land where only round things make sense. I think we can compete with anyone in the future if we continue to follow the three needed to get there. And that means you, Big Blue.

Imbalance in the SEC?

     Alabama and LSU have separated their programs from any other team in the SEC. The SEC Eastern division is playing some mighty poor football right now. South Carolina is done. They can't  win without Lattimore in the backfield. Florida can't win period. It's more than just not having solid quarterbacking. It was less than two seasons ago that Florida and Bama were mentioned in the same breath. The last dramatic thing that has happened in the Gator nation in the last two seasons was Tim Tebow's cry baby act in Atlanta. Is it just me or shouldn't there be some rule that says that your offensive coordinator has to at stand up if he is on the sidelines?

Les Miles and LSU prove exactly what is wrong with College Football...

Miles and LSU brass shows exactly what is wrong with college football...

     Okay, this is a football article in a basketball blog. Well, sort of a football article, but it is applicable to any sport. Today it applies to LSU, Les Miles, and perfected act of hypocrisy. In case you were in Mongolia for last few months you know that Jordan Jefferson, part time quarterback and full time thug was suspended by Miles for a savage assault on a United States Marine outside a bar in New Orleans. Imagine a Marine being in a bar. Boggles the imagination doesn't it. I fully believe that Jefferson and his fellow gang members almost beat this soldier to death. I also have no doubt the Marine had no back down in him at all. Most Marines don't. He probably thought that seven against on Marine was pretty even when the assault started. What started as an assault has shown the true character of both Miles, Jefferson, and the academic leadership of LSU.


    Jefferson repeatedly kicked the Marine who was almost unconscious and lying on the ground. He could offer no defense at this point. So what does Jefferson do. He starts to kick our serviceman in head. Big man Jefferson. You repeatedly kicked a semi-conscious man half to death. I'd call that leadership. You probably major in management at LSU. You are a spineless little bastard and you'll get yours. What goes around comes around. I personally wouldn't have picked on United States Marine. They have lots of buddies, and this Simper Fi stuff is taken very seriously. One night when you least expect it you are going to be dragged into some backwater Louisiana swamp ala True Blood. 

Nothing serious, Les? 

    What Miles and Louisiana State University has done pales in comparison to Jefferson. After Jefferson's felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors he was reinstated to the team. He then played the following day. I watched that moment with great anticipation. How would the fans react. They booed Jefferson. I suspect that they were actually booing Miles. It gave me new respect to fans I already respected. Of course, the coach is a man who told a group of boosters to f---k Alabama. There is only two letters differences in class and ass. Guess which group I think Jefferson and Miles are in? 


     I guess the injured Marine felt like he wasn't kicked as hard as he thought after some homer DA lowered the charges. He probably had some type of epithany. "Hey, I just thought I got the 
s--t beat out of me, and after all I was barely conscious when the quarterback chipped in kicks to my head. I completely understand." The truth is that Marine might have died had he been kicked in the temple. Maybe Jefferson didn't have the intent to kill the soldier, but  he could have done that. For Miles and the University to let this criminal play is beyond my comprehension. I'm not saying the criminals don't deserve second chances. By allowing Jefferson to play against Kentucky the entire coaching staff and University condoned his actions. They also said that it is more important to teach that winning in football is more important that winning in life by being a decent person.


    I can't imagine Coach Saban doing that. I bet our Coach would have kicked his ass all the way down to the bus station on his way home. This isn't drinking. It isn't stealing. It was the intentional act of trying to harm another human being. That is entire different level of malfeasance. He should have been kicked off the team forever. So let's see what LSU players have learned. I might miss a few games if I almost kill someone. Hmmm... I bet some of the Cajuns might just think that would be worth the risk. I bet some Alabama players might do so as well. 


   You might believe that Jefferson and his gang of seven acted in the heat of the moment. They may have been drinking and things got out of hand. Those things may be true, and you can choose to believe those are mitigating factors. What Les Miles and Chancellor of LSU did was make a decision that means that games are more important than human life. I don't know how they can justify that under these circumstances. I do know two things; however, the decision to let Jefferson play was far worse than the fight. The other thing I believe is that I'd bet on the Marine in round two. And Jordan, there will be a round two.


    And for you Coach Miles ... you have gone from mildly amusing to openly dangerous. No, coach most of us haven't had this type of brush with the law as you defended Jefferson in your press conference. Most of don't gang up on someone and try to kill him. That's what happened, or could have happened, and you make it sound like some teenager's lack of judgement. Jordan Jefferson and Les Miles are the leaders of LSU football. Even your fans are ashamed of you both. LSU fans don't boo criminals or the man who was supposed to crack the whip. 


Latest Update on the Crime (1-6-2012)  As many of you know I am a lawyer by trade not by choice. I have reviewed the public records in Louisiana and this case reduced to a misdemeanor at the request of the District Attorney. The victim's family continues to fight for justice including a potential civil lawsuit)




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