ALABAMA WINS PUERTO RICO TOURNAMENT...

Great defense allows the Tide to Roll...

Tide celebrates after whipping Purdue

     No disrespect to the Alabama football team's great defense. By all accounts that defense is the best in the NCAA. Some Tide fans believe it is the best defense in Alabama history. Perhaps one day it will as good as Alabama's basketball team defense. Basketball championships, like football championships, start by winning on the defensive side of court. On Sunday night in San Juan Puerto Rico, the Crimson Tide used a relentless defense to hold the high scoring 'Boilermakers of Purdue to only  56  points in winning the Championship game 65-56. The Big Ten team got 12 of those points in the last three minutes when the issue had been decided.

     The Alabama defense has all the efficiency of a meat grinder on steroids. Consider that Purdue scored 91 and 85 points in their first two games. The 56 was 32 points under their average. We have speculated what might happen when Bama started to make three point baskets. In the second half we got a glimpse. It will only get better. The Tide is working hard to be a better offensive team. Tonight, they got better in the second half.


Mitchell is special...

Tony had an great tourney

     The SETI project whose goal is to find intelligent extraterrestrial life is a great side trip if you come to PR.  It might  be a lot easier if those learned scientists to pay 12  bucks and witness the sky high show of Tony Mitchell. Mitchell  ended last season on a roll. He is taking up where he left off. Releford had 20 to lead all scorers. He also had 5 assists. Green had 14 and so did Mitchell. Randolph had 12. A cold spell in the first half kept the Tide from running away against Boilermakers. 

THINGS WE LIKED...

• Hello Levi, welcome to the big time. Great game from a gifted athlete. 
• Nick Jacobs, had a great tournament and showed Grant he can trust him
• So did Carl Engstrom. He  didn't score much be he rebounded well. His picks are big
• Green got into the flow of the game after foul trouble and forcing the issue in game 2.
• Releford had a great week, his assists are starting to pick up, and that is VERY GOOD.
• Mitchell is quickly becoming a star. Insider or out # 5 is everywhere.
• Trevor Lacey started to show his real skills.
• Rodney Cooper is playing excellent defense and has hit a few threes. Getting better

     Bama is a top 15 right now. Come late winter it might be a national player. The defense is beyond good and offense is coming along fine. One thing people might want to remember is that the Tide expends a lot of energy on defense, and that hurts the offense. Bama shot 43% while limiting the red hot Big 10 team to 35%. Bama also cashed in on 14-18 free throws. Purdue out boarded the Tide 30-25. 17 turnovers is not going to make Grant very happy, Purdue had 13 to almost  even out some sloppy play.  Both teams played such hard defense it caused the offense of both teams to look pretty.  In the end, the Tide made three good runs during the game that Purdue couldn't match.

I'd give the Tide a solid A for the Caribbean.

Late update: Mitchell named SEC Player of the Week

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Revenge game?

Hankerson has improved  

      Not really. The  tonight's WS game will allow Alabama to return to the scene of the crime so to speak. Last season Alabama's magical run in the NIT was ended by very good and sound Wichita State Shockers. If you saw the Shockers last night they look very much like the same team that handed the Tide a loss in the final game of their season. 


     Alabama brings a much better outside game than last season. The Tide's perimeter shooting was so poor that it caused them to lead the nation in 2 point baskets against total points Tonight is a playoff game for the NCAA. Alabama has beefed up the pre-SEC schedule. Two solid wins so far, and win over the Shockers would be big on when team are selected for the NCAA field. Bama's horrible showing in the Bahama's last winter sealed the team's NCAA fate even though we didn't know at the time. At that time most people just thought we were a lousy team. You have to admire Grant for teaching his team, and JayMykal Green a lessons about what is and is not important. Whatever occurred in the Caribbean last year is behind them, but the lesson learned seems to remain. 
    If you think it is revenge on the mind's of the basketball team you might be wrong. Not replicating last years showing. In doing that they may well beat the Shockers. One thing Tide fans learned last night was that wins are possible against mediocre teams. If Green plays only 13 minutes tonight it won't be the same. Bama learned that Carl Engstrom can hold his own on defense. He takes up a lot of room, and his technique is improving. On offense he hasn't shown a lot of success but has developed a decent drop step to the basket. 


Keys to Winning tonight:

• Keep Green and Mitchell out of foul troube.
• Releford needs to pick up his assist production
• Cooper and Randolph need to keep up their defense and chip in a few baskets

     Bama will need to hit some threes. Hello Trevor Lacey. In all honesty every starter and the first two players off the bench can make threes. Look for 'Bama to start scoring a lot more points as they learn to play as a team. Bama's defense is great, and the offense has the potential to be as good. 

I like Bama by 6.

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The turtle couldn't win this one...

Green shows his frustration from the bench

     If Maryland was the turtle, then Alabama was the hare. Chalk one up for the rabbits. Bama used a pressing defense to stifle Maryland of the ACC 62-42. It wasn't that close. At one point in the second half I wondered whether Maryland would score 30 points. Once Coach Grant pulled his rotation Maryland finally began scoring a few points.  But only then. 


    What were the Terps thinking  when they were down 20 in the first half and knew that Alabama's best player was not playing?  Alabama did not play a perfect game. On defense it is hard to believe anyone could do better. The Crimson Tide took a mediocre and injury plagued Maryland team and turned them into the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Maryland looked horrible. The 'terps looked lost and confused. Maryland couldn't have dribbled a basketball to the end of a pier and hit the ocean. Let's recap some stats.

• Maryland shot only 26% on 13 of 49 shots. Very few of those shots were good ones. 
• Maryland shot only 16% of three-point attempts. They were 2-12 from the floor.
• Alabama out boarded the 'terps 44-28. When you only shot 26% there a lots of rebounds
• Alabama only allowed 8 assists. 
• Alabama shot 43% from the from the floor, but shot 46 % in suburb land. 
• Alabama uncharacteristically made only 7-14 free throws
• JayMykal Green  played just 13 minutes after learning exactly how the block charge line works.

I know the ACC is supposed to be the big dog league of the NCAA. Alabama clearly had better players, better athletes , and executed their game plan. Grant had his team ready. There would be no repeat of last years un-excellent Caribbean adventure. The Tide played well. 

     The Tide's largest lead was 25 with Green on the bench. Tony Mitchell had a team high 17 points. He got 15 of those in the first half when he  was  playing somewhere above the space shuttle. He hit 2 nice threes in the first half to jump start the team. Releford kicked in 10 with several of sweet penetrations to the basket. Green and Cooper each had 7.  Perhaps the biggest news of the was the big Swede. Carl Engstrom had 5 rebounds after replaced Green he also had 2 blocked shots. Engstrom is getting there and it seems that Grant's faith in him might pay off for the Tide. Charles Hankerson had 8 points and played another steady game. And in a news flash, Ben Eblen actually took a shot after a big league steal and scored. The bench went wild. 

 Trevor Lacy had 10 points in 25 minutes of play. Lacy is getting close to 100% coming off knee surgery. Levi Randolph may be the best athlete on the team. He played 22 minutes and was a demon on defense. He limited the 'terps best shooter to no points. Nick Jacobs continues to show what he can do. In his 18 minutes on the floor he had 4 points and 2 rebounds, but more importantly he got into the flow of the game. He's a keeper. 

Bama takes on Colorado in its next game. The Buffs beat a good Wichita State team  62-57 in what might be considered a mild upset. The game is set for an 8:00 CST tip. ESPN2 will have the live action. 

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Today we passed 50,000 unique users...

It is she who washes the good luck tee shirt - ROLL TIDE

This is probably not a big deal for you. For me, it is eye opening and very telling that their is a lot of support for 'Bama basketball. We have had readers from 31 separate countries. 32 if you throw in Mississippi. 'Bama fans are far and wide in their travels. Let me ask each of you a question - have you ever been on a trip when wearing your 'Bama hat  and hear someone yell, "Roll Tide"?  I have had it happen many times. I'm going to California next weekend. I'm sure I'll wear my 'Bama tee shirt and I'm just as sure I'll hear a few Roll Tides. 


My wife and I are going to watch the Auburn - Alabama at a small drinking establishment we know. I've got it already set up. We have advertised for any 'Bama fans nearby to come on down to watch with us. The only thing better than hearing one of those Roll Tides is when you hear Roll Tide  followed by ' let me buy you a drink.' ahh... Can life get any sweeter than that? My wife is very attractive. Her tee shirt looks much better on her than mine does on me. We are only taking our absolute, 100% reliable, and time tested 'Bama good luck stuff. I have a tee shirt that I've worn when watching every game this season except one - The LSU game. We had a lot of guests over to watch the game with us. I couldn't find my tee shirt.   ALL of us searched for that tee shirt. Including the dirty clothes. That might see extreme or silly to people who aren't aware of what the rivalry means. To all us looking for the tee shirt it seemed just fine, even necessary and was taken quite seriously. We never found it. 


I felt we might lose. We later found out the two LSU fans saw the shirt on the kitchen table (it was not yet time for the ceremony of putting on the tee shirt) and they took it as a joke. They said we should have told me but everyone seemed so serious and thought we would get mad at them. Okay, we did get mad. When we couldn't find the tee shirt I went with a fairly reliable back up good luck jacket. I put on the basketball warmup that Derrick McKey gave me. Although it had seen a couple of losses it was the best we could do on short notice. 


It was with a heavy heart and a little trepidation that we started watching the game. I always thought we would win that game. Not finding the tee shirt had allowed doubt to creep in my mind. Our friends noticed the effect and they became worried. At half-time we looked again. By now the LSU fans were terrified to admit they had taken it, and said the baby sitter called and they had to go home. I grew suspicious. Did THEY have the tee shirt? I had no proof other than the early exit. People have been sent to prison on less evidence. 


Everyone in our home had their own good luck charms. One friend had an Elephant bracelet. Another had his favorite hat. You could tell it was Crimson at some time but by that night it was almost dirt brown. My wife went through her clothes and stuff to make sure she didn't put it in the wrong place. We had the lucky stuffed elephant in the room and the banner proclaiming all of our national championships. We keep the banner in a box an, we drape of the banner on a special little frame we built. The draping is always done the same way. Everyone present  had seen this before and when we did that it was like being in Church. Once the banner was in place everyone said "Roll Tide". We had done everything exactly right. Except the tee shirt. However; all the other lucky charms had been present in past losses, including the Auburn game last year. They would certainly not do, and they were simply not up to the task of carrying good luck to the Tide.I grew concerned, even scared. 


Half way through the fourth quarter I was really worried. I, myself, due to lack of due diligence, had allowed the tee shirt to disappear and I had to man up to that fact. No one present thaat night thought that any of this was bizarre or not normal. A couple of guys asked how I could let it happen. Their wives told them to stop."Wasn't it clear that he was already upset."?


I know that there are two types of Alabama fans. There are those who do similar things and those who will not admit they do them. The first bunch is normal. The second bunch needs some type of medical treatment. I want to assure everyone that I now have my tee shirt. It is in my closet in the top drawer, neatly folded like a good soldier waiting to go into battle. I only have had that tee shirt for this season. It was a replacement for the one that had seen too many games and made too many road trips. It had endured a thousand trips through the washer and dryer. It even suffered through a couple of coin operated washers and dryers. I am truly sorry for causing that original shirt all the pain and suffering I caused. I'm sorry for the tear stains and sweat stains where my Right Guard had failed. It survived being torn by a Miami fan in New Orleans. In short, that tee shirt was a real trooper. It was my friend. 


Now I buy new tee shirt at the start of each season. I got the present one for the Capital One Bowl game. It still hasn't seen a loss. It was kidnapped by LSU fans and still found its way back home. I'm going to enshrine it after the Auburn game whether we win or lose. All that seem logical and makes perfect sense, right? Roll Tide my brothers. 


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Oh Boy!!!!

Bama blasts a good basketball team...

Green shows extreme concentration

     Freshman are still freshman. That is unless your names are Jacobs, Lacey, Cooper, and Randolph. Last night at Coleman Coliseum the Alabama Crimson Tide put on a defensive show that even football fans would appreciate.  If you were at the game last night please check and see if you still have your wallet. It might be gone. I have never seen freshman play defense the way these kids played. It was in your face, overplaying the passing lanes, cutting off the lane, and generally causing as much havoc as Sherman did to Atlanta. Excuse Oakland if they seemed a little dazed and confused at the end of the game.


        Even the Oakland coach, Greg Kampe, acknowledged in the post game interviews that even though his team prepared just for Bama for one month he was still surprised at how good Bama was. Coach Kampe said his original game plan was to double down on JayMykal Green and Tony Mitchell. That was fine except for Trevor Releford and the new freshman players. "I can't teach defense like that," admitted the Oakland coach.  Coach Kampe made it crystal clear that the play of the freshman stunned him. After watching Alabama basketball for over a thousand games I have not seen freshman play D the way these first year players played. Their offense was just as good. 


     Here's a bit of advice for future Bama opponents - Double down on Green and Mitchell and you'll die. Don't double down on Green and Mitchell and you'll still die.If Nick Jacobs can develop into a 15 minutes a game player this Crimson Tide team will be very, very good. The only problem this team has is depth inside. Jacobs, who resembles a 6-8 concrete block only needs some experience.For all those who laughed when we said that Randolph and Cooper were as good as Lacey direct your acknowledgement in the comment section. 


     And then there was Lacy. He is not the most athletic player on the team. But I'd match his basketball IQ right up there with Releford.  Lacy has extraordinary court sense. Of course, he must be related to ex-NBA great "downtown" Freddie Brown. I'm not sure you can actually define his shooting range. Coach Grant can do that. All I'm saying is to see a freshman guard stop and pop off a break from 25 feet is pretty darn special. 


    Levi Randolph shoots a knuckle ball. Odd shot. Great results. Can he finish a play inside. Ask Corey Petros the 6-10 Oakland center who was a spectator when Levi slammed home a drive to the basket. Randolph has obviously been hanging around with Mitchell all summer. Cooper has improved so much from his junior year in high school it is amazing. His all around offensive ability from the outside and the inside is nice.  How about the little ten-foot fall away basket in the second half.  


    I'm not forgetting the play of Green, Mitchell, Releford, and Hankerson. All played well. I'm sure that Grant is going to point out to Releford and Mitchell that their 7 turnovers wasn't acceptable. And I'm sure the players are thinking to themselves, "yeah, but they were full speed mistakes and look at everything else we did." And that is true. Green sat out a large portion of the second half with a wrist injury. He's fine, but it did keep him from scoring 30 points and getting 10 or more rebounds in all likelihood. 


     This team is a gang of pickpockets on defense and a Crimson blur coming down the floor. Bama is like a new Maserati right now. They have all the pieces to go 200 mph but they are still tuning up the engine. Coach Grant will now embark on the theme of "we are small, and not very talented." He's got that half right. He merely will want to lower expectations. He's probably right in doing so, but what you see is what you get. Bet your last dollar the Tide won't go zero for the Caribbean this season. 

 I'd like to see the Maryland scouting report. LOL  


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Bama Fizzles and then Sizzles...

Mitchell and Green lead the way...

    A funny thing happened in Coleman Coliseum last night. For the first 12 minutes of the first half I thought the Tide was playing LSU in football. Alabama's defense was stifeling North Florida but their offense was horrible. Brick City. The Tide started two freshman and Trevor Lacey wasn't one of them. The home town crowd got to see the potential of Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper. Each is a superstar waiting to happen.

    What did happen was Tony Mitchell. Mitchell led the Tide on a 13-2 run to open up a margin that the Floridians could never cut. Mitchell had a double - double with 17 points and 10 boards. All-American JaMychal Green led all Tide scorers with 18. A versatile and very athletic Levi Randolph pulled down 8 rebounds and scored 5 points. Randolph showed the ability to play both inside and out. His versatilty is going to be big with a much smaller Tide team this season. The Huntsville native played a good all around game, and didn't look like a freshman. Rodney Cooper, the 6-6 wing freshman is not afraid to shoot. Grant gave him the green light. Cooper had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Still recovering from summer knee surgery,  Trevor Lacey, whom most thought to be the Tide's best recruit came off the bench with 6 points and surprising 5 rebounds. All in all a good start for the Tide three freshman guards. Throw in Nick Jacobs fierce battles under the boards, which included two blocked shots.

     The development of Jacobs is key to Alabama's success. When Mousse Gueye tore his ACL it put an already short bench for big men even shorter. I spoke briefly with the big 7-2 center after the game. He says he will be able to return sometime in the SEC season. Mousee has three years to play with no redshirt. Carl Engstrom has improved but needs more time to bring his talent up to SEC speed. Look for limited minutes. Bama's Belgium recruit, Retin Obasohan did not play. He may red-shirt. Charles Hankerson has improved greatly but had a poor game. He will have some big minutes down the line. Ben Eblen actually took a shot. He was solid as always. 


     Bama held  the Osprey's to an unbelievable 23% shooting from the floor. Alabama's four guard offense is even more swarming than last season. Cooper and Randolph look good on the double teams and anticipating passes. Bama shot a lukewarm 40% from the floor but was over 55% in the second half. The Tide also hit 15-17 free throws. Bama's small line-up controlled the boards 40-35 (75 rebounds is a lot of missed shots). The Crimson and White had a respectable 13 assists but committed 14 turnovers. Three of those were unforced. 


     Bama takes on Oakland Monday at 7:00PM. Oakland was an NCAA participant last seaso


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Who will win the SEC?

Vandy's terrific trio can win the SEC

     Something is new in the SEC this season. The division approach is dead. Thank heavens. Teams such as Alabama who was snubbed by the NCAA's final field might not be overlooked or ignored. Kentucky has once again found a way to sign three of the top five players in the country. These are one and done type kids. I'm sure that the quality of education offered such players is first and foremost in the minds of John Calipari. What a joke on the NCAA. You may not like the fact that Kentucky is an immediate stepping stone to the NBA, but you cannot overlook the talent. Kentucky's education goal for the their players is embarrassing but the basketball skill of their recruits is top shelf. Vandy returns their best three players who all bypassed a chance to play in the NBA. Florida has enough talent to win the SEC if things fall in place. Alabama will need to win all their home games and a few more on the road to repeat the NCAA ignored 12-4 SEC record of last season. The Tide signed four great freshman. Mississippi State has once again had a great recruiting class and return a great point guard. Out of those five teams we will likely find the SEC champions. Here's how we see them:

              The Blog's top five teams.


1.    Vanderbilt - I'm betting that experience will trump raw talent
2.    Kentucky - Get to know these kids quickly, they'll be gone      
       just as quickly. 
3.    Alabama  Anthony Grant rang the bell with  great freshman.             He  signed three shooters.
4.   Florida - This team has as much talent as anyone and a    great class
5.   Misissippi State - If the Starkville Bullies can avoid a soap opera they will be very good


Starting tomorrow we'll break down the top five and make some predictions. 


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