State losses to Georgia

Georgia Bulldogs knocks State from Tournament with some great effort...   

     Mississippi State dug deep to find yet another way to lose not just a game, but an NCAA berth as well. A lot would have to happen for the Dogs to get a bid. State has already agreed to host the opening round in the NIT if not selected by the NCAA according to a source close to the AD's office. I'm sure that is a big letdown for Bulldog fans. Without a doubt, State is the most disappointing team in the SEC. Now rumors are all over the radio about Rick Stansbury losing his job. Are you crazy? Despite ending the regular season on a down note the Coach doesn't deserve to lose his job. How would that effect Alabama? I think that Pollard eliminates State. But how does this kid not give a serious look at Kentucky. Bama's best hope is that his personal relationship with Grant is as good as described.

Not just an SEC story
 but a national headline

    
Four big SEC stories ...
 Four stories stuck out this season in the SEC. All were completely different in scope but each was certainly newsworthy in their own right.

1. The breaking point shaving scandal at Auburn. This is going to give an NCAA already    upset with the SEC's sport success even more room to pass legislation that might hurt the league. This is a bigger story than trouble at Auburn. This could end up being the biggest basketball story of the decade. Auburn's problem isn't just with one basketball player. This is going to be one of those stories where the net could get larger. A Federal Investigation is a serious issue, and no stone will be left unturned to see if this is an endemic problem with the entire program. Let me stress there is nothing to indicate that at this time. 

     2 Kentucky's undefeated season in the Conference with young players. Whether you     like John Calipari or not you cannot take anything way from the job he's done with the Wildcats this season.


     3.The collapse of Mississippi State. The Dogs fall from grace was stunning. I know it made a lot of Alabama fans happy. I don't think I've ever seen a team with more talent play so poorly when it mattered the most.


4.The suspensions by Alabama's Anthony Grant of four players in the middle of a run for the NCAA. Grant stuck to his guns and the Tide managed to find a way to wade through troubled waters to an NCAA berth was outstanding.

    There were a couple of other stories worthy noting. Coach Martin's job in the second half of the season led the Vols to a second place in the SEC Tournament and many think they may make the NCAA despite a laughable start. 

     Tony Barbee's coaching job at Auburn deserves some special mention. Talk about a thankless job. He still kept the Tigers competitive. What a blow to his players to find out that one of their numbers may have betrayed the program. How bad was that.

      The same applies to a lesser degree to those players at Alabama who thought they'd put themselves ahead of their teammates, coaches, and fans. Releford has not recovered from his one game suspension, although I think there is something medical going on with him that has not been disclosed yet.

State losses to Georgia

Georgia Bulldogs knocks State from Tournament with some great effort...   

     Mississippi State dug deep to find yet another way to lose not just a game, but an NCAA berth as well. A lot would have to happen for the Dogs to get a bid. State has already agreed to host the opening round in the NIT if not selected by the NCAA according to a source close to the AD's office. I'm sure that is a big letdown for Bulldog fans. Without a doubt, State is the most disappointing team in the SEC. Now rumors are all over the radio about Rick Stansbury losing his job. Are you crazy? Despite ending the regular season on a down note the Coach doesn't deserve to lose his job. How would that effect Alabama? I think that Pollard eliminates State. But how does this kid not give a serious look at Kentucky. Bama's best hope is that his personal relationship with Grant is as good as described.

Not just an SEC story
 but a national headline

    
Four big SEC stories ...
 Four stories stuck out this season in the SEC. All were completely different in scope but each was certainly newsworthy in their own right.

1. The breaking point shaving scandal at Auburn. This is going to give an NCAA already    upset with the SEC's sport success even more room to pass legislation that might hurt the league. This is a bigger story than trouble at Auburn. This could end up being the biggest basketball story of the decade. Auburn's problem isn't just with one basketball player. This is going to be one of those stories where the net could get larger. A Federal Investigation is a serious issue, and no stone will be left unturned to see if this is an endemic problem with the entire program. Let me stress there is nothing to indicate that at this time.
2. Kentucky's undefeated season in the Conference with young players. Whether you like John Calipari or not you cannot take anything way from the job he's done with the Wildcats this season. 
3. The collapse of Mississippi State. The Dogs fall from grace was stunning. I know it made a lot of Alabama fans happy. I don't think I've ever seen a team with more talent play so poorly when it mattered the most.
4. The suspensions by Alabama's Anthony Grant of four players in the middle of a run for the NCAA. Grant stuck to his guns and the Tide managed to find a way to wade through troubled waters to an NCAA berth was outstanding.

    There were a couple of other stories worthy noting. Coach Martin's job in the second half of the season led the Vols to a second place in the SEC Tournament and many think they may make the NCAA despite a laughable start. 

     Tony Barbee's coaching job at Auburn deserves some special mention. Talk about a thankless job. He still kept the Tigers competitive. What a blow to his players to find out that one of their numbers may have betrayed the program. How bad was that.

      The same applies to a lesser degree to those players at Alabama who thought they'd put themselves ahead of their teammates, coaches, and fans. Releford has not recovered from his one game suspension, although I think there is something medical going on with him that has not been disclosed yet.

Bama needs to win a couple of games in the SEC

Let's find the magic...

To escape the 8/9 bracket...
     Alabama has fought their way back into playing in the NCAA Tournament. That's the good news. The bad news is that most "experts" see the Tide playing as an 8 or 9 seed. It's tough to win a game like that. Supposedly, those are the two closet matched teams in the bracket. If you win your reward is to play the # 1 seed. That's the difference between getting a bid and making a run. 'Bama will get the bid, but they are unlikely to survive more than one game. The story here might just be that Alabama finally made it back to the Tournament and let it go at that. That is not really acceptable to most Bama fans. 


        I was talking to an old friend who was a college basketball coach. "Freshman, are the quickest way to lose in a tournament." This guy is now a college color analyst and he went on to say that Alabama's freshmen are not at the same level as Kentucky's 1st year players. He also added that an often over-looked fact about Kentucky is the sprinkling of upperclassmen to add some stability on the floor and in the locker-room.  I don't think there has ever been a team a loaded with freshmen that has won a national championship. Michigan's Fab Four came close. Kentucky has come close. Alabama has five first year players in their rotation and they just aren't going to come close.  That just isn't conducive for long runs or consistent play. That's the cross we all have to bear with this team. Sometimes I forget that. It's something to keep in mind. 

We need TR back at full speed and
his infectious play...

     I read the other day that expanding the Tournament to 128 teams has been considered by the NCAA. That is one great idea. We need to do one of two things in my opinion with the NCAA.  Basketball is quintessential tournament sport. The more teams in a field makes it less likely for someone to win the NCAA on a two week hot streak. That would be one approach. The other would be to eliminate at large-bids. If you are in a major conference and you finish in the top half of your league you get in the field. Lump all the independents in another "conference" and do the same thing. Eliminate any wins against Division II teams. A few other rules need to be applied. One - if you don't have a winning league record you can't go. If you don't have an overall winning record you can't go. I know that there would still be teams that argue that they should have been picked and got left out. Eliminating bottom feeders is easier. Why not do that and expand the NIT to allow teams beat in the first round of the NCAA to play over in the NIT after they lose. Some good teams will lose in the 1st round of the NCAA. Why not elevate the play of the NIT and allow them to move if they lose. We need to keep the small school in some fashion, however.

Bill Russell and USF won two...

     Most of us love Cinderella stories such as VCU. In American we do believe in miracles don't we.  We need to keep those unlikely dreams alive.  Not only do Amercians believe in miracles, but we love underdogs. The Loyola Rattlers won an NCAA. That means other teams like team can win. San Francisco won two behind Bill Russell. Some schools poise as mid majors but clearly are big time - Gonzaga and Butler come to mind right away. They can win the NCAA. And of course, the the most inclusive thought is allow all teams play in the post season championship tournament. The Real Big Dance so to speak. If you love basketball this is your time of the year. And if someone has an extra ticket to Thursday's 1st session I need one. Seriously.    Roll Tide Roll to all Crimson Tide hoop fans everywhere. 

South Carolina could be Alabama's worst nightmare...

Contrary to popular thought lightning does strike twice in same place... 

Green says Bama will bounce back... 

    If you are an Alabama fan and have this recurring basketball nightmare it likely has to do with the South Carolina game early in the year. That was the night that the Alabama basketball team started down the road to hardwood perdition. It was the  the first time the word "entitled" was publicly used by Anthony Grant. A short time later Mitchell and Grant were cleaning out  their lockers in Coleman Coliseum. The Alabama season  was never the same after that night in Columbia, South Carolina. That game was a showcase for all the things that was wrong with the basketball team. The team played without any enthusiasm, looked selfish, and appeared to believe that  just walking on the floor would cause South Carolina to concede a win to  the Tide. By the time that Alabama figured out that South Carolina wasn't going to just give up,  it was to late to pull out a win.Bruce Ellington hit a fine runner of a left handed layup and the Tide was done.


How bad was that loss to Carolina?

Bruce Ellington hit winner in game 1

    That loss to SC was as humbling as your daughter's sixth grade team beating your adult men's church league team. If Anthony Grant could draw up a list of 10 things never to do on a basketball court the Tide would have checked off all ten. Add Green hurting his ankle to the mix and the Tide lost in what should have been a lock. When the NCAA Selection Committee talks about bad losses they are using the South Carolina game as an example. And Ode to Joy, we get to play them again this Thursday. If the Crimson Tide doesn't come out fired up and angry as a cornered copperhead Grant should suspend every player on the team. Looking back to that game it was the pivotal game of the season for the University of Alabama. Had the Tide won the game we might be getting a bye this Thursday. If Alabama had won the game perhaps the dominoes that started falling would not have happened.


Back to the Ole Miss game...
     Back to the weekend, the loss to Ole Miss didn't end Alabama's season. It did open up another round of questions about whether this team is short on talent or heart. Perhaps they are short on both. Tide fans will cut you some slack about lack of talent, but lack of heart, or lack of effort are not found in the Tide fan book.    


      Now this seemingly bi-polar basketball team has a shot at redemption. A lot of questions can be answered and a lot of doubters can be quietened with some solid play over the next two weeks. The shot at proving a lot of people wrong begins on Thursday around 3:30 PM. 


The City of New Orleans... or at least the Crescent

Grant's chance to shut some people up

    I'm taking the Amtrak down on Wednesday with some friends. We'll laugh and tell the same old stories for about the 100th time. We will talk about long ago  road trips to LA when we beat UCLA. Talk about the win over Oklahoma in the Garden, and a remarkable run of three wins in the NCAA which is still the high water mark of Alabama basketball. We'll drink some single malt. We will tell lies about girls we used to date, bigger lies about ex-wives,  argue about the top ten basketball players who ever wore the Crimson and White. It sounds like a perfectly happy 7 hours full of revelry and camaraderie. Beneath the surface of our smiles and memories is the hidden fact that each of us are very serious basketball fans. We will all be worrying about whether this Tide team has what it takes to get off the canvas and come out swinging.  None of us know what will happen and I doubt we will even talk about the nagging fears that Carolina can do it again. In my group of six men their is a collective 300 years of basketball experience. Some played college ball, others coached the game, while others cheered. One thing each of us has learned is that what ought to happen sometimes doesn't. What should never happen will happen sooner or later, and what could never happen is just a meaningless phrase. What occurs in the next two weeks or so will tell all of us a lot about Anthony Grant and the future of the program.


       What I'd like to see is a team that plays hard 100% of the game. A team that doesn't back down from anything and team that starts to play like they believe in themselves again. Anything less is unacceptable. Anything more is not needed. Wins would be nice. Maximum effort by the players would be more important than winning in some cases.  I can hardly wait. This is what March is all about.

Bamabasketball.net - Candid Observations

55 Years of Watching Tide Basketball...
Coach Grant says "he didn't have them ready"

     Before reading any more of this blog you need to understand that I've been watching Alabama basketball for 55 seasons.  This season has caused me (the loyal fan) more pain than any season I can remember. There were the early years where winning was not going to happen as often so it was almost a habit to watch the team lose. A win was like finding a 20 dollar bill on the sidewalk. We had some good years with Johnny Dee and the Rocket Eight. Sprinkled in those early days were a few good wins and some pretty good seasons, but not many. Then we started to win, and expect to win.

    For older basketball fans it was odd seeing our gym full of rabid fans. These fans would come and go depending on the success of the season. Lucklily for the Tide there was a hard core cadre of maybe 1500 hundred fans who loved Alabama basketball more than football. We went on road trips, ignored the second rate facility now called Coleman Coliseum. In those days everyone had terrible facilities so it didn't matter so much. We used to joke that  Georgia had the only basketball arena in America where you took the wind in the second half. Tennessee and Auburn had glorified Quonset huts.

     But things got better and schools started building nice facilities. We haven't done that, but at least our arena and dressing rooms look good. The problem with Coleman is that it isn't conducive to watching basketball. It is an all purpose facility in an age where top shelf is the rule. Ole Miss is going to have a great arena next season. Ole Miss? We might do okay if we had a quirky gym like Duke. But we have neither a quirky facility or a top shelf facility. We have a dinosaur with makeup. I know we spent 8 million dollars on a spruce up. That's about what Joan Rivers has probably spent on plastic surgery.

     CM gave us a solid foundation and the greatest coach in Alabama basektball history, Wimp Sanderson, took hoops to a whole new level. Wimp is my friend and I have to admit to considerable bias here. Alabama basketball has never recovered from the loss of Wimp Sanderson. I'm not going into the what happened with Hootie Ingram. Alabama has knowningly allowed football and basketball coaches remain for doing what Wimp was accussed of doing. Hootie gutted the basket program like a fisheman would gut a perch on a lake bank. Wimp was becoming to popular, basketball was becoming to big, and successfull for a powerful few men who viewed the basketball sucess as a threat to football. That was all silly but true. The greatest single contribution that Nick Saban has made to Alabama football isn't the two national championships, the millions of dollars of increased income, but was telling the good old boys to go to hell. It was Saban's way or he wasn't coming. I don't always agree with what any coach does, but Saban telling a entitled few to take a long hike off a short pier has been the salvation of Alabama football. That, and Mal Moore finding the courage to let him do it. Most Alabama fans will never know the internal pressure put on Moore  about Saban when his demands became known.

     Alabama basketball died the day Wimp Sanderson left.  We have found coaches to take his job but none to take his place. The cadre begged  Moore NOT to give Mark Gottfired one more year. One nice thing about Coach Moore is he always listened. I'll give him that. I told him that not firing Mark and giving him one more season would put whoever became our coach in the shower for five seasons. I remember beseeching Mal one more season might mean the new coach wouldn't succeed until his 5th season. We are still paying for giving Gottfried that one year.  I stlll beleive that. The problems that Grant has had this season has not really been with his own recruits. I want to go back on the record in saying that Grant is getting the job done. His first year at Alabama was one of the greatest coaching jobs I've ever seen. It remains his best since he has been at Alabama, and the rest has been sorting out problems all new coaches have.

     That is not to say I'm happy with 17 points in the first half at Ole Miss. It wasn't the low output that bothered me. It was the lack of focus by the team. The same occured in the AU game. I believe the truth is that we have some really good players but not enough. Our margin for error is small. Grant has coached teams at VCU and was an assistant coach under Billy D at Florida. Those team scored buckets in bushels. and he can do the same at Alabama. This team seems tentative. They seem unsure of themselves. Yesterday, was a sneak preview of what will happen in the NCAA if we get a trio of refs who call silly tickie tack fouls. Bama cannot flourish unless they can play defense the way they have been allowed to play in the SEC until yesterday. They are going to have to play better offense. Here is the problem that Grant faces. He just doesn't have a better offense since the loss of Tony Mitchell. He has to play offensive under strict control. His teams don't shoot to force the other team to run with him, he plays defense to make the other team run. The last two games we saw what happens if the opponent doesn't take the bait. Ole Miss was not effected by our press and they set up, ran their half court offense, and sliced and diced our half court defense at will. Thank heavens the Rebels missed so many shots in close or we could have been embarrased. The Rebels missed enough free throws to allow us a chance to stay in the game.

     Coach said he didn't have the team ready to play. I'm not sure how a team playing for what they are playing for isn't ready to play,  with or without a coach. It wasn't that we didn't know what plays the Rebels were running as much as we couldn't stop them.  Here's the real deal basketball fans - freshmen are just not going to do with any consistency what they need to do when things get tough. That's why only Green and Releford had much to do with the comeback. Our first year players just disappeared. First year players do that. When the bamabasketball nation was predicting a second coming for this season, some of us said slow down a little. Had the freshmen stepped on the floor and bombed three point baskets like a lake blizzard it might have been different. But they didn't. In my mind we had one freshman, Randolph, who had a good freshman season. It wasn't because of scoring but because of his oveall game. Lacey a five star recruit? You could have fooled me? All the freshman had some good moments, just not enough, and not at the same time.

     Lookng back on the regular season we did about as good as possible given the soap operas, the lack of focus at times, and the overall lack of talent this team has. This team wins on effort, defense, and the occasional offensve flurry. They won 20 games because of a coach who can teach defense and understands a magicians use of smoke and mirrors.   We might win another couple of games. I doubt that Grant will let them roll over and die. But as a basketball fan of over 50 years I have to say it is tough being a Tide fan. Except for the years of CM late in his Alabama tenure, and some great years under Mr. Plaid, Wimp Sanderson, it seems we are always a player away, just in need of a little of this, or a little of that, to become a great program.Grant needs  2 more seasons to get this fixed. Let's give it to him and support him as he does it. The younger fans don't remember bad times. They don't remember the joke that Tide basketball was at one time. Things are not bad right now, they are frustrating. Frustration is born because of a belief you can succeed. I've seen the flip side. In losing 'Wimp Sanderson we lost our best chance to win a National Champioship. In Anthony Grant I think we've found the chance again. But I'd be lying if I said this roller coaster makes me happy. It has been tough.

17 points in the first half...

Alabama's offense is horrible...

"It's that round orange thing
on the front of the backboard"

     It's enough to make you want to run down to the edge of the Court and scream, "somebody at least try to shoot the ball." What difference does it make it you recruit great three point shooters if they won't shoot? What good is it if you have an All-Conference power forward who never touches the ball. The word is out on Alabama. If they can't score baskets on the open break they probably won't score enough to be win. In fact, they probably won't score enough to even be competitive. All week we've heard basketball gurus say the Tide was ready to make a deep run in the NCAA.  Run? This team can no longer walk on offense. Sad to say, a lot of hard work by some young players without Green and Mitchell is going be wasted.  You wonder how a team that fought so hard can simply fall apart in two games. A least they won one of those two games. Now the Tide is a 5th seed and will play on Thursday. Maybe Bama can pull themselves together and win a couple of games in the SEC Tournament. It they do that they can finish all the pre-NCAA games with a 22-11 record. Luckily, the Tide will have played the a schedule which will get them to the big dance. Or perhaps for this team it will be the slow fox trot. 

     You watch the team in pre-game drills and the shoot around and they looked like zombies. It's one thing to be loose, another to look dead. I have no idea what is going on. It was that way in the Auburn game, and it looked even worse in Oxford. In all honesty, I can't remember an Alabama that looked so confused or unconcerned. No disrespect to Green, but it looks like his return has settled the team into a look of complacency on the part of the team. Not Green. Green is hustling. So as the second half started you had to wonder if Alabama would be so much road kill or they'd scratch and claw themselves out of a deep hole. 

    The immediate answer was to score 5 baskets in the first 3:15 of half two. That's only one less than Bama had in the first half. Grant made a couple of things clear - Green is going to get the ball one way or the other, and win or lose the game was going to get more physical. It was a 13-4 and Bama pulled to within 4 from the 11 point ditch. The lead was cut to four on two occasions, but a couple of things were pretty obvious. Ole Miss had the size and mobility to cut off the inside in the long run, and they were also quick enough to negate the Bama press. That was a bad combination for Grant. You watched the Rebels play and wonder how they lost so many games. Alabama cut the lead to 43-39 when the Rebels got an offensive basket interference that the officials counted. That would turn out to be a big momentum swing. In the blink of the eye lead was 47-39 with 8:54 left. 

   If you were in the house it was clear that Ole Miss had more engergy. The Rebels were able to get the ball inside with ease. The only thing keeping the game within reach was poor free throw shooting by the Rebels. Ole Miss could have been ahead by 20+. The only reason that gave me any reason to think we might have a chance to win was the fact that Ole Miss was allowing the Tide to hang around.  To make things worse the PA kept announcing that Tennessee was pounding Vandy. Let me say this and just get it over with - Bama didn't deserve to win. They didn't do enough to win.

     With 5 minutes left the Tide had cut the lead to six on Reford's two free throws. it was 45-51. Meanwhile, the PA announcer said that Vandy had cut the lead to 3 with 4 minutes left in the game. This was cruel and unusual punishment.  Ole Miss was trying to give Bama a chance to win, but Alabama couldn't capitalize. Cooper fires a stolen pass about 10 feet over Ben Eblen's head. It was that kid of afternoon.  

    The Crimson Tide gave it a shot in the second half. They came up short. They looked confused. They had no offensive flow. Despite the fact that Alabama gave up only 60  points. You have to really play bad on offense to lose when you give up that few points.  This Alabama team is a really a bad offensive team. Ole Miss did not play a great game.  I don't won't to take anything away from the Rebels, but Alabama was dreadful, atrocious, and worse. Tennessee beats Vandy.

   Hello Mr. 5 seed on Thursday. We couldn't win a game in Oxford if the Alabama men played the Ole Miss Women's team. 

• Releford had another lackluster game. He made a three in the second half to cut Ole Miss lead to four. 
• I thought that putting Mitchell on the high post picked up the Bama offense.
• Eblen had a couple on nice dish and drives. I have no idea why any defense would collapse on him.Pehaps it was just just habit. It certainly isn't sensible.
• Jacobs is going to be a good player. Some strength will help him.
• I think, for better or worse, Alabama is going to have to jack up some threes and see what happens. If they don't what difference does it make?
• One other thing that concerns me - I don't think we have as much talent as first thought. I'd like to know what you guys think about that.

More tomorrow if I escape this god - forbidden state.

    

Two hours and counting down.

Today is big time for the Tide...

The last year for the TadPad

     There is no way to underestimate the importance of today's game with Ole Miss. This game could mean that the Tide finishes 2nd in the SEC.  I think that is significant for seeding in the NCAA. How hard would it be for the NCAA to take the second place team in a major conference and give the a 9 seed. Call me the total optimist but I just don't think the NCAA will do that to the SEC. In the way are the Ole Miss Rebels and the TadPad. Ole Miss is finally  building a new arena that looks big time. . I will happy to come over and do some volunteer work on the tear down. I'd even buy some remnants of the old arena to have my private bonfire back home. All joking aside, the TadPad has been an arena of horrors. Maybe today Grant can reverse a lot of trends today with a win in Oxford. If Bama can just get some fair officiating on the road we have a chance. I've always thought that officials make some calls for teams going places as opposed to those who aren't. I interested to see if that's true.

Stop this man and the Tide improves changes today

     The line has moved to 2-3 points depending on your favorite casino. All this talk about Bama losing today and it being good overall is just crazy talk. Alabama needs to win today to insure the four seed. Bama can still be a four seed even if they lose, but the University of Alabama doesn't like to back into anything. What this team has done after the adios to Mitchell and all the other suspensions  has been nothing short of remarkable.  I'm really excited to be sitting in the god awful pit known as the TadPad and seeing Bama win today. 


Final Note:  I have been told by a couple of players that the Tide had some flu like problems in the AU game that Grant didn't want to announce. Let's hope that Alabama has gotten the Auburn game behind them. Next week it will be W and nothing else. The W we need is the one we can get today. Around 5 o'clock or so Alabama fans will begin the drive back home. Let's keep our fingers crossed it will be a Crimson Caravan of smiles...

Bama is 1 point favorite in Oxford...

Don't bet the ranch in my opinion...

Is Releford over the flu?

     Do you believe that there are places where a team just seems jinxed?  I know that jinxes are not  really true but Ole Miss is one of the teams in one of those places that 'Bama struggles. Bama has lost the last two years in Oxford. This year Alabama is a 1 point favorite , Don't hold your breath. I'm picking Ole Miss to soundly beat Alabama tomorrow. Why? Well, every time I pick the Tide to win in Oxford they lose. They lose by big amounts, small margins, freaky events, and officiating that proves the visually impaired can find work. So this year I think Ole Miss is going to blow the Tide away. I'm going with the reverse psychology.  


     Ole Miss has the Tide's number. The Rebels probably have a picket line on the State border and they send the message to Oxford that the losers are on their way. Ole Miss is where Alabama can't shoot (that might be said for a lot of arenas) straight. I'm not sure why Alabama has such a tough time in Oxford. I went to the first game ever played in the Tad Pad. It was a radical design for its time and seated what Ole Miss officials realistic thought they might be able to draw. The home crowd is rarely fired up. It just doesn't seem like it is much of a home court advantage. Yet, the Rebels are almost impossible to beat in Oxford. Tomorrow means so much to Bama. Can Alabama find a way to overcome the size of the Ole Miss front Court? Jacobs, Green, and Randolph are going to have to rebound well. Steele and Releford are going to get some chances because Ole Miss is going to shoot some threes and misses will result in long rebound chances.


     Part of reason that Ole Miss beats Alabama is that they have better talent. You can start this year with Terrance Henry, a senior who can put together some good games. He is average 12.4 ppgs. One of the real problems is the balanced scoring by the rebels. Holloway, Williams, and Summers are all averaging in double figures. Jarvis Summers is the Rebels long range threat but Henry can make threes as welll.

Can Grant dial up a winning combo?

     The  Rebels are led on defense by Reginald Buckner who is the 17th all time shot blocker in SEC history. Ole Miss goes, 6-9,6-9, and 6-8 in the backcourt. The Rebels are the leading team in the SEC in Rebounds with 38+ per game. Bama simply does not match up well with the Rebels. If Ole Miss is able to slow down the tempo and establish a half court offense their rebounding could kill the Tide. 


    I'll be honest. I think Ole Miss is going to win this game. I hope I am wrong. Some writers are saying that it might be better for Alabama to lose this game. They seem to think it might give Alabama some type of advantage in the SEC
Tournament. That's crooked thinking. A win guarantees 'Bama a first round bye. It might mean that Bama catches Kentucky but to win the whole deal they have to beat the Wildcats anyway. I don't like this losing is better talk. Winning is always better. That's what Bama stands for. 

Regardless of how or how bad the outcome was a W...

     A lot of Alabama fans were surprised by the just how close Auburn came to pulling off the major upset. Count me in that bunch. As many basketball games that I have watched in my life it should never be a major surprise. I thought the Tide was playing as good as they could play after the State game. And now this unexpected letdown. I really don't know what to think about the way the Tide played. 

• Kudos to Green for showing up at the end of what was a horrible basketball game. You have to wonder where was the team that played State. Nice way to close out a home career.

• Releford was just not as effective per his usual game. Auburn fronted him on the zone and gave offside help at the foul line any time he looked as if he might penetrate. Because Bama shooters weren't making many shots the little man from Kansas was shut off. Don't think that film will not be shared with anyone who plays 'Bama.
  
  
• Steele played his usual high impact low statistic game. He made a big difference in the outcome of the game. His leaner into Kenny Gabriel and the subsequent free throws was a big play.
    
• Turnabout is fair play? Almost immediately Steele was call for fouling Gabriel. The replay showed that Steele didn't even touch Kenny. Bad angle on the call? Hardly, just a bad call. Don't tell me that make up calls don't exist

• The new block/charge arc under the basket has done two things: First, it makes it easier for officials to make bad calls based on some false premise. Second, they are indeed making far more bad calls on the block/charge than ever before. How about some no calls? Does it have to be one or the other. I'd like to see a rule against “flopping”. That is unsportsmanlike conduct and deserves a technical foul.

Green's last hooray at Coleman was a winner

     I talked with some friends in Vegas today. The line on the Bama game this weekend is going to be surprising is all they'd say. I say that Bama is at least a 2 point dog in this one. Vandy is an early -4 against Tennessee. It is possible for Alabama to finish second in the SEC. All the scenarios for that to happen still put Bama at the # 4 seed however. I guess it might matter to argue that your team finished second to get a better seed? Just like last year when the Tide finished second? Like that helped. That won't happen this year. Bama's late surge makes selection of the Tide a lot easier. I wonder what happens to State if they lose the last game of the season or the first game in the SEC? The SEC may only get four bids or perhaps State will get to be one of the play-in teams. 

    Bama fans think that Grant deserves some love in the Coach of the Year race. It won't happen. Calipari will win and except for his underhanded recruiting and making an absolute mockery of the educational system, he is deserving. Other names mentioned are Trent at LSU, and Martin at Tennessee. The general view from a lot of national media types is that Alabama underachieved this season. Bama has a chance to match last years 25 wins but it will take a good run for it to happen. I'd take 23 right now and count our blessings. If the Tide wins on Saturday that would be 21 wins with the SEC and NCAA left. That might mean beating Kentucky and a #1 or 2 seed to reach 25 wins. If the Tide can make 6 threes a game it is possible. I'll be making my annual drive over to Oxford, which is joking called the “trail of tears” coming home by my family.  

     I have to give Barbee a salute for his coaching against the Tide. He put on a clinic of the chalkboard. I hope the game serves as a wake up call for Tide. It better because the Rebels will be ready for Alabama. Ole Miss would rather beat Alabama than any team in the SEC. History says the Tide might not win I think if the Tide doesn't beat Ole Miss they will win two in the SEC. I'd rather the Tide win at Oxford because tournament wins have little impact on seeding unless you win the whole shootout. This is probably most one sided SEC in terms of who the winner will be - that's Kentucky. Vandy, Florida, and Alabama get some mention. About 97% think Kentucky will win.