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.