Bama let's another one slip away...

     It’s dim for Bama and their limping toward and NCAAT, but it’s not dark. Alabama needs to beat Auburn and Arkansas, and then win a game in the SECT. This isn’t even speculation on my part, it just wishing now. It’s probable that three wins might get give Bama a ticket at the back of the bus for the post-season. I have watched Alabama basketball long enough to see Daniel Giddens jack up an ill-advised three. It would be easy to say I’ve seen everything now but we have additional games to play.

     Of course, it would be great to make the NCAAT.  Maybe it is time to talk about getting a home game in the NIT. Won’t that be thrilling? Here’s my question. How can teams leap past the Tide in the same or lesser amount of time under Coach Johnson?  Mississippi State has, Ole Miss has, and Tennessee has as well. Don’t get me started about Auburn. That is simply too much to endure for a life-long ‘Bama fan. Florida has rebounded toward recovery, and even South Carolina has a moment in the bright sunshine.

    We are just not a good team. We are decent enough to give false hope to the fans, but not good enough to make it a reality. Alabama has the hands on a major win and once again blew it. You could look at Avery Johnson’s face in the last 90 seconds and see the pain. Here is another painful truth, at least to me, we don’t have any real talent to compete with other SEC teams. The glory days of CM Newton and Wimp Sanderson aren’t even understood by the best in-state players. We no longer have a recruiting legacy to sell to recruits. When you get a one and one is blimp of the radar.

      Okay, question number two. Who has been the best player for Alabama this season? If pressed to answer I couldn’t give you a real answer.  How about no one? LOL.  Even Kira Lewis seems to be on a downward trajectory. Basketball is a jealous mistress. She will steal your hopes and dreams. This team was a problem from the start of the season and has gotten worse. All of us ‘Bama fans are so unrealistic. Beating Vanderbilt and South Carolina should be expected and celebrated. We lost to Northeastern. We have had two good wins in my opinion. We beat Mississippi State and Kentucky at home. There have been some decent wins,  but nothing to get excited about.

      So how does this get fixed? That is not even the first question needed to be asked.  The real question would be whether anyone in leadership roles even cares? Perhaps this team would have been better if Fleming was able to play or even Diante Smith. It’s clear that Hall couldn’t care the load by himself inside. Galin Smith couldn’t do enough because he isn’t big enough, strong enough, and he can’t jump. Giddens is a puzzle to me.  This team didn’t have enough time to solve puzzles, however. We reached a point where Alex Reese doesn’t play and a month ago Johnson was bragging on him. There are so many ‘what ifs’ with this entire program you can’t count them.

      Is this the Coach we need to review a once-proud program? It doesn’t matter.  He isn’t going to be replaced. So the best we can do is support him. And we always have to support the players. So now we move on to the Auburn game.  Will we win that one?  Maybe we will. But beating Auburn is probably not enough to get us in the NCAAT if we don’t beat Arkansas and the first game in the SECT. This is a hard team to love, but they are still loved and supported. The English have an old saying, “In for a Penny, in for a Pound.” Yep, that’s all of us, isn’t it? We will all continue to conjure up scenarios to convince ourselves we will get a bid. It won’t convince us the program is headed in the right direction, however.