TIDE STRIKES OUT FOR THE NCAAT...
Must now turn their attention to SECT
Mercifully, the Crimson Tide's quest for an NCAA Tourney bid died when Vanderbilt beat the Tide on Tuesday night in Coleman. In another season of seeing the bubble burst, it gets to be old. Next year in Jerusalem seems to be the Tide mantra. That game was a perfect storm for what happens when a team has too many injuries to compete. The loss of John Petty was a killer. The damage to Herb Jones was a killer. Hats off to Jones for playing when he is injured. Preseason injuries to players and the godawful NCAA robbing a player of the right to play likely cost the Tide a berth. In retrospect, how many more games could 'Bama have won with a full crew on board. When we look back on the season, I'd like to think we really did much better than we thought they'd do. I thought Bama might win 18 games this season. That was before the injuries and taking into account a new system on offense. All in all, the team has done an excellent job, and the season has games yet to be played.
Alabama can nail down an NIT home game with a win over Missouri in Columbia this Saturday. I have not been able to get an answer about Petty this weekend. It might well be that Alabama will wait until the SEC Tournament. Jones should be out of his soft case very soon. Ironically, if Petty and Jones are back to full speed, the Tide could be a team no one wants to play in the SEC or NIT.
Alabama is coming off the worst defensive game of the year against Vandy. The cellar-dweller of the SEC embarrassed the Crimson Tide and ended the dwindling hope for the NCAAT. Oats wasn't happy and made that clear in the post-game press conference. It will be interesting to see if Alabama can get off the deck and show some guts. I believe they will. Oats needs to get his inside game revved up like the Carolina game.
Sorry for my absence. I've been in Italy looking at a few players.
Must now turn their attention to SECT
Mercifully, the Crimson Tide's quest for an NCAA Tourney bid died when Vanderbilt beat the Tide on Tuesday night in Coleman. In another season of seeing the bubble burst, it gets to be old. Next year in Jerusalem seems to be the Tide mantra. That game was a perfect storm for what happens when a team has too many injuries to compete. The loss of John Petty was a killer. The damage to Herb Jones was a killer. Hats off to Jones for playing when he is injured. Preseason injuries to players and the godawful NCAA robbing a player of the right to play likely cost the Tide a berth. In retrospect, how many more games could 'Bama have won with a full crew on board. When we look back on the season, I'd like to think we really did much better than we thought they'd do. I thought Bama might win 18 games this season. That was before the injuries and taking into account a new system on offense. All in all, the team has done an excellent job, and the season has games yet to be played.
Alabama can nail down an NIT home game with a win over Missouri in Columbia this Saturday. I have not been able to get an answer about Petty this weekend. It might well be that Alabama will wait until the SEC Tournament. Jones should be out of his soft case very soon. Ironically, if Petty and Jones are back to full speed, the Tide could be a team no one wants to play in the SEC or NIT.
Alabama is coming off the worst defensive game of the year against Vandy. The cellar-dweller of the SEC embarrassed the Crimson Tide and ended the dwindling hope for the NCAAT. Oats wasn't happy and made that clear in the post-game press conference. It will be interesting to see if Alabama can get off the deck and show some guts. I believe they will. Oats needs to get his inside game revved up like the Carolina game.
Sorry for my absence. I've been in Italy looking at a few players.
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