Bama and UCLA could be an All-Time Classic 

      I graduated from high school in 1965. My senior class had 31 people walk the stage. It was all football in Blount County, Alabama. For me, it was all about basketball. I grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, and my first love was playing basketball on an asphalt court.  We had chain-link backboards, chains for nets.  My family wasn't rich by any standards. We lived close to the black neighborhood. Every afternoon, I'd walk to the court and meet my black friends to play. It was tough, but I learned a lot about life in the Deep South and how to play basketball.  

     Basketball was, is now, and will always be about one thing.  You have to put the ball in the goal. Everything you do on the court is just window-dressing to finding out how many points you could score. Suffice it to say that when my family moved to Alabama, my basketball background was different from my classmates.  For my buddies, it was about controlling the ball and taking good shots. I'd never seen a bad shot in my life. Controlling the ball for me meant behind my back, between my legs, and having court sense.  Today, they call that spatial interpretation. I remember throwing a pass to a teammate who wasn't looking. It hit him in the face. The coach screamed at me. My only thought was he should have been looking. To be a good basketball player, you have to have a court sense.  Your world isn't looking for a place to lower your shoulder to run.  It means you understand where nine other players are on the Court and how to maximize your advantage. Some players understand, but many don't  

      Alabama has players who certainly have high basketball IQs.  Jahvon Quinerly is always two moves ahead of the defender. His teammates know where they need to be and understand they better get there ASAP because Jahvon will deliver the mail right away. If you ask Quinerly how he knows to do the things he does, he'd likely say, "I don't know, but it seems like the right thing to do."  Basketball isn't about the best five players. It is about having five players on the court who play the best together. 

     This weekend, Alabama plays UCLA. The Bruins are an example of a team that is coming together at the right time. So is Alabama. This should be a classic game.  The Bruins of UCLA are the heralded basketball program in NCAA history.  For UCLA fans, this weekend is a chance to bring back some of the magic of John Wooden. Under this leadership, the Bruins won seven National Championships in a row. They also won 10 of 12 Championships under Wooden.  Just think about a minute.  Imagine any team ever doing that again. It won't happen. 

      Alabama hasn't won a national championship in basketball or even an Elite Eight. They can take a monumental step toward doing that this Sunday.