Survive and advance...   

Quinerly leads comeback

   The defense allowed only 55 points. Despite Alabama's problems on offense for the first 30 minutes, the defense came to play. It was enough to keep Alabama in the game until the offense caught fire. No doubt, part of the reason the offense came around was that the defense wore out the Gaels. The final was 68-55, and it was enough to win and hopefully enough to let the Tide know that anyone in this Tournament might beat you. 

         I think Jahvon Quinerly, Alex Reese, and Herb Jones were the players of the game. Reese nailed a couple of three-point baskets to give the Tide a little breathing room, and his defense inside was outstanding. Reese finished with six points and three boards. He cut off Jr. Joseph from scoring when he kept passes coming inside from the perimeter. Iona had to eliminate the inside game and shoot threes. That helped tip the scales from a close game to giving a big edge to 'Bama. Alabama out boarded the Gaels by 12. Bama shot 47% from the floor overall. 

       The Tide has a lot of cleaning up to do.  Poor shooting and sloppy play plagued the Alabama for 3/4 of the game. The outside shooting is becoming a problem. John Petty, Jr. seems to lost his confidence. His free throw shooting off as well. He is showing the stress of his cold spell. To be fair,  his defense has been stellar, and his is rebounding well.  He is throwing ill-advised passes, and is trying to force his inside game in the absence of his outside game.  That might be good, but he is taking so many bad shots inside aren't helping the Tide.  You cannot fault his effort though. Alabama is waiting for him to explode from the outside. 

      I'll go ahead and say that Bama needs keep moving toward Reese and Gary for inside muscle. Bruner's mobility is not getting better.  He seem reluctant to mix it up inside. Alabama played its best ball with Reese at the post. At times Gary and Reese were on the floor together and the Tide looked much better inside. If the outside shooting doesn't get better, it might be better for Oats to consider both of them playing. I thought that Rojas gave great effort today. Quinerly is the man. He is a future All-American in my opinion. His steady play, outside shooting, and ability to slice and dice defenders on the outside is exceptional. He is Alabama's best player right now. 

   

Jones led all scorers  with 20

    It's hard to believe that Alabama's free throw shooting was so poor.  Had the Tide made their free throws, the Tide would have had a bigger margin in the first half, and it would have caused Iona to press to score even more.  Little things make a big difference in games. The Tide failed to protect the ball and hit their free throws. The Tide controlled the boards, and that kept them from getting beat. You might get away with that against a 15 seed, but not a lower seed. I'm betting that Nate Oats was pretty upset by the entire effort.  I watched his post-game press conference.  He wasn't very upbeat to say the least. 

       Once again, Herb Jones was the best player on the floor. His heady play on offense. He had 20 pts., 6 rebounds, made all four of his free throws, and had 3 assists. He defended three different positions, and had 3 steals. He was selected by most as the Player of the Game. Alabama had 14 turnovers, with 10 coming in the first half. Herb had 5 of those,  which was uncharacteristic for him. 

       Color me unimpressed with the Tide's Round one play. But I'm not concerned. I think Oats can get his players back on track. Shooting from the outside is problematic but it won't always be this bad. I wonder if Bam ahas some first game jitters. It wasn't like the Tide was used to playing in the NCAA. I felt like they were putting too much pressure on themselves. My guess things will be better.

      Alabama will play Maryland who upset UConn  63-54.  Alabama will be a favorite in that game.