Bama will have to play better to beat Maryland.

   

Petty led Bama in rebounds

    For 30 minutes in yesterday's Iona game, the Crimson Tide looked lost. They stumbled around, looking for some way to score some points. Alabama shot 47% from the floor. That's usually enough to win a game. The Tide outrebounded the Gaels by 42-26. That is outstanding. Alabama had 10 steals. They caused 17 turnovers, and that's in the hard hat game plan. So why did Alabama look like they were on the verge of getting beat?  It was several things. 

        If you look at the stats for the first 30 minutes, Alabama wasn't doing much more than outrebounding Rick Pitino's Iona team. Bama was missing free throws, throwing the ball away, making lazy passes, and forcing themselves into playing some awful basketball. The outside shots weren't falling. Pitino was working some coaching magic to force the Tide into playing at a slower pace. The more the Tide wanted to run, the more mistakes they made. 'Bama found itself in a catch-22 situation. They couldn't dictate the pace because they were throwing the ball all over the floor, missing free throws, and couldn't hit the ocean if they shot the ball off the end of a pier. Alabama was only 5-16 from downtown.  When half of your offense is shooting threes, that is a pretty bad number. It was the worst game Bama has played all season. 

      Iona wasn't putting pressure on Alabama. The Tide was putting pressure on themselves. When Alabama finally got a lead in the second half, they could relax and put the game away. Survive and advance. Bama did that. Several teams didn't do that. If you look at the "experts" picks, you'll see that they are all over the place. The upsets in Round One surprised a lot of people. My personal bracket looked like it was dripping blood. There will be fewer upsets now. Alabama will play Maryland, which upset favored UConn. Mark Turgeon, head man at Maryland, is a great head coach. The Terrapins finished 8th in the Big10 with a record of 17-13 and 9-11 in the conference.  They are capable of good games. They beat Illinois this season. 

      Maryland is not powerful inside, but they dominated UConn inside as their game neared the end. Expect Gary, Reese, and Rojas to get more time. The Terps made 9-18 from behind the arc. Galin Smith transferred to Maryland after playing at Alabama. He had one point yesterday. 

       If you want to find a silver lining in the Iona win, I'd suggest the Tide played about as bad as they could play and won. Iona is a decent team. They have a great coach. Bama could have lost but managed to cut down on turnovers in the second half and make a couple of downtown shots to build a lead. Only a couple of late threes by the Gaels kept the Tide from covering the line. The margin was 13. Bama is a 6.0 point favorite.

       Loyola whipped in Illinois. No upset in than one. It appears the Big10 was very over-rated. If you watched the game, it was clear that Loyola was the better team. They were ready from the opening whistles to beat the Illini. Illinois and Ohio State are out of the Tournament. Michigan State is gone. Purdue got the thumb early. This doesn't mean that the Big 10 can't win the Tournament. At any rate, the Big 10 is officially on notice. Four of their nine bids are now beaten.