Vandy is never friendly to the Tide... 

     Vanderbilt. A name that has always been ghastly for the Alabama basketball program. Tonight, the Tide goes to Nashville, to the SEC's trash heap of arenas. It's not an easy place to play. Players talk about the lighting, the depth perception while shooting, and one telling me he was afraid of all off the edge of the Court. 

       And now, the Commodores are a decent team. Scottie Pippen, Jr. could be the best player in the SEC. Pippen leads the SEC in getting to the free-throw line. Eleven trips to the line won't cut it for the Tide if they hope to win. Oat's comments are probably directed at a couple of players. With every win a necessity to improve your NCAA Tournament berth,  I have no idea what our starting line might be. Oats says we may not a point guard or a center but he'll figure it out. I'm anxious to see how that works out. I suspect he means the practices leading up for the game tonight but who knows. 

       Oats is trying to build a program, and it starts with defense. It always starts with defense. The problem that Bama has is the lack of horses inside and one guard whose defense is lacking. He recruited these guys, or a least kept them. He knew that coming in. So the Coach bears some of the responsibility. I'm not being anti-Oats. I'm just being honest. If Oats says such things publicly needs to live with the results. Can Bama beat Vandy? They might, perhaps they should. I guess we will see if the defense rules the night. 

    A win tonight gives Bama some momentum going into a two-game homestand. South Carolina and Texas A & M. That will give some throttle the LSU road game and SEC Tourney