Angelo Chol down to three

Angelo Chol is nation's top high school shot blocker

San Diego's Angelo Chol, the forunner for the coveted Mr. Basketball award in his State said earlier today he had narrowed his choices to three schools. The are Arizona, Washington, and Alabama.  Smart money is betting on Washington. I think Arizona is the team to beat. Chol loves Anthony Grant and Alabama's shot blocking defense. Chol is the nations top high school shot blocker.

Mousas Gueye 7-1 JUCO All-American

Distance hurts the Tide as well. His family is divided between Washington and Alabama. Arizona is closer to home.  As much as I'd like for us to open a southern Californial pipeline I'm afraid that the Wildcats may be too much. Alabama as already signed a four star center in the form of Moussa Gueye, the 7-1 270 center from JUCo who picked the Tide over Texas, Indiana, and Southern Cal.  Although not playing this season due to an injury and disagreement with the JuCo coaching staff neither are expected to effect his transfer to Bama. JuCo coaches assured Grant that the problem was not discipline related. Both could make an impact with the highly flying Tide slammer jammer offense.

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Nashville hasn't been much fun for Bama ...

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Hillman needs another
good game for the Tide

I’m not sure why Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade always comes to mind when the Tide travels to Nashville. But it does. “Into the valley of death” seems appropriate for the Crimson Tide as they prepare to play Vanderbilt on the road. There are college students at both schools who were not alive when Bama last beat the Commodores last in Nashville. That probably means that Trevor Releford wasn’t even a no look pass in his father’s eyes when Alabama won on the road there.

Vanderbilt is a school of snobs. I remember the last time we beat Vandy the student section started a chant to the Alabama team. “That’s all right, that’s okay, you’ll all work for us one day”. The fact that Bama’s team was composed mostly of Black Americans made the chant even more tasteless. Hardly tantamount to what you would expect from a very progressive University. Hey, bigots are everywhere. But at Vandy they are elitists. They are a effeminate group trust babies who think they are superior to everyone else. Not everyone else in the SEC but everyone.

That is why ever time I see Vandy play it warms the chambers of my beating heart when they get beat. Now, I’m not trying to take anything away from their splendid basketball team. The Nashville school plays good basketball, and thanks to unique officiating that puts the Commodores at the free throw line more times than a Kray supercomputer can keep up they win at home. If Alabama can get a decent game from the officials we might have a chance to win. That is unlikely but this Alabama team has done some pretty funky things this season. How you can beat Kentucky and lose to St. Peters involves some type of conjunction of the planet and stars that even Wolfman Jack could fathom.

You get the feeling that this Bama basketball team isn’t overly concerned with history. I think that Alabama is just thinking move your feet and don’t let your man get around you. We all hear this one game at a time coach speak. With Grant I believe it. I think that Alabama approaches the game one possession at a time. Alabama seems to live in the present moment. The future apparently doesn’t have much of an impact on this team. They follow their game plan, they keep their roles at all times, and fight you like a rattlesnake backed in a corner.

This is a tough time to play Vandy. Vandy has an extra day to prepare for the hornet’s nest otherwise known as the Alabama defense. The leagues top offense is playing to league’s best defense. On a neutral court I’d pick Bama. In Nashville it is going to be tough. Regardless of what happens tomorrow night the Tide has to turn around a play Ole Miss without any rest. That is not a good thing. For some reason this team seems to thrive on bad things. Don’t count the Crimson and White out.

Recruiting is a tough science...

I don’t claim to be any type of guru about football. This is really not a football article. This is a recruiting article. What the heck is this kid named Clowney who is from South Carolina thinking about? No disrespect to my friends from South Carolina but why would the nations best football player want to play at either USC or Clemson. I realize that playing at home close to your family is convenient.

I wonder why kids are not able to look at things from a cost benefit analysis basis. In JD’s case it would consist of this type of thought process: Which school will give me the best shot in being prepared to play at the next level? No slap at Steve Spurrier or Dabo Sweeny but names of great NFL defensive lineman don’t come rolling off the tongue immediately.

JD what would happen if you called someone in the NFL and asked them which coach would have me the best prepared to play after three years in college? I wonder if the NFL would even know who Dabo Sweeny is and where he coaches? If you said Spurrier would they say “I thought you were a defensive end not a quarterback.” Nick Saban? Are you kidding me. Count the numbers of players he has playing in the league at this time. JD you ain’t got that many fingers and toes. Nick even has a mountain in the league. Son, we thought you were serious about wanting to be the best. I thought you said you wanted to be the number one pick year you leave college. You honestly think that that either of those South Carolina schools are going to do that for you. Hey, I’m not knocking South Carolina. If I wanted to go the ocean to swim or play a little golf I’ll meet you in Myrtle Beach. Hey, if you want to learn to be a demented politician then enroll in the government program at Clemson. Do you know what Clemson really is to us? It’s Auburn with a lake. What is South Carolina? It’s that school that Colonel Sanders gave a school Mascot. Carolina is Auburn with a wimpy bird.

What is Alabama? It’s were boys turn into men who turn into great pros. It’s where people say that Joe Namath was a New York Jet, but he played at Alabama. You can play on the 14th NCAA football championship team. You might play on the 15th and 16th championship team. In South Carolina you can play on a team that might compete on occasion with Florida to win an SEC Eastern Crown. You think you are going to be on Game Center when your team loses Kentucky? Hey, you might be compared to George Rodgers. Yeah, that is a career maker. They might retire your number. At Alabama they don’t retire numbers. There is simply not enough numbers left to retire the number of ALL those great players who went through Tuscaloosa.

Everyone understands that you are under pressure to stay at home. Everyone is telling you that you owe it to South Carolina. I’ll time you something kid, you don’t owe South Carolina a dime or the time of day. Has anyone told you about the great network of ex-Bama players who will welcome you into the Bama nation? In this State you can become a living legend. Your name will be whispered with awe in the same breath as Derrick Thomas or Mark Ingram. You can be the next young man who adds his name and handprints to Denny Chimes. You can walk on the same side line as Paul Bryant once walked. You can add your own legacy to those Hall of Fame names. Or you can wimp out and play at “home”. Son, your home isn’t a geographic place on a map, it is an abstraction in the minds of millions of people who appreciate and love real football. Your home is an intangible that compares you to hundreds of All-Americans and All-Pro players who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to play at the University of Alabama. JD what you owe to yourself and your family is to use the God given talent that only a few mortals ever experience. You can use that talent against boys. Or you can test yourself against history and create your own.

　

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Where does the Tide go from here?

     7-1 and leading the SEC. That sounds pretty good to me. Honestly, I didn’t think we be doing that well. Then again, I didn’t know that Moses was bringing a gift to take us to the promised land named Releford. If you like the technical aspects of basketball watching Trevor play about as good as he gets. People always talk about turnovers and protecting the ball. I bet that turnovers to minutes played he leads the SEC in fewest turnovers. I know that for the amount of time he controls the rock he most certainly leads the SEC in fewest turnovers.

     So here we are at half way mark of the league schedule and I’m wondering where do we go from here? I’m not addressing the next few weeks. I’m addressing the next ten years. For the first time since Wimp Sanderson graced the court it seems like Alabama fans are starting to believe we can be an elite program. Why can’t we? We have been before. When C.M. was here we were elite. Mark even got us to the Elite Eight. Despite being fashion impaired Wimp Sanderson had Alabama on the edge of big time basketball.

The State of Alabama produces enough great players to compete with any team in America. Anthony Grant is excelling with talent that wasn’t as good as Wimp and C.M. Certainly, his team has nowhere near the talent of some of Mark’s teams. Anthony Grant is doing things the hard way. He’s taking the long way home. Toughness is their calling card. This team has taken the road less traveled as the poet once wrote. JayMichael Green has gone from a philly to a stud. As we like to say in Blount County, “he ain’t got no back down in him.”

     Green is simply not big enough to play the way he does inside. He is always giving up pounds and inches. I wouldn’t get in his way when he decides to finish off a play around the basket. That is a good way to break an arm, or lose a hand. Add Hillman, Hines, and Mitchell to the rotation and we have become Sky Rammer Jammer. Yeah, I like that. It sounds blue collar. It sounds like a hard working bunch of stiffs that work hard and play harder. Bama lives each game buzzer to buzzer. They rarely have a cushion to relax. They can’t look past the next game. Heck, they can’t even look past the next two minutes of any game can they?

These guys win the 50-50 balls. They get the traffic rebounds. They take charges and they tear the very heart out everyone they play with effort. If I’m an opponent I don’t know whether I’d be more afraid in knowing how hard I’d have to play, or the final five minutes wondering if my lungs were going to explode. Alabama steps on the floor with their laces pulled tight. They have no shirt tails dragging. They even sit during time outs at full speed. I thought last season Anthony Grant got more out of his players than any team I’ve ever seen. This season is the same. I suspect that next year will be the same. I believe that one season Alabama will win a national title under Grant, and some pundit will write that the team was the hardest working team he’s ever seen. That writer would probably be correct.

　
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'Bama goes all Bo Derek on the Vols

When Andrew Steele dropped in a field goal with 4:29 left in the game it was the last time the Tide would make a field goal.  That includes the five minute overtime.  So how good is Alabama? Good enough to beat Tennessee on the road and not score any field goals in the final 9:29 seconds of a big SEC road game. That moves the Tide to     and first in the SEC. 

If you wonder how good Alabama’s defense really is just look at the last ten minutes of the game. In overtime, a poised Tide goes a perfect ten from the free throw line. Green makes 6. Mitchell hit 2, and Releford made another 2. On the other end of the floor the Vols were nailed down tighter than a drum.  The Tide gave up 2 field goals rather than contesting those shots to avoid 3 point plays.

Bama survived despite one of the most glaring errors made by an official.  Tennessee was awarded the ball and a chance to win the game when an official ruled that JayMichael Green had last touched a ball that went out of bounds. He didn’t. It wasn’t even close to being a correct call. Green lay prone in front of his bench in disbelief. The old Green would have packed it in. The new improved version picked himself off the deck and played great defense on the other end.

The Crimson Tide was playing defense like the game depended on every possession. In retrospect, it did. Tennessee was averaging 78 per game. They scored only on 60 points with a bonus 5 minutes. I know Scotty Hopson didn’t play.  I know he might have made a difference.  I know that Alabama won 65-60 and that is the only thing that matters. There were times when you wondered if Tennessee could ever score. And for long stretches of time they couldn’t. If your cup of tea is three yards and a cloud of dust you love Alabama.

When Tennessee mounted a good comeback Anthony Grant looked like his face was on Mt. Rushmore. He never changes expressions. He did smile at the Tide fans as the team left the floor. That is the equivalent of Mona Lisa doing a break dance. This man is so calm in stressful situations you’d think he was the Buddha himself. He is so calm that his young team is reassured that the coach has it under control.  In the SEC you can win games at home, and you might win a few road games. When you continue to win close road games you’ve got something cooking. The main cook for recipe is Releford and Green. You have to tip your hat to Scenario Hillman for becoming a role player. Same to Chris Hines who scored a ton in JUCO. Now Hillman and Hines play defense like it was meant to be played when a man named Rupp was coaching. I hope you noticed that when things got tight Coach Grant chose to leave Hillman on the floor. Hines was the defensive the star.  Tony Hillman gets the nod on offense. Green shook off a sub-standard game to hit big free throws.  What can you say about Releford?  How about the glue that holds the team together? He played almost flawlessly in a very hostile arena. Bama moves to 7-1 in the league and 15-7 overall. They are currently one of the hottest teams in America.  Next up is Vandy in Nashville. Bama never wins in Nashville, right?  For now it is enough to walk out of the Orangedome and into the cold night knowing you team is as hot as the red hot sun.

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We all hate Orange

Back in the day our high school would always tell our team what a remarkable opportunity we had to beat another team who everyone knew we would win.  Well, today the Tide has a remarkable opportunity in Knoxville.  There is no way that Alabama should beat the Volunteers.  The Crimson and White don’t have the depth or inside size to match up with Tennessee.

All that being said I still think Alabama has a good chance to beat their old football rivalry. It starts with Anthony Grant on the sideline.  I believe that Trevor Releford  may have grown up enough not to be intimidated inside that sucky big orange placed named Thompson-Boling Arena. 

What I always remember about the floor there is how hard it is to pick up the rim against all that orange.  And then there is that floor. I’m sorry, but the only color that compliments Tennessee Orange is putrid upchucks.  Orange is a color that color blind people select  to compliment some type of pink plaid. How bad is Orange?  Not a single other word in the dictionary would allow itself to rhyme with the color.

Name me one team who has Orange that you like.  Do you like Auburn?  Do you like Florida? How about Syracuse?  Orange is a color attempt to distinguish your team from another school. It worked.  Of course, toxic waste is effective in attention grabbing.  If you think I dislike Tennessee spot on.    If Ole’ Smokey got run over by a car I’d would stop and help the dog. Bruce Pearl gets smacked?  Well, we all have to go sometime. Bruce won’t be on the sideline today.  That means no slip and falling on the grease spots dripping from his cheating character or his hair.

Do I think Tennessee will win today?  Probably not, but I’d rather wear Crimson and lose than Orange and win.  Okay, that’s a stretch. It won’t surprise me if we win today. It won’t surprise me if we get a hose job from the refs to keep us from winning. Such is life on the road in the SEC.  I’ll take Bama and the points.

Bama hits the road for two after disposing of State

Are you starting to believe?  The Alabama Crimson Tide stands alone at the top of the SEC today. Last night a pumped up Mississippi State team was deflated by the Tide’s opening burst. The jumped ahead by a dozen and State could never catch up.  They couldn’t even get up off the deck.  When JayMichael Green caused Renardo Sidney to pick up two fouls in the first minute and half the game was over. It took a few more minutes to confirm the kill. By the half the Crimson bagged, tagged, and dragged the Mississippi State Bulldogs back to the bus and waved goodbye.

The Tide has played the preseason favorite twice.  And both times, they well… beat the dog out of State. Game one saw a discouraged State roll over and quit. Game two say a focused  State team get knocked over and they never got up. The Tide slammer jammer offense saw Tony Mitchell and Green knocking down dunks.  Charvez Davis carved up the Mississippi  State zone with razor sharp shooting from beyond the arc. Alabama’s Trevor Releford sliced and diced the Bulldogs with timely moves to the basket or dishing off to his teammates. Releford’s  pass to  Davis’s buzzer beater was the fait accompli of the game. Turn out the lights the party’s over. Say goodnight Johnny.  The fat lady is singing.

              Bama is now 6-1 in the SEC West.  That is a game three lead.  Big road games to Tennessee and Vandy are up next.  To date, the Tide, has done pretty good on the SEC road. Auburn and Mississippi State walked back to their dorms dejected.  Arkansas  was lucky enough to have Releford make his only two  minutes of any other road games this season.  Trevor is quickly becoming the best point guard in the SEC.  A lot of good freshman have played the point for Bama but none more effective than the young Kansas native.  Fans had to be salivating thinking that Releford, Green, and Lacey, Randolph,  and Cooper could all be in the line up next season.  Lacey attended the game and the chant of Lacey, Lacey, Lacey by the crowd did not go un-noticed by the Huntsville star.  Throw Tony Mitchell in the mix and all of a sudden Alabama is going to be really good next season.  With three great outside shooters possibly coming in next year it could be special.

 However, at that Alabama the future is now.  Tim Brando, among others, has already predicted Bama will lose the upcoming Vandy and Tennessee road swing.  Scotty Hopson is iffy against Bama on Saturday. Vanderbilt is always a tough place to play.  The Tide probably shouldn’t beat either of those two teams. Then again,  Alabama shouldn’t be leading the SEC.  I guess it’s all a matter of whether you  believe  or not.