Will Bama win the SEC Tournament Championship?                                                                                              

    Alabama must play better than its last four games to win the SEC Tournament. Here's a quick reminder to understand what's been happening with Tide. The offense needs help behind the three-point arc. After a nice road win over Auburn, the Tide lost two of their next six games. Alabama struggled to score in the Tennessee game. After pounding Georgia 108-59, the Tide struggled against South Carolina, Arkansas, and the second Auburn game. Those close wins were enough to win the SEC regular season championship. Something was wrong, and it showed up in the first half of each of those late-season wins. Bama was allowing teams to secure double-digit leads. Bama beat South Carolina, Arkansas, and Auburn with second-half comebacks. Texas A&M built a 17-point lead, and the Tide managed to erase that lead late in the second half but lost 67-61. Alabama ended the regular season with a 26-5 record and the number-one seed in the SEC Tournament. 

     Despite that phenomenal record, the team will need help on the offensive end. The Tide needed to make more three-pointers, turnovers were piling up again, and the Darius Miles situation was hurting the Tide. Some time away from practice may help Alabama. The bright side of the last two weeks is that Bama found a way to win despite the poor shooting and mounting turnovers. 

      Bama will play the winner of the Mississippi State and Florida game. Most people believe State will beat the Gators. State can land a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a win over Bama. Alabama is playing to win the Tournament and keep a one-seed in the Big Dance. That is a different kind of pressure than State might have.   Alabama will have to play better than it did in College Station. Tolu Smith lives in the lane. Charles Bediako will have his hands full if State wins the play-in game. It always helps a team with playing their second game in a tournament. 

Tonight's games:  

12-seed South Carolina vs. 13-seed Ole Miss - Ole Miss is favored in this game, and it won't surprise me if the Rebels knock off USC. The battle of the bottom feeders is always fun to watch. Each team can use this game to propel them to better results next year. Stay tuned - Chris Beard will be the next Rebel head coach.

11-seed Georgia vs. 14-seed LSU - The birth child of Will Wade will take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the second game tonight. LSU allowed the Wade saga to go on far too long, and look what happened. Georgia will improve with Mike White at the helm. He will cut into AU's pipeline in the Atlanta Metro area. Georgia should win tonight.

My take: If Alabama wins the SEC, they can win the NCAA.

More Bama good news: 

Quick hitters - 

     Jim Boeheim is out at Syracuse University. He's been at SU for 47 seasons. The Orange lost to Wake Forest 77-74 in the ACC Tournament today. 

     Brandon Miller spoke to the press today for the first time. He was eloquent and went straight to points he wanted to make about the Miles situation. When asked another question about the same subject he declined to comment.  

     Reports from the Capstone say that Bama spent a lot of time behind the arc. Alabama needs to make more threes in the postseason. I also learned that Bama worked on ball security to cut down turnovers.

     Will Bama cut down on the player rotation? I've heard some "experts" saying they will. Not in my opinion. 

Jadon Bradley will be more effective against MSU than other teams. He has the physicality to help the Tide against MSU. The freshman will try to get a couple of quick fouls on Tolu Smith fouls. Expect Quinerly to get minutes to speed up the game.

     Will Wade is now the frontrunner for the McNeese State job.

 BAMA WELCOMES SOME REST ...   

Miller fouls out with 2.30 left.

      Texas A&M beat Alabama 67-61. Alabama shot 11 free throws and made 10 in the first half. They were not allowed to shoot any free throws in the second stanza. No doubt, the Aggies got a generous serving of home cooking. The Crimson and White staged a comeback, down by 17 by one point in the second half. Bama took a one-point lead with time running out.   Mark Sears threw a pass to Jahvon Quinerly that an Aggie stole. Charles Bediako was standing between Sears and Quinerly. Mark didn't see the A&M player. That one play killed the Tide. Strange things happen in basketball games. Once again, the Tide needed help to make shots from behind the arc. Tip of the hat to Alabama for staging a comeback. Alabama reverted to early season turnovers. 

     If Bama plays TAMU again, Take the Tide in a double-figure game. Alabama pulled three previous games out of the fire. They couldn't do it the fourth time. If you want to know why Bama has been shooting so poorly from the outside, I look at the grinding schedule that gave no rest to the weary. Tired legs lead to poor shooting. 6 days' rest will fix the shooting. Oats will have his outside shooters practice ready to roll in the SEC Tournament postseason. He'll prepare for Miss. State. He doesn't have to do much pre-game preparation for Florida. The state is a good team. Their current record is 21-10. The Bulldogs have size on the interior and decent guard play. The Tide must shoot better from downtown to beat Miss. State. In the postseason, teams try to peak when it matters most. Given the subpar performances in the last four games, the table is set for a comeback.

   

Oats welcomes the rest for his team.

 Despite the loss, Alabama is still a #1 seed in the NCAA bracketology reports. Joe Lunardi has Bama as the top seed in the South. Look for the Tide to fall a couple of spots in the AP top twenty-five poll, which will be released Monday. 16-2 is a remarkable finish in the SEC regular season. Two years ago, the Tide accumulated the same record and won the Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship. The road to the tournament championship begins with Alabama taking on the winner of the MSU-Florida game. Barring any upsets, Bama will play the winner of the Missouri-Tennessee game. Bama should win their first two games. In the bottom bracket, I like Auburn to beat A&M in round two and play Kentucky in the next game. And no, it wouldn't surprise me for the Aggies to beat Auburn.

The top four teams in the Vegas prediction are:

1. Alabama

2. Tennessee

3. Kentucky

4. Texas A&M 

    I don't understand the love affair that Vegas has with Tennessee. The Vols have lost their point guard and 6 of 10 games. Bama will get no respect from the national media as the punishment for the Bama movement continues. Bama can win the SEC Tournament, but Kentucky and TAMU keep an eye on A&M and Kentucky. Tennessee or Arkansas could be spoilers. If Missouri has a red-hot shooting, they can surprise some people this week.

     For true hoops fans, you can see teams fight for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament all week. If Bama drops a few spots in the Polls, it is no cause for concern. The real season starts after the SEC Tournament. Can Bama win 30 games this season? I think they will.  

     Bama received a much-anticipated commitment from Kris Parker, 6-6 forward from Quincey, Florida. Parker's final two choices were Villanova and Alabama. Parker is a top 100 prospect. Some recruiting sites list Kris as being 6-8. A strong connection with Nate Oats sealed the deal for Parker. 

     I'd like to see Quinerly start with Mark Sears at the guard position. We had terrible starts with Bradley at this point. We cannot continue to dig a hole from the beginning of most games. I'm not the coach. He burned so much energy in Aggieville in catching up we couldn't finish.  

Miller was named Freshman and SEC PLAYER of the YEAR 

Bediako was named on the All-Defense 1st team

Miller, Bradley, Clowney All-FRESHMAN Team

Jahvon Quinerly CO-SIXTHMAN

Mark Sears -ALL-SEC SECOND TEAM

BUZZ WILLIAMS AND JERRY STACKHOUSE - COACH OF THE YEAR  (tie)

Auburn and Alabama Wednesday @ 6:00 PM...

        Auburn comes to Coleman to take on the 2nd ranked team in the nation. Archrivals are always antagonistic games. This year the season match takes on additional importance. For Alabama, a win means an SEC Champion. The Tide will keep that #1 seed. Auburn finds itself in a precarious situation. The Tigers got an absolute beat from Kentucky. The score of that one was 84-56. Pearl's team is now 19-10 and 9-7 in the league. That includes losing 7 of their 10 games. After Bama, the Tennessee Vols host Auburn in Knoxville. The Tigers may finish 9-9 in the league and 19-12 before the SEC Tournament. Who knows what might happen to the Tigers in NCAA Tournament play. 

     The rivalry has been hallmarked by hard-spirited play. So many of the players have met before in high school and AAU games. Suffice it to say, there are major surprises in this one. Both teams are well coached and will be well prepared. Surprisingly, the Tigers are in a late-season meltdown. Kenpom has them ranked 29th. Should Auburn lose to Bama and Tennessee (the next game for AU), will the Tigers get a bid?  Alabama is ranked by Kempom as the 3rd ranked team. Only Houston and Alabama are each ranked in the top 10 in adjusted offense and defense. Aubie checks in at 17th in defense and 78th on offense.

      This will be a Quad 1 game win for either team. My thinking is Bama will be an 8–10-point favorite tomorrow. Pearl has guided his teams to victories over Miss. State, Northwestern, and Arkansas. Quad one wins have been few and far between this season. They are 2-8. Auburn is 6-1 in Quad 3 games. Alabama is 3rd on Kenpom.com. Their NET ranking is 3rd. The Tide is 18th in the nation and 5th on defense. 

     But games are not played on paper or on a computer. Every game is a war in the SEC. Alabama fans would expect that against Auburn. For Alabama is important but for Auburn, it might be a season-defining moment. Auburn has good players. I think the Tide has better players. The self-proclaimed Bama killer is Wendall Green. The 5-11 point guard is averaging 23 ppg against Alabama. Green runs the Tiger offense. Stop Green and you might just stop AU. Alabama is a ten-point favorite this afternoon.

Tide secures 15th win over Arkansas

TIDE IS ONE WIN SHORT OF SEC CHAMPIONSHIP AS STATE KNOCKED OF TEXAS A&M...

 It wasn't downtown Freddie Jones bombs that fans were ready to see. Instead, it bit down, clenched your jaw, and manned up. The Tide did that in the second half. Arkansas had opened 37-28. Three-point shots were not dropping; 7 Arkansas steals had rattled the Tide. All the Tide guards played poorly. Mark Sears, whose usually Mr. Reliable, couldn't dribble, didn't guard and missed some shots.

      When the 2nd half opened, young Bradon Miller scored the first 10 points of the second half. Oats put the metal had full speed. He told the players to finish at the goal. The result was that a 9-point lead had shrunk to 42-39. Now, it wasn't Bama scratching their heads. Bama controlled the paint like a middle age crosswalk cop. The Tide had cut it to three, and then Alabama decided they wanted to win the game. Sometimes it takes time to determine when that happens. The play JQ was the difference. He had some great lobs to Pringle, but more than that, he found space between a stingy Arkansas defense to throw in three bunnies. His partners in the crime were Nick Pringle and Brando Miller. 

       The Tide slowly increased their lead, and the Razorbacks had to foul. Alabama was 25-30 and almost automatic when it mattered. Last night was film noir. A dark affair with possibly fatal mistakes didn't kill the Tide. They all grew a little in the previous few days.

I have two four-day Master badges, not just tickets, for this year's play. Shoot me an email at midcourt@aol.com. I usually receive them in late March. 

It is now time to help the Auburn Tigers prepare for the NIT.

                                                                                Picknroll

 ALABAMA CLIMBS OUT OF A HOLE TO WIN AGAINST ARKANSAS 86-87...

     In a key matchup, the Alabama Crimson beat the Razorback. It wasn't easy and it wasn't fun most of the game. Down by 7 at the end of the first half, the listless and confused Tide headed to locker room and lots of angry coaches. I'm pretty sure it was a version of we're beating ourselves (7 turnovers)  We need to become more aggressive. You got to play even better on defense (because of offense as lost as Moses in the desert), and you don't look like you are having fun. Have some, I order it.  Oats might has said none of those things. But...

     Alabama roaded out the locker and scored the first six points, or rather the Sweet One did. Miller aggressively too the ball inside the paint and scored. And then he scored again. Brandon surely has the weight of the world, but still found room for Alabama. The Tide had 7 turn overs in the first half. Six of those Razorbak steals. Many led to baskets. The return of Nick Smith was istrusmental in the really Arkansas lead 937-28, but was a lead that indicated it could have done. Bama roared by the second half with 58 points. The Tide's won the rebound war, the shooting percent state, and made more free-throws than Arky. The Tide was a steller 24-30 from the line for 83%, while the Hogs were 20-29 (68%).

     It was fun watching the Tide handle Eric Musselman. He never takes a loss well. He's competitive. He had to be happy to Smith return from an injury. My bet is Arkansas is not going to a fun team for anyone to play.

     Once again Alabama found out that hard work wins. 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: tie Brandon Miller Jahvon Quinerly. Millers eary second half eruption set the tone of the remainder of the game. Jahvon's ability to get the basket, helped Alabama control the paint. I Quinerly can keep up the good play the Tide could be headed to places they've never been. I mean that Bama won, not from the outside, but from the inside. The good guys only made 3-22 from downtown. How is that even possible. Bama found another way to win

     

    

 Tide has its hands full today

     Don't think for one moment the Tide is going to blow out Arkansas. The Razorbacks have the top recruit in the nation back in their lineup. Smith was the consensus number one prospect in the nation. With Anthony Black 6-7 and Nick Smith (6-4) The Razorback backcourt can cause significant mismatches with Mark Sears and J.Quinerly. I'll be honest with you. The non-basketball problems, along with the recent poor shooting by Sears, Quinerly, Burnett, and Griffen has me worried. Miller can make a huge difference, but in the last game between the schools. I remember Devonta Davis (6-4) hounded Miller and held him to 12 points. Davis can also score the rock. Toss in Ricky Council lVwho  can play inside and outside. Mitchell is a good post player, he's a Great shot blocker and much stronger than Charles Bediako.  

     Eric Musselman is a quality coach and recruiter. Two early season injuries caused him to fool around with his lineup. He's settled in now that Smith is back in the lineup. Don't be surprised if Arkansas starts three guards. Each of the guards is very talented and has great physicality.

Vegas line: Bama is an 8.5 favorite, and over/under is 154

My final thought: I'm picking Bama in a close game.  80-75.  

National Sports Media is not about journalism. It's all about the $$$

Miller is defamed by the media when he was a victim himself...

     The national sports media isn't about a search for the truth. It is a search for advertising money and personal greed. So-called reporters are simply the masters of click-baiting. Aggrandizing mislabeled article titles is merely a lure to read second-rate writers. They don't care about honesty or fair play. They care about their bank accounts. The more clicks, the more money. 

     These snake oil charmers have been around forever. They are not writers but rather influencers. Do you think they care about the pain Brandon Miller has gone through? Of course, not. Some people believe this is an anti-Bama conspiracy. While that belief might have some truth, it is more about showing me the money. Capitalism and money are what America is about. The wave of unqualified pundits on the internet is no different from the robber barons in the 19th century.

     For better or worse, Brandon Miller is left alone to defend himself. How can he do that? There is no constructive way for him to do so at this time. Slander or defamation lawsuits are rarely successful. Freedom of Speech is an essential part of the American dream. However, even unsuccessful lawsuits can teach a lesson. It will be interesting to see the individuals who have defamed Miller would respond when the spotlight falls on them. A few "writers" changed their stories today. Now they are getting more clicks. They get money making up the lie and more money correcting their lies. Most will do nothing; they will crawl back into the dirt from were they came and continue the model. 

     The University of Alabama could pull credentials and tell them they are no longer welcome in Tuscaloosa. Interview requests could be denied. Telephone calls to players and coaches should not be returned. Colleges should have a persona non-gratis list and publish it for their industry to see. That list should state why those writers are denied an opportunity to interface with Alabama. It might change if the NCAA denied writers a chance to contact players and coaches if there is a history of lying. 

     I don't think Alabama handled the matter perfectly. I'm not sure there is a way to do that. The subsequent publication by Miller's lawyers clarified what actually happened. Some will say, how do we know that is the truth. It is unreasonable to think a law firm would risk substantially damaging its reputation by lying. Miller will survive this. Alabama will survive this. Oats will explain to recruits what actually happened. A young woman was killed. Her daughter will miss her. A family has been shattered. I'm sure at the proper time, the University will offer some reconciliation to the daughter.  Perhaps the University will ask for forgiveness and let her know she will be given a free education anywhere she chooses to attend.  That day will come. Not today or next week, but down the line, Alabama will offer its heartfelt condolences.  Perhaps an annual scholarship will be given in the mother's name.

     Miller was a lesser victim. I suspect he will grow stronger from this. Lessons are learned, and lessons can be taught to others. We all learn from the callous disregard of the truth.  Many of us have carried a heavy heart from all this. This nation has always been a nation of lies. But as individuals, we can seek a better path.