Bama goes big for win over Detroit...

Three bigs inside net 49 points...

Mitchell finally gets to play his natural position due to
the insertion of Nick into the starting lineup

     Bama's win over Detroit Mercy may not seem like much of a big deal. The Horizon League isn't a household name in Alabama, but they play great basketball. Butler plays in that league and the Bulldogs have been in two consecutive National Championship Games. The league is that good. The Titans start three players who could start on almost any team in the country including Alabama. Detroit was bolstered by the return of an all-conference center and they had a pair of guards that could play almost anywhere.

     In fact, if you watched the game personally you could see that except for Tony Mitchell the talent level was pretty equal. This was not just another stiff coming into Coleman for the Tide to add a win. I believe when selection time arrives it will be more than just a good win, it will be a quality win.



 

 

Green liked the change as well. Not as many double team

     Bama has dropped to 23 in the polls and that is to be expected. I believe that Grant has hit upon something that will make a big difference. He is playing his big three men (not counting the Swede) in the starting lineup. Bama won't be as fast and mobile, but maybe the Tide can keep Green around in the game for a while. Green did foul out but it was at game's end. Cooper has had some good moments but not enough of them.


Lacy is going to be good but Randolph adds that rebounding diminsion. The quiet 6-4 freshman has been grabbing a lot of rebounds. More importantly he grabs a lot of big rebounds. When the Titans were making their second half run it was Randolph who pulled down rebounds and cut into the offensive boards which were killing the Tide.

   Dayton made 10 three point baskets. The Titans made 0. They missed 12. What if they had made 4 of those baskets. We might have had a different outcome. The game score was 62-54. That 54 was about 30 below Detroit's average going into Sunday's game and that was without their star post player. I'm glad we caught the Titans when we did. Come March they are going to be a pretty salty bunch. They may be the best thing out of Detroit since the original Mustang.

So the Tide goes to 8-2 and has a huge game in Kansas City this weekend. It was a game that Coach Grant promised Trevor Releford when they signed him. Bama goes into that one an 8 point dog. We can laugh at Big 12 football but not hoops. The purple have a great team. This is a true road game into a big time college enviroment. A win would be big.

Recap you need to remember:  Jacobs had 13 in his first start, Green had 21, and Mitchell had 15. Releford only scored 2 points but had 5 assists.We are a better team when Trevor has more assists than points. Kudos for Randolph. We thought he was 'Bama's best signing and so far it has proved to be true.

If you are going to the game, or would like to go shoot me an email.


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Dayton thumps 'Bama 74-62

Green's flagrant foul was turning point...

Grant looking for answers 

     Anthony Grant is too much of a gentleman to say anything negative about officiating. However, I am under no constraint in saying the flagrant foul which sent JayMikal Green to the bench for most of the first half was uncalled for on the part of both Green and the Officials. Green certainly shoved a Dayton player in a scrape for a loose ball rebound. There is no doubt he pushed the man, but equally true is the fact that it was not done in flagrant manner. It was a reaction, and I suppose depending on your personal view it was either intentional or not. What it wasn't however was flagrant under the rules of NCAA basketball. 


     Regardless of how you viewed that little push-shove deal it showed what Alabama fans have feared all along. Bama cannot win with Green on the bench for long stretches of time. The six minutes he sat out in the Georgetown game beat the Tide. His first half absence sealed Bama's fate as well. Earlier in the year we said that 'Bama would be as good as their bench inside. I think we know get the picture. Nick Jacobs is going to be a good player. But he is a freshman and last night he was still a freshman on his first road trip. It showed. It showed for all of Bama's freshmen until Trevor Lacy "caught fire" to score eight points. Catching fire is a relative term however and had Lacy's fire been a 20 blazing fire it might have made a difference. Once again,  the Tide was ineffective from the outside. Mitchell and Releford got their points but that was about it. Releford got all his in the second half to lead the Tide from 17 down to 6 down, but the hole was to deep.


    I have read that many are questioning the 'Bama full court pressure. That press put Alabama back in the game. When you start 2 freshmen and your next 3 of the bench are two other freshman and a sophomore you are going to have some really bad stretches. Anthony has two choices - he can reign the freshman in and hope to win now, or he can let them go and win bigger later.  I think he is second and it will pay off. One thing we need to remember that when a team plays aggressive defense they tend to shoot poorly from the outside. Alabama is not an exception. The shooting will still get better. 


     What Bama has to do is learn to protect Green inside. That is a double edged sword however. To do that the team will have to give up some of the man to man in your face defense on the perimeter.  Grant will not do that. Green is going to decide to pick his battles inside, and everyone needs to pray that Guye comes back early.  The Tide is so thin inside there is no margin for error. When you play four freshman there is going to be a lot of error. That is just a basketball fact of life. A lot of people thought that Hillman and Hines would be easily replaced. Not this writer. I suspect that the coaches knew that as well. H and H did all the dirty little jobs that win games. I see Randolph picking up some of the slack. Will Cooper or Jacobs chip in to help. Big question. The answer will likely define the Alabama basketball season.


    Green needs to lead with his hook and not his jabs. If he is going to be a leader it is time to step up and do so. I believe he can get the job done. Alabama still shot over 50% despite hitting only 4 of 16 from the outside.  As long as Green was in the game the Tide won those minutes. It's very simple - Bama can beat some teams with Green on the bench. They can win some games shooting poorly, but they can't win with poor shooting and Green not on the floor. I have been surprised at some of the posts by "fans" about Green and the team. Not only were they not flattering but they were not truth either. The pieces are there for the Tide to have a good season. The team is so much ahead of last year we should all recognize how much last year's team improved in the second half of the second half of the year. The same is probably going to be true this season also. Mark this prediction - before the season is over we will know we can be an NCAA a team and  couple of freshmen step up their game to help that come true. 




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SEC Opinions - Do your remember tie games?

Roll Tide Crimson Tide 

     I wonder what the mood of those anti-Alabama voters would have been if overtime was eliminated from college football? Both LSU and 'Bama would have 11-0-1 records. The entire football world would have been clamoring for a re-match. Well, that is exactly what happened earlier in the season except for some silly and I want to ad un-manly change of the rules. Back in the day teams fought each other for 60 minutes and if the game was a tie it was tie. You would walk off the field with your opponents, not unlike brothers in arms, who had fought a vicious battle and lived to talk about it.


     Now we have overtime if the two teams are tied at the end of regulation. You have another coin toss, a receive or defend option. Two teams who fought for 60 minutes mano y mano are relegated  to a lucky bounce or a penalty which might decide the outcome. What a silly rule overtime has become. Not only do you have an overtime but at times you have two, or three, or four, and on rare occasions five. Tired players are more easily hurt. Tired players don't always make for good football. The fans want resolution but overtime (IMO) is not the way to do. If you play 60 minutes Mano y Mano and play dead even the game should be over. Both teams can walk off with their heads held high or at least not hanging. 


     This season if Bama and LSU had tied it would be the most monumental game in college football history. We would have none of this spinning that Oklahoma State should be in the BCS National Championship game. The only thing that would matter is that neither team had a loss and played to a tie. None of this whining and regional bias. None of this lets attitude of   punishing Trent Richardson because 'Bama backed into the national championship game.


I know this position is old school. That's okay. New isn't always better. Progress is an opinion of thought.  Alabama getting another shot at beating LSU is big. It could have so much more. Just to make my position clear - Oklahoma State is not in the same league as Alabama or LSU. I think they may be more like Georgia. Besides anyone who has a quarterback who is old enough to have grandchildren is as silly as overtime.

Bama drops one to Georgetown at home...

    

The Hoyas shut down
the inside game.

      Good grief. ‘Bama lost a game at home. You would think our fans need a Code Blue. The team played hard. They played well. They shot the ball from inside the three-point line more than well enough to win.  They shot the ball so poorly from the outside it was astonishing to watch.  Georgetown, no Johnny come lately to big time basketball, defended ‘Bama well. The Tide was 3-16 from downtown. They needed to be 4-16. They needed to hit 2 more free throws. They needed to switch on a pick which allowed Georgetown to win on a 3 point shot. That failure to switch probably will cause Coach Grant to worry a lot more than missing shots. Everybody misses shots in basketball. Every team that plays basketball will have a game like the Tide had last night. When you hold a team with the national respect that a Big East team deserves to 57 points you’ll win 9 out of 10 games.

There are a hundred things that Bama did well. There were very few things they did poorly.  So let’s all take a deep breath and relax. Basketball is not a sport where losing one game will make or break your season. Well, it might if you are playing in the absolute last game of the college season and lose. The home streak the Tide put together was remarkable. It was remarkable in the sense that it was put together with teams trying to get better.

Here’s the way basketball is when you are trying to build a great program. First, you win a few home games and get shellacked on the road. Then you win a few more home games and knock off a couple of pretty good teams in front of your home crowd.  You also win a few road games against poorer teams. Next you win most of your home games and split even on the road. Then you put together a real home court killer (like Bama has) and also beat some good teams on the road and the good opponents are afraid they might lose to you at home. So that is where we are this Friday morning. Look back over Grants first two seasons and see how Alabama has followed that script. Alabama is going to win more games on the road against good teams than they will lose at home. Losing to Georgetown is not the end of the world. Losing to UAH might be. I remember when Alabama almost lost to Birmingham-Southern a short time ago. That caught my attention.

I commend Georgetown for coming into a tough road game and having the presence to run their sets, set their picks, and tone down the home crowd. When the season is winding down I have no doubt where Georgetown will be – in the NCAA Tournament. They are better than expected because you can’t predict poise and confidence. Alabama lost on a 3 point basket at the end.  A great player made that shot. Alabama had once short lapse of focus and became confused whether you switch on the screen or fight through the pick.  For those of you who don’t quite understand that, you always switch on a three pointer and take your chances on the other rolling down to score. Rolling down might have tied the game. Letting someone shoot a three point will get you beat some nights. Last night was one of those nights.

Bama’s shooting will improve. I know that. Why? Because, the Tide has too many good shooters to go 3-16 and suffer through many games such as last night’s. When those nights occur you hope you are playing Podunk College and not Georgetown.  Shooting that poorly at home is a rarity. Later on in the season it will be offset by 13-16 shooting one night when they need it most. Alabama will start another home winning streak. We will go to the NCAA tournament. I’m not worried about our shooting. I’m worried about a lack of depth inside. I believe Alabama will be as good as their bench plays. I’m not happy about losing. It is not the end of the world to lose a game as we know it. Ask the football team.




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Bama drops one to Georgetown at home...

    


      Good grief. ‘Bama lost a game at home. You would think our fans need a Code Blue. The team played hard. They played well. They shot the ball from inside the three-point line more than well enough to win.  They shot the ball so poorly from the outside it was astonishing to watch.  Georgetown, no Johnny come lately to big time basketball, defended ‘Bama well. The Tide was 3-16 from downtown. They needed to be 4-16. They needed to hit 2 more free throws. They needed to switch on a pick which allowed Georgetown to win on a 3 point shot. That failure to switch probably will cause Coach Grant to worry a lot more than missing shots. Everybody misses shots in basketball. Every team that plays basketball will have a game like the Tide had last night. When you hold a team with the national respect that a Big East team deserves to 57 points you’ll win 9 out of 10 games.

There are a hundred things that Bama did well. There were very few things they did poorly.  So let’s all take a deep breath and relax. Basketball is not a sport where losing one game will make or break your season. Well, it might if you are playing in the absolute last game of the college season and lose. The home streak the Tide put together was remarkable. It was remarkable in the sense that it was put together with teams trying to get better.

Here’s the way basketball is when you are trying to build a great program. First, you win a few home games and get shellacked on the road. Then you win a few more home games and knock off a couple of pretty good teams in front of your home crowd.  You also win a few road games against poorer teams. Next you win most of your home games and split even on the road. Then you put together a real home court killer (like Bama has) and also beat some good teams on the road and the good opponents are afraid they might lose to you at home. So that is where we are this Friday morning. Look back over Grants first two seasons and see how Alabama has followed that script. Alabama is going to win more games on the road against good teams than they will lose at home. Losing to Georgetown is not the end of the world. Losing to UAH might be. I remember when Alabama almost lost to Birmingham-Southern a short time ago. That caught my attention.

I commend Georgetown for coming into a tough road game and having the presence to run their sets, set their picks, and tone down the home crowd. When the season is winding down I have no doubt where Georgetown will be – in the NCAA Tournament. They are better than expected because you can’t predict poise and confidence. Alabama lost on a 3 point basket at the end.  A great player made that shot. Alabama had once short lapse of focus and became confused whether you switch on the screen or fight through the pick.  For those of you who don’t quite understand that, you always switch on a three pointer and take your chances on the other rolling down to score. Rolling down might have tied the game. Letting someone shoot a three point will get you beat some nights. Last night was one of those nights.

Bama’s shooting will improve. I know that. Why? Because, the Tide has too many good shooters to go 3-16 and suffer through many games such as last night’s. When those nights occur you hope you are playing Podunk College and not Georgetown.  Shooting that poorly at home is a rarity. Later on in the season it will be offset by 13-16 shooting one night when they need it most. Alabama will start another home winning streak. We will go to the NCAA tournament. I’m not worried about our shooting. I’m worried about a lack of depth inside. I believe Alabama will be as good as their bench plays. I’m not happy about losing. It is not the end of the world to lose a game as we know it. Ask the football team.

ALABAMA WINS PUERTO RICO TOURNAMENT...

Great defense allows the Tide to Roll...

Tide celebrates after whipping Purdue

     No disrespect to the Alabama football team's great defense. By all accounts that defense is the best in the NCAA. Some Tide fans believe it is the best defense in Alabama history. Perhaps one day it will as good as Alabama's basketball team defense. Basketball championships, like football championships, start by winning on the defensive side of court. On Sunday night in San Juan Puerto Rico, the Crimson Tide used a relentless defense to hold the high scoring 'Boilermakers of Purdue to only  56  points in winning the Championship game 65-56. The Big Ten team got 12 of those points in the last three minutes when the issue had been decided.

     The Alabama defense has all the efficiency of a meat grinder on steroids. Consider that Purdue scored 91 and 85 points in their first two games. The 56 was 32 points under their average. We have speculated what might happen when Bama started to make three point baskets. In the second half we got a glimpse. It will only get better. The Tide is working hard to be a better offensive team. Tonight, they got better in the second half.


Mitchell is special...

Tony had an great tourney

     The SETI project whose goal is to find intelligent extraterrestrial life is a great side trip if you come to PR.  It might  be a lot easier if those learned scientists to pay 12  bucks and witness the sky high show of Tony Mitchell. Mitchell  ended last season on a roll. He is taking up where he left off. Releford had 20 to lead all scorers. He also had 5 assists. Green had 14 and so did Mitchell. Randolph had 12. A cold spell in the first half kept the Tide from running away against Boilermakers. 

THINGS WE LIKED...

• Hello Levi, welcome to the big time. Great game from a gifted athlete. 
• Nick Jacobs, had a great tournament and showed Grant he can trust him
• So did Carl Engstrom. He  didn't score much be he rebounded well. His picks are big
• Green got into the flow of the game after foul trouble and forcing the issue in game 2.
• Releford had a great week, his assists are starting to pick up, and that is VERY GOOD.
• Mitchell is quickly becoming a star. Insider or out # 5 is everywhere.
• Trevor Lacey started to show his real skills.
• Rodney Cooper is playing excellent defense and has hit a few threes. Getting better

     Bama is a top 15 right now. Come late winter it might be a national player. The defense is beyond good and offense is coming along fine. One thing people might want to remember is that the Tide expends a lot of energy on defense, and that hurts the offense. Bama shot 43% while limiting the red hot Big 10 team to 35%. Bama also cashed in on 14-18 free throws. Purdue out boarded the Tide 30-25. 17 turnovers is not going to make Grant very happy, Purdue had 13 to almost  even out some sloppy play.  Both teams played such hard defense it caused the offense of both teams to look pretty.  In the end, the Tide made three good runs during the game that Purdue couldn't match.

I'd give the Tide a solid A for the Caribbean.

Late update: Mitchell named SEC Player of the Week

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Revenge game?

Hankerson has improved  

      Not really. The  tonight's WS game will allow Alabama to return to the scene of the crime so to speak. Last season Alabama's magical run in the NIT was ended by very good and sound Wichita State Shockers. If you saw the Shockers last night they look very much like the same team that handed the Tide a loss in the final game of their season. 


     Alabama brings a much better outside game than last season. The Tide's perimeter shooting was so poor that it caused them to lead the nation in 2 point baskets against total points Tonight is a playoff game for the NCAA. Alabama has beefed up the pre-SEC schedule. Two solid wins so far, and win over the Shockers would be big on when team are selected for the NCAA field. Bama's horrible showing in the Bahama's last winter sealed the team's NCAA fate even though we didn't know at the time. At that time most people just thought we were a lousy team. You have to admire Grant for teaching his team, and JayMykal Green a lessons about what is and is not important. Whatever occurred in the Caribbean last year is behind them, but the lesson learned seems to remain. 
    If you think it is revenge on the mind's of the basketball team you might be wrong. Not replicating last years showing. In doing that they may well beat the Shockers. One thing Tide fans learned last night was that wins are possible against mediocre teams. If Green plays only 13 minutes tonight it won't be the same. Bama learned that Carl Engstrom can hold his own on defense. He takes up a lot of room, and his technique is improving. On offense he hasn't shown a lot of success but has developed a decent drop step to the basket. 


Keys to Winning tonight:

• Keep Green and Mitchell out of foul troube.
• Releford needs to pick up his assist production
• Cooper and Randolph need to keep up their defense and chip in a few baskets

     Bama will need to hit some threes. Hello Trevor Lacey. In all honesty every starter and the first two players off the bench can make threes. Look for 'Bama to start scoring a lot more points as they learn to play as a team. Bama's defense is great, and the offense has the potential to be as good. 

I like Bama by 6.

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