Bama shows it has the potential to win big...

Tide makes tremendous strides...

Gueye was close to the block

     Alabama did not beat Cincinnati but their second half play proved a lot to me. From 17-4 deficit to a second half lead was some pretty darn good basketball. This was a top twenty team on their own home floor. Cincinnati was picked as high as third in some publications in the Big East. As a part of the Big East-SEC Challenge. For basketball fans the Challenge is a big deal, and a way to see just  how good your team might be. If you can hang with the Big East you can hang with anyone.  We were close. We led much of the second half. It would have been a good win. It wasn't a bad loss. Don't forget you can have "good" losses in the world of NCAA basketball.  In NCAA parlance this would be a good loss. In the end I think two things beat the Tide. After make at least five good stops in the late second half we just couldn't score. Levi Randolph missed the front end of a big one and one. Trevor Releford still has the flue and he finally just ran out of gas. His last drive to the basket for the game winner was blocked. I'm not sure the shot was going in anyway.

      Regardless of the outcome the team played well. I'd like to have seen what we might have done with a healthy Releford, Engstrom not getting hurt, and Andrew Steele suited up for the game. We can always play the what if game, but seriously, what if the three above players had been at 100%?  Alabama now comes home to play the Dayton Flyers. Then we hit the road to play the VCU Rams. If Alabama wins both these games we should be in the top twenty-five and be ready for the SEC.  Looking at the remainder of the pre-SEC season it appears we could finish as 12-1. It might be 10-3 at the worst. Even the second number would be pretty good. Texas Tech will be played in Lubbock, Tx. The Red Raiders should be at 6-1 when we play them. They have played a very weak schedule this season - Praire View, Grambling, Nebraska-Ohama, Jackson State, got waxed by over 20 by Arizona, and will play McNeese State and Northern Kentucky. I didn't even know their was a school. Dayton and VCU on the other hand have played a good schedule.

       Dayton has played Auburn and beat them. They have lost to Weber State and Colorado. They have beaten Boston College and Manhattan. They aren't flying high, but they haven't crashed either. VCU is tough. Their record is only 5-3 but they barely lost to Duke, Wichita State, and Missouri. They could have won each of these games. They dinged Belmont and Memphis State. Memphis is a quality opponent. Shaka Smart could have moved from VCU after a stunning NCAA run but chose to stay in the Commonwealth.

      My personal view is that we will finish the Pre-SEC part of the schedule 11-2. That is excellent for a team without a big inside game.


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