ALABAMA STUNS VANDY 58-54

Tide refuses to quit
Lacey lifts Tide on key three pointer...

     A lot is going to be written about Alabama getting the monkey off their backs after beating Vandy for the first time in Nashville since Gary Waites was our point guard and Wimp was glaring from the end lines. That was back in 1990. Phil Collins nailed down the #1 song in America, How am I supposed to live without you.  Driving Miss Daisy won the Oscar for best film, and Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister of Great Britain. More importantly, this years edition won a key road game in their quest to make the post season. Once again it was Trevor Lacey who pulled the trigger for the winning basket.  His three point basket off a double screen was as pure as silk.

 Bama didn't quit.

       When Vanderbilt was shooting 60% from the floor and making three points baskets from downtown Nashville,  the Tide hung around.  The Tide learned a lot about itself in terrible December. Alabama had just lost Carl Engstrom and Andrew Steele to injuries. Two key players out of the line up and the Tide stumbled and fell. But they got back up. They refused to stay down. The Tide has shown a remarkable tenacity since that time. They show it when they play bad and when they play well. They continue to do what they do best, which is play hard nosed defense, and let games sort themselves out in the end. What this team does as well as anyone is to concentrate on the present play. They forget the last play, and don't worry about what's  
coming up next. They constantly win dozens of little battles for rebounds, lose balls, big shots, and stealing passes. They took a crisp and efficient  Vandy team and turned them into a train wreck with relentless play. The football team isn't the only bunch that holds up four fingers.

Andrew Steele ignites comeback  

        Andrew Steele doesn't have a stop button.  It appears he doesn't have a panic button either. It was reported that it was Steele who kept pushing to the team to chip away at the Commodore lead. At the 7 minute mark the Tide was down 51-40, number 22 kept pushing his teammates to remember the game wasn't over. They listened and then went on scoring run that stunned Vandy. The crowd in Nashville was in a state in the disbelief from the Tide's comeback. Over that last 7 minutes the Tide played near a near perfect game. The offense clicked and the defense simply devastated Vanderbilt. In last 7 minutes of the game the Commodores scored 1 point. In a very un-Tidelike manner the Crimson threw down 18 points. That's a near 100 points per game rate. I'm sure that Vandy isn't a great team. In Nashville, they are very good though. The goofy arena gives the Commodores quite an advantage. Vandy had not been shooting the ball from the outside or from the free throw line with much success. They did against Alabama for over 3/4 of the game. In spite of their red hot shooting the Tide wouldn't go away. I don't know about you but in the last five minutes I thought we would come back and win. Shots made by Vandy in the first half were not hitting iron in the second. Even more remarkable is the fact that Bama won the game when the home team was shooting the bonus. At one point in the second half Alabama caught four fouls on two defensive stands. Vandy had been called for only 5 for entire contest.

     Great win for Bama anyway you look at it. Lacey showed us why he was so highly recruited, Releford has a packed defense against him and it showed, Pollard had his least productive outing. Both Jacobs and Gueye had their moments. Nice to see Cooper back in the game. Randolph made some big free throws late and it was outside defense that caused some pretty odd looking shots by Vandy guards. He just continues to improved. But this night belonged to Grant, Steele, and Lacey. Bama has a very favorable schedule this month. The should win all the home games and the road games are winnable as well. Auburn is on a six game skid and it is going to be interesting to see if they shut down for the season, or will arch rival Alabama excite them. Alabama is on the edge of getting back in the NCAA tournament picture. Finish with no more than one more loss in the regular seasons and win one or two in the SEC Tournament and they might just squeak in. All things considered Florida is head and shoulders above anyone. Kentucky, Alabama, and Ole Miss are pretty close. Tennessee and Arkansas are gone. South Carolina has had its share of problems and they'll have more. Let's say this about Alabama. They dug themselves a deep hole with three losses to bad teams. Those were bad losses in the eyes of the NCAA. But they have a change to climb out of that hole by finishing strong. At least Alabama can control their own destiny at this point. Throw Missouri in the mix and then you wonder if the SEC gets four or five bids. I'm betting it's five. If I'm correct then we might just be the fifth team. Regardless of what happens you have to hand it to the team for refusing to quit.