tide squeaks by late to win
new level of bad play established by Al and Ark.
We predicted a Bama win if they could keep the score in the 50's. Mission accomplished on that point. The Tide proved to be slightly better than the worst Arkansas team to take the floor since joining the SEC. After this win there are more questions about the future. I really like Coach Grant, but - the level of play on the floor at Coleman Coliseum against Arkansas is an embarrasment to a lot of other Alabama teams of the past. The coach can talk about finding a way not to lose, grinding one out, and all the coach speak he chooses to use. The truth is that in the second half we were beyond horrible. There have far to many nights like Thursday.
21 turnovers on your home floor? On five occasions we lost the ball on inbound plays. That's a hot topic for Tide fans. Which ex-coach does that remind you of? My grandson, who is in the third grade asked me why we kept throwing the in bounds pass to our center. "I thought you weren't supposed to do that," was how he put it. Sloppy passes the entire second half was the rule. Even Levi Randolph threw one backcourt. We have far too many good ball handlers to allow that to happen. No ball movement and inside players who camped out, feet stuck in concrete killed Alabama. Our fundamentals are poor. We catch passes with one hand, we secure rebounds with one hand, and down right laughable at times. I know, you shouldn't complain about a win. Well, I disagree. This team has some problems with discipline on the floor, effort at times, and the complete inability to mount an offense. I'll give the kids credit for coming back. A month earlier this would have been another loss. The problem is the same kids built the hole they put themselves in. The Tide took what could have been a blowout and and turned it into a showcase futility.
Nick Jacobs had a good first half and that helped the Tide to 7 point lead. The lefty moved up a couple of feet up the lane and used his mobility to get around Razorback defenders. Gueye had some good moments, including a six foot jump shot. I thought Pollard showed a lot more than he had before last night. He was active, he led the team in rebounds, he had a couple of good steals, and play very hard. He was intense and he didn't back down.
We have great dribblers though. We have players who can move and dribble. They can stand and dribble for long stretchs of time. And to round out the equation we have four other players on the floor who can stand a watch. over. At least Andrew Steele knows how to lower this head and make a hole. Eddie Lacey would be proud. I was happy we held on to win and equally happy Dand that I didn't have to watch anymore pitiful play when the clock went to double zero We must be the only team in America that has an official diagnosis of bi-polar personality disorder. It's a long drive from Oneonta to Tuscaloosa and back for an eight o'clock game - too far to watch what we all saw last night in a 59-56 "win". At 66 I've noticed a tendency to use my time more wisely. We can 13 wins and still have a chance to win 20+ games. That is amazing. If the Tide could stitch together a little composure and effort we might just get to number 20. Any other team in the league other than Arkansas and we might have lost. In some ways this team is close to being really good. Not last night. Last night will never be mentioned again as far as I'm concerned. A pat on the back to Lacey. He came through. Sometimes it is really hard to be a serious basketball fan for Alabama isn't it.
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new level of bad play established by Al and Ark.
We predicted a Bama win if they could keep the score in the 50's. Mission accomplished on that point. The Tide proved to be slightly better than the worst Arkansas team to take the floor since joining the SEC. After this win there are more questions about the future. I really like Coach Grant, but - the level of play on the floor at Coleman Coliseum against Arkansas is an embarrasment to a lot of other Alabama teams of the past. The coach can talk about finding a way not to lose, grinding one out, and all the coach speak he chooses to use. The truth is that in the second half we were beyond horrible. There have far to many nights like Thursday.
21 turnovers on your home floor? On five occasions we lost the ball on inbound plays. That's a hot topic for Tide fans. Which ex-coach does that remind you of? My grandson, who is in the third grade asked me why we kept throwing the in bounds pass to our center. "I thought you weren't supposed to do that," was how he put it. Sloppy passes the entire second half was the rule. Even Levi Randolph threw one backcourt. We have far too many good ball handlers to allow that to happen. No ball movement and inside players who camped out, feet stuck in concrete killed Alabama. Our fundamentals are poor. We catch passes with one hand, we secure rebounds with one hand, and down right laughable at times. I know, you shouldn't complain about a win. Well, I disagree. This team has some problems with discipline on the floor, effort at times, and the complete inability to mount an offense. I'll give the kids credit for coming back. A month earlier this would have been another loss. The problem is the same kids built the hole they put themselves in. The Tide took what could have been a blowout and and turned it into a showcase futility.
Nick Jacobs had a good first half and that helped the Tide to 7 point lead. The lefty moved up a couple of feet up the lane and used his mobility to get around Razorback defenders. Gueye had some good moments, including a six foot jump shot. I thought Pollard showed a lot more than he had before last night. He was active, he led the team in rebounds, he had a couple of good steals, and play very hard. He was intense and he didn't back down.
We have great dribblers though. We have players who can move and dribble. They can stand and dribble for long stretchs of time. And to round out the equation we have four other players on the floor who can stand a watch. over. At least Andrew Steele knows how to lower this head and make a hole. Eddie Lacey would be proud. I was happy we held on to win and equally happy Dand that I didn't have to watch anymore pitiful play when the clock went to double zero We must be the only team in America that has an official diagnosis of bi-polar personality disorder. It's a long drive from Oneonta to Tuscaloosa and back for an eight o'clock game - too far to watch what we all saw last night in a 59-56 "win". At 66 I've noticed a tendency to use my time more wisely. We can 13 wins and still have a chance to win 20+ games. That is amazing. If the Tide could stitch together a little composure and effort we might just get to number 20. Any other team in the league other than Arkansas and we might have lost. In some ways this team is close to being really good. Not last night. Last night will never be mentioned again as far as I'm concerned. A pat on the back to Lacey. He came through. Sometimes it is really hard to be a serious basketball fan for Alabama isn't it.
Back to Tider Insider
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