CRIMSON HOOPS - Releford lights it up...

'Bama rebounds to beat Texas Tech...

Releford puts on a show for fans

 

Grant questions backcourt timeout

       Two things were obivious last night. Trevor Releford was on fire, and played an all world game. The second was that Alabama decided to rebound. After a poor outing under the boards in the Oklahoma game the Tide got a little more physical. They didn't dominate the glass but they get 32 rebounds and cut down on the number of offensive rebounds given up. Tech had 26 rebounds for the night. Rodney Cooper offset a poor shooting night with 7 rebounds. Freshman Jimmie Taylor had 6 boards in only 21 minutes of play. Releford got in the lane for 5 boards including 2 offensive boards that netted baskets. Carl Engstrom had a bad night and played sparingly.

 

Tide backcourt is getting to be pretty darn good... 

Releford celebrates in final seconds

     

 

      More than anything, the night belonged to the point guard, Trevor Releford.  The All-SEC point was 5-7 from downtown and finished with 29 points. He was 11-13 for the night and was the spark plug which ignited another fast start for the Tide. There is no better point guard in the SEC. He leadership and talent will give the basketball team a chance to win some games. Retin Obasahan played another good game. He is so fast, quick, and strong you tend to forget he plays the shooting guard postion. He started to get better at the end of last season, stealing minutes from from Lacey, and continues to progress. He will better by the end of the season, and along with Releford, may be the best backcourt in the SEC. He's one 'project' that worked out.

 

Tide adjusts to defensive rule change...

     

Taylor pulls down 6 boards
in only 21 minutes of play
blocks 4 shots

 It's always nice to win but Alabama has a long way to go. Day by day may be the motto of this team. The Tide had 17 turnovers and you won't win a lot of games against good games. The Tide seemed to adjust better to the new foul rule for this game. The Tide forced 5 shot clock violations, and one failure to get the ball past half court. They also forced Tubby Smith to waste two timeouts to get past half court. All in all it was a gritty defensive statement. Allowing a team to only score 64 points is going to be a low number in light of the new officiating rules. I suspect that as Levi Randolph gets back in plaing shape the Tide's offense will cut down on turnovers. When you integrate so many new players into a lineup you are  going to make some mistakes.

 

        Kudos to Grant for having his team ready to play and making adjustment to touch fouls. Putting Taylor and Jacobs on the floor was a no brainer, or perhaps a recognition of having no other choice to be competitive in the paint. Grant seemed particularly happy with play of Taylor in post game comments. Give the Tide points for effort, shooting, improved rebounding. Give them negative points for defensive lapses, turnovers, and fluid play on offense. Game two was better. The Tide as two more easy games before the tough games start.

 

The Box Score:

 

Texas Tech Red Raiders
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Jaye Crockett, F	33	5-9	1-2	1-2	4	3	7	3	4	0	3	0	12
Dejan Kravic, F	21	4-8	0-0	0-1	1	0	1	1	0	2	2	0	8
Jordan Tolbert, F	34	7-9	0-1	0-0	1	6	7	0	1	3	0	4	14
Dusty Hannahs, G	19	2-6	1-5	0-0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	5
Robert Turner, G	38	6-15	0-4	2-3	1	1	2	2	2	0	3	1	14
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Alex Foster, F	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aaron Ross, F	10	1-2	0-0	0-0	3	1	4	1	0	0	1	0	2
Kader Tapsoba, F	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Luke Adams, G	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Toddrick Gotcher, G	14	2-4	1-3	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	2	1	5
Jamal Williams, Jr., G	17	1-4	1-4	0-0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	3	3
Randy Onwuasor, G	8	0-1	0-1	1-2	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	1
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		28-59	4-20	4-8	13	13	26	10	8	5	16	15	64
		47.5%	20.0%	50.0%
Alabama Crimson Tide
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Nick Jacobs, F	26	4-8	0-0	1-3	2	0	2	0	1	0	2	1	9
Jimmie Taylor, F	21	2-3	0-0	0-0	3	3	6	0	1	4	1	1	4
Rodney Cooper, G	36	3-9	0-4	1-2	3	4	7	1	0	0	2	1	7
Retin Obasohan, G	37	5-11	0-2	5-5	1	3	4	4	5	1	3	1	15
Trevor Releford, G	33	11-14	5-7	2-2	1	4	5	0	0	0	4	1	29
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Dakota Slaughter, F	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shannon Hale, F	6	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Carl Engstrom, C	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
Algie Key, G	11	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	3	3	1	0	0	1	1	2
Levi Randolph, G	27	2-5	1-1	5-5	1	1	2	3	1	0	1	0	10
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		28-51	6-14	14-17	12	20	32	9	8	5	17	9	76
		54.9%	42.9%	82.4%

 Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: None - TEAMS: None
 Officials: Don Dailey, Antinio Petty, Pat Adams
 Attendance: 10,746