Iowa State is big league...
Tide seeks to reverse last year's poor start
Tonight’s
game with Iowa State is going to tell Alabama fans a lot. Tonight won’t be
about offense I bet. If Alabama is going to beat Iowa State it will a team
defensive effort. The Cyclones have scoring from all of their position players.
Coach Grant has stated he thinks Alabama could be a very good team. It will
take a good team to beat the #14 team in the AP Poll. First thing that sticks
out about ISU is the balanced scoring. All five starters are in double figures,
and the sixth man is scoring at 9.1. Iowa State is one of the top twenty programs
in the NCAA. They are coached by Fred Hoiberg. Hoiberg has brought an exciting brand
of basketball to the State of Iowa.
The
game is listed as a neutral location. It’s about as neutral as if the Tide were
playing in Birmingham. Kansas City has been very good to the Cyclones over the
years. Expect several thousand Cyclone fans to make the trip for tonight’s
game. The Cyclones opened the season with 93 and 81 points. The dropped Oakland
93-82 and then followed that up by a complete shellacking of Georgia State
81-58. Both Oakland and Georgia State are the type programs that cans sneak up
and beat good teams.
Iowa
State likes to move the ball on offense. They had 18 assist to only 8 turnovers
in their first game. That will win a lot of games. The turned around and
dropped 23 against Georgia State. They had only 12 turnovers. That’s almost a
2-1 ratio. The Tide has won their first three, including a hard fought game
against Western Carolina which went down to the wire.
This
year’s addition of Tide Hoops is a lot different from last season. First, the team
can score. Ex-Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon has made the Tide a pretty good
offensive team. The team has been a collection of veterans, transfers, and new
players. Witherspoon is melding the players into a much more explosive team. Like
a lot of new teams, the Tide is just about even on assists to turnovers. That
ratio is offset by a lot of steals and blocked shots. Jimmy Taylor already has
8 in the first three games. Levi Randolph has stepped up his game and turned
into the leader of the team. He was unanimously elected the team captain. That
was a first for a Grant coached team. No doubt that Ricky Tarrant has been a
very strong addition to the roster. Michael Kessens seems to have the skills to
contribute in the paint. He can play with his back to basket or can face up on
the exterior. Tarrant has the potential to be an All-SEC type player. It’s a
little too early to say the same about Kessens but he’s got skills. Once again,
Rodney Cooper is an enigma in my eyes. He should be scoring far more that has
in the past. His rebound is very solid, and he is a good defensive player. When
the season is over we may look back and say that we are only as good as Cooper
became his senior year.
Jimmy
Taylor hit a nice little running fade away. It was a kind of Buck Johnson shot.
Taylor has also bulked up and is much stronger. He has great timing on blocking
shots, and can finish off interior passes with a stuff. He looks much improved.
A real star in the making is Sophomore Shannon Hale. He is aggressive, much
stronger, has a nice shooting shot, and has some real court awareness.
What
can you say negative about Justin Coleman? He is generously listed at 5-10 and 160lbs.
He is quicker than a hiccup. He can drive and dish, and drop in some outside
bombs. His upside is tremendous. He and Tarrant will make a tough backcourt
when they play together. That’s some that Grant hasn’t done much but as the SEC
season approaches they will. Jeff Garrett has been unable play because of oral
surgery but is expected in the lineup tonight. Riley Norris, who narrowed his
choices of college to ‘Bama, ‘Vandy, and the Gators is going to be very good
player. Same for Devon Mitchell. All of Bama’s new recruits can contribute in a
lot of ways. They are all keepers, and will set a strong foundation for the
future.
Grant
is going to get one more season after this year regardless of what happens. If
this year’s team is any indication to what he can do he seems to be off to a
good start. Alabama has a really tough pre-season. The conference is going to
be somewhat easier than most of the teams we play early on. Bama needs to win
three or four in early period to catch the attention of the selection
committee. If the Tide stumbles out of the gate it will diminish what happens
in the SEC. If Alabama is able to knock off UCLA, Wichita State, and Iowa State
the Crimson is going to look a lot better in the Committee room. Prior to
season I didn’t think this team would be competitive. They just might be. If
players continue to improve, the outside shooting holds up, and the Tide
rebounds well, they might surprise. The defense has looked all that good in the
first three games. Isn’t that ironic. The Tide has been trying to play a lot of
zone to protect Taylor. The game tonight is a big step to determine whether we
belong or not. I think that ISU should win the game. But should win is not the
same as will win. This team seems tight with each other. That is a good sign.
We’ll know more later tonight. Roll Tide
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