not ready for prime time...




     John Wooden, the Hall of Fame Coach (as well HOF Purdue player) once laid out the steps to know when you have become a successful program. They were as follows:

1. Win as many home games as possible. Any games won on the road are a bonus.
2. Win as many home games as possible and try to steal a game or two on the road
3. Win all your home games and win half of your road games.
4. Win all your home games and win all your road games.

That was the game plan for the Wizard of Westwood and he pulled it off. To hit the lofty level four is a tremendous accomplishment. Bama is still stuck in level two. We are certainly winning a lot of home games, not all, and the road is killing the Tide. 'Bama has won one SEC Game this season and that is not acceptable for the progress of your program.  The Tide has some nice wins. Wins over Rhode Island and Auburn were nice wins. When your league road record starts with the number one you are not yet a bonafide NCAA Tournament team. Losing to the two worst teams in the SEC is not very spiffy on a resume.

        Bama has road games at Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Auburn remaining. That sounds pretty much like 0-4 to this writer. If Alabama won all their remaining home games including Oklahoma the Tide might get a bid. It would help to get a couple of SEC Tournament wins as well. After last night, I am not holding my breath for that two happen. Why? I honestly don't know. Youth hurts. But there seems to be a lot of inconsistency on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.

        Let's go back in time to January 4, 1955. George Linn, a wonderful forward, who starred for Bama, unleashed an 84 foot, 1l-inch shot that found the nylon in Foster Auditorium. I was seven years old, and though it was not my first Alabama game. It was the first game I actually remember. That shot was the longest in NCAA history for quite a while. If you attended the Capstone you know where x marks the spot. I still don't understand how he made that shot. Foster was not high-shot friendly. The reason I bring this up is that up is to give you the idea this isn't my first rodeo regarding Tide hoops.

         I've seen the Rocket Eight and the players  who made Alabama an SEC Power. Johnny Dee must have been a hell of coach, not that my conscious stream would have understood that at the time. It is a shame those teams were denied the opportunity to play in the NCAA or NIT. Racial hatred was alive and well in those days, and I'm being to believe it still is.  We went through tough times with Coach Riley. Basketball coaching his time was a secondary job. Finally, Paul Bryant decided to make hoops important. I am not going to go into long detail about what happened after that. I will say that Alabama was the best team in the nation in 1976. The 1987 team could have won the national championship as well. This all ended the day that Hootie Ingram fired Wimp Sanderson. Alabama basketball has never been the same. It was in place to win big with Sanderson. Alabama's AD made a statement that the University would support football only. There has been some moderate success after that. One Elite appearance was the highlight of Gottfried. Grant inherited a mess. He cleaned up the program but could not win big.

        Next comes Johnson. It seems like things are better. Hope abounds. Does his record sustain that hope? You be the judge. I have seen a lot of games between 1955 and today. I really can't tell you what is wrong with this team. 13-7 is average at best. We have  played a lot of good teams. Arizona, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Auburn come to mind. Next is Oklahoma. Losses to teams of that caliber are understandable. When you lose to a dog Ole Miss team, and a horrible Vandy team something is amiss. There are enough games left to turn the ship around. I hope we don't look back and see our lackluster play against a team like UCF killed us. Something is missing. The frequent lineup changes tells me that Johnson is puzzled as well. A win this weekend could springboard us. A loss might kill us. 

       I am not trying to wax poetic with this trip down memory lane. I am trying to be realistic. Will Alabama ever be a major force in SEC basketball. I don't know. I think the remainder of this season will have huge impact on the future of our program.



    

TIDE HOLDS ON TO BEAT MSU 68-62
Key leading scorer for 'Bama


   

Key grabs key rebound late

      Alabama played the best half I have seen from a Tide basketball team in a long time. Roaring out of the gate, the Tie looked like a fine-tuned Maserati. The ball movement impressive. The rebounding was dominant, and the defense was overwhelming. All that added up to a dominant 19 point lead over the Bulldogs. It seemed as though Avery Johnson had finally put on the floor what he was teaching in practice. The cherries on the top? How about Brandon Key being the leading scorer and pulling down big time rebounds? How about Collin Sexton sitting on the bench and the Tide playing it's best half? How about John throwing MeadowLark Lemons passes? Finally, how about the Tide never giving up its lead even when it appeared they might lose?

    There was a ton of good things about what the Tide did on Saturday night. They won when they might have lost. Johnson told his team to relax and have confidence when the wheels were coming off the wagon.  When it mattered most, the Crimson Tide show the courage of a champion. The team is now 13-6. that could easily be a lot better, but perhaps Alabama is about to make a move to greatness. The remaining schedule will give them a chance to show the basketball world they are back.

TIDE FACES A BRUTAL SCHEDULE

   

Alabama hits Oxford for a road game with Ole Miss on the 23rd. A road win is big time stuff in the SEC. Huge game for 'Bama no doubt. Then it's Trae Young and the Oklahoma Sooners in T-Town. No need for me to explain the importance of the Big 12 Bully Boy. Alabama returns to Coleman for a matchup with Missouri. I think I'd take the two season wins over a win against Oklahoma. I think the Tide wins 2 of the last 3 games. If 'Bama wins at Ole Miss, I'm picking the Tide to win all 3 of the remaining January games.That would move 'Bama to 16-6. The RPI is likely to be in the top 20. Happy days are here again, at least for a while.  Then it's February, the time of finality for a lot of hopeful NCAA teams and the Big Dance. Alabama has games with Florida (2), Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, State, and Mississippi State.  Bama isn't likely to win all of those games. How about winning half those games? Tide fans will likely see an NCAA that way. Bama finishes the season with a road game in College Station. That is a total of 12 games. Seven wins should get us in the Big Dance. A couple of wins in the SEC Tournament would give us a better seed in the field of 64. 

PROJECTED FINISH TO REGULAR SEASON:  20-12

NCAA PROJECTED SEED: 7

PROJECTED FINISH PRIOR TO NCAA BIDS: 22-13

TIDE ROLLS OVER AUBURN 76-71

Petty and Jones lead the Tide...
Ingram holds the point after Sexton injury...
     

   

Bill Ellis

     Auburn roared into Coleman Coliseum like a Tiger. They left like a lamb. The Crimson Tide beat the Aubies 76-71. John Petty, behind 8-13 three-point shooting, and Herbert Jones who took a magical mystery tour with an all-around splendid performance killed the 14 game winning streak held by Bruce Pearl's team. And, Collin Sexton didn't play due to an abdominal injury. Don'ta Hall played and threw his weight around. When you play without your leading scorer and floor general bad things can happen. Auburn may have decided that the Tide could not have beaten them without Sexton and Hall. That seems logical. Basketball is not always a logical game, is it? Games are not played on paper. They have to take to the hardwood. This was going to be a game all of us long remember.

 

   A lot has been written about John Petty and his eight three-point explosions (five in the second half).  Jones started and Johnson moved Dazon Ingram back to the point with Sexton's absence. The Tide surprised the SEC basketball world by beating the high scoring Tigers. What hasn't been written is the lock-down defense, particularly on the perimeter, that killed Auburn's offense. The Tide also won the battle of boards. The first half may have a little shaky on offense, but the defense held Auburn to 33 points. The Tide trailed by only three and you could feel a Tide victory.  

   

Key pulled down nine boards.

In the second half, the Tide found an offensive groove and jumped out to a double-digit lead. The Tigers cut it to four but free-throw shooting sealed the victory for 'Bama. The Tide's free-throw percentage was low, but made the ones that counted most. Ingram steadied his nerves and made some big ones.  Auburn  had a chance to knot the score at 74, but pressing 'Bama defense caused a Tiger miscue. The Tide then hit two more free throws and it was over. 'Bama had clinched a RPI building win over the Tigers.

     A word about Dazon Ingram. He had a rough night scoring but he ran the point to perfection in the second half. I also thought a couple of his missed shots he was fouled. He got a couple of charges that were bad calls. So, what else is new? Official miss calls and the charge/block call is perhaps the toughest call for a ref to make. Still, in watching the game it was clear that both Herbert Jones and Dazon Ingram caught some bad calls.


Player of the Game: John Petty
Defensive player of the game: Herbert Jones
MVP of the game:  Tide Defense

RPI:  24-26

'BAMA NEEDS A WIN OVER AUBIE...

You have to give Bruce Pearl credit
     

     Alabama stole all the Preseason press. Auburn is stealing the season. Like it or not, we have to acknowledge Auburn's play. Yes, Bruce Pearl can coach. He can also recruit. Unless you keep up with basketball recruiting Auburn's success might seem like a surprise. No surprise to me. The Tigers have won 14 consecutive games. Tonight, Alabama is a 2.5 dog on their own home floor. Granted, Don'ta Hall will not play if what newspapers around the State have reported is correct.  Guess which team has the four-game winning streak?  'Bama has had their share of injuries.  The Tigers are currently 16-1. Alabama isn't. And the Tigers have done this without the two best players.

           By any stretch of the imagination, the Tide has disappointed their fans so far. It seems downright bizarre that Auburn University seems to be a basketball "power". I think the AD needs to pay close attention to how that happened. There are two reasons. First, Auburn took a chance on a disgraced head coach. Before that, they built a great basketball facility. You can add the shady recruiting, FBI investigations, and whatever you believe is true. Throw in the sweat hog frivolity. Pearl thrives on such descriptions. The truth is that Alabama hasn't made the same commitment as Auburn. The Tide hired the coach but hasn't built a proper modern day facility. The worst school in SEC hoops made a decision to become a better program. Alabama, which had a great program, accepted the status quo. In a sense, the powers in the boardroom said: "Alabama is a football power and we collectively think that will propel the basketball program." It just doesn't work that way in my opinion. A program like Duke made its playing floor a cherished part of their tradition. Auburn had little history of success but built a showcase facility. Alabama built the worlds biggest Quonset hut and proclaimed that the hoops program would play where Elton John once performed. Kudos the Johnson for being able to put the five-star players on the floor along with three four-star players. 

       I don't think Pearl is a better coach than Johnson. He has more collegiate experience and that gives him an edge right now. Johnson is struggling with finding a steady number two scorer. Auburn has players in double figures. The Tigers have found the ability to share the wealth. Alabama is still looking. I think the Tide will get there. Getting there is different from being there. Can 'Bama win tonight?  You betcha. A full house in the hut will help. 'Bama seems to have solved their free throw shooting problem. The Tide is rebounding better. The Crimson and White have even shown hints of shooting better. I'd even dare to pick Bama without Hall. Buckle up. Tonight could be a doozy. But don't bet the ranch. 

'Bama nears a Crucible in the NCAA

Five games may define the Tide this season...

Sexton needs to increase his assists...

     Let's recap some games after the road win against LSU. 'Bama had a big road win over Memphis. Road wins are special. Even against 12-6 teams. Will the win over Memphis help Alabama? Yes, it was a road win. The Tigers are not a great team but they are a good team. I looked at there schedule. Memphis looks good for 17 or 18 wins. If the Tigers can increase that number to 20 it will be a great win. Chance of 20n wins? I rate as 40-60%.  Any wins over 18 are good for the Tide. 

     'Bama over Texas A&M? Big win, and as the Aggies get some players back in their lineup it means more wins, with some against heavy hitters. That helps the Tide in many ways. A&M was # 5 in the country when the Crimson decapitated them. Will the Committee remember that? Yes, they will. How much? It depends on how A&M finishes.. 
     

WILL TIDE MAKE THE NCAA TOURNAMENT?

A RUDE AWAKENING ...


   A lot of writers writers warned Alabama basketball fans about unrealistic expectations with the year's team. Hope springs eternal until it doesn't. A lot or Alabama basketball followers have lost hope. Is that as unreasonable as expecting a 25 win season? I believe it is. So what should we expect? I think a 20 win season would be a good year. It might get Alabama into the NCAA field. No doubt the Tide will have to up their game to win twenty now. Take a look at  remaining schedule. I think it is possible the Tide might win 11 more games, and have nice run in the SEC. That might be enough or at least home games in the NIT. Don't blame the team or the coach for not living up to our hopes. Reality doesn't work that way. We start two freshman. Sexton is different but Petty is up an down. 


In the last three games the Tide has lost to Vandy and Georgia. I thought Georgia was better than Alabama in my re-season picks. They sure looked it when they eviscerated 'Bama on Saturday morning. No doubt about, that game will be the worse game I have ever witnessed. It was a dead dog whipping. The team better get focused or we all know where the Tide will end up. Can 'Bama turn it around?  The team has some problems. You don't shoot 29% and lose the boards by almost 20 and expect you could win. Dazon Ingram didn't play in the Georgia game. That hurt, but he wasn't the difference. 

Here are some issues 'Bama has now:

1. Alabama is not a bad shooting team. The team works hard to get good looks. The just aren't making anything from the field. Not a single player is shooting 40% from the arc. That won't cut it in the SEC. We win when we shoot and make a few from downtown. So that leads us into another.

2. Johnson has proved he can recruit. What he has failed to do is find a pure shooter. How good would  this team be with one Mathew Fisher-Davis type shooter. I'd go one step further and say we need two. Kudos to John Petty for some great games. We know that Ar'mond Davis hasn't played and showed sign of living up to a great JUCO career. Petty is up and down. Most outside shooters are always that way. You can recruit two-five star players and some work out and some will not. 

3. We don't control the boards. Let's face it - we need to rebound better. Hall is only hauling down 7.2 boards a game. Our second leading rebounder is Ingram he is basically a two guard. He is a hard nosed player. How worried was Avery about the rebounding. He started both Hall and Giddens. What did that bring the Tide? Not much. It did kill the run and gun offense.

4. Johnson is still growing as a collegiate head coach. He didn't have the players to compete last season and the Tide was able to make the NIT. The loss of Riley Norris, Ar'mond Davis, and Brandon Key hurt. Norris was a great player to be a sixth man. He understood basketball. Davis brought good outside shooting and show he could play in the paint  the second half last season. Key was the go-to man last year. The loss of Key was important. Then after sitting the early part of the season and being played into game shape hurt the Tide. Johnson had to do that. He had no choice in my opinion. The Tide will be much better as Key gets the rust off his game. 

5. Here is an issue that effects the team. When fans start talking badly about the team and his coaching, it brings a certain attitude. Players press. Coaching worry about the future. I think Johnson is probably experienced enough not to listen to whiners. I believe that most casual fans do not understand how fan attitude effects the players. It also can hurt recruiting. 

6. Collin Sexton has been as billed. He is the leading scorer in the SEC, and will be a lock for lst-Team All-SEC. He will get some votes for All-American as well. If 'Bama starts winning games it will Sexton a lot more attention. That seems unfair that he could be lost in the shuffle, but that is what happens in basketball. I never have believed that a one and done player is good for the program. It may be feast or starvation in the future. We are not Kentucky. 

7. One and done is a risky business. Sexton is gone. Petty should stay to get a higher draft status next season. I hope he listens the draft reports he will get from the NBA. One thing that will hurt Petty is a lack of physical strength. He also looks lost on defense at times. Freshman do that. Alabama 

8. Herb Jones more PT in opinion. He is a good rebounder. More than solid on defense and he knows how to draw charges. Give him about six thousand calories a  day and a tough weight program will make him an ALL-SEC type player.

9. Could Lawson Schaffer help the offense. He sure could. Whether his defense stands up is the only question. Galin Smith needs some playing time. He is going to be a good player. Alex Reese is big, strong, and a deadly shooter. Give him a few minutes.

10. The main thing this team lacks is chemistry. You can't buy it, and you can't coach it. That is the real reason the Tide has not won more games. If you watched the Georgia game you understand. If 'Bama starts to run they improve. You should shut the game on a thoroughbred.