THE TIDE STUMBLES AND BUMBLES BUT WIN

Nice win over a likely NCAA Tournament Team, but...

   

     Dick Enberg might say ¨Oh, My¨. Alabama had a lot of oh my moments and still won. Murray State is a really good basketball team. They will be dancing winning OVC Tournament. The might be dancing if they win the regular championship. The Racers have their own version of Collin Sexton. Ja Morant shredded the Bama defense with 28 points. He had 10 turnovers due to some hard-nosed defense by several Tide defenders.  He was a pleasure to watch and an even better pleasure to beat. Bottom line is that Bama won 78-72. Kira Lewis, Jr. and John Petty, Jr. led the Tide´s offensive effort with 20 and 16 points respectively.

the good -

1. Bama made a stellar 23 of 30 freebies which will help hold a lead.  
2. The Tide pulled down 40 rebounds with 15 being offensive.
3. Ten blocked shots is a high number, and the Tide disrupted at least that many more shots.
4. Jones pulled down 10 and Petty got 8. Good play by both

the bad- 

1. 21 turnovers will usually get you beat. The Racers offset that number by committing 18 of their own.
2. Ingram had 6 turnovers and Jones had 5 which continues a trend of sloppy ball handling by the pair.
3. Every player for ´Bama had a turnover except for Junior. 

the ugly-

1. Alabama still looks confused on offense in my opinion. There seems to be little flow to their offense. 21 turnovers are not helping develop consistency
2. Coach Johnson put a couple of groups on the floor that baffled me. 
3. Mack needs to step it up to be the much-needed man off the bench on the edge. I hope Riley can help do that when he returns. I´m not giving up on Mack. He had a recent big game. 
4. Is it just my imagination or does the Tide miss more layups than humanly possible.
5. The announced attendance was 9.004. I will be crowned as the King of England this weekend. You are invited. This team needs sell-outs. 

bottom-line 

Johnson is still experimenting with the rotation. He is a good coach, and I am sure he knows what he is doing. We have a lineup where balanced scoring is happening and that is a good thing. Kira Lewis is going to be an All-SEC Player if ´Bama wins enough game to showcase him. Petty is much improved. His outside shooting is hot and cold. Shooters gotta shoot. Lewis, Petty, Reese, and Mack all have some firepower. Hall patrols the lane like a worried mother. There are a lot of good things happening. Did I mention the 21 turnovers?

    Alabama now hits the road to play UCF. This will be a tough game. The Knights are pre-season picks to win the American Athlete Conference. That league includes Houston, UCONN, Cincinnati, Temple, Memphis, Wichita State, and SMU. Those are premier basketball programs. Throw in Tulane, Tulsa, and East Carolina and you have one dynamic league. I doubt Bama will be favored. The Knights beat Alabama last season. Have you ever seen a 7-6 basketball player? They have one.