Bama plays great game against Stanford to win ...

‘Bama dominates the inside 

Levi Randolph plays a great game… 
Tide shuts out Dwight Powell

      I’m learning to appreciate this Alabama team as season grinds on. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide played high level basketball to beat a well-rounded Stanford Cardinal. If Dwight Powell is a first team All-PAC 12 player I bet he doesn’t want to play any SEC teams in the near future. Alabama’s best defense against Powell was to drive the ball directly at him in the early minutes of the game. He got two quick fouls and had to sit most of the first half.  It was only when Stanford Coach Johnny Dawkins thought the game might get away from the Cardinal did he put him back in the game. That was in the first half, and it showed that the Stanford head man knew his team was in for a tough afternoon.

    One thing was obvious from the start – Alabama had much better athletes. The Tide used that to completely disrupt any chance of a Cardinal win. Alabama’s full court press is remarkable. It looks like a bunch of pickpockets on too much caffeine. Stanford never seemed to understand that if you put the ball on the floor Bama was going to steal it away. Levi Randolph has certainly elevated his game in the latter part of the season and today I thought he had his best game as a Tider. He was everywhere Stanford didn’t want him to be. He stole passes, drove for baskets, pulled down big traffic rebounds, and generally looked like a one man wrecking crew.

    Bama dominated the 50/50 balls all the game. The Tide’s speed, quickness, and aggressiveness did not allow Stanford to ever set up their deadly half court offense.  I thought we’d play a 2/3 to shut down the middle. Instead, Grant played an in your face man which stunned the Cardinal. Gueye did go 25 feet away from the basket to guard Powell. Powell finished with 2 points in the second half. The Tide clearly made it a high priority to get to the foul line.  Time and time again Bama guards plowed through the middle to make lay-ups or dish off for easy passes. The crowd has plenty to cheer about. The size of the crowd was impressive for a morning tip-off. They were loud and it helped the give Tide a decided advantage. Way to go fans.

                                                                         

     I thought that Devonta Pollard played a great game. He blocked a couple of shots, pulled down key rebounds, and made some nifty moves to the basket. His best move was called a charge but the defender was clearly inside the charge/block arc. Hey, if they put that thing down there to help make decision why don’t they review them to make sure they are correct.  What was impressive about Pollards move was the distance he covered in 2 dribbles.  Man, if he can put on some weight and get stronger he will play like a five star next season.  Perhaps it was a small thing but he smiled a lot today.

    Okay, I’m going to go ahead and say it to start the flame – Alabama may be a better basketball team with Lacey coming off the bench. Retin Obasahan, who was the butt of jokes last season, has shown the promise Tide coaches knew was there.  He is aggressive in driving to the hoop, can shoot the three, makes his free throws, is a little devil on defense, and he can also shoot the mid range jumper. I thought that when Obasashan was in the game our offense moved better and we scored much easier. I’m not saying we put Lacey in the pasture but Retin shows a spark we need. What about Nick Jacobs. He doesn’t have all the skill in the world but what skill he has is well used. I loved that nifty little reverse layup with is right hand.

      So what was the difference in today’s offense as opposed to the second half drought offense?  I thought it was three things;

1. The never let up the pressure on defense
2. We actually ran some new inside pick plays against the zone’
3. Obasahan was big time today.

         The other thing was some great coaching. Grant took a couple of big risk by not playing a zone, and deciding to dominate the paint with aggressive play by the guards. That aggressiveness lead to baskets by Jacobs. Pollard made two great passes inside to the lefty. Dwight Powell and his Cardinal teammates flew 3,000 odd miles to find out that SEC basketball is not as bad as some like report. Powell was 1-6. Stanford had to shoot threes to stay competitive. They hit 10. They tried 29.  That’s less than 33%. 2^nd seed Maryland comes to Tuscaloosa on Tuesday. The winner goes to the Big Apple whether you think it is an honor or not.