Tide refuses to die but fall short in the end...

Staff and players elevated their games...

     Sitting on the sidelines watching the Alabama coaching staff was inspiring in the loss to UCLA. I've never seen them so animated and involved. Grant put together a masterpiece game plan that scared the hell out of the UCLA Bruins. When Alabama went on a late 9-0 run to tie the game with under a minute Pauley Pavilion became as quiet as church mouse on a food mission. Not a sound. A little rag tag team from the SEC that had only one player who could have even made the Bruin roster,  was on the verge of college basketball's biggest upset of the season. Alabama reached for the golden ring and just missed it. Bama falls to 5-7. I believe this is the first time a Grant team has been two games under five hundred at Bama.

     With the score tied with 56 seconds left, UCLA's Tony Parker a season 44% free throw shooter made a one and one and the Tide never recovered. The Bruins had already been recipients of several gifts on 'blocked' shots by Nick Jacobs and Trevor Releford under the the baskets. A clear foul on a Jacobs put back wasn't called and Parker went to the other end to make is two big free throws. UCLA scored their last eight points on free throws.

      In the first half when it looked like the Tide was looking a real thumping, the team pulled itself together and played the best basketball of their season. Led by Releford, the Tide went on a 15-4 run to take a 34-33 lead. I have to tell you their were some concerned faces in the UCLA crowd.  Releford didn't start for missing a practice, led the first half comeback  with key three point baskets and a couple of nifty defensive plays. The Bruins scored only 33 points in the first half. They were clearly frustrated by the pace of play and Alabama's defensive tenacity. The Bruin players whined to the officials about Bama's rough play. Of course, that cut both ways. Had Bama  had the benefit of even handed officiating in the second half the Tide might have won. A UCLA fan sitting next to me said the PAC 12 officials clearly didn't want a league team to lose. The officiating wasn't that bad, but it was full of some timely UCLA calls that hurt the Tide.

     Hats off to Trevor Releford. When the game was over Releford was bent over at half court. His hands were on his knees and he was hurting. When he left the floor the Bruin fans, who are some of the most knowledgeable fans in the NCAA gave him a nice ovation. He finished with 34 points including 6 three point baskets. UCLA clearly had the edge in talent. I have to say that Bama's coaches did an excellent job.  I am just as disenchanted with Grant as a  lot of Bama fans, and I'm a Grant fan. He isn't losing because of the coaching. It's his recruiting that is killing us. We will have a lot more talent on the floor next season and a better inside game. I told fans that losing Moussa Gueye would hurt. His absence in the paint is obvious. Jimmy Taylor played well.  When he gets bigger and has some bulk he will be a load. The UCLA crowed were wowed at a couple of his well timed blocked shots.

    Once again the boards killed us. We were down 12 on the boards, but the number of offensive boards we gave up were fatal. Five second chance baskets in the last 7 minutes were the difference in the game. Bama has to have Releford play well, but someone else has to step up and help. Shannon Hale had 9 rebounds and some nice baskets. Jacobs chipped in some but he simply isn't big enough to dominate inside. He's a power forward and not a post player. Taylor's inexperience caused him to disappeared, although in all fairness, he is getting better. Cooper, for whatever reason has simply vanished. His outside shooting has chance. He has no arc on his shots, and often short arms the ball. He doesn't get square to the basket. Without a return to form from Cooper it will be hard to win.

    I've given a lot of long hard thought  on Grant. it's unfair to say he can't coach. Steve Alford said it was as good a coaching job as he's seen in a while. I don't disagree. Regardless of how well you coach you still lose if he can't recruit. The loss of Gueye and Lacey have started to hurt.  Obasahan's slump makes Lacey's departure more noticeable. Regardless of who is coming in next season Grant needs to find a juco big man in the nature of Chris Hines. If he needs to terminate a scholarship to make room he needs to do that. I talked with Bill Walton after the game. He said the coaching is fine. The talent level and size is lacking. I agree. Should Grant be given another year? Probably. But let me say this - he better recruit some size and power or it won't matter. I'd vote to keep him one more season but if it isn't a great one he should just resign and save himself the embarrassment of being fired. Part of coaching is recruiting. It is at least half, if not more than half, the battle. It is a battle he's lost. I understand Walton acknowledged that our program was 3rd best in the SEC behind Kentucky and Florida. That's a fair assessment. Coach Grant has run out of excuses. His failure to recruit is the reason. But it cannot be allowed to make excuses.

     Not one bad word about our team  last night though. They kept hanging around, and hanging around, and almost won. The final score was 75-67 and that was no indication of how close the game was played. Last night talent beat coaching. No doubt in my mind about that. If Grant could recruit the type talent that UCLA had I have no doubt we'd be a top five team in the near future.

THE BOX:

Did you know that Bama out rebounded UCLA 17-11 in the first half?
Did you know that Trevor Releford was personally congratulated by Bill Walton?
Did you know that Anthony Grant recieved four warnings from the offiicals to calm down?
Did you know that at least 100 Bama fans were on hand?

Alabama MIN FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA OR DR TOT A PF ST TO BL PTS Carl Engstrom 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Shannon Hale 29 3 7 1 4 2 5 3 6 9 0 2 0 3 0 9 Levi Randolph 34 5 14 2 6 0 0 0 3 3 3 2 0 3 0 12 Rodney Cooper 20 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 0 3 1 0 Retin Obasohan 24 1 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 3 2 0 2 Algie Key 11 0 1 0 0 2 4 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 2 Jimmie Taylor 22 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 3 1 1 2 2 Trevor Releford 34 11 15 6 9 6 6 0 2 2 1 3 5 3 0 34 Nick Jacobs 20 2 4 0 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 6 Dakota Slaughter 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 TEAM TOTALS 200 23 52 9 22 12 17 4 22 26 7 20 10 16 3 67 PERCENTAGES FG: 44.2% 3PT: 40.9% FT: 70.6%   TOTAL TO: 16

UCLA MIN FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA OR DR TOT A PF ST TO BL PTS Jordan Adams 35 5 13 2 4 2 2 1 8 9 3 3 4 4 0 14 Norman Powell 23 4 7 0 1 5 6 2 4 6 1 1 2 0 0 13 Kyle Anderson 33 5 11 0 2 3 4 1 5 6 7 1 2 3 1 13 David Wear 18 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 2 1 4 Travis Wear 33 4 10 0 0 2 2 2 3 5 2 2 0 1 0 10 Nick Kazemi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Zach LaVine 20 2 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 0 5 Bryce Alford 19 0 4 0 1 0 1 0 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 Tony Parker 19 6 7 0 0 4 5 4 1 5 0 2 0 1 2 16 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 TEAM TOTALS 200 28 59 3 9 16 20 12 25 37 18 15 9 14 4 75 PERCENTAGES FG: 47.5% 3PT: 33.3% FT: 80%   TOTAL TO: 14