Bama plays better but comes up short again...

The Wal-Mart team pulled one off.

 

       No knock from me on the loss to Arkansas. We played a good game. It wasn't perfect but it was almost good enough to win. The defensive effort was great. Every once in a while a player, like Portis, will go crazy. They guy played a super game. It helped that we don't have a big man who is mobile enough to really contest his shooting. The zone worked. Period. If we had played Arkansas in a man all game we would have been run out of Bud Walton Arena. The officiating certainly helped Arkansas but the home team  usually gets all the calls. Tonight was no exception.

    I thought our players were ready to play and they gave it their best effort. We just can't score because we don't have the talent. Shannon Hale was aggressive. He didn't do a lot but he set a tone that said Bama wasn't backing down. Rodney Cooper finally played a really good game. I'd say great in fact. Releford played well, but it wasn't his best game. Retin Obasahan is like a two year old in a candy store. He is completely out of control. His mad dash to basket when the Tide was down three was really stupid. I know he got fouled but you just aren't going to get those calls on the road. At that point in the game only two players should have shot the ball - Releford or Cooper. I have no idea what has happened to Levi Randolph. He was reckless and played like a freshman. His insistance to take the ball to the goal was ill advised. He has a very nice pull up 10 foot jump shot. He didn't use it when  we needed it.

    You can disparage Grant all you want but this one was well coached. Players make the plays. The coaches put them in the position to do that. Grant's defense was stifling. The offense is woefully inept.  You can teach someone to play defense when you don't have talent. You just can't teach that level of play on offense  Here's how close we are to being good - One decent inside player whose middle name is "you come inside the paint and you'll feel it tomorrow." We also need a couple of decent offensive threats from the outside. They are coming next season. I saw a team tonight that wouldn't quit, and a bunch of kids who gave it all they had.  They just don't have enough. I saw a coach who is in pain watching his team play because he knows he has no vital  options. Bama played good basketball for 38 minutes in a 40 minute game. On the road that just won't work. I don't think we have the players to play that 40 minute game and it isn't the fault of the players. The are pressing and forcing and not allowing the game to come to them.  This is a going to go down as a horrible season. If Releford continues his play, Cooper keeps it up, and one other player steps up to the plate we might win a couple of more gae