Turnovers kill Tide in last five minutes...
Normally, at the end of a game I’ll grab a
coke. Last night it was a two fingers of Oban Scotch. Straight up. It was a
grown up drink for crying baby. I just couldn’t find any words to express my
disappointment in our collapse against Wichita State. For almost 35 minutes the
Tide hung like a rusty fishhook in one the most difficult places to win a
basketball game in the NCAA. For the last five minutes the Tide looked like a
team who doesn’t understand or believe they can’t win a game. The term “Road
Warrior” doesn’t come to mind when thinking about Alabama.
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| The Round House is a tough venue |
Road games are hard…
Every team that plays on the road is going
to see the home team mount a comeback. You know it’s coming. The only question
is when. In Alabama’s case it could only come in the last five minutes of the
game. Given all that, last night’s loss was still stunning to watch. The exit
of Jimmy Taylor, who was playing the game of his young career hurt. Foul number
five made it possible for WSU to exploit the paint. And then there was the
substitution of Retin Obasahan for Ricky Tarrant. It was one of the coaching even
the casual fan of basketball had to wonder why the heck Anthony Grant did that.
I understand that Obasahan can play good defense. He can also make some really
bad decisions.
I swear that you could hear Wimp Sanderson
moan when Tarrant went to the bench. What you don’t want in the last five
minutes are bad decisions and turnovers. Grant wrapped up a Christmas gift and
gave it to Gregg Marshall. It didn’t have a big red bow. It had a neon sign
stuck on the side that said, “now’s the time”. Marshall took that opportunity,
turned up the pressure, and ‘Bama fell apart. I asked Bobby Knight a question a
couple of decades ago. “Coach, how do you beat a team that presses?” His answer
was simple – press them yourself. You can only expend so much energy at any
given time in a game. For thirty-five minutes the Tide had played like a great
team. They took Wichita State’s best shots to the jaw and hit back even harder.
State was stunned. The crowd was dead. After six years Alabama had a chance to
win a really significant game, and then it was gone. You can chalk this one up
to coaching. I never like to use football terminology in basketball. Nick Saban
would say you have to finish. You also have to have the players on the floor to
finish well.
Basketball is a forty minute game…
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| Hale and Taylor each played well in loss |
You have to finish. You have to calm down,
collect your wits, and look to the bench for help. I sincerely believe that
players did all three of those things. Two they could do on their own. The gaze
toward the bench hurt. Those were all the things I saw and felt as a fan. In
being objective, the team did a lot of good things. I’m proud of them for
walking into a snake pit and trying to kill the snake. To kill a snake you
can’t just cut it in half. You have to lop off the head. Baker and Van Fleet
are the head of the snake and in the last five minutes they made the
difference. I give a lot of credit to Wichita and Gregg Marshall. I’d take Levi
Randolph and Ricky Tarrant in a close nod over Baker and Van Fleet. The talent
level between the teams was small. The ‘Shockers were better inside over all,
but Taylor shut down the middle. Kessens played well. Once Taylor was gone and
Kessens was saddled with four fouls, the talent level shifted back to State in
my opinion.
What went well?
We did so much right. We broke even inside.
We defended so well it was as impressive as anything I’ve seen in a long time.
Hey, say what you want to about Grant, the man has given us a lot of great
defense over the years. Last night might have been his defensive masterpiece.
I’ll give the man that. Some people will say that if a coach puts his team into
a position to win he’s done his job. I’ll leave that up to the readers in this
case. But...
What went wrong?
1.
We
certainly played great defense, except… on the winning basketball our weak side
help didn’t rotate over to help Kessens. A small but fundamental mistake. WSU
executed and the Tide was a half-step slow. What was so frustrating was that
you could see it coming. Cooper realized what was happening and gave it one
heck of a try to cut off the post.
2.
We
missed free throws. Of all the things that you would have expected the Tide to
do well, making free throws were not really a concern. Levi’s miss was just one
of several. There was lot of pressure. I’d put him on the line in that spot
every game and feel good about it.
3.
On
Levi’s move to the basket as time was running out he missed a wide open Ricky
Tarrant on the wing. He probably didn’t see him because of the suggestion, but
Ricky wanted the rock. I like that. It’s great to have a man who wants to have
the final shot.
4.
Bama
missed a wide open shot at the end which could have won the game. Alabama was
clearly trying to screen inside to get the ball to Kessens but the ‘Shockers
shut that down. Cooper had a good look. With 1.2 seconds that is about as good
as you can get.
5.
We
almost broke even on the boards. Clearly, it was a team effort. That helped.
Losing Taylor in the last five minutes was the difference.
6.
We shot
the ball well enough to win from the field, but needed a couple of more from
downtown.
7.
The
stats were almost dead even. Our defense gave us a chance to win. The game was
lost at the free throw line.
Progress made, the season is not over…
So
where do we go from there. The season is not over. We made some real progress.
I think getting into this position will help us win some close games later in
the year. I think we need to recognize that WSU is not a powerhouse, but are a
great deal like us at the talent level. That is why coaching can really make a
difference one way or the other. Alabama is more likely than not to get better
as the year progresses. Winning at home against UCLA isn’t mandatory but the
mental benefits it would bring our huge. The Bruins are going to be a tougher
match up than WSU. However, we have shown to play every well in Tuscaloosa. If
we can keep Taylor or Kessens around for the entire game we should win. We are
not devoid of talent. We are not overload with talent either. We seem to have
good leadership. I was honestly touched with Grant and Randolph, arms around
the others shoulder, in the final time out. That says a great deal about what
Grant thinks of Levi. But we should recognize this team really likes their
coach. That is very important.
My bottom line – We are getting
better
Overall,
we played well for the vast majority of the game. We built a lead large enough
to have weathered a Shocker storm in the end. We can’t feel terrible about the
effort. We can dog Grant, and perhaps some dogging is deserved. The bottom line
for me is that we have proven that we are a pretty good little team. Our record
depends on the number of really close games we win. Losing last night to the
fans was really tough. I couldn’t help but to think about Arkansas football
after the game. I think last night was a step forward. Winning would have been
a big step, but it seems to me we are making progress. Is Grant the man for the
job? I don’t think so, but I’m willing to support him for the remainder of this
season because I love the players. I could be convinced otherwise about the
coach, but this is a tough haul for Grant. When Dickie V talks about your
coaching future things are not good. Vitale said a lot of good things about the
Tide. He was clearly surprised at how good we were. Fasten those seat belts.
This season is going to a bumpy ride even when we win.
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