CRIMSON HOOPS - Some good things after WSU and Appalachian State

Some good and some bad...
Slow Progress being made in my opinion

      Seriously trying to find a silver line in the WSU game… If the Shockers are really the 11^th best team in America, what does that say for Alabama? Are we 12^th? It doesn’t work that way but it sure is something to think about. Plus, it was a one-point loss on the road. For 34 minutes the Tide sure looked like the best team to me. I have no doubt we would have won that game at Coleman.     On the other hand, it obvious that the Shockers are not as good as last year. They are close though, and we should take some solace in that.

       So, like all fans, I try to find something good to come out of the loss. Unlike many fans I think you can do that. Basketball is not how good you are on any given night, but how good you are in March of each year. So we made some real progress in the WSU game. And then, like a creditor demanding his due, comes the Appalachian State game. Some good things came out of the game. First, we won the game. In March that will be win and the near upset won’t be remembered. Second, say hello to how good Michael Kessens can be. He had a double-double. That’s been rare for an inside player lately. Kenssens even hit a passing lane, stole a pass, and took it the length of the court for basketball. Sure, he didn’t look like Kevin Durant, but he didn’t look like Carl Engstrom either. Jimmy Taylor blocked a few shots and continues to improve his defensive presence

in the paint. He’ll start making that little left handed jump as he matures.

       What do we make of a game like Sunday night? Joe Dean, the dean of SEC basketball announcers, said it was the ‘holiday blues’. We might not have liked the way we won, but don’t lose fact that when we were staring defeat in the eye, we pulled together at the end. We played well in Kansas but didn’t finish well. We played poorly in Tuscaloosa but won. We finished better. We didn’t finish in a way to make anyone quit sitting on the edge of their seats. Missed free throws kept Appalachian State in the game. Play of the Game: Riley Cooper and Retin Obasahan had great communication on a defensive screen at the end.  Riley switched to get to the shooter in time to make it an almost impossible shot. Keep in mind, a freshman, playing fundamental pick and switch may have saved the game.  I thought Grant’s game management in the last five minutes was fine. Coach cannot shoot free throws. We miss four in a row that we have been making and the fans could have relaxed some. 

      A lot of fans on the forum boards continue to give Grant a hard time. I don’t want Grant to fail. I want him to succeed like any real Alabama fan. I’m not happy with the lack of progress under his tenure, but anyone who thinks this team isn’t better just doesn’t know basketball. If the past is the best predictor of the future you sure get a mixed message from Grant. Is he the Coach at VCU and the first couple of years of Alabama, or is he the man we have seen the last three? The Tide is now 9-3. That is only 4 games short of the number we won last season. Just to remind us all, last season we were a horrible 13-19. Regardless of how many feel you cannot deny that is improvement. The next 3 games are huge for Alabama.

 

  

      Next up is UCLA. I hope younger fans appreciate the fact that UCLA actually signed a home and home contract with Alabama. They had nothing to gain from doing so. Last year in Pauley Pavilion we almost pulled off an improbable upset.  Don’t think for one minute that UCLA is a bad team. What happened to the Bruins in Chicago was a perfect storm for the first 25 minutes.  I expect the LA team to fly into Tuscaloosa and be more than ready to amend from the last SEC disaster. We will have some real match-up problems with UCLA. At least Taylor has matured and Kessens may help shut down some of the damage we saw inside last season. I think Alabama has a slight edge at the guards. The Bruins, despite what you saw over the weekend, can flat out shoot the rock. I went to Westwood a couple of weeks ago and watched the Gonzaga game. What I saw was two fine basketball teams. The Bulldogs won but UCLA could have won. A win over UCLA is still a big deal. They are the name brand in NCAA college basketball history. Winning the game is not unlike someone beating Alabama in football even when the Tide is not rolling. We can beat the Bruins, but don’t be fooled. The Kentucky game was an anomaly for UCLA. It was also the explosion of Kentucky talent and effort.

 

       Looking back, maybe the close game on Sunday will serve as a wake-up call for the Tide. The team looked confused on offense. We missed a lot of good shots. We took some ill-advised shots as well. Are you listening Shannon Hale? Speaking of Hale, I think he is the missing piece of the Tide puzzle. When Hale finds his game the Tide may be a pretty decent little team. We won’t win the SEC but when teams see we’re on deck, teams are not going to say “automatic win” either. I don’t know if Anthony Grant can get the job done. He is clearly refocused. For the time being, I am taking them one game at a time. I’m going to dwell in the present and let the future take care of itself. There is a real possibility that we could be 12-3 at the end of this home stand. After that, we go through one of the toughest runs I’ve ever seen in the SEC. The next seven games include two games against Kentucky. There are six road games on the schedule. That is ridiculous. Whoever makes up the schedule needs to be taken out behind the woodshed and whipped.