Tide loses a thriller in Fayetteville...
Lack of rebounds hurt Crimson
Cooper and Coleman shine
When you lose a game by two in overtime no single play beat you. I'm sure that Anthony Grant is going to catch a lot of heat for this loss. Not from me. He put the Tide into a position to win on the road. You can teach players how to rebound, but you can't rebound for them on the Court. We are a horrible reboundng team. Arkansas got 18 offensive rebounds. Are you serious? How do you give up that many rebounds? You break down on a simple fundamental - block out someone. Block out anyone wearing white. Don't just stand there a wait for bread to fall from heaven into your arms.
I wish Grant would pull out some old schools films of one Reginald "Mule" King and let the team see how a real man rebounds. It starts with the word fearless. It moves on to mean and angry, and ends with pride. It they shot it, and miss it, the ball is ours. Last night Alabama certainly got its share of rebounds that sailed over the heads of Tide players. It looked like Arkansas was playing volleyball under the goal. In my opinion, we have one player who seems to understand the king of the painted jungle - Riley Norris. Norris understands how to block out, how to spread out his arms and body, and hold his ground. Same can be said about Levi Randoph. The senior comes in from the backcourt and gets more than his fair share of missed shots. Shannon Hale failed to block out Bobby Portis on the winning shot. I'm not going to give Hale a hard time. The truth is that with so little time remaining you are focused on the ball and not whose behind you on the floor.
Say you and I are sitting at Starbucks on Friday morning drinking coffee. You tell me that Arkansas out boarded the Tide by over 20 including 21 offensive rebounds and I'd say "how bad did we get beat?" Then you say that the Rarzorbacks had more assists, steals, and blocked shots? The Tide got beat in so many categories you would think they score was a landslide. But it wasn't. Bama made 12 three point baskets and hit their free throws. And they didn' t quit. They never came near to giving up. The didn't pack it in when starter after starter fouled out. Coleman made five threes in the second half. Hale made a huge three, and then found Michael Kessens under the basket for an old fashion three to send the game into OT. With four starters on the bench the Tide tied the game in overtime with 6.2 seconds left. Then came the tip-in. If you want to know what bad coaching is you need to ask Mike Anderson how come his team fouled Kessens when the game could have been over. I say that with tongue in cheek of course. All you can do is tell 'em what to do.
Now we have to hope that the Tide will get enough rest and preparation for Auburn. If Bruce Pearl beats Anthony Grant in Tuscaloosa, I don't want to be anywhere near Tide fans after the game. There are big games, and then are career ending games.
Lack of rebounds hurt Crimson
Cooper and Coleman shine
When you lose a game by two in overtime no single play beat you. I'm sure that Anthony Grant is going to catch a lot of heat for this loss. Not from me. He put the Tide into a position to win on the road. You can teach players how to rebound, but you can't rebound for them on the Court. We are a horrible reboundng team. Arkansas got 18 offensive rebounds. Are you serious? How do you give up that many rebounds? You break down on a simple fundamental - block out someone. Block out anyone wearing white. Don't just stand there a wait for bread to fall from heaven into your arms.
I wish Grant would pull out some old schools films of one Reginald "Mule" King and let the team see how a real man rebounds. It starts with the word fearless. It moves on to mean and angry, and ends with pride. It they shot it, and miss it, the ball is ours. Last night Alabama certainly got its share of rebounds that sailed over the heads of Tide players. It looked like Arkansas was playing volleyball under the goal. In my opinion, we have one player who seems to understand the king of the painted jungle - Riley Norris. Norris understands how to block out, how to spread out his arms and body, and hold his ground. Same can be said about Levi Randoph. The senior comes in from the backcourt and gets more than his fair share of missed shots. Shannon Hale failed to block out Bobby Portis on the winning shot. I'm not going to give Hale a hard time. The truth is that with so little time remaining you are focused on the ball and not whose behind you on the floor.
Say you and I are sitting at Starbucks on Friday morning drinking coffee. You tell me that Arkansas out boarded the Tide by over 20 including 21 offensive rebounds and I'd say "how bad did we get beat?" Then you say that the Rarzorbacks had more assists, steals, and blocked shots? The Tide got beat in so many categories you would think they score was a landslide. But it wasn't. Bama made 12 three point baskets and hit their free throws. And they didn' t quit. They never came near to giving up. The didn't pack it in when starter after starter fouled out. Coleman made five threes in the second half. Hale made a huge three, and then found Michael Kessens under the basket for an old fashion three to send the game into OT. With four starters on the bench the Tide tied the game in overtime with 6.2 seconds left. Then came the tip-in. If you want to know what bad coaching is you need to ask Mike Anderson how come his team fouled Kessens when the game could have been over. I say that with tongue in cheek of course. All you can do is tell 'em what to do.
Now we have to hope that the Tide will get enough rest and preparation for Auburn. If Bruce Pearl beats Anthony Grant in Tuscaloosa, I don't want to be anywhere near Tide fans after the game. There are big games, and then are career ending games.
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