Tide makes it a sweep for the season
Bama dominates the boards...
Randolph puts on a second half show
Hale keeps Bama close in first half
Coach Grant's technical lights a fire
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| Grant is about to get his technical foul |
When Coach Grant got his technical foul
I thought we might beat Auburn after all. Thank you Coach for finally letting
all of us know you care. The foul on
Kessens was a joke. It occurred in board daylight with no one within 10 feet of
the players. It was so obviously wrong the entire world knew that the guy who
blew the whistle was intimidated by the crowd reaction. My personal feeling was
you should always look where you are going on the hardwood, and obviously
Auburn isn’t teaching about communications. When the foul was called my anger was
spontaneous and loud. That soon gave way to a feeling of jubilation when Coach
Grant got the T. He worked hard for it if you watched the replay. He had a few
choice words for the official who made the call, and then had to stand by the Alabama bench and listen to
Grant’s rant. I think a couple words he
said are banned on TV. Good for the Coach and better for the team. Most of all,
in my opinion, it was good for Alabama fans. It was also the turning point in
the game.
The turning point wasn't on the floor
 |
| Coach is on fire |
There was a ton of time to play but in
one verbal outburst the Crimson Tide went into a bunker mentality and walled
out the crowd. From that moment on, a team that was already steady out of gate
had, pardon the pun, the eye of the Tiger. They also had the entire body as
well. At the end, we got another walk by handshake without words from Coach
Grant. The coach was in his business mode even after the game. The video of the
players in the hallway after the game showed a bunch of kids surrounding their
leader with admiration and affection.
Grant was smiling. Yes, we had a smile alert. That’s the guy I want
coaching the Crimson Tide. Where has all that emotion been? For the first time in two years I was
honestly excited about our basketball team. I have no idea if that win will
have any bearing on a decision to keep him or not. I do believe that a strong
finish might save his job. If the man coached every game the way he coached
last night it would make such a difference, and he’d gain a lot of support from
the fans.
Who's better at coaching? Is it Grant or Pearl
 |
| Coleman is getting better |
Just in passing, and I think I’m pointing
out the obvious, Grant coached the socks and sweat off Bruce Pearl. Pearl had
this smug look on his face before tip-off.
Why not, they had just knocked off Georgia on the road, and were in
their home place. He had taken his
Tigers to the edge of a win in Tuscaloosa. He had every reason to be smug. A
funny thing happened to his smugness on the road to victory – Anthony Grant
kicked his butt with better coaching. It
wasn’t easy. His leading scoring wasn’t shooting. But Shannon Hale was. Hale
came to play. He played with a confidence that has been lacking. He also played
like a fully grown man. He nailed a couple of three pointers in the first half
that shut up the crowd. Bama changed defenses depending on who was in the
Tigers line up. Jimmy Taylor and Michael Kaessens outplayed Cimneon Bowers.
Bowers gave us all a Charles Atlas poise, just to show a lack of sportsmanship.
Kessens and Taylor provoked Bowers with bumps, nudges, and a few well-placed
elbows. That got the giant of a man
upset. He thought he was Michael Jordon. He wasn’t even Michael Myers. His
selfish play and lack of judgment offset brilliant performance by Antoine Mason
and K.T. Harrell. Those guys have my admiration. They both played well, and
played with class. I was particularly impressed with the calmness that Harrell
showed. Mason was on fire. It was easy to understand why he was the nation’s
leading scorer last year. He is a shooter and scorer. Same for his backcourt
running mate. I said it yesterday, and I’ll say it again – they are the best
pair of guards in the SEC. Bama knew who was going to shoot and still couldn’t
effectively shut either down. What surprised me was that they didn’t always
play on the floor at the same time. I guess the ball is only big enough
for one man.
 |
| The Captain knocked down 19 |
 |
| Bowers poor play hurt the Tigers |
There was a ton of time to play but in
one verbal outburst the Crimson Tide went into a bunker mentality and walled
out the crowd. From that moment on, a team that was already steady out of gate
had, pardon the pun, the eye of the Tiger. They also had the entire body as
well. At the end, we got another walk by handshake without words from Coach
Grant. The coach was in his business mode even after the game. The video of the
players in the hallway after the game showed a bunch of kids surrounding their
leader with admiration and affection.
Grant was smiling. Yes, we had a smile alert. That’s the guy I want
coaching the Crimson Tide. Where has all that emotion been? For the first time in two years I was
honestly excited about our basketball team. I have no idea if that win will
have any bearing on a decision to keep him or not. I do believe that a strong
finish might save his job. If the man coached every game the way he coached
last night it would make such a difference, and he’d gain a lot of support from
the fans.
Grant hands Pearl his head on a platter
 |
| Retin steals one from Bowers |
Just in passing, and I think I’m pointing
out the obvious, Grant coached the socks and sweat off Bruce Pearl. Pearl had
this smug look on his face before tip-off.
Why not, they had just knocked off Georgia on the road, and were in
their home place. He had taken his
Tigers to the edge of a win in Tuscaloosa. He had every reason to be smug. A
funny thing happened to his smugness on the road to victory – Anthony Grant
kicked his butt with better coaching. It
wasn’t easy. His leading scoring wasn’t shooting. But Shannon Hale was. Hale
came to play. He played with a confidence that has been lacking. He also played
like a fully grown man. He nailed a couple of three pointers in the first half
that shut up the crowd. Bama changed defenses depending on who was in the
Tigers line up. Jimmy Taylor and Michael Kaessens outplayed Cimneon Bowers.
Bowers gave us all a Charles Atlas poise, just to show a lack of sportsmanship.
Kessens and Taylor provoked Bowers with bumps, nudges, and a few well-placed
elbows. That got the giant of a man
upset. He thought he was Michael Jordon. He wasn’t even Michael Myers. His
selfish play and lack of judgment offset brilliant performances by Antoine Mason
and K.T. Harrell. Those guys have my admiration. They both played well, and
played with class. I was particularly impressed with the calmness that Harrell
showed. Mason was on fire. It was easy to understand why he was the nation’s
leading scorer last year. He is a shooter and scorer. Same for his backcourt
running mate. I said it yesterday, and I’ll say it again – they are the best
pair of guards in the SEC. Bama knew who was going to shoot and still couldn’t
effectively shut either down. What surprised me was that they didn’t always
play on the floor at the same time. I guess the ball is only big enough for one
man.
Great play from the entire team
 |
| Taylor cut off Harrell on the baseline |
Alabama had a lot of stars in the game.
Hale played his best half. Kessens got 7 big rebounds. Obasahan nailed
that three at the 3:23 mark to stretch the lead back to 5, and Auburn never got
closer. Riley Norris played a great game. He got 5 rebounds. They were all key
rebounds that gave the Tide another possession. I thought that Cooper played
extremely well. He had two super inside moves when Auburn overplayed the outside
screen. He made a couple of nice 3 balls as well. Taylor had a couple of
blocks, but it was clear that when any Tiger go close to the basket that road
was likely shut down at the end. He altered at least 6 shots by my count. What
about Justin Coleman? He came in and played one heck of a game. Sure, he shot a
three that got him yanked, but his other play far outweighed a common freshman
mistake.
I’d have to go with
Randolph in a tough nod of Retin for player of the game. Randolph finished with
19 for the game, and once again had a second half explosion. The thing that
made Levi’s play on offense so important was not just scoring, it was when he
scored. He scored when we needed it most. He also rebounded well, deflected
passes, and got a couple steals. He got the big rebounds late. He played like
an All-American. If anyone says that no one improves under Grant you are
forgetting Randolph. I think we also forget a lot of other things as well. All is not good, but all is not bad either.
When you look at
the little things the Tide has done this season it is impressive. They’ve lost
some close games, they took a killing loss to Vanderbilt, but overall this team
has made progress. You cannot deny Anthony Grant that. He may do a lot of
things we don’t like but we need to be fair.
Just to be Fair...
1. Taylor has improved a great deal. He's getting better on offense
2.
Tarrant,
despite his injuries, was on the verge of a breakout.
3.
Grant’s
handling of Hale was key in his early season slump. Look how much he has improved
in the second half of the season. His improved play was key to the Tide.
4.
Cooper
has taken less bad shots, and it shows in his shooting percentage. He’s always
done the down and dirty things well.
5.
The
team has won 16 games already.
6.
I think
the NIT, despite the disdain by many fans, is in the bag and that means a lot
to the young players, and the seniors.
More time to practice.
7.
This
team has bonded. Unlike many of Grant’s prior teams that were stuck in
controversy, this bunch has hung tough.
8.
He has
found a way to play with a lot of varied lineups. I thought it was interesting
that Riley was on the floor in crunch time and not Hale. He also chose to play
Taylor and Kessens together late in the game, and the Tide’s rebounding gave
Auburn no second shots.
Final thoughts from midcourt
So here we are. Grant wins a big game, his team plays inspired basketball, Grants shows a lot of leadership and emotion, and then the video of how much his team respects him. My sources continue to tell me that Grant is coming back. I have never known them to mislead me. Last night we saw the man we thought we had hired over five years ago. Coach, gives us an encore performance. Twenty wins are within reach, and perhaps a lot more. I'd love the NCAA but that is out of reach right now. But being a host team in the NIT is within reach. Keep in mind that the Tide this on the road without their best point guard. What do you think is going to happen from here out to the end?
So here we are. Grant wins a big game, his team plays inspired basketball, Grants shows a lot of leadership and emotion, and then the video of how much his team respects him. My sources continue to tell me that Grant is coming back. I have never known them to mislead me. Last night we saw the man we thought we had hired over five years ago. Coach, gives us an encore performance. Twenty wins are within reach, and perhaps a lot more. I'd love the NCAA but that is out of reach right now. But being a host team in the NIT is within reach. Keep in mind that the Tide this on the road without their best point guard. What do you think is going to happen from here out to the end?
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