Tide faces a very good Vandy team today
After an enormous win over South Carolina, the Tide travels to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt. Expect Avery Johnson to go with his big lineup again. Road games are always tough. When you play the gilded lily, Vandy, of the SEC Conference, you don't have to worry about some home cooking from the officials. No, expect deep fat frying as Vandy heads to the free throw line like refugees in masses. Numbers over the decades will back up that statement. Can you expect fairness in Nashville? No. You won't get it. About the only thing that Johnson can do about that is to tell his players that fairness is highly overrated, and play as hard as you can.
Take my opinion as Bama's first problem and add to it a couple of other problems. Vandy is a good team. They have two sure-fire NBA draft choices in Damian Jones and Wade Baldwin. Add Luke Kornette to the mix and Bama has problems. Kornett has suddenly caught a case of greatness. He is 6-11 and loves to shot the three. In has last game he had over ten blocked shots. That is phenomenal. Even more phenomenal is that he isn't the 'Dores best shot blocker. That would be Damian Jones, the seven-foot post man, who spurned a potential first round selection to the NBA, to play his senior
year. Wade Baldwin may be the best point guard in the SEC. He is going to play in the league one day. He can shoot, dish, and drive to basketball. He has a total game, and might well be the 'Dores best backcourt defensive players.
Look for Johnson to go big, and hope that Retin Obasahan can slow down Baldwin. Taylor, Kessens, and Hall are going to have to have another good game inside. Riley isn't likely to duplicate his last outing, but he needs to score to spread out the Commodore defense. The love to play zone. Bama needs for Obasahan to be very active on offense to penetrate and put a few fouls on Vandy big men. Attempting to get Jones into foul trouble is big for Bama in this game.
Turnovers continue to be a problem for Alabama. The Tide is trying to play an up-tempo game with limited numbers. That's hard to do. One final thing - Shannon Hale needs to play well.
Vandy by 8.
Take my opinion as Bama's first problem and add to it a couple of other problems. Vandy is a good team. They have two sure-fire NBA draft choices in Damian Jones and Wade Baldwin. Add Luke Kornette to the mix and Bama has problems. Kornett has suddenly caught a case of greatness. He is 6-11 and loves to shot the three. In has last game he had over ten blocked shots. That is phenomenal. Even more phenomenal is that he isn't the 'Dores best shot blocker. That would be Damian Jones, the seven-foot post man, who spurned a potential first round selection to the NBA, to play his senior
year. Wade Baldwin may be the best point guard in the SEC. He is going to play in the league one day. He can shoot, dish, and drive to basketball. He has a total game, and might well be the 'Dores best backcourt defensive players.
Look for Johnson to go big, and hope that Retin Obasahan can slow down Baldwin. Taylor, Kessens, and Hall are going to have to have another good game inside. Riley isn't likely to duplicate his last outing, but he needs to score to spread out the Commodore defense. The love to play zone. Bama needs for Obasahan to be very active on offense to penetrate and put a few fouls on Vandy big men. Attempting to get Jones into foul trouble is big for Bama in this game.
Turnovers continue to be a problem for Alabama. The Tide is trying to play an up-tempo game with limited numbers. That's hard to do. One final thing - Shannon Hale needs to play well.
Vandy by 8.
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