TIDE'S NCAA DREAMS ARE OVER

Bama draws Ole Miss in SEC

 

   Alabama's SEC season started terribly. The end of the season was miserable. But, what a glorious ride this team took Bama fans in the middle. The final verse in Bama's song was what most of us knew all along - Alabama just wasn't an NCAA caliber team. The fact that Alabama could even be considered to be an NCAA contender was one of the most remarkable coaching jobs we will ever see. I suspect that as long as Avery Johnson is walking the sidelines, we are going to see a lot more remarkable coaching. The season isn't over. The Tide should still make the NIT. The Tide did itself no favors by ending up with first round opponent Ole Miss. I think it is entirely possible the Tide has already won it's last game before the post-season. 

     Ole Miss is ascending, and Alabama is descending. The Tide, to their credit, never quit playing hard in the last few games of the season. They simply lost the close games they had previously won. The only surprising thing about the outcome of the Georgia game is that Alabama still had a chance to win despite getting embarrassed on the boards  48-26. How Bama remained in yesterday's game carrying the burden of those two numbers will have me scratching my head for years. Rebounding is the Achilles heal of any basketball team. If you can't rebound, you can't win.  Looking back at the season, the Tide rode the momentum of Retin Obasohan to a place no one expected. As other teams developed a way to defend the Tide, there was simply not enough firepower to overcome new defensive schemes. Riley Norris began a shooting slump that Bama could not overcome. Justin Coleman's string of good games came to an end, and the lack of development of Michael Kessens and Jimmie Taylor, all added up to make the Tide too vulnerable to teams with better players. 

    Avery Johnson could disguise the shortcomings, but he couldn't hide them.  In the end, the talent wasn't there to be a good team.  You have to admire the effort of this team. They played hard; they never were humiliated, and 'Bama won a lot of games they should not have won.  I always talk about playing on the razor's edge. The margin of error is so small,  extraordinary victories could become surprising losses. Truthfully, the losses were not unexpected at all. They were disappointing. They were almost cruel in a sense. This writer is so proud of what our team accomplished the regular season. It's a sneak peek into the future. My sadness at the season's end will not affect my belief in the future. Hopefully, we now will enter the second season. There are still lessons to learned, and games to played.

    Now the Tide must find more players. They need a couple of inside bangers to equalize the rebounding. The Tide is going to be in desperate need of a junior college point guard. The Tide is close to filling those needs. Alabama is going to be recognized as a place to play to become an NBA player. Better players are going to come. It's almost like the line from the film, "Field of Dreams" - if you build it they will come. Yes, they will. The little general is going to locate, attract, and then sign better players in the future. One final thing. Better players may come, but they will never play harder than this year's team. Man, I love Alabama basketball team. We saw one of the great single seasons ever played by a single player. We should remember this year as the one when Avery Johnson arrived, and Retin Obasohan found greatness. It's been special. 

Look for Bama to be a three seed and play to have a home game. They will get another home game if the two seed loses. These teams will not have seen the Tide play as much as SEC teams have been able to do. For those who laugh at the NIT, you are wrong about the quality of play. Bama needs this Tournament to develop players like Hall. I think this bunch may have a little magic left. Should Bama beat Ole Miss, they might get a two seed.