TIDE FINISHES STRONG TO BEAT STATE...

     

     Itś not much of a secret that the Tide is a little short on talent. There are three things that Alabama has an abundance of this season. They have a big heart, they have excellent coaching, and the understand the meaning of the term team. All four of those things are important. What I´d like for Tide fan to imagine future teams that have all four. I believe that Avery Johnson will make that happen. I think Johnson has found the knack of coaching in the college ranks. Then look at next yearś incoming class. Iḿ not just talking about the two five-star members. The other three are fine basketball players. Iḿ personally interested in Smith from Mississippi. I would love to see what those two would look like in tandem on the inside. Jones is a great shooter and is at least 6-5 which is a little taller than reported. Reese is a very solid all round player. He can shoot it from downtown. He can also play inside but needs some weight and trips to the strength coach.

     Yesterday, Alabama won a basketball game by doing three things. First, they were very patient. The offense is starting to understand the benefit of one extra pass. Second, the Tide can play defense. They rarely gave State anything that wasn´t hotly contested. Bama shut down the best two players on Stateś team. 

     The third thing that Alabama did was play aggressive basketball which allowed them to shoot free throws. I thought Howland made a decision to put the Tide on the free throw line. Given recent history, it wasn´t a bad idea. When the Tide surprised everyone by making 31-36 free throws the strategy looked pretty short sided. 

     One thing that Johnson pointed out was the players used the legs more in their shooting. He was talking about from the free throw line, but Riley Norris finally was stepping into shots with some authority. I have no idea if Rileyś slump is over, but most of his hoops were pure nylon.

     On Saturday, the Crimson took a large first half lead and built on it after the second half started. Like so many other games the Tide got sloppy. When Mississipi State took a lead it looked like a back to the future finish. It didn´t happen. Alabamaś guards took the
game over, made free throws when fouled. 
The also utilized freshman Braxton Key. The budding superstar drained a three deep in the corner and the Tide was on their way to a win.