TIDE FALLS JUST SHORT AGAINST KENTUCKY BUT...


 

Not the look of a team that expected to lose. compl al.com

         It is never easy writing about a game lost. Maybe this game is the exception which proves the general rule. Sure, the Tide lost to Kentucky 79-74 in a nip and tuck affair. Alabama shot 20 free throws. Kentucky shot 40. Same old song with a new verse.  The better them won, and I won’t deny that. So, if Kentucky is an elite team, one of the best in the country, where does that leave Alabama? It leaves them close to being elite. I’d say very, very close. In a sense neither team lost today. Kentucky got the W, but the Tide proved a very big point to the rest of the SEC. It was the point that next season and in the future, you better not forget Alabama. If you do that, you’ll get run over by a basketball steamroller. Alabama proved in the later half of the season they may look like the have died, but not unlike Lazarus they can be raised the dead. This has been team that can rip out the heart of Tide fans, and in a failing heart beat can find a pulse, and keep on living. Thank you, guys. The roller coaster ride has been fun. In the end you proved that you are winners in every sense of the word. Nothing came easy for you, but you kept on working and finding ways to redemption. You took the hard path to find your way. That makes the SEC Tournament performances even more rewarding I suspect. You were like a toddler learning to walk and we watched you grow from a child into a man. You proved that old adage that sometime a team is greater than the sum of its parts. You were hard-hats, transfers, newbies, and cast offs from the start.  You were the guys at the bottom of coal bin who showed that you could still burn. We are proud of you. I have seen a lot of Alabama teams play in my life, but this one may be the most heartwarming of the bunch. 

WHAT A GROUP OF PLAYERS

     You had one senior who shoots free throws like the way the earth spins, but he had a great season. You had a couple of freshman that became leaders. You had a junior college transfer who proved he can play, and a grad transfer who showed us all the true love of the game. You had a transfer who had to endure sitting on the bench for a year and playing for his father. Boy, did he surprise a lot of us. You also had a professional coach who I believe fell in love with basketball again. He showed everyone that he belongs, and as Dick Vitale said, “who wouldn’t want to play for Avery Johnson.”  You guys had some dark days. Dark turns to light in the long run, and each of you proved you were a team. As you grow older in life you come to understand that being a part of team is as good as it can get. Your fans were part of that team. Sure, some jumped ship, and then got back on board. Don’t take us seriously. Even when we hate you we love you. When you hurt we hurt. When you win, we win. Being a fan for an Alabama basketball team sometimes feels like getting the last ticket for the Titanic. Some other fans laugh at us and say we are a ship of fools. Nope. We are dreamers and believers. You will be remembered as the team that made us believe again. How wonderful is that. 

FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR THE TIDE

     Don’t worry about Kentucky. Those guys wouldn’t want to play you again for all the money in the world. After playing two games before today, you laced ‘em up and gave the Big Blue Nation notice that Alabama is back. You are the foundation for a new future. On your shoulders greater things will stand. I’m just glad I got to watch you do it. Now you have the NIT. Now that you have learned how to do what you need to do, go do it again. We believe you can.