Tide Rips McGill 96-57 

Slow start and then boom

Petty and Sexton's debut is successful

 THE GAME...

 

   If this had been a fight McGill's coach would have thrown in the towel. When the home team jumped out to an 11-2 lead the McGill crowd started to Crow. At the end of the game, they had to settle for eating some Crow.  I don't know how good McGill is going to be but I know that Alabama has a chance to be very good. In fact, I think the Tide can be one of the most surprising teams in the NCAA. Several things would have to happen in order the Tide to be a deep tournament team. Can the team keep up the

energy I saw in the Love Competiton Arena?  Can Sexton and Petty look as good against better competition? Turnovers were certainly apparent on Monday night? Can the Tide keep them down to an acceptable number? Honestly, when a team runs as fast as this team does I'm not sure what that number might be. This team is going to get so many more possessions than last season. Will Hall, Giddens, and company control the boards? I think 'Bama's rebounding numbers are going to go up. I'm not concerned about the sloppy second half play. A lot of substitutions were made with a lot of odd lineups. 

10 Things to take away from the McGill Game:

1. John Petty was 6-8 from the downtown. He had 22 points in just 16 minutes of play.

2  Collin Sexton had 13 including 11 in the first half. He might have had 30 otherwise. His quickness and speed separate him from everyone.

3. Daniel Giddens makes a statement with 13 points and strong play inside.

4, Giddens, Hall, and Smith were everywhere inside. They blocked a few shots (even the statistic showed only recorded one). The altered a dozen or so shots inside. Reese surprised me with his defensive tenacity. Some thought him "soft" in high school. Those writers were dead wrong.  

4. Remember when we said this team would score in bushels? How about a nifty little 49-17 run to end half one. The Tide fell behind 11-2 and then the Redman got caught in a Deep Southern avalanche. This wasn't snow. It was a bomb away three point clinic. It was almost like the legendary Dan Jenkins fictional character Astronaut Jones. Jones was "trying one" when he reached midcourt. 

5. Norris and Key played a subdued role in the McGill game. Don't worry, they will play their respective parts when called upon

6.The Tide has depth. After years of watching a thin bench, this year's rendition of 'Bama basketball will have too many players. Johnson has some hard decisions to make regarding his rotation.

7. Ar'mond Davis scored 14 points and showed some real flashes of offensive and defensive ability. He'll have a role in the rotation. He proved to me that even with the new found talent he belongs. Johnson didn't ask him to return unless he had a reason.

8.  This team can shoot the three and play hard inside. The Tide is going to run for a fast break basket and if they can't score that way, they will be able to play the half court game. Expect that to be faster than last season. The theme of this team may be "hurry up we are wasting time."

9. Not to get ahead of ourselves but the talent seems to be there for a nice run in the NCAA. Alabama will get a bid to the NCAA in my opinion, and they may go further in the Dance than pre-season predictions.

10. This team will play the Canadian swing without Dazon Ingram. It makes you wonder just how good is this team going to be, and who will be in an eight man rotation.

Tide lays down the Law...

   

Alabama did look a bit confused with the fast passes attempting to reverse to the weak-side of the Tide defense. The Tide fixed that by playing a 2-3 zone. I bet Johnson is not happy with the man effort. Still, this team had 11 days to get ready to play a game where their top two offensive players were in high school last year. I thought Galin Smith (huge in size) showed some potential but had hands of stone against McGill. Pleasant surprises came from both Reese (who looked as big as anyone size wise) and a much taller than expected Herb Jones.

    Come watch an exciting team. Sexton and Petty are just passing through on the Road to the NBA. These are special players on a fast rising program in my opinion. 

Player of the Game:  John Petty, who scored 22 points. He devastated the Redmen from just short of midcourt. 

    So game on in the great Northern adventure is over. The Tide simply over matched their hosts. Next up is Carleton. This appears to be the toughest game for 'Bama. The Ravens lost to Towson State 76-64. An ice cold third quarter did in the home standing Ravens. Carleton has won two national championships in the last four years. 

COACHSPEAK:

"Overall it was extremely positive," head coach Avery Johnson said of the result. "We had unbelievable energy throughout the game. Our guys moved the ball and we made some shots. I thought we played really good defense. We clamped down on them defensively, so I am pleased with the overall energy and passion that we played with.

"In the first half, I thought we did a great job with our pace. We set great screens and our guys had great spacing on offense, which allowed John to hit some shots. In the second half, we got really sloppy. That gives me something to talk to the team about and show them some video. We have really good kids on our team who want to play the right way. We had some correctable mistakes tonight and we can learn from those."

"We wanted to give everybody a chance to play," Johnson said. "We had a chance to spread out the minutes because we are playing three games in four nights. We want to try and impose our will against teams. We were a little sloppy and need to take better care of the basketball, then we will have chances to score even more points."

DID YOU KNOW

'Bama went on runs of 36-2 and 16-2 to put the Redmen away in the first half?
Bama's leading rebounder was Braxton Key?
Canada needs some serious work on live streaming I'm told.
Alabama made only 14-23 free throws. Not good.
How long has it been since a Tide offense hit 60% from the floor
The Tide hit 56% of their three point shots. They made 50% or more in each quarter.