WILL TIDE MAKE THE NCAA TOURNAMENT?

A RUDE AWAKENING ...


   A lot of writers writers warned Alabama basketball fans about unrealistic expectations with the year's team. Hope springs eternal until it doesn't. A lot or Alabama basketball followers have lost hope. Is that as unreasonable as expecting a 25 win season? I believe it is. So what should we expect? I think a 20 win season would be a good year. It might get Alabama into the NCAA field. No doubt the Tide will have to up their game to win twenty now. Take a look at  remaining schedule. I think it is possible the Tide might win 11 more games, and have nice run in the SEC. That might be enough or at least home games in the NIT. Don't blame the team or the coach for not living up to our hopes. Reality doesn't work that way. We start two freshman. Sexton is different but Petty is up an down. 


In the last three games the Tide has lost to Vandy and Georgia. I thought Georgia was better than Alabama in my re-season picks. They sure looked it when they eviscerated 'Bama on Saturday morning. No doubt about, that game will be the worse game I have ever witnessed. It was a dead dog whipping. The team better get focused or we all know where the Tide will end up. Can 'Bama turn it around?  The team has some problems. You don't shoot 29% and lose the boards by almost 20 and expect you could win. Dazon Ingram didn't play in the Georgia game. That hurt, but he wasn't the difference. 

Here are some issues 'Bama has now:

1. Alabama is not a bad shooting team. The team works hard to get good looks. The just aren't making anything from the field. Not a single player is shooting 40% from the arc. That won't cut it in the SEC. We win when we shoot and make a few from downtown. So that leads us into another.

2. Johnson has proved he can recruit. What he has failed to do is find a pure shooter. How good would  this team be with one Mathew Fisher-Davis type shooter. I'd go one step further and say we need two. Kudos to John Petty for some great games. We know that Ar'mond Davis hasn't played and showed sign of living up to a great JUCO career. Petty is up and down. Most outside shooters are always that way. You can recruit two-five star players and some work out and some will not. 

3. We don't control the boards. Let's face it - we need to rebound better. Hall is only hauling down 7.2 boards a game. Our second leading rebounder is Ingram he is basically a two guard. He is a hard nosed player. How worried was Avery about the rebounding. He started both Hall and Giddens. What did that bring the Tide? Not much. It did kill the run and gun offense.

4. Johnson is still growing as a collegiate head coach. He didn't have the players to compete last season and the Tide was able to make the NIT. The loss of Riley Norris, Ar'mond Davis, and Brandon Key hurt. Norris was a great player to be a sixth man. He understood basketball. Davis brought good outside shooting and show he could play in the paint  the second half last season. Key was the go-to man last year. The loss of Key was important. Then after sitting the early part of the season and being played into game shape hurt the Tide. Johnson had to do that. He had no choice in my opinion. The Tide will be much better as Key gets the rust off his game. 

5. Here is an issue that effects the team. When fans start talking badly about the team and his coaching, it brings a certain attitude. Players press. Coaching worry about the future. I think Johnson is probably experienced enough not to listen to whiners. I believe that most casual fans do not understand how fan attitude effects the players. It also can hurt recruiting. 

6. Collin Sexton has been as billed. He is the leading scorer in the SEC, and will be a lock for lst-Team All-SEC. He will get some votes for All-American as well. If 'Bama starts winning games it will Sexton a lot more attention. That seems unfair that he could be lost in the shuffle, but that is what happens in basketball. I never have believed that a one and done player is good for the program. It may be feast or starvation in the future. We are not Kentucky. 

7. One and done is a risky business. Sexton is gone. Petty should stay to get a higher draft status next season. I hope he listens the draft reports he will get from the NBA. One thing that will hurt Petty is a lack of physical strength. He also looks lost on defense at times. Freshman do that. Alabama 

8. Herb Jones more PT in opinion. He is a good rebounder. More than solid on defense and he knows how to draw charges. Give him about six thousand calories a  day and a tough weight program will make him an ALL-SEC type player.

9. Could Lawson Schaffer help the offense. He sure could. Whether his defense stands up is the only question. Galin Smith needs some playing time. He is going to be a good player. Alex Reese is big, strong, and a deadly shooter. Give him a few minutes.

10. The main thing this team lacks is chemistry. You can't buy it, and you can't coach it. That is the real reason the Tide has not won more games. If you watched the Georgia game you understand. If 'Bama starts to run they improve. You should shut the game on a thoroughbred.