Crimson Red Sports

South Dakota State won their conference last year and went to the NCAA Tournament. They lost a close game to high seed Baylor. They return 4 starters off that team. We need to get this season started on a good note and win this game easily. This is a team we should beat.


http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/110812aac.html

Tough start.

I love it. Let's see what kind of team we have right off the bat. Good challenge for Pollard, too. pmull thanks for posting this, since I had forgotten all about this game.



 #+ #+ #+

I'm watching the game now and Alabama is getting beat with the basics. Very poor rebounding and poor ball handling. Not a good sign. 26-16 S. Dakota St. 4:21 left in half.



 :dunno:

Well, at least we are consistent, we still can't throw the ball into the ocean.



 :eyeroll:

Tide closed the gap with hustle and defense and trail 29-27 at half. They had been trailing by 13.

Our 3 point shooting is AWFUL! We trail 37-31 with 16:30 left in game.



 :deadhorse:

Great 3-pointer at the buzzer by Trevor Lacey for the win!

Bama wins by 3!   #+




(I don't know if that would have been my shot choice in a tie game, to run the clock down and shoot the 3 with no time left for a rebound, but it worked...)

Especially not with the way we shoot the ball.

Cooper hit a 3 pointer with 1:20 left to give Bama a 4 point lead.  SDST closed the gap to tie the game, then Lacey hit the 3 at the end.  So at least they were hitting 3-pointers in the clutch.

Say what you want, but it was a big win for the Bama team last night. South Dakota State is not a Kentucky but I can promise you, they can shoot with any team in the country. When Bama went down by double digits in the first half, with their atrocious shooting, I thought the game was over. But the team did what good teams do, they played some good hard defense that turned the game around and finally some of their shots from the outside started falling.

SDS did what most teams will do to Bama this year, they played a zone defense. This is something that Bama fans have gotten to know in past years due to the lack of good outside shooting. The other major problem with the team last night, especially in the first half, they made way too many turnovers.

CAG and staff know what it takes to beat a good zone defense and I'm surprised that the team's outside shooting looks so similar to last years team. I had watched the team scrimage and play an exhibition game prior to last night and they had showed no signs of being very good with their long range shooting in either of those events. I think this team has some good shooters but I just don't think these players are doing what good shooters do, spend hours on the court working on their shot.

Defense in basketball serves the same purpose as it does in football but you have to have some offense to go along with it. Hopefully the players realized last night the importance of their offensive skills and things will improve in the games ahead. Sometimes you have to go beyond what the coaches expect of you as a player and do some things on your own, you can only do so much in a scheduled practice.

I liked what I saw last night in the comeback effort but they were lucky in a sense, and sometimes it's better to be lucky that good. Roll Tide!!!  :clap:
 

I was impressed with SDS. We played poorly early and they took advantage. They built a good lead in the first half and we had to fight back with defense. We played much better in the second half but we could not put SDS away. They answered every time it looked like we were about to take control of the game. SDS shoots the ball very well. They won 27 games last year and returned 4 starters. They are a pretty good team. Much better than I expected.

It was a good win for us. We could have easily lost that game. We have a lot of room for improvement. We must get better to meet the expectations many of us have for this team.

Here is the box score link. We shot 48%, but our 3 point shooting was 28%.



http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/110912aaa.html

One promising stat is that Bama made all of its free throws, 14-14.  At least the guys seem to have practiced that.

That Nate Wolters for SDSt is a great player, put up 30 points on Bama.  He's already on scout's lists, but if he keeps playing like this his stock is going up.

Glad you mentioned Wolters for SDState. SD State had 3 players who could hit outside shots, so why can't we fine ONE guy who can shoot from the outside. Gonzaga is a very small school in Seattle, but they have guys who can make outside shots and they make the Tourney every year. I think one year they went to the Final Four. Again, why can't we find one or two outside shooters when so many very small schools have players who can?



 ???

Can these outside shooters play defense?  I don't know the answer to that question.  :dunno:

But it may be that CAG is having a hard time finding kids that can do both equally well and he is not interested in a shooter that is only mediocre on defense.  But he is OK with taking an excellent defender that is mediocre on outside shooting.  Just thinking out loud, I have no idea if it is an accurate representation of reality.

SDS had several 6-3 or 6-4 white guys that could shoot lights out. They were not great athletes but they played smart. They were always in position and contested most shots. They are one of those small schools that do not put players into the pros but they have seniors who have played together for 4 years. That type of team can be very dangerous.

Yep, these schools are usually only good irregularly, when their players all have experience and gel together.  This Wolters kid is the exception.

I don't think CAG is recruiting for defensive players -- this isn't football -- but the best basketball players he can find.  Many of his recruits were highly regarded in HS, and some (Lacey and Randolph) put up big scoring numbers in HS.  They're sophomores this year, so maybe they need more development.