Crimson Red Sports

Well, we face the #6 Gators on ESPN 2 tonight. They are 15-2 with a 1 point loss to UCONN and 6 points to #9 Wisconsin. Florida RPI is 8 & SOS 35. Tide RPI is 95 with SOS of 3.

What's your take on the game?



 :tinfoil:

I had no idea our SOS was so high.  Maybe there is some hope for us yet.  Of course we will have our hands full tonight.

Tough game. We do not match up well with UF IMO. They are a balanced team that gets consistent play inside and outside.  It is at home so we have a chance. we need to hit our open shots and rebound or it will be a long night.

Fla. has made it where we want to go. I am not sure we have the man power to play against Florida. I do however, think that a win over the Gators would catapult our season into salvageable. RTR!

It helps that Wichita St. is 20-0 RPI 9, UCLA 14-4 RPI 29, Oklahoma 15-4 RPI 17, Duke 15-4 RPI 16, Xavier 15-4 RPI 30, & Missouri 14-4 RPI 50. Looking ahead, it is kinda bleak for the team.


 :dog:

Shhhhh!  If some people hear this then they will start pulling against Bama so we can get a new coaching staff...   ;)

67-59 Bama

It will take more than one major win to salvage the season. Florida will probably blow us out, but I'm still hoping for a huge upset.


 :popcorn2:

These two teams are statistically closer than you think.

Biggest difference is UF is 2 - 2 v. top 25 and BAMA is 0 - 2.

If BAMA wins the boards, takes good shots, and makes them they win.

That's the formula to win any BB game and the reason the Tide is 8-9 on the season. They don't rebound and don't make their shots.

 ;)

Yeah, I know.  The obvious.

These are two really closely matched teams.  An advantage of +1 in rebounds could be the difference in the outcome of the game.

I hope Coleman is rocking tonight.

Here we go.

Releford scoring early but both teams a little sloppy. Florida hitting their shots, though. UF 11 Tide 6. Cooper makes excellent shot, 11-8 UF.



 :popcorn2:

UF killing us on boards, even getting the rebound on their own missed FT shot. Tide playing them tough right now. UF 15-10 on 3 pointer.

UF 16 rebounds Tide 11


 :popcorn2:

Releford on good pass to Taylor who slams it home. UF 15-12. Timeout

UF 20  Tide 14  5:43 left in half.

Tide 5 on court: Releford, Engstrom, Jacobs, Levi, Key

Obasohan injured?

Tide 5: Releford, Key,Engstrom, Hale, & Levi-2 stupid turnovers by Tide. GREAT block by Engstrom on dunk attempt by UF!!! Key makes bad shot and the UF player tries to lay-up ball but is scared due to Engstrom's presence and misses the lay-up. Great shot by Hale & he's fouled. UF 22-18, timeout by UF.



 #+

Tide hanging tough & hustling, especially Levi. UF 29 Tide 24, Tide misses FT. :26 left in half. Hale hits 2 FT's. UF 29-26. UF hits 3 pointer and is fouled and makes FT. UF 33 Tide 26 HALF



 :popcorn2:

Haalftime stats.

REBOUNDS: UF 23 Tide 20
ASSISTS: UF 8  Tide 5
FT's: UF 3/6  Tide 5/9
FG%: UF 36.4  Tide 37.0
3 POINTERS: UF 6/17  Tide 1/5
TURNOVERS: UF 4  Tide 4


 :popcorn2:

UF 39 Tide 34, timeout with 15:00 left in game. Tide is hanging tough but just can not get over the hump. This is their best effort of the season, so far.



 :clap:

UF killing us with 3 pointers. They are 8/23. UF 45 Tide 37. good drive by Cooper. UF 45-39. Timeout




 :shake:

UF 53 Tide 43. UF just keeps coming at us and we can't go on a run, like 6-0, 8-0, etc. 9:28 left in game.

3 Pointers: UF 10/26  Tide 1/9
FT's: UF 3/6  Tide 10/15
Assists: UF 13 Tide 7

Tide 5: Jacobs, Releford, Engstrom, Cooper, & Levi

Tide mini-run. UF 55 Tide 49, but UF responds, 57-49 UF.


 :deadhorse:

UF 68  Tide 62    FINAL


Tide outside shooting is atrocious. 2/12 on 3 pointers.



 :wall: :wall: :wall:

We have too many players who bring very little to the game. Guys like Engstrom, Taylor (he's a true freshman), Cooper, & Key. That's one of the things that is killing the team, along with awful outside shooting.



 :pullhair:

They are unwatchable. I think Grant does not do any player development. This team just has not gotten any better, year to year.

So close but yet so far.

Sometimes it's impossible to coach up players that don't want to be coached up. ;)

CNS may know something about that.

LOL!! That's our team motto, sadly.


 :facepalm:

BINGO!! We are halfway in the 5th year of Grant's tenure and we have not seen any improvement and the same problems have persisted, such as poor outside shooting, lack of rebounding, lack of offensive production, & many more problems.


 :deadhorse:

I think that's the bottom line.  These are his guys.  This was supposed to be his year.  And nothing has changed.  Same old same old. 

When Grant wins 4 National Championships I will give him the same benefit of the doubt. So far, he has proved nothing in 4 1/2 years. How many more years should he be given to show he can develop players or recruit coachable players?


 :dog:

Lost by 6.  -3 on total rebounds.

2 - 12 on 3-point attempts.  

If BAMA would shoot less from the outside and drive to the basket on half of those, heck 25% of those, shots BAMA would have most likely won by 6.

No doubt, Obasohan was missed.  Key has 2 pts in 32 minutes.  Jacobs and Randolph played well coming off the bench.

Has Cooper ever met a met an outside shot he did not like?

How many minutes does Releford average per game?

We do not have the talent to beat a team like Florida. Our players played hard and gave it all they had. We were not out coached last night... we were out recruited. Any line up CAG puts on the floor we only have 3 players that are a threat to score. That is too easy to defend. Releford is our only consistent three point shooter and every team we play knows that.

At this point I just want to get though the season and get as many wins as we can. We are a middle of the pack SEC team so we will win some and lose some along the way. My hope is to have a winning record.

Bobby Knight made a great observation that some on this forum have asked about. Knight could not understand why we were under-utilizing Hale. He said Hale was big, had a solid skill set and could be used in different areas on the court, such as at the post, outside, driving to the basket, etc. He said Hale was used 20 minutes in the game and thought he could be used more. Bobby Knight has 3 National Championships so I give him a lot of credibility.



 :dog:

I saw that too.  It's not the first time Knight has questioned Bama's coaching.

As a fan of Tide basketball for 45 years, this thought is depressing and sad, but true. Like you, I had tremendous expectations for the team this year, but instead we get the same old crap we have been seeing for over 4 years. Very frustrating. I expect a losing season this year because my pragmatism and common sense can not ignore or gloss over the obvious. I really hate this situation.

I disagree on the talent level.  If BAMA did not have talent UF would have beat them as bad as Missouri.  I think it is all coaching.  Cooper taking the horrible three shot on the first possession let me know exactly how the game was going to go.

You have to play your game.  BAMA's game is not 3 point shooting. BAMA needs to play inside and take high percentage shots.  Until they change their game plan they will continue to obtain the same results.

When you can only manage 2 -12 from the three point line at home you do not need to shoot three point shots.

Grant should allow each player one 3 pointer per game.  If they shoot two, they ride the pine.

When you play inside you take higher percentage shots, decrease the length of rebounds which decreases your opponents chance at getting rebounds, and you increase pressure on your opponent and generally draw fouls that over the course of the game will restrict you opponents ability to be aggressive on defense and also leads to free shots.

I was excited about Grant coming here.  I now suspect that this will be his last season unless something changes dramatically.  Grant seems almost to be a mirror image of Gottfried when it comes to coaching, or more specifically not coaching up his players. 
 
Anyway.

The problem with the inside game is that teams know Bama can't shoot the 3 so they clamp down on the interior.

If we get a different coach, who do we get?

[begin making fun of Texas]
We should offer the job to Phil Jackson.  He would be insane to turn us down.  Our boosters have more money than the government and we can pay him whatever he wants.  Plus he could sit down the hall from CNS and maybe join his noontime basketball team.
[end making fun of Texas]

:lol:

Who on our team is going to score inside around the basket. Our best inside threat is 6-0 Releford driving the lane. Our talent is very weak at the post position. We average less than 8 points a game from Engstrom, Taylor and Jacobs combined.

I think CAG is coaching his azz off off but we are out manned against the better teams. IMO CAG's problem is recruiting inside post players. We have not had one that is SEC caliber since JaMychal Green. green was inherited from Gottfried. Shannon Hale (6-8) is showing a lot of potential.

Coach K would jump at the chance to coach at Alabama. Money would not be an issue. He might pay us since it is his dream job.

Unfortunately, recruiting is an important part of being a coach.  

In his 5th year as head coach who is responsible for the lack of talent on the current squad?  If not Grant, then who?  He should be starting his 2nd year senior squad at this point.

I am not saying fire Grant.  I am just saying something has to change.

Layups have a much higher percentage for success than 3's.  With that you also have the additional potential benefit of drawing fouls and increased chance of getting rebounds.

Kind of like Coach Bryant's philosophy on passing: The potential for 1 good thing v. the potential for 2 bad things.

I do not see height/size as a necessary for a good inside game.  

I actually think the opposite is true.  See Antoine Pettway, Mo Williams, Ty Lawson, etc.; speed beats size.

How about Scott Suttles?



Jackson would be a great hire.  I do not think you could pull him away from the west coast.

I'm glad you asked. You make it sound like there is not another solid potential head coach in the entire country. How did Coach Bryant find C.M. Newton? He asked Adolph Rupp, coach at Kentucky to recommend someone and he named Newton. Why not ask Knight, Coach K, Calipari, & Pitino to recommend someone? Also, here's a list to consider, too. I like Archie Miller at Dayton.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1744302-the-10-best-college-basketball-coaches-under-40-years-old/page/2


 :popcorn2:

I don't make it sound like anything.  I simply asked a question as a setup to make fun of Texas.

:popcorn2:

I got that part, but there are folks who will say who can replace him, so I am providing some ideas & examples. Personally, I'm glad you are making fun because it gave me an opening to stick my foot in the door and start talking about replacements for Grant. Now I can blame you as the one who started the conversation on it.


 :lol:





 :-*

Bill Battle shouldn't have to look far for a new coach, CRS has plenty of them.  ;)

I'm sure some of them could do no worse, in fact, most of them will work for half of Grant's $1.8 million dollar yearly salary. By the way, SUPERCOACH  got the subject of replacing Grant started.


 ;)

Now I'm not a basketball coach by any stretch but...the part that I made bold and underlined is incredibly foolish IMO.  Our basketball team isn't like Awbren's football offense this year, one dimensional, that can't be stopped.   We tried a few threes against UF and we still couldn't get the ball inside enough to beat them.  Their defense was better than our offense.  Their offense was better than our defense.  There ain't no "special teams" in basketball either.  Bama played really good but got beat by a better team.  Nothing to hang our heads about regarding that game IMO.  Talk about wanting another coach is another that makes me shake my head.  How long did we have Gottfried?

Why shake your head, are you happy with the direction of the program after almost 5 years? Gottfried should have been fired after 7 years instead of 10.


 ???

Grant has 5 years left on a $1.9M contract. That is a $9.5M buyout to let him go this year. I don't see that happening barring a meltdown to end the season.

We have five new players coming into the program next year. (CAG is looking to add a sixth in the late signing period.) These are five good looking players.

Ricky Tarrant Point Guard: Transfer from Tulane. He started at Tulane his freshman and sophomore years. He averaged 15 pts a game. He is a scorer with range and can distribute the ball. He was an All Conference player.

Micheal Kessens Forward: He is a 6-9 transfer from Longwood. He only played one year but he averaged 14 points and 9 rebounds. He was conference freshman player of the year.

The three players below signed with Alabama in the early signing period. They are all ESPN Top 100 recruits. Alabama has the 26th best recruiting class behind only Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee in the SEC.

Justin Coleman Point Guard: Dangerous shooter with deep range. He's explosive off the dribble and plays fearlessly.

Riley Norris Small Forward: He is 6-6 and can score from anywhere on the floor. He rebounds very good for his size.

Devin Mitchell Shooting Guard: He is 6-3 and considered one of the best pure shooters in this years recruiting class.

The only player we lose this year is Releford. The five newcomers along with Randolph, Cooper, Jacobs, Obasohan, Hale, Key and Taylor give CAG his best and deepest lineup since he has been at Alabama.

We are suffering through a very disappointing year but I honestly believe the future looks good with CAG leading our program.

 

Good post pmull. I feel as you do in that there are better days ahead for the program. Being successfull in NCAA basketball is as easy as it once was because of the quality of the mid major programs. NCAA basketball isn't all about the major conferences as it once was and recruiting is a lot tougher for the major schools. I feel good about what CAG has recruited for next season, help is on the way.

I had no idea the buyout was so huge. Are you sure about this? This will definitely affect any decisions about his future, in other words, the fans & university will be held hostage to the contract. My question is, we have seen almost zero development in the players in 5 years, what makes you think anything will change just because the quality of the players may improve? I really hope things improve dramatically, but I am getting a sick feeling about this entire situation.

It is my understanding there is not a buyout. We would owe him the full amount of the contract unless he got another job. In 2012 he got a $100,000 increase to $1.9M and a contract extension through the 2019 season.

I think CAG is a good coach. My problem with him is his inability to recruit a reliable post player. IMO until we get a combination of inside and outside scoring threats we will be a middle of the pack SEC team. I think with Hale and Kessens we will have an inside threat next year. Hopefully Taylor will develop. I think we will be able to put five players on the floor at the same time who can all score and have to be defended. I also think we will have some zone breaking shooters.

:lol:


While we're dreaming, Bama should just go out and hire Tom Izzo.  Sure, he's lived in Michigan his entire life, but one phone call from Saban should do the trick.  ;)