Crimson Red Sports

This is our last nobody game of the year. Game is at 1 pm on the SEC Network.




 :popcorn2:

Tide is 8-3, has an RPI of 37, SOS is 84. Norfolk State is 3-9, RPI is 227, SOS 196.    :yuck:

Why are we playing these losers? This is a glorified practice which will probably hurt our RPI.
Why is the RPI different depending on who does this stuff. This one is from ESPN & supposedly replicates what the Selection Committee uses?


 ???

Still no Shannon Hale. Norfolk State going with a 4 guard offense. 9-9 all, Tide is 3/5 with 3 pointers.


 :popcorn2:

We have a huge size advantage so our rebounding should be dominating (I hope).



 :clap:

WHOA!!! Shannon Hale on the floor playing. Great!




 #+

19-12 Bama. We are 4/8 on 3 pointers. 10:00 left in half.




 :wave:

When Hale went back to the bench, he just didn't look right. It might be my imagination, though.


 :dunno:

Tide 23  NSU 21. We are 4/5 on FT's, really, I'm not kidding. Obasohan has 14 points but NSU is shooting 10/19, 52%. Edwards hits 3 pointer, Tide 6/11 in 3 pointers.  Tide 31-26, timeout. Hale back on the court.




 :stars:

33-28 Tide. Half. Too much 3 point shooting, we need to pound inside with our big guys. Hale has 3 fouls, no one else more than 1 for Tide. We hit a 3 minute scoring drought at the end of the half. Obasohan 14 points, Edwards 6, Kessens 3 points & 8 rebounds.




 :popcorn:

Tide comes out hustling & scoring 5 quick points. 38-28 Tide. Three pointer by Edwards.

Tide 56-38, 8:25 left. Obasohan 21 points, Edwards 12, Taylor 8 pts, 7 rebounds. Tide has held NSU to 10 points in the last 10 minutes of play.



 :clap:

Tide 61-38, 5:56 left in game. Tide shooting 50% in FG & 3 pointers.


 :o

Tide wins 68-49.



 :clap:

WOOT!

Alabama played much better in the 2nd half than the 1st. We got an easy home win over a team we were supposed to beat easily. We finish the non-conference schedule with an impressive 9-3 record with a solid RPI and SOS.

Heading into SEC we must improve. We need to rebound better and get more offensive production from our big guys. Shannon Hale played 14 minutes today and scored 2 points. We need him healthy and back to full speed. We shoot the 3 ball better than we have in years. We play hard and work for open shots. We need to get more points in the paint. We are a solid defensive team.

We start SEC play with a very difficult schedule. We open on the road at Ole Miss on Thursday. That will be the first SEC game in the new Ole Miss basketball facility. We host Kentucky and presently unbeaten South Carolina next before two games on the road at Vandy and Auburn, two places we have trouble winning games. We will find out a lot about our team during this stretch. The schedule softens a little after that. If we go 2-3 in those 5 games I will be happy.

It will be interesting to see if the fan base will support the team by showing up at home SEC games. I think we are putting a much better product on the floor this year but it there will be bumps in the road. We are a scrappy team but we are not good enough yet to complete at the elite level. CAJ has put some excitement in the program and it will be fun to see how the team navigates the 18 game SEC schedule.

SEC play started today. Teams that will be participating in the SEC-Big 12 Challenge plays a conference game today. The Challenge takes place in the middle of the SEC schedule. SEC games today are

Auburn beat UT.
A&M is beating the tar out of Arkansas
Ole Miss at UK
Georgia at Florida
LSU at Vandy

After our thorough thumping of Norfolk State our RPI jumped from 37 to 45 and our SOS increased from 85 to 118.

Auburn, A&M, UK and Florida win at home. LSU beat Vandy in Nashville. Good road win for LSU in that weird gym over a good Vandy team.