Alabama Crimson Tide Basketball

The Florida-Alabama match-up in the SEC Basketball Tournament is a must win situation for both teams. 

For Alabama (16-15, 5-11 SEC), the Tide must win to even have a chance at the NIT and have to win the whole Tournament for a shot at the NCAA. 

For Florida (21-10, 8-8), the Gators are sitting on a very fragile bubble after a .500 conference record in a very mild SEC.  Losses to Gonzaga and South Alabama don’t help Florida’s chances either.

But when these two teams meet Thursday Night in the Georgia Dome as the West No. 5 vs. the East No. 4, it will be a rematch of one of the best games of the early conference season.

Back on January 8, Florida visited Tuscaloosa for a nationally broadcast game on ESPN.  After trailing at half, the Gators posted 50 points in the second half for a 90-83 victory to start the conference season.

Florida held Alabama to 36 percent shooting in the second half while going for 56 percent themselves.  The Gators also used a 50 percent night from behind the arc to finish off the Tide.

Although Florida came out with the win, the spotlight in the early season game was on two Crimson Tide players.

Alonzo Gee posted a season high 32 points on the Gators while first-team All-SEC big man Richard Hendrix went for 24 and 16 rebounds in the loss. 

Even with that game so far in the past, the keys to the game remain the same.

Alabama’s biggest task will be to stop a Florida offense which led the SEC in field goal percentage at 49 percent on the season.  The biggest single task will be Freshman All-SEC guard Nick Calathes, the Gators’ leading scorer at 16 ppg and SEC leader in assists.

For the Gators, stopping Alabama’s inside presence will be their biggest task.  Florida’s Marressee Speights will have his hands full with Hendrix down low, the lone man in the SEC to average a double-double on the season.

As big as those factors may be for each team, the one deciding factor in the game may be the supporting cast for each team. 

For Florida, this means the execution of players such as Jai Lucas, Walter Hodge, and Dan Werner.  For the Gators to win on Thursday, they need similar production from these guys that they got in the first meeting in Tuscaloosa.

For Alabama, production is needed from outside the “Big Three” of Hendrix, Gee, and Mykal Riley.  In the first meeting, only 15 of Alabama’s 83 points did not come from those three players.

As for Thursday’s game, Alabama is playing some of the best basketball they have played all season and receiving production from everyone on the roster.  Florida is reeling coming into this game, having lost three straight and playing on Thursday of the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2002. 

Judging on where these teams are now and having watched the first game earlier this season, I believe Alabama will come away with another bracket busting win.  The Gators will probably not be as hot as they were the first time around, nor will Gee probably go for 32 for Bama.  However, Alabama seems to have a large edge inside that short of another great shooting night by Florida, the rebounding edge will fall in Alabama’s favor and boost the Tide to a win.

On March 13th, the Alabama Crimson Tide will face the two-time defending national champions as well as the three-time defending Sec champions, Florida Gators. 

It has been a let down season for both teams, even though one of those teams has been mediocre at best for the last couple seasons. 

If I was a gambling man, my last silver dollar would be confidently placed on the Gators for this match up. 

Needless to say, this is a must win for the national champs who find themselves on the notorious "bubble". They will be facing a team that has shown no significant signs of a well coached team. 

The Crimson Tide have, on more than one occasion, laid down in the second half, allowing the other team to slowly but surely pull away. 

First example: Their first SEC conference game against the Florida Gators.  The Gators have closed this season on somewhat of a down note after a surprisingly impressive start by a bunch of freshman and sophomores. 

They have had big wins against Vandy and Kentucky (both games were played in Gainesville) but ended the season with a .500 SEC record. 

The Gators, however, do have two tremendous things going for them:

 1.They are playing in Atlanta. where the have won the SEC tournaments for the last three years and a national championship on top of that

2.They are playing Alabama. 

The Gators will romp and chomp as they have for the last three years and will certainly make a dramatic surge in the somewhat paradoxical SEC conference tournament.  Rest assured, Billy "The Kid" Donovan did not turn down millions of dollars from the Orlando Magic to get his dancing shoes taking off by a 5-11 Crimson Tide. 

Growing up in the state of Alabama, it doesn’t take too much to realize a very important point:  Alabama is a football state.

There are no two ways around it.  Heck, you don’t have to grow up in Alabama to know this fact.  It’s as if there should not be another sport at either of the major colleges in the state.

But it wasn’t until last Saturday that the notion really hit me for the first time in a long time.

Over the past month or so, Alabama Basketball coach Mark Gottfried has been under a lot of heat.  The Tide finished this season with a 5-11 conference record and a 0-8 record on the road in conference. 

There have been rumors flying rampantly about his job security and whether or not he will return next season.  You know, the usual with Alabama fans.    

But Saturday, Alabama was in great shape to finish off a top-20 Vanderbilt team in regulation.  This would be Alabama’s third victory this season over the top 50 RPI and only the first over a team not in the 40-50 range. 

The thing that made me realize this very true point was that even after every basket, there was no increased applause as time began to wind down.  No one really stood up.  No one really tried to get behind this team.

Maybe the feeling of wanting Gottfried gone was too overwhelming and no one wanted to recognize that he now has a chance to return.  However, there was no cheering for the players, which led me to this point:  Alabama fans view Vanderbilt in the same sense as they do in football, a pushover.

After every three, every basket, every defensive stop, it was as if Bama was playing a non-conference game.

There was no realization that this basketball team was No. 16 in the country.

There was no appreciation for how this underachieving team was somehow playing to potential finally.

There was only a feeling of, “This is Vanderbilt, we are supposed to beat them.”

This point even reared it head this morning in the campus newspaper, The Crimson White.  You see, when Alabama beat Auburn this season, it was front-page news.  When Alabama beats Vanderbilt on Senior Day with the lone senior scoring 13 points in overtime, there is nice little story on the back page. 

So while Alabama fans continue to view basketball teams as football teams, they still want the head coach gone, even though they don’t see basketball as a separate sport.  

Whether or not he deserves to be gone remains to be seen by the powers that be, but if he is fired, there is hardly any hope for whoever takes his place. 

Alabama is a football state.  Always has been, always will be.  And we all knew that, as much as some of us want to try and believe otherwise.

After a disheartening loss to Tennessee on Tuesday, the Alabama Crimson Tide took the court again Saturday against the LSU Tigers to end their four-game home stand. 

The Tide used a great defensive effort and stole the ball 12 times to give themselves a halftime lead and then held on in the second half for the victory.

Alabama had a comfortable lead for most of the half before landing on the final margin of nine.

The Tide used a great performance from Richard Hendrix once again to stay in the game. 

Hendrix got his usual 19 points, but was a beast on the boards. He pulled down 17 rebounds, well above his season average of 10.

Alabama got the support it has been lacking in most conference games from Alonzo Gee and Mykal Riley. Gee dropped 15 points for the Tide, and Riley managed to find his stroke and got 19 points, 16 of them in the first half.

The Bayou Bengals were led by Marcus Thronton, who scored a game high 22 points.  Freshman Anthony Randolph was the lone Tiger to post a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. 

Alabama held the Tigers to just 36 percent shooting from the field, one of the best defensive outings for the Tide this season. 

Alabama shot 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from downtown to counteract the season long slump from the free throw line.  Alabama shot 67 percent from the charity stripe compared to LSU’s amazing 96 percent, only missing one all game.

Alabama will now travel to Starkville on Wednesday to play Mississippi State for the second time this season.  The Tide will look to avenge a 66-56 loss suffered just two weeks ago. 

LSU will look to get back on track after a week off by hosting the Tennessee Volunteers next Saturday at home.

After a sloppy and slow start to the conference season, Alabama used a full week off from action and two-a-day practices to try and get back on track.

Safe to say that the Crimson Tide pulled it all together.

The Tide dismantled their arch-rival, the Auburn Tigers, 97-77 on Saturday in front of a rowdy sold out crowd at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama (12-8, 1-4 SEC) used all of the ingredients it used in its great non-conference season to beat up on the Tigers.

The Crimson Tide shot 53% from the field for the game, making 36 shots and racking up 19 assists. They also caused 15 turnovers while only giving the ball away four times and only once in the first half.

Alabama was also hot from outside for the first time in the short conference season. They made 48% of their three point shots, mirroring the team that used the same shot to down opponents earlier in the season.

Auburn (12-6, 2-3) could not find any rhythm on offense and was playing catch up for most of the game.

After trading baskets for the first 10 minutes, Alabama used a 17-0 run to gain a huge advantage over the short-handed Tigers. The Alabama lead reached 30 points at one point in the second half, and the closest the Tigers ever got was 15 points.

Richard Hendrix once again led the Tide with 20 points in only 23 minutes of play.

One link that was restored on Saturday was the support for Hendrix down low, as four other players were also in double figures. 

Mykal Riley and Alonzo Gee were back in early season form, scoring 16 and 17 points, respectively.

The biggest spark on Saturday for the Tide, however, was Brandon Hollinger. The junior out of Mobile was making only his third start of the year, but he made it count.

Hollinger scored 18 points, all off of his six for nine shooting from behind the arc, to help the Crimson Tide roll to an easy victory.

The Tigers were led by Rasheem Barrett and Quan Powell, who combined for 42 of the Tigers’ 75 points. The only problem for Auburn was its current lack of support, due in some part to injuries suffered early in the season. 

Alabama now looks to keep its hot streak going as the Tennessee Volunteers come to town Tuesday. 

The Tigers will look to get back on track next Wednesday against a struggling LSU team at home. 

“I have never seen such sloppy basketball in Tuscaloosa. I don't have the space to start pointing out the problems.”

“I don't see us winning more than three games in conference this year”

“Has there ever been a coach that did so little with so much, and then keeps asking for more.”

These are the sentiments that continue to circulate the Alabama Men’s Basketball team coming from the mouth of head coach Mark Gottfried.  Fans all over internet chat rooms continue to bark and moan about the Crimson Tide’s play so far this SEC Conference season. 

The Crimson Tide returned four starters this season, and a bench chalked full of experience from last season.  Short of a Ronald Steele injury, Alabama was going to be picked first in the SEC this season.  Things have dramatically changed in Tuscaloosa from that now distant thought process.

Alabama is sitting at 0-4 in the SEC, good enough to be tied for last with LSU, both overall and in the Western Division.  This is the worst start for a Mark Gottfried coached squad, and there are many reasons as to why this has happened and why fans are feeling the urge to show Gottfried the door. 

For starters, Alabama has no perimeter defense.  The team’s overall defense is fine, allowing just one conference opponent to score over 70 points a game, but its outside defense has been absolutely abysmal.

Alabama has allowed opponents to make 41 percent of their three-pointers taken so far in conference play.  That is good enough for dead-last in the conference by a full two percent.  Alabama's last two opponents, Georgia and Mississippi State, have scored at least half of their points by virtue of the three-point shot. 

Alabama isn’t helping its own cause either, because it can’t make an outside shot.  Alabama has used the three-point shot to win numerous games this season, but they just aren’t falling for the Crimson Tide lately.

Alabama is once again dead last in shots made from behind the arc, making only 25% of the 3’s that it takes. Once again, Alabama is two percent behind the next closest team after four games of conference play.

So the outside shots aren’t falling, surely free throws can make up for that, right?  Not for this Alabama squad. 

Alabama is dead last on the season in free-throw shooting in the SEC, and is second to last in conference play.  Alabama is shooting 56 percent in conference so far.  On the season, Alabama is shooting 59%, good enough for 318^th in the country. 

So with no help from free throws or perimeter defense, the offense has got to be a bright spot, correct?  Not exactly.

Thanks to big man Richard Hendrix, the Crimson Tide is decent offensively once he gets the ball.  The problem is Hendrix can go minutes without touching the ball.

Alabama lacks movement on offense.  The wings stay on the wings, the guards stays out front and dribble and the post is left to fight for a meaningless position. 

Alabama continuously waits until 15 seconds or fewer on the shot clock to institute its offense, giving the team a smaller chance for making a good shot or, much less, finding one. 

All these problems have led to the Crimson Tide faithful to start warming Coach Mark Gottfried’s seat.  However, there is still plenty of time for the Tide to right the ship.

Alabama plays in-state rival Auburn on Saturday, a team which is down to six scholarship players, but has managed two straight wins over winless LSU and Ole Miss. 

Right now, the heat is being turned on for this team, and a loss to Auburn would leave the Tide staring down the barrel of 0-5 with Tennessee on the horizon. 

A win and the Crimson Tide can begin to breathe.  A loss and those internet rumblings will start finding their way to front pages by Monday.

Both teams continued their ways on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa as the Bulldogs rode some hot three-point shooting and some late Alabama miscues to secure their 66-56 win on the road. 

The Bulldogs built a 33-28 halftime lead to 13 with 12 minutes left in the game, but in true fashion, the Crimson Tide wouldn’t go away. 

The Tide cut the lead to 4 points with 8 minutes and 4 minutes to go, but State kept their composure and limited Alabama to just one point in the final two and a half minutes.  The Bulldogs caused some turnovers and capitalized on them to keep their lead the entire second half.

The Bulldogs rode the play of Jamont Gordon, who had 24 points for State in 34 minutes of play, and the ability to make the outside shot. 

“When you’re hot, you’re hot, I guess,” Gordon said after the game.

There is no doubt that MSU was hot, hitting 12-26 shots from downtown.  They became the second straight Tide opponent to score at least half their points from behind the arc.  Georgia scored 30 of their 61 points from 3-point range.

Alabama was once again led by Richard Hendrix.  Hendrix scored 21 points, a team high, but failed to build on his league leading double-doubles, only pulling down six rebounds.  Alonzo Gee scored 10 points, the only other Tide player in double figures. 

One player that Alabama has been missing the past few games is Mykal Riley. 

Riley scored only five points.  In his past two games, Riley has only scored 15 points and made 1 of 10 shots from downtown.  On the season, he has averaged 13 points per game and shot 42% from three point range. 

Jarvis Varnado, the NCAA leader in blocked shots, was a non-factor going up against Richard Hendrix.  Varnado had two points, four fouls and no blocked shots against the Tide big man.

An early morning snow kept many Alabama fans and students from attending the game, but Mississippi State fans could not be kept away.   

The Bulldogs had a good representation in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.  The two campuses are the closest together in the SEC, only 80 miles apart.

Right now, Alabama is off to their worst start ever under head coach Mark Gottfried at 0-4. 

“We just can’t finish for some reason,” Hendrix said.  “We have to come together.  When you are 0-4, you have to come together.”

At 4-0, Mississippi State is off to the best start in the SEC, sitting atop the Western Division.

“We’ve got so much confidence right now,” said Gordon.  “Before we were hoping we could win.  Now we know we can win.”

Alabama will look to finally get in the win column next Saturday against in-state rival Auburn after a week off.  Mississippi State will also take a week off before playing their in-state rival Ole Miss.  Both teams will play their next games at home.

The weather was cold and sloppy outside Stegeman Coliseum—and eerily similar to the basketball game housed inside. 

With both teams committing 36 turnovers and one team shooting 15 percent from 3-point range, the Georgia Bulldogs ended up with a 61-54 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Both teams struggled to hold onto the ball, with Alabama having 19 turnovers and Georgia had 17.  

Alabama averages only 12 a game, but Georgia averages 16 a game.  Neither team had an advantage in points off turnovers, with the Bulldogs getting 20 and Alabama 16.

A cold sleet in Athens, Georgia left the Coliseum far from full, but those who braved the weather saw a Georgia team put on a clinic about 3-point shooting. 

The Dawgs shot 45 percent from downtown, scoring almost half their points from behind the arc. 

The Crimson Tide was on the other end of the spectrum, netting only three of their twenty shots from 3-point range and only one in the second half.

The Bulldogs had leads of 15 points in both halves, but with five minutes remaining Alabama (11-7, 0-3 SEC) went on a 10-2 run to cut the Georgia lead to just four points with 1:42 remaining.

But Georgia’s guard, Billy Humphrey, hit an uncontested three with 73 seconds remaining to put the game away.

Georgia (10-5, 1-1) showed an overall good team effort in the game by spreading the ball around. 

Humphrey led the way for the Dawgs with 13 points, one of seven Georgia players to make multiple field goals. 

Jeremy Price added 11 points and Sundiata Gaines had nine points and seven rebounds.

The Crimson Tide was led by Richard Hendrix who had 19 points and 10 rebounds, right at his season average for both categories. 

Mykal Riley added 10 points, but was 0-for-4 from downtown—the senior guard is shooting 44 percent on the season from that range. 

Brandon Hollinger added 10 points from the bench, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. 

Alabama guard Alonzo Gee had an off-night; he averages 16.1 points a game but finished with only five points against the Bulldogs.

The Crimson Tide continued their horrific season on the free throw line.  Alabama made only 50 percent of their free throws compared to Georgia’s 91 percent. 

Alabama is among the worst teams in the nation in free throw shooting, ranking 317^th out of 328 teams. 

The Tide are now 0-3 in the SEC for the first time since head coach Mark Gottfried’s first season in 1998-99. 

Alabama will look for their first victory in the SEC at home against Mississippi State on Saturday. 

Georgia will look to continue their winning ways against Arkansas at home on also on Saturday.

After being down by as much as 12 in the second half, the Alabama Crimson Tide fought hard to get back into the game and found themselves in overtime against the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road. The extra five minutes weren't enough for the Crimson Tide, as the Hogs recovered and found a way to win at home 71-67.

Alabama (11-6, 0-2 SEC) used a tip-in by Demetrius Jemison and then Mykal Riley hit a three off a screen with 18 seconds remaining to tie the game at 60. Jemison blocked a Razorback floater with one second left and neither team corralled the ball as time-expired in regulation.

In overtime, Arkansas (13-3, 2-0) got a big three from Gary Irvin to take a 65-64 lead for good. The Razorbacks rode some late Tide miscues and a missed traveling violation by the referees to squeeze out a home victory.

Alabama forward Alonzo Gee shot and missed a three with 14 seconds remaining in the game. Patrick Beverley came down with the rebound for the Hogs and was fouled by Justin Tubbs. Beverley missed both free throws, but Alabama’s Demetrius Jemison knocked the rebound out-of-bounds with no one around him with 14 seconds left. Charles Thomas sealed the deal for the Hogs by hitting two free throws with seven seconds remaining.

Alabama played in between six and twelve points down for most of the game, but was able to put together a late surge to force overtime. The Tide kept Arkansas scoreless from the field for the last four minutes of regulation to help aid their comeback.

Both teams had key players in foul trouble during the game, but the only player to foul out was Alabama’s Mykal Riley. Riley managed to score 16 points during his time on the floor, including his three to send the game into overtime.

Richard Hendrix continued his domination of the SEC by scoring a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, recording yet another double-double. The third member of Alabama’s big three, Alonzo Gee, scored 15 points, but was kept away from the boards for only 5 rebounds, just over half of his season average.

The Razorbacks were led by Darian Townes, who went 7-8 from the field and scored 18 points, one of four Hogs in double figures. Townes was averaging 11 points per game entering and had 12 by the end of the first half. Arkansas’ leading scorer, Patrick Beverley, only had six points, but pulled down 13 rebounds while playing around fouls for most of the game.

Both teams struggled from the free throw line, something that has been a haunting story for the Tide this season. Alabama was only 10-18 from the free throw line for 56 percent and Arkansas was 20-29 for 69 percent.  Both teams also struggled from downtown, with Alabama shooting 32 percent and Arkansas only shooting 27 percent. Neither team shot above 40 percent from the field for the game.

A key for Arkansas in this game was their bench scoring. The Razorbacks got 34 points of support from there reserves compared to Alabama's six. The lack of support for the Alabama starters has really hurt the team lately. The bench has only scored 12 points so far this conference season.

Alabama has now lost two straight road openers in the SEC at Arkansas, losing their SEC opener last season 88-61. Alabama is 0-2 in the SEC for the first time in this century and the first time under coach Mark Gottfried. Arkansas is 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2001-02. That was the last season of legendary coach Nolan Richardson’s stay in Fayetteville.

Alabama will look for their first win of the conference season in Athens, GA on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2007 for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are coming off a road loss to Mississippi State will open their home conference schedule with the Crimson Tide.

Alabama will get another chance at the Razorbacks at home later this season when Arkansas travels to Tuscaloosa on Feb. 27.

Everyone who has played basketball from the time the goal had a "Little Tikes" label and the ball was rubber knows the importance of making your free throws.

It's one of the most important aspects of the game, especially if you want to win.

It's how we finished practice in church league, middle school and high school. Flat out, they are called free throws for a reason.

However, they aren't exactly coming as easy as "free" may imply for the 2007-08 edition of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

That was never more evident than during Alabama's second half collapse against the Florida Gators last Tuesday night.

Leading by seven at halftime, the Tide endured a 14-point swing before going down 90-83. The Tide missed seven free throws in the second half and 11 in the game, shooting a dismal 57 percent overall.

That showing isn't exactly a rarity this season for Alabama, as they have only made 60 percent of their free throws this season. That's the best in the state as far as the SEC goes, as Alabama is 11th and Auburn is 12th in the conference in free-throw percentage.

Alabama is at least lucky to have Auburn in their conference, because nationally, it's much worse.

The Crimson Tide is one of 328 teams in Division-I NCAA Men's Basketball. Out of all those teams, Alabama ranks 311th in the country in free-throw percentage.

Three Hundred Eleventh!

There are more teams between Alabama and No. 1 Florida State than there were people in my graduating class from my high school...and I went to a 6A school.

To put it bluntly, Alabama is abysmal from the charity stripe.

In 16 games, Alabama has only had a better free-throw percentage than its opponents four times. The Tide has shot below 50 percent three times this season, as well as only shooting 52 percent against Texas A&M and 53 percent against Georgetown, both losses.

The Tide's season low is 38 percent against Southeastern Louisiana—a game the Tide had to go to overtime to win.

Said Alabama's Richard Hendrix after the Florida game, "It's very frustrating. I've been in a slump all season long."

The "slump" Hendrix is referring to was punctuated by a 12-21 night from the line against Florida.

"All in all, it was a rough night," he added.

It has been a rough season for Alabama at the stripe, and for the Tide to have any hope of a NCAA Tournament berth, the percentage from the line must get better.

The Tide will look to improve their free throw-shooting on the road on Sunday, January 13th against the Arkansas Razorbacks, who are shooting 68 percent from the free throw line themselves this season.