Crimson Red Sports

In his first start of the season, Trevor Releford was ready.

Oh, was he ready.

The junior guard scored a career-high 25 points Friday night to lead Alabama (4-0) to a 77-55 victory over Villanova (3-1) in the 2K Sports Classic championship game at Madison Square Garden in New York.

http://www.al.com/alabamabasketball/index.ssf/2012/11/alabama_77_villanova_55_final.html#incart_river

Two big wins in NYC for the team.  RTR

After a week of agony over the loss to Texas A&M last Saturday, the basketball team gave me just what I needed, a big surprise victory.

I say big surprise because it was a victory earned by long range shooting, something that all of us did not think existed with the team again this year. The team sure had the announcers of the game on ESPN2 reevaluating them after they just bombarded the net last night with the long shot. The beauty of it all was, it wasn't just one player with the hot hand. I have never seen an Alabama team shoot that well from the 3 point range.

I also think that Bama is improving more and more with their big men underneath the basket. Last night was the first game that I have seen since CAG arrived that the opposing team were altering their shots because of the long arms provided around the basket and I'm hoping this is a trend for the games ahead. This team might just make some big noise this year. I know it is very early in the season but I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far, two quality wins on last second shots and then this huge display of 3 point shooting last night.

I'll be going to the football game today with a whole new attitude after that big loss last Saturday and while I'm there, the softball team will be on the quad signing autographs so I'll go spend a little time with Pat Murphy and his gang. Also Kuiyam tells me that Jessie got himself a new suit to wear to the game today so I'll have to go watch the "Walk of Champions" today and see the big man all decked out in a coat and tie. By the way, Jessie carries a 3.7 GPA and will be graduating in December, another big honor for him indeed. ;)

Ain't it great to be a Crimson Tide fan. Roll Tide!!!  :clap:

Great for Jesse! Now what could Kuiyam possibly celebrate that with?  :think:

  :rofl: :dance: :clap:

Great win by Bama. We start the season 4-0 and add some hardware to the trophy case. Wins over Oregon State and Villanova will look good on the Tournament resume. Our best win may turn out to be South Dakota State. SDS was an RPI top 50 team last year and returned four starters.

Our outside shooting looks like it has really improved. Releford was 5-5 last night. In the previous two years he was not a 3 pt threat. What I like best is we are not counting on any one guy to carry the outside shooting load. Releford, Lacey, Cooper and Randolph are all capable. If one guy has an off night we still have options.

I am still concerned with our play under the basket. We have a lot of scrappy play that gets us some rebounds and that is good. Jacobs played 20 minutes last night but does not look like he is at full speed to me. Gueye and Engstrom are role players. They offer very little on the offensive end. They clog the lane, alter shots and rebound on the defensive end so that is good. We will need better play from the bigs down the road.

We shot 56% from the field and 60% fro 3 pt (9-15). However, we were 19-31 (62%) from the free throw line. Free throw shooting will hurt us if we do not improve. We need to be shooting 75% or better.

What we lack in team height we make up for with team speed and that is showing up on the defensive pressure. He held Nova 25 points below their average. When we play well we hold teams to about 60 pts or less. In New York we held opponents to 62 and 55 points. We played some zone last night that was very effective. It is not your typical zone. We match up and show a lot of movement and do not give open shots. Zones are not known for being aggressive but ours is aggressive. Whether we played zone or man Nova did not get many open shots.

Releford started last night and freshman Pollard was on the bench. Pollard only played 18 minutes. He has talent but he has a long way to go to be ready for SEC play. I think CAG may decide to reduce his minutes and let him get used to the college game and bring him along a little slower than expected.

We have Charleston Southern at home next Friday. We still have a good non conference schedule of games remaining. After Charleston Southern we have Lamar, Cincinnati, Dayton, VCU, Texas Tech, Mercer, Tulane and Oakland. That schedule should prepare us for SEC play and give the the opportunity to establish a good SOS.

4-0 is a great way to start the season.

Roll Tide.

I have to disagree  LITTLE BIT about our height & our big men. We usually have a 7 footer & 6' 8" Pollard on the court at one time and/or a Jacobs/Pollard/Engstrom combination. We get in trouble when neither Engstrom and Jacobs are on the court. Jacobs looked aggressive and confident under the basket, but 2 of his FG's were denied due to his offensive fouls, which caused him to be in foul trouble. If you watch the NBA or other good college BB teams, many of them do not have good play from their big men (centers). They are carried by shooting guards and/or good small forwards. Do we need better rebounding, absolutely, but we need Engstrom and Jacobs to stay out of foul trouble.



 :clap:

All good observations guys.

Mostly what I noticed was Bama's passing game, and how much smoother the offense operated compared to last year.  The players are more comfortable playing together as a team, which shows with the extra pass, finding the open man, and clock management.

Pollard sticks out like a sore thumb because he is not yet accustomed to playing with the other guys.  I agree that he needs more time to adjust to the college game and his new team.

One guy who stood out was Obasohan, who scored 7 points off the bench.  I was glad to see him out there and how well he is developing.

Also Cooper (17pts) and Releford (25 pts) took up the slack from Lacy spending so much time on the bench with foul trouble.

Overall this team shows a lot of promise and is improved from last year.  The non-conference schedule is well-designed to provide challenging games and give the players a chance to further improve and gel as a team.

(http://cdn3.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3430401/156542268.0_standard_783.0.jpg)

I agree with most of the opinions of everyone and this team got the shot in the arm that they needed for their confidence in New York.

I think Pollard is trying too hard which is normal for a first year highly ranked player. I wish CAG would play him the way Releford has been playing and bring him in off the bench for a few games. This might take away some of his first year anxiety problems.