Crimson Red Sports

This is a big game for Bama even though UCLA hasn't shown much as a team this year. UCLA and Kentucky are two of the big names in basketball that weigh heavy with the selection committee whether they are having a good year or not and Bama can definitely use some help with the selection committee. Some of the analysts feel UCLA will still do well in the PAC 12 regardless of their start this season.

http://www.al.com/alabamabasketball/index.ssf/2014/12/basketball_preview_ucla_at_ala.html

UCLA has 4 losses but most teams lose to Oklahoma (34 RPI), North Carolina (15), Gonzaga (6) & Kentucky (1). Only the Gonzaga game was at home. UCLA has a RPI of 112. We are 42.

Both teams need this game. I expect UCLA to play well but give us the advantage because we are at home.

This game is so huge for the Tide & Grant. We must win, period.




 :tinfoil:

Tide starters:

Tarrant
Levi
Cooper
Taylor
Kessens


Tide leading 6-3. Sloppy start, both teams.

Poor, poor shooting by both. 22% Bama & 14% UCLA. UGLY!




 :shake:

UCLA is totally out-of-sync, making unforced errors. UCLA is shooting 2/16, Tide 5/18. 14-5 Tide with 9:00 left in half. Both teams have 14 rebounds.



 :popcorn2:

Tide 20-5. Looking good. Our shooting is bad 7/22, but UCLA is awful, 2/19, plus UCLA has 9 turnovers, Tide 5. Kessens, Levi, Hale, & Tarrant look good.



 :popcorn2:

UCLA coming alive. Tarrant has 15 points, Cooper has 6 rebounds & Kessens has 4. Tide 23 rebounds & UCLA 19.

Tide 25 UCLA 15


 :clap:

Tide has been pressing & playing zone. Tarrant hits 3 for 18 total points. Tide 29-15.



 :clap:

Tide 29  UCLA 17  HALF

Tide stats:

FG  9/28 32%
FT  5/8
3pt 2/15
Reb 23  (UCLA 19)

Lousy shooting but good rebounding & we are ahead.


 :clap: :clap: :clap:

Norris hits 3. Tide 32-27. Tide committing too many fouls now.

Tide struggling now. Tide 43-40. UCLA has scored 25 in 2nd half, Tide 14. Tarrant only player really scoring, with 21 points, Hale 8.

UCLA lost 3 starters to 1st round of NBA Draft. Wow. Tide 46-45. 3:00 minutes left.



 :tinfoil:

Grant calls a strange timeout, leaving Tide with only 1 timeout for next 3 minutes. UCLA has 3 timeouts left.


 :dunno:

Tarrant hits 2 critical free throws. 48-45 Tide. Levi fouled but no call, then UCLA steps out-of-bounds, Tie ball. Cooper shot blocked then UCLA hits 3 to tie game. Levi makes big goal for 2 points. 50-48 Tide. Now 51-50 with 47 seconds left, UCLA has ball.

Big rebound by Taylor on missed shot! Levi could and makes both FT's. Tide 53-50. UCLA misses 3 due to great D. Levi hits 2 FT, Tide 54-50. Turnover by UCLA & Levi hits 2 more FT, Tide wins 56-50.



 #+

Big win!  It's frustrating to see the team blow a big lead and struggle to the finish line, but after losing so many close games to quality teams (and some not quality teams) over the last couple of years I'm happy to see them hold on. 

I think this team is going to do well in SEC play. 

I followed the Gamecast so's not to meltdown at bad officiating as in the Wichita State game. Glad I did. Looks to me like they finished!

 #+

We won but we were playing a team that lost 4 starters from last year. Plus, the last 4 games we are averaging around 53-54 points a game. Not a good development. We are still too inconsistent.



 :dunno:

I choose my glass to be half full. I'm optimistic about our play in the SEC, with the exception of the 2 games with Ky.

With a game against Florida, 2 against Bruce Pearl, @LSU, @Arkansas, @UT, Ole Miss, @USC, & other games, we are in for a long, hard road. I can't wait to see how things go.


 :dog:

I said before the game that I felt this was a must win game for Bama and I felt it wouldn't come easy for them and it didn't. From the opening tip off, the play was very physical and UCLA looked to be the bigger, stronger team so I was hoping our shooting would be on tonight. Thank goodness UCLA was colder than Bama the first half and Bama was able to build a lead going into halftime. The second half was two different games, it was all UCLA the first ten minutes and then Bama found some life the second ten minutes and was able to hang on for the win. As I have stated numerous times of late, Bama's lack of good free throw shooting made this game closer than it should have been at the end even though it was Randolph's free throws that sealed the win. As far as Bama's field goal shooting, UCLA had a lot to do with their poor shooting. I though UCLA played an excellent defensive game as they made Bama earn every shot from the field and UCLA rebounded well also.

If there is one part of Bama's game that I can see big improvement in, it's the hustle and hard play of the players and this was the part of the game that won it for them tonight. They were flying all over the floor after loose balls and crashing bodies underneath the goal for rebounds and this is something that this team hasn't had all season. When you can't make the outside shots or the free throws you have to find a way to affect the other team and give yourself a chance for a win and that is to play hard and hope for some offense off of it. This is a sign of the team growing up a little and learning how to win the hard way, something Bama hasn't been able to do in two years. There will be games down the road where Bama will have the hot hand shooting and it's easier to win those but there are more games down the road also where playing hard and ugly will be the only way to win. I like the attitude of this team, it's something CAG hasn't seen in three years.

Bama plays North Florida this Friday to end their non-conference play and I have to think that the team is going into conference play in much better shape than we have seen in past years. I would like to think they could win them all but we all know better than that, this team isn't Kentucky. I'm still not sold on the team when they are playing on the road but who knows, with the mental toughness they are and have been playing with of late, they might have a good conference road season and that could mean going to the Big Dance after all.

Thanks for the report, J. They almost let this one get away, but they didn't. They found a way to finish and win. They are still building chemistry, I hope they find it all in the next couple of games so they can play well against the  SEC competition.

THE GOOD

Tide won
Turnovers: 12 (UCLA 18)
Defense played outstanding in the last 2 minutes
Blocked Shots: 5
Tarrant 24 points & Levi 15
Fouls: 15 (UCLA 24)

THE BAD

After Tarrant & Levi, highest scorer had 6 points
Rebounds: 38 (UCLA 40)
Assists: 7

THE UGLY

3 Pts: 4/22  18.2%
FT: 18/30   60%
FG: 17/51   33.3%


 :dog:

Thanks for the report all.  WOOT!   :clap:

Cooper was off big time tonight.  Did he ever score?

He is a very streaky player.  When he's hot, he's hot.  When he's not, he's not.  (RIP Jerry Reed).

What we've needed more than anything the last few years is some consistency.  We play well for a little while, then we get on one of those long droughts and can't even buy a basket.  This was another one of those games, but we managed to snap out of it in time to win in spite of ourselves.

I will take the win, but UCLA played even worse than we did and pretty much gave it to us.  I'm not sure how much weight a victory over UCLA will carry this year come selection time.  We will see.

The best thing is that we are 9-3, with the 3 losses coming to good teams.  We are in much better shape going into conference play this year.  We have survived to fight another day, which is more than we did last year.  By Jan. 1 last year our season was wrecked beyond repair.

Maybe, just maybe, they can put it all together and make a run.  They certainly have some talented players.  If they can continue to improve, especially Taylor, we might have a good year.

Thanks for the update, SC.  Woot.

E-cred for the report (add it to my golf-course commitment).  #+

Cooper MIGHT have scored 2 points but he did have 7 rebounds so he was not a total loss. UCLA lost 4 starters from last year, 3 were first round picks in the NBA Draft so they are a very young and inexperienced team. Their RPI is 120. Let's hope they start winning and get that RPI up above 50. Our RPI is 34. Our first 5 SEC games (with RPI), played in 13 days, are:

Texas A&M  56
@ UT  92
@ USC  82
Kentucky  1
@ Arkansas  22

Truly a challenging start to the SEC. Our weaknesses continue to be rebounding, 3 point shooting, and Jimmy Taylor getting in foul trouble early. Also, the FT shooting has suffered recently. Kessens, Norris, & Taylor have shown improvement, especially Kessens. Also, our road game woes have been a glaring weakness for years. If we can get more consistency from Cooper or someone else, it would make a huge difference since Tarrant & Levi are carrying the load right now.

 

It looked to me that no one wanted to take a shot nearing the end of the game.  I thought it led to forced shots.   Someone has to step up and take the open shot when they have it.

Tarrant is the only one who has no conscience when it comes to shooting. Levi seems to trying to be more assertive late in the game.

In most cases toward the end of a game, teams that have a lead will slow it down to milk the clock and try to get a high percent shot off, such as a drive to the basket and draw the foul. Bama had not hit many long range shots all night and in Bama's case in the second half, they got the fouls called but couldn't hit the free throws until the last minute of the game when Levi finally made his. Bama got a little cautious about driving to the basket in the second half and it could be because of the pounding they were getting when they did drive in. I am surprised though at how bad Bama is shooting free throws now and I think it cost them them the game at Wichita State. If I were CAG, I would be running the players until their tongues hung out and shoot free throws until they dreamed about them, it will pay dividends down the road.

I have to give UCLA a lot of credit though defensively against the perimeter shot, they seemed to put a lot of pressure on the shooter which resulted in hurry up shots that usually are missed. 

I understand that, but when do you see them drive to the pull up jumper?   I also, said this last year, many times they don't catch the ball looking ready to shoot. 

I was happy with the win last night. I saw a lot of positives.

The game was sloppy but our team played very hard. Sometimes you are not shooting the ball well and have to find other ways to win the game. That is what we did. UCLA lead at 2-0 and never had the lead again. I though we rebounded well. UCLA out rebounded us 40-39 but that is a draw IMO. We had 8 more missed shots so UCLA had more defensive opportunities. We got 7 dead ball rebounds to their 2.

I like our team. We have a deep bench and play a variety of different line ups. We have three good big men in Taylor, Kessens and Hale. Cooper, Randolph and Norris play small forwards so we can interchange these 6 players. We have not been this deep under CAG. Tarrant is very good player at one guard. Our guard play is solid. Our younger players are growing up and gaining confidence.

I thought before the season started we would go 10-3 in non conference play. If we win at home against North Florida on Friday that is where we will be. We currently have an RPI of 34 and SOS of 42. Those are good numbers. I do not understand all the negative posts. We are about where I expected us to be at this point in the season. We are not Kentucky but we can finish in the top 1/3 of the league.

I think CAG is doing a good job. Our shots did not fall last night but our offense is improved. We move the ball better and faster than past years. We have more players than Releford attacking the basket. We are rebounding better. We had no where to go but up from last years team but this team is playing together like a TEAM.

I'm cautiously optimistic, with a wait and see attitude after the recent disappointing seasons.  I wonder were we would be if Lacy didn't transfer to NC State.

Ask & you will receive. I checked his stats. Remember, he sat out last year and NC State has not started ACC play. He is averaging 18.0 points a game, shooting 51.0% & shooting 45.0% from 3 point line, a great percentage. You can watch him today at 3 pm on ESPNU against Cincinnati, a good defensive team.


http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/players/145000/trevor-lacey


 :dog: