Game Thread: ****Official Game Thread - Bama vs. LSU****

Sorry I wasn't here guys I had to make a trip to Sam's Club and I took my daughter to see "Strange Magic" in Flagstaff! Interesting movie, a CGI "Rock Opera".

Bama Reb said:

I know we would all like to see us make it to the Dance, but based on how this team is playing, does anyone here think we'd stand a chance of winning against any quality team?
I don't.

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Best I can see is 3-3 over the last 6 games and depending on seeding in the SEC tournament, maybe a opening round win there and out? If so then 17 or 18 wins by this team will not get us into the NCAA. NIT maybe. And an NIT birth only prolongs the agony.

I expected a win at LSU to be very difficult before SEC play started. They have two quality inside players and Bama guards would have to score win. The refs did not do Bama any favors in the 1st ten minutes or so of the game either. Bama got in a hole and missing two key players took its toll.

LSU worked hard to stay in Cooper's face to take away his 3-point opportunities; he made some good drives taking advantage of this but struggled to hit the shots. With Tarrant or Obasohan, Bama would have had a couple more options in finding a hot hand.

I think Bama will win 5 of the next 6 based on matchups (assuming Obasohan and Tarrant will be back). This means that if they win at MSU they will have to win at Vanderbilt or at AU.

I know I am making a mistake by looking at each game on its own rather than the "entire body of work" over the season so far but it keeps me interested...:frown:

Unwatchable is all I can say. Yet somehow I will rationalize watching every game. I wish I were able to look away.

TIDE-HSV said:

We actually run a offense very similar to UK's (and UF, for that matter). The problem is that, when we need to go inside, our bigs can't make anything happen. I had high hopes for Kessens when he was playing against lesser competition...

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Basketball, to me, is an inside game and always will be. Without the inside game it's hard for anything else to work.

Alasippi said:

Basketball, to me, is an inside game and always will be. Without the inside game it's hard for anything else to work.

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Yep. Very similar to football. In football the team that controls the LOS almost always wins. In basketball it is usually the team that controls the paint and the backboards..

Silverback said:

Unwatchable is all I can say. Yet somehow I will rationalize watching every game. I wish I were able to look away.

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This post made me think of posting something snarky like " . . so watching our basketball team is like watching a train wreck, minus the excitement . . "
i
Then I remembered that I didn't even set a dvr [work], and it hit me hard . . . Watching this team IS sort of like watching a train wreck. There is lots of commotion then something bad happens at the end. It hurts to say that, folks. When I watch, I see lots of effort from the players and feel bad for them that they are so rarely enjoying a win for their efforts. I can't figure out if they simply are not good enough to be successful against most SEC teams, are a bad match for a coaches' system, are badly prepared for games, or some combination of all the preceding.

One thing that is more clear to me is that $$ will soon become a major factor in any desision regarding Grant. If we are indeed paying him 2 mil plus assistant salaries + operating expenses for crowds of 3k to 4k at home games, the math will not work for long. Football and mens hoops must support the other sports and at current crowd sizes it won't work for long even with the increased television dollars.

Grant seemed like such a solid get when he was hired. Sort of scary to think of hiring another coach. Unfortunately - barring some borderline miracle turnaround - signs increasingly point to that direction.

Reallly hate that it may come to that, but for all the educational mission talk, it IS a business.

bama579 said:

This post made me think of posting something snarky like " . . so watching our basketball team is like watching a train wreck, minus the excitement . . "
i
Then I remembered that I didn't even set a dvr [work], and it hit me hard . . . Watching this team IS sort of like watching a train wreck. There is lots of commotion then something bad happens at the end. It hurts to say that, folks. When I watch, I see lots of effort from the players and feel bad for them that they are so rarely enjoying a win for their efforts. I can't figure out if they simply are not good enough to be successful against most SEC teams, are a bad match for a coaches' system, are badly prepared for games, or some combination of all the preceding.

One thing that is more clear to me is that $$ will soon become a major factor in any desision regarding Grant. If we are indeed paying him 2 mil plus assistant salaries + operating expenses for crowds of 3k to 4k at home games, the math will not work for long. Football and mens hoops must support the other sports and at current crowd sizes it won't work for long even with the increased television dollars.

Grant seemed like such a solid get when he was hired. Sort of scary to think of hiring another coach. Unfortunately - barring some borderline miracle turnaround - signs increasingly point to that direction.

Reallly hate that it may come to that, but for all the educational mission points, it IS a business.

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Yes, it is. When I look at it from the viewpoint of a business owner, I would have to ask myself one question: Am I satisfied with this person's job performance? If that answer is "No", then one fact becomes painfully clear:
Keeping someone who isn't performing their job up to a given set of standards rarely makes good business sense.

Alasippi said:

I truly hate to say this, because I admire the man immensely, but, yeah, it's time for a change.
A middle school team runs a more complicated offense.
I'm sure our players believe in their coach, but there's no way his philosophy can be successful.
I'm not even sure what his philosophy is. But passing the ball around the perimeter and shooting a 3 at the last second isn't going to work, because our outside shooters can't shoot. Sorry, but that's the way it is.
And we have absolutely NO inside offensive threat at all. NOBODY!.
The coach has to recruit inside players who can score.
Coach Grant has failed miserably in that area. That, ultimately will be his downfall.
The sad thing is....I'm not sure who can do any better in that area.
We're not exactly the ultimate coaching destination in America.
sip

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My sentiments exactly!!!

TIDE-HSV said:

That's my point. Our offense is designed to get it inside, as is UK's. The problem is that theirs actually works to do that and ours does not. That result in the last second shot or botched attempt inside. We still don't have anyone there who can control the ball and make a decent play on it. IOW, I think it's players and player development more than scheme...

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Exactly.
Playing deliberately to get a good shot requires the manpower to do it. We have a hard time scoring against anyone's set defense, so slowig it down and giving the other team time to set their defense does not seem to be the thing to do. When we pass it around the perimeter looking for that inside pass, I'm thinking "why? It's not like we're passing it in to Lebron James or Tim Duncan." Sure we get a back door cut and easy basket every once and awhile, but for every possession that happens, there are four or five where we forced to take a "circus" shot or a 25-footer.

Some fans talk about making the NCAA's, but even if by some miracle we did go on a run and make the tournament, we'd be a very low seed and with virtually no inside game, average rebounding at best, and poor outside shooting, more than likely we would just be "cannon fodder".A basketball team is built from the inside out, and until we get that addressed we're "treading water" at best.