Cecil Hurt: Where Did Alabama's Hope Go?

RTR91

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Nov 23, 2007
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At times in Alabama’s loss at Arkansas in Saturday evening’s basketball game, you would get the feeling that you were watching some weird experimental film, running backward, not forward in the way that one understands lineal time. As routine passes sailed three feet out of bounds, as Alabama fast-break opportunities repeatedly turned into blocked shots, or poor shot selection or turnovers that Arkansas efficiently took the other way, one got the feeling that this was a group of players who had met one another for the first time on the bus ride to the game.
 

alabama mike1

All-American
Jul 12, 2013
2,694
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107
Ohio
Bottom line? We are just bad at basic fundamentals of the game! Once again, I sat down Saturday to watch this team and it was so painful to watch. We are not an NCAA tournament team, not even a play in team. Give an at-large bid to a team that wants to go and wants to play hard.
 

CB4

Hall of Fame
Aug 8, 2011
9,451
13,426
187
Birmingham, AL
I made the comment in an earlier post that at times this team reminded me of five players on a team at a pick up game at the Y. We all see it.

Is this a group incapable of playing within a team concept or is it a staff incapable of teaching it? Funny how there are teams out there that lose 3 or 4 starters every year, recruit top prospects, and improve throughout the season to playing sound, fundamental team basketball as they move through February and into March. For us that hasn’t occurred under CAJ. Look at his record in February and March the last four years.

I don’t buy the notion these players aren’t capable. Which leads me to only one other conclusion.
 
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Rama Jama

All-American
Jan 4, 2011
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Bottom line? We are just bad at basic fundamentals of the game! Once again, I sat down Saturday to watch this team and it was so painful to watch. We are not an NCAA tournament team, not even a play in team. Give an at-large bid to a team that wants to go and wants to play hard.
I think the kids are playing the way they are taught. At this level, you used to get kids who had good fundamentals on day one. Our players simply are not fundamentally sound. They have to be taught or retaught fundamentals 1st. Coach Johnson is focused on running NBA plays and we simply do not have the basic skills to run them. We simply don't dribble, shoot, pass, catch the ball, block out well. We show flashes at times because our athleticism covers up our lack of basketball skills. This is why were are so inconsistent.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
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I think the kids are playing the way they are taught. At this level, you used to get kids who had good fundamentals on day one. Our players simply are not fundamentally sound. They have to be taught or retaught fundamentals 1st. Coach Johnson is focused on running NBA plays and we simply do not have the basic skills to run them. We simply don't dribble, shoot, pass, catch the ball, block out well. We show flashes at times because our athleticism covers up our lack of basketball skills. This is why were are so inconsistent.
Then thank AAU and its "coaches"...
 

CB4

Hall of Fame
Aug 8, 2011
9,451
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Birmingham, AL
I had two kids that played AAU basketball (14U) that also played on my youth baseball team when I coached. Both were extremely athletic and very good players, both basketball and baseball wise.

I would go watch them play from time to time. Almost every game was how do we ”out athlete” the other guy. There was little in the way defensive fundamentals, rebounding techniques, set plays, screens, post ups, switching defenses, etc.. It was ridiculous.
 

Rama Jama

All-American
Jan 4, 2011
3,303
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Tuscaloosa
Watch Duke or North Carolina for a game or 2. What makes them consistently successful is their kids are good at the basics. Now watch us wildly go down court out of control and turn the ball over. We are in such a hurry to try to make the highlight play that we rarely make the right play.
 

JDCrimson

Hall of Fame
Feb 12, 2006
5,346
4,417
187
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There is no time available on the AAU circuit for practice. It's all about playing games. The faster pace ball limits opportunities for kids to develop ballhandling and passing skills because the ball isnt in there hand long enough. No practice time to work on inbound plays, etc. I imagine CAJ spends most of his practice time on scrimmaging and ball movement. If no one on the team is fundamentally strong no one gets better competing against each other.

Generally, the the players who are fundamentally strong now are not competitive athletically so you still dont win. So what is the riddle here? There isnt enough allowable practice time to go back to basics of fundamentals. 20hrs per week for practice, working out, and meetings just isnt enough of you significant fundamentals issues.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 

Mystical

All-American
Sep 28, 2009
4,052
458
107
Fairhope, Alabama
I think our biggest issue, even more than an inside presence, is ball handling. We lost a lot of games due to poor ball handling. That should be priority number one get a true ball handler to help our freshman point.
 

imauafan

All-American
Mar 3, 2004
3,619
977
232
Huntsville, AL
I think our biggest issue, even more than an inside presence, is ball handling. We lost a lot of games due to poor ball handling. That should be priority number one get a true ball handler to help our freshman point.
I've said this several times recently that we desperately need a backup PG as well as a proven big man next year. We've filled up our scholarships for next year so unless someone leaves we don't have room to sign anyone else. However I fully expect at least 1 player and perhaps 2 or 3 to leave but then the issue becomes have we even been recruiting a PG. I'm not aware if we have so our options become grad transfer PG that will be willing to play second fiddle to Kira, 2) JUCO guy that we can jump in on and have a realistic shot of signing, 3) regular transfer that can be eligible immediately, or 4) HS recruit that has slipped through the cracks.
 

CrimsonEyeshade

Hall of Fame
Nov 6, 2007
5,410
1,521
187
The problems seem much broader to me. We’re just not very good. And like any other not-very-good team, our greatest strength is finding whatever it takes to lose.
 

DogPatch

Suspended
Dec 4, 2018
4,070
3,083
187
Tuscaloosa
wildly go down court out of control and turn the ball over.
That is a perfect synopsis of every AAU team I saw this weekend at an AAU tournament I had to work this weekend, save two (one boys, one girls - both in matching uniforms, sweats, and shoes).
 

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