The pollen is beginning to fall in Alabama. It took a while, but it looks like the Crimson Tide’s shots on the basketball court might soon begin to follow suit.
Tide hoops snapped its losing streak in time for this week’s SEC Tournament, while Alabama football’s team seems to be off to a strong start during its first week of spring camp under Kalen DeBoer.
There’s plenty to discuss from the past week, so pour yourself a drink, and let's dive in.
Drink of the week — Bloody Mary
I’m not the biggest fan of Bloody Marys. Sifting through the remnants of a salad or getting poked in the eye with a celery stick every time I try to take a sip just isn’t my thing. That said, there’s something about the tomato juice or that overload of electrolytes and vitamins from the garden inside the drink that has a way of curing hangovers.
That’s what Alabama basketball needed this weekend following back-to-back losses and defeats in three of its last four games. Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, it found the right mix of ingredients to get the job done during its 92-88 overtime win over Arkansas on Saturday.
Despite getting into foul trouble, Grant Nelson was able to keep his celery-stick frame on the court, allowing him to record a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Think of Nick Pringle as the dill pickle spear, as the big man came down with a double-double of his own (10 points, 10 rebounds) while providing a hearty dose of flavor and energy in the lineup. Mark Sears’ leadership served as the base of Alabama’s winning cocktail, as the senior scored a team-high 22 points while pulling the Tide together through tough times. Aaron Estrada’s production came in smaller dashes, but he spiced things up with a team-high seven assists.
And where would Alabama be without Latrell Wrightsell? The senior scored 20 points while providing all the shots the Tide needed on the afternoon, including the game-tying 3 with 22.1 seconds remaining in regulation.
If you’re up for making your own Bloody Mary, here’s how it’s done.
There’s a variety of ingredients that can go into this one, so feel free to add and subtract at your discretion. As for essentials, you’ll need a teaspoon of salt, three-fourths of a cup of tomato-vegetable juice cocktail (something like V8), two dashes of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of hot sauce (I use Louisiana Hot Sauce because I was raised right), salt, ground black pepper, a celery stock, a couple of stuffed green olives and 1.5 ounces of vodka.
Once you gather your ingredients, fill a shaker with ice as well as the tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt, pepper and vodka. Shake for about 20 seconds. Next, salt the rim of a pint glass and fill it with ice cubes. From there, pour your mixture from the shaker into the pint glass and garnish with the celery stick and the olives — or whatever else you want to throw in there.
Cheers!
Alabama’s era has a new sound
I wrote last week about how things would look different in the DeBoer era. I knew there would be changes to access and a more media-friendly vibe around the Mal Moore Athletic Complex. However, I was still taken aback while stepping into my first open-viewing period of practice in three years.
The differences between DeBoer practices and the workouts that took place under Nick Saban are easy to spot, but you don’t even have to open your eyes to notice the most obvious one.
Alabama practices are now accompanied by a soundtrack ranging from country, hip-hop, EDM and pretty much everything in between. The music is blared from multiple speakers positioned in the middle of the Tide’s practice fields, and it certainly pumps some energy into the workout.
“I like it," Alabama guard Tyler Booker said. "At IMG we had music at practice, so coming to Bama I knew it was going to be a lot more serious, but I remember my first practice I was looking around trying to find the speakers and I was like 'Oh that's how this goes here'. Glad to have some music back. It brings a different type of energy but guys are still staying focused.”
I’m not much of a workout warrior. If you saw me in person, that wouldn’t surprise you. However, on the occasions I drag myself out of bed early enough to go for a run, music is a necessity. I need something fast-paced, energetic and loud to drown out the thoughts of quitting that usually begin to pop up about a quarter of a mile in.
While I welcome the distraction during my cardio workouts, it’s worth asking if music could get in the way of Alabama learning a new scheme this spring.
So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“When you’re practicing, you don’t really even notice it,” Alabama edge rusher Quandarrius Robinson said. “I didn’t even notice it until the end of practice when they turned it off. I was like, ‘Dang, it’s pretty quiet out here now.’”
Having experienced the booming beats first-hand, I have a hard time buying that anyone can completely tune them out. However, I can see how the slight distraction could actually serve as a benefit for the Tide moving forward.
“A lot of people were like, when [DeBoer] mentioned playing music in practice, saying that it's a a good thing so we won't get distracted by crowd noise," Alabama running back Jam Miller said. “They just play whatever they want to play. If they hear one player listens to one music, they go get the music and try to distract them to see who gets distracted during practice by playing the same music.”
If that’s the case, Alabama might want to pump up the volume a few extra decibels during snapping drills this spring.
Speaking of snaps…
Another difference in DeBoer’s spring camp is that assistant coaches are made available to the media. In just one week, reporters have spoken with eight of Alabama’s 10 on-field assistants. Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack seems like the guy who’d be the best to grab a beer with, while wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard could make you want to run through a wall just by reading off a grocery list.
While each Alabama assistant has provided a bit of interesting insight, the chat that stands out the most from last week came with Chris Kapilovic. The first-year offensive line coach spoke on a variety of topics Friday, but none were more interesting than how he’s handling the center position.
Kapilovic hasn’t gone back and watched film of Alabama’s snapping troubles from last year. Although, he’s heard plenty about it since he was hired last month.
Kapilovic, who previously coached offensive line at Michigan State, Colorado, North Carolina, Southern Miss, Missouri State and Alabama State, said snapping is something he’s always taken seriously in the offseason. His offensive linemen go through snapping techniques every day, and each snap is charted and graded by coaches.
That goes for every lineman, not just the centers.
Kapilovic said there was a time earlier in his career when he went into the season with four centers only to lose three of them in one week. Since then, he likes to have as many as 8-10 linemen with snapping ability in his unit at all times.
“Back in the day, if you were just under center, you could throw anybody in there,” Kapilovic said. “But in a shotgun offense, it’s a skill. I don’t have to reflect on last year, but nobody notices a snap until it’s bad. It’s important you have guys who can do it.”
Speaking of centers…
One of the surprises from last week’s open viewing period was James Brockermeyer manning the first-team center spot over Washington transfer Parker Brailsford.
Brockermeyer has been a model teammate since joining the Tide as part of the 2021 class. Often overshadowed by his five-star twin brother Tommy, James kept his head down and fought for his spot — even after Tommy transferred to TCU last offseason. That being said, the redshirt junior only has 37 offensive snaps over his three years with the program.
Meanwhile, Brailsford transferred to Alabama this offseason after serving as the starting center on Washington’s Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line last year. The redshirt sophomore already knows the new offensive scheme and is the highest-graded returning center in the nation, according to Pro Football Focus.
“It’s great competition,” Kapilovic said. “We’re rotating guys, and nothing’s better for your team than competition. When you’ve got another guy behind you that’s pushing you, that can win that job, that raises the level of play for both those guys. So I think it’s critical.”
What Kapilovic won’t say is that it’s also critical to keep both centers on the roster. Brockermeyer’s patience has been admirable, but it likely only goes so far. Giving the redshirt junior the first crack at the starting job this spring might keep him from hitting the transfer portal.
Even if Brailsford ends up as Alabama’s starter in the fall, Brockermeyer will be essential to providing depth at the position. While Kapilovic says he’s looking to increase the number of potential snappers in his unit, Brailsford and Brockermeyer are the only true centers on the Tide’s roster at the moment.
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