Alabama hangs on vs South Carolina 81-78

[Jordan Harper]

-This was a very sloppy game by the Tide (again), but good teams find ways to win especially on the road. South Carolina is not a very good basketball team, but they have two future pros and a great HC so you knew they would bring their best. That is one thing Alabama has shown struggles with is the other team bringing their best and then matching it at the beginning of the game. Alabama went down 16-5 early on with multiple turnovers and defensive lapses. They fought back to take a 25-24 lead and it was back and forth until around 4 minutes left when Alabama led by 8 and never relinquished the lead. South Carolina did not play good situational basketball scoring a layup down 3 with 4 seconds left. Rojas made 2 free throws with 1 second left to seal the game for Alabama to move to 16-5 (11-1).

- Juwan Gary got the start in his hometown and unfortunately suffered a nasty looking shoulder injury. Alabama had planned on playing Herbert Jones limited minutes, but with Gary going down he had to gut it out and do not play well. He played a total of 28 minutes and never looked comfortable offensively shooting 1/7 with 4 turnovers. The Gary injury really affected the overall gameplan and left the front court very thin.

-Alabama committed 22 turnovers and still scored 81 points on the road. Over half of the turnovers were unforced and they likely won by 15+ if they just cut the turnovers in half. The Alabama defense did not have one of their best games giving up wide open looks to an offensively challenged team and give them credit they knocked them down. The guards played awful off then ball defensively, constantly getting lost giving up open looks. On the flip side, you have to give the defense credit forcing 18 turnovers and not letting the game get out of hand after turning the ball over 22 times on the other end. The defense was what sparked the first half rally to get back into it.

-John Petty had a good game with 20 points and Primo got off the snide with 12. Jahvon Quinerly looks more confident shooting the ball tallying 13 points, but continues to struggle with turnovers while penetrating. Keon Ellis continues his great defensive stretch with 3 more steals and is averaging nearly 3 steals a game in his past 5 games.

-Depending on the severity of Gary’s injury, I can see Herbert Jones to sit out on Saturday to give him some much needed rest. They do not have much frontcourt depth and that is why Herbert has been trying to fight through this back injury. I would not be surprised to see 15 minutes of Keon Ambrose Saturday.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Herb has to sit. His play has not been good. Offensively it’s putrid.

when we get Herb and Quinerly back clicking on O, this is a scary team. I hope we get there!!

 

[aggietider]

Sit Herb. Let him rest. Get somebody else some quality minutes. And let JQ play through his funk. We need Herb healthy and we need JQ down the stretch. JQ hasn’t played a ton of college basketball either. He’s still fairly young in terms of experience. He needs have to fight through the rough times and get better.

 

[Jordan Harper]

Herb has to sit. His play has not been good. Offensively it’s putrid.

when we get Herb and Quinerly back clicking on O, this is a scary team. I hope we get there!!

We should be fully healthy by the last week of the season

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

We should be fully healthy by the last week of the season

I say let’s go that route. I know a lot of what Herb does doesn’t exactly jump out to the casual fan but I just don’t know that his recent play is vital to us winning like his normal play is. What I’m saying is we can go without this version of Herb for a few games to get him healthy

 

[cpat4bama]

Would like to Ellis in the starting lineup

 

[mtmax]

Sit Herb and I feel confident in Ellis taking up the defensive slack while providing more offense. Herb is not the same defensively due to the injury. Hoping Gary is not badly injured and think we see a lot of Ambrose-Hylton against GA.

 

[cpat4bama]

Sit Herb and I feel confident in Ellis taking up the defensive slack while providing more offense. Herb is not the same defensively due to the injury. Hoping Gary is not badly injured and think we see a lot of Ambrose-Hylton against GA.

Hopefully it was a stinger. Or at worst a clean separation. I’ve had both. Both hurt, but not super serious.

 

[aggietider]

Hopefully it was a stinger. Or at worst a clean separation. I’ve had both. Both hurt, but not super serious.

Whatever it was, dude was hurting. If it was just popped out of place and nothing was torn or anything, he will be good to go soon?

 

[cpat4bama]

Whatever it was, dude was hurting. If it was just popped out of place and nothing was torn or anything, he will be good to go soon?

As long as it was a clean separation might need to sit a game maybe two.

 

[rsaxoniii]

That game got on my nerves...I hate whistles. Thank God we won.

 

[frazor]

That game got on my nerves...I hate whistles. Thank God we won.

52 total fouls.

 

[frazor]

As long as it was a clean separation might need to sit a game maybe two.

What worries me is just how much flailing around on the ground he was doing. Dislocated mine once on a fall and I was scared to move a muscle. Hopefully it was nothing structural but even with a dislocated shoulder he is going to be one sore hombre for a week. Best case scenario is two weeks IMO judging by his reaction and shoulder sling on the sidelines.

 

[JWG41BAMA]

I miss Bruner

 

[winin11]

Harper or anybody that knows...... When do we think Bruner might get to play?
pits been 4 weeks today since he has been out...

 

[Jordan Harper]

Harper or anybody that knows...... When do we think Bruner might get to play?
pits been 4 weeks today since he has been out...

I think they will rest him next week and likely have him back for Arkansas

 

[BaselineLeaner4]

Ugly win but I’ll take it. We need to get healthy bad.

 

[Tiderfl]

Shackleford still not hitting 3’s. He is stone cold. Really need him to start hitting his outside shot. Led the sec in 3 pointers made last year during conference play.

 

[aggietider]

Shackleford still not hitting 3’s. He is stone cold. Really need him to start hitting his outside shot. Led the sec in 3 pointers made last year during conference play.

I wonder how many more he shot. We had less shooters last year. And we had Kira to get people open. A point guard and a healthy Bruner and he'd be making more.

 

[jd82tide]

Couple of thoughts and questions. First off, the Grant, Johnson, and early Oats teams lose that game last night in some new bizarre way we've never seen before. This team expects to win and almost pulled a miracle out of our asses vs. Mizzou.
We need Herb healthy to make a realistic run. Do we just need to sit him two games and not worry so much about seeding as being healthy?
Without out Herb at 100% we really lack at good PG option to drive and distribute. JQ has looked great at times and out of control at others. Primo and Shack need to spot up and gun but don't do well at beating guys off dribble.
Need valuable minutes from Rojas and Reese. I know they are the targets of a lot of frustration including mine, but last night they put in some good dirty work and clutch free throws to help us win.
I'm fine if we fall to 3-5 seed as long as we come into Big Dance ready for a run.
Beating auburn the last game is a must. Beating auburn in anything anytime anywhere is a must. F auburn.
That's all.

 

[Sweetlou10]

Couple of thoughts and questions. First off, the Grant, Johnson, and early Oats teams lose that game last night in some new bizarre way we've never seen before. This team expects to win and almost pulled a miracle out of our asses vs. Mizzou.
We need Herb healthy to make a realistic run. Do we just need to sit him two games and not worry so much about seeding as being healthy?
Without out Herb at 100% we really lack at good PG option to drive and distribute. JQ has looked great at times and out of control at others. Primo and Shack need to spot up and gun but don't do well at beating guys off dribble.
Need valuable minutes from Rojas and Reese. I know they are the targets of a lot of frustration including mine, but last night they put in some good dirty work and clutch free throws to help us win.
I'm fine if we fall to 3-5 seed as long as we come into Big Dance ready for a run.
Beating auburn the last game is a must. Beating auburn in anything anytime anywhere is a must. F auburn.
That's all.

Agree with all of this except the Rojas part. Anyone but him. We need Bruner back. Also, Petty needs to shoot at least 8 3’s a game. I don’t care if he’s swallowed up... he’s consistently proven he can make tough, contested threes. We can’t afford for him to shoot 2 threes in a game. We won last night because he took and made tough shots.

 

[jd82tide]

Agree with all of this except the Rojas part. Anyone but him. We need Bruner back. Also, Petty needs to shoot at least 8 3’s a game. I don’t care if he’s swallowed up... he’s consistently proven he can make tough, contested threes. We can’t afford for him to shoot 2 threes in a game. We won last night because he took and made tough shots.

Petty hit a real tough one last night unguardable. I feel ya on Raekwon Rojas, missed his calling as an end rusher for Saban. He's usually out of control and has 5 fouls, 4 assaults, and three turnovers in 4 minutes but if we have to play him need him to contribute. His FTs late were pretty impressive for a guy who shoots 53% going in. Bruner at 100% would be great.

 

[xcop]

Reese had his warmups on at the end of the game. did I miss him fouling out? just wonder why he knew he wasn't going back in .

 

[BamaNavyCPO]

Reese had his warmups on at the end of the game. did I miss him fouling out? just wonder why he knew he wasn't going back in .

BUMP
I was wondering the same thing.

 

[jd82tide]

BUMP
I was wondering the same thing.

Think he had a late hair appointment to get his tips re-frosted??? Sorry I don't really know either and wondered the same. But I do like the dark hair over his blonde phase.

 

[CrmsnTusk4]

Agree with all of this except the Rojas part. Anyone but him. We need Bruner back. Also, Petty needs to shoot at least 8 3’s a game. I don’t care if he’s swallowed up... he’s consistently proven he can make tough, contested threes. We can’t afford for him to shoot 2 threes in a game. We won last night because he took and made tough shots.

Rojas gave us great minutes last night when he didn't have the ball in his hands. That's the Rojas I like the most - the one without the ball.

 

[jtr4dad]

Rojas gave us great minutes last night when he didn't have the ball in his hands. That's the Rojas I like the most - the one without the ball.

The only time he needs to touch the ball is when he snags a rebound. And then he needs to get it to a ball handler as soon as possible, preferably without ever putting the ball on the floor.

 

[CrmsnTusk4]

The only time he needs to touch the ball is when he snags a rebound. And then he needs to get it to a ball handler as soon as possible, preferably without ever putting the ball on the floor.

Agreed. Other than that, love his motor and effort.

 

[BIGRON930]

I see we're up to 98th in the nation in 3 pt percentage.

 

[pwestbro61]

22 turnovers is just unacceptable. That will get you beat against better teams. Careless passes and bad ball handling.

 

[Sassy12]

Rewatching today as I had to turn off and just listen to Chris last night. Just as ugly as it sounded, but we gutted it out and another win we wouldn’t have won in the past. They are a tired team and I don’t know when they will be able to rest. Need Bruner and Herb for late season. Maybe limit Herb against Uga.

 

[TideFever]

I was afraid of this game almost as much as I was the Mizzou and LSU games if for no other reason than SCe teams under Martin always play rough and physical and we're a picture of walking wounded on a basketball court.

Great to gut out another win but we're getting worse overall. More turnovers, worse shooting, worse shot selection, but somehow we're winning. The last 4 minutes were almost horrifying with multiple airballs from Petty and missed layups and turnovers from usual suspects. I know injuries play into that a lot as well as teams figuring out who to pressure and where to do it when we have the ball but we gotta turn the corner again to finish strong this month.

Lost in this that I haven't seen much talk about... in spite of looking so awful so often Rojas of all players won the game at the FT line. He was 4-4 from the line in the last 4 minutes. He along with a made FT from Ellis were all of our points after around 4:20 to go in the game. Rojas also had a late rebound to at least offset his turnover. The game shouldn't have come to that though. So many missed points.

It's past time to rest Herb. Sit him in a training room with no basketball in sight and don't let him out for 10 days. Then start warming him up for the trip to Ark. There were several occasions last night where it hurt to see him try to do something. The time he tried to lift up for a layup or maybe a dunk on the left side of the paint and his feet just wouldn't get off the floor should have resulted in Oats pulling him out for the game. I know he's helping in some ways but if he doesn't get better he won't be able to help us in March.

The next 3 games I would hope we could win without Herb. They might not be cakewalks as we're proving to be capable of playing down to competition but I would hope we could win at home against UGA and Vandy and at A&M. On paper A&M and Vandy are the bottom 2 teams in the league but SCe is one spot above that and easily could have beat us last night.

 

[frazor]

I see we're up to 98th in the nation in 3 pt percentage.

7th in pts scored and 17th in rebounding are the numbers I like to see.

 

[pfaud001]

I now think Herb needs to rest. He didn't play well except for his passes, but he had some really bad turnovers. I agree with what others have said. Ellis can take his minutes and still lock down the defense. The biggest thing about Herb is that I think he keeps the team calm. They won without him last night, so let's hope that continues.

Rojas played some great defense, and I am impressed he made those free throws. He really got robbed on that offensive rebound. I hope Gary is okay. For as small as he is, he plays great defense. Regardless, I am ready for another blowout game so the guys can rest.

 

[BIGRON930]

7th in pts scored and 17th in rebounding are the numbers I like to see.

Agree. Especially on rebounding. It seems our games actually turn mostly on our rebounding, or lack thereof.