Thoughts after Alabama's win over Vanderbilt

[Jordan Harper]

Won the game, now get out of Memorial. I cannot stand watching Alabama play there due to the disparity of foul calls and the awful gym. SIXTY ONE (61) free throws combined last night. It was the ref show all game long and to know surprise going against Vandy who gets the highest % of their points from the FT line than any team in the conference. Scotty Pippen Jr can get a foul call anytime he wants and it nearly cost Bama the game at the end.

Enough of the ranting. More on the game. I thought Alabama played a lot better defensively this game against a team that has been really good in conference play. What hurt Alabama the most was turnovers that turned into points. Vanderbilt got 63 of their 72 points either at the FT line or off turnovers. They got 36 points off turnovers which is insanity. The game shouldn't have been close, but Alabama held on for a key victory moving forward. JQ had a very strong 2nd half with 17 points, JD had a double double with 10/5/5 but struggled again with 5 turnovers, and Noah Gurley had a solid game with 10 points and 3 blocks. Alabama totaled 8 blocks and really defended the rim well against Robbins, who is a really good player. Shackelford struggled, but he hit a really big shot near the end of the game to keep Vanderbilt at bay.

I was overall pleased with how they responded and bounced back from the loss to UK. They started out very slow with 5 turnovers on the first 6 possessions, but settled down and made shots. They led by as many as 10 before the FT brigade started for Vanderbilt. The effort and intensity was there, they just have to cut down on turnovers and they will be able to put together a complete game. That is the wild part is that this team hasn't played a complete game on both ends. Hopefully that will soon come.

Alabama goes home to play a gritty South Carolina team on Saturday at 5pm. These two games at home against South Carolina and Texas A&M are big in terms of seeding, not only in the NCAAT but the SECT as well. Arkansas' win over Florida basically knocks Bama out of a double bye chance, so they really need to keep a hold on the 5 or 6 seed.

 

[frazor]

They led by as many as 10 before the FT brigade started for Vanderbilt.

Just a quick note about the importance of doing the little things. The free throw brigade started with Pippen missing the second of two free throws. Poor boxing out resulted in an offensive rebound and then another foul on Pippen. Pippen makes both and then I want to say Gurley inexplicably loses the ball out of bounds at halfcourt. Q then fouls Pippen on that 3 point attempt.
Box out and get a rebound and that threat is possibly minimized greatly. If Gurley, who wasn't even heavily guarded gets that ball to a guard, rather than dropping it out of bounds, Bama burns 20 more seconds off of the clock and maybe even scores to squash another threat. That series of events allowed Vandy to score 6 points in about 10 seconds. Got to do the small things.

 

[TideFever]

Any win in that gym is a good win for a Bama team. That place is practically haunted for us. Such a weird court layout. Apparently they've spent a lot of $$ in renovations and plan even more soon so it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The fouls and free throws were ridiculous to end the game. 14 of the last 16 points for Vandy were free throws. We allowed some of that by being dumb but that Vandy team flops more than a euro world cup soccer team. All Pippen had to do is have the ball and move toward the goal and get a foul call every time. I was actually curious if our players would eventually decide if a foul is going to be called regardless then best to get our money's worth on each foul and absolutely hammer him every time. Meanwhile JQ was actually hammered a few times trying to get into the lane and not so much as a thought of a whistle from the refs.

After Stackhouse had a fit a little over midway through the second half they got every single call imaginable. If Oats had done that they probably T him up twice in 30 seconds and he misses the end again.

 

[TideFever]

Just a quick note about the importance of doing the little things. The free throw brigade started with Pippen missing the second of two free throws. Poor boxing out resulted in an offensive rebound and then another foul on Pippen. Pippen makes both and then I want to say Gurley inexplicably loses the ball out of bounds at halfcourt. Q then fouls Pippen on that 3 point attempt.
Box out and get a rebound and that threat is possibly minimized greatly. If Gurley, who wasn't even heavily guarded gets that ball to a guard, rather than dropping it out of bounds, Bama burns 20 more seconds off of the clock and maybe even scores to squash another threat. That series of events allowed Vandy to score 6 points in about 10 seconds. Got to do the small things.

That Gurley turnover was awful. We had numbers and he was mostly by himself so all he had to do was get past halfcourt enough that he couldn't be trapped easily. IIRC we also had someone ahead of him that could have gotten a layup or dribbled out and sat on the ball a minute. Instead he spazzed out and lost control of the ball.

 

[RMB20]

Won the game, now get out of Memorial. I cannot stand watching Alabama play there due to the disparity of foul calls and the awful gym. SIXTY ONE (61) free throws combined last night. It was the ref show all game long and to know surprise going against Vandy who gets the highest % of their points from the FT line than any team in the conference. Scotty Pippen Jr can get a foul call anytime he wants and it nearly cost Bama the game at the end.

Enough of the ranting. More on the game. I thought Alabama played a lot better defensively this game against a team that has been really good in conference play. What hurt Alabama the most was turnovers that turned into points. Vanderbilt got 63 of their 72 points either at the FT line or off turnovers. They got 36 points off turnovers which is insanity. The game shouldn't have been close, but Alabama held on for a key victory moving forward. JQ had a very strong 2nd half with 17 points, JD had a double double with 10/5/5 but struggled again with 5 turnovers, and Noah Gurley had a solid game with 10 points and 3 blocks. Alabama totaled 8 blocks and really defended the rim well against Robbins, who is a really good player. Shackelford struggled, but he hit a really big shot near the end of the game to keep Vanderbilt at bay.

I was overall pleased with how they responded and bounced back from the loss to UK. They started out very slow with 5 turnovers on the first 6 possessions, but settled down and made shots. They led by as many as 10 before the FT brigade started for Vanderbilt. The effort and intensity was there, they just have to cut down on turnovers and they will be able to put together a complete game. That is the wild part is that this team hasn't played a complete game on both ends. Hopefully that will soon come.

Alabama goes home to play a gritty South Carolina team on Saturday at 5pm. These two games at home against South Carolina and Texas A&M are big in terms of seeding, not only in the NCAAT but the SECT as well. Arkansas' win over Florida basically knocks Bama out of a double bye chance, so they really need to keep a hold on the 5 or 6 seed.

Harper, couldn’t Alabama still finish 4th? For example, if Arkansas lost to Kentucky, LSU, and Tennessee, and Alabama won its final three games, they both would be 11-7 and my understanding is that Alabama would hold the tiebreaker over Arkansas by virtue of Alabama‘s win over the same. Am I reading this wrong? Maybe you are simply saying such a result is highly unlikely.

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

Just a quick note about the importance of doing the little things. The free throw brigade started with Pippen missing the second of two free throws. Poor boxing out resulted in an offensive rebound and then another foul on Pippen. Pippen makes both and then I want to say Gurley inexplicably loses the ball out of bounds at halfcourt. Q then fouls Pippen on that 3 point attempt.
Box out and get a rebound and that threat is possibly minimized greatly. If Gurley, who wasn't even heavily guarded gets that ball to a guard, rather than dropping it out of bounds, Bama burns 20 more seconds off of the clock and maybe even scores to squash another threat. That series of events allowed Vandy to score 6 points in about 10 seconds. Got to do the small things.

Gurley is one of those guys who simply cannot get the basketball. He had one rebound in the first half literally fall into his hands with no one around… he muffed it and they laid it in for two.

 

[BamaNavyCPO]

Gurley is one of those guys who simply cannot get the basketball. He had one rebound in the first half literally fall into his hands with no one around… he muffed it and they laid it in for two.

Maybe JD can give him a few pointers on rebounding. I think JD had around 10 rebounds; however, that was offset with 5 TOs.

 

[OatsMeal]

Harper, couldn’t Alabama still finish 4th? For example, if Arkansas lost to Kentucky, LSU, and Tennessee, and Alabama won its final three games, they both would be 11-7 and my understanding is that Alabama would hold the tiebreaker over Arkansas by virtue of Alabama‘s win over the same. Am I reading this wrong? Maybe you are simply saying such a result is highly unlikely.

I think he's just saying that it's highly unlikely for both Arkansas or Tenn to lose the last 3 and us to win the last 3. But yes, we are technically still in play for the 4.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Just a quick note about the importance of doing the little things. The free throw brigade started with Pippen missing the second of two free throws. Poor boxing out resulted in an offensive rebound and then another foul on Pippen. Pippen makes both and then I want to say Gurley inexplicably loses the ball out of bounds at halfcourt. Q then fouls Pippen on that 3 point attempt.
Box out and get a rebound and that threat is possibly minimized greatly. If Gurley, who wasn't even heavily guarded gets that ball to a guard, rather than dropping it out of bounds, Bama burns 20 more seconds off of the clock and maybe even scores to squash another threat. That series of events allowed Vandy to score 6 points in about 10 seconds. Got to do the small things.

You are 100% correct, howeve… there were 3 or 4 awful foul calls and the worst of them was on that 3 point attempt. JQ did not touch the guy

 

[Jordan Harper]

Harper, couldn’t Alabama still finish 4th? For example, if Arkansas lost to Kentucky, LSU, and Tennessee, and Alabama won its final three games, they both would be 11-7 and my understanding is that Alabama would hold the tiebreaker over Arkansas by virtue of Alabama‘s win over the same. Am I reading this wrong? Maybe you are simply saying such a result is highly unlikely.

Yes it’s just unlikely.