| MBB/WBB Alabama Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short to Auburn, 66-60, in Regular Season Home Finale
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BamaFan334
Member
How do you not see any talent when we are basically in every single game and usually gaining a large lead somewhere in these games? Just a lot of luck?
So awful coaching is what I’m seeing?
My take as a former college basketball player...
Sloppy, lazy passes and careless turnovers at crucial moments = lack of discipline, lack of MENTAL discipline.. THAT is coaching..
When even Chris Stewart, whose JOB is to be a homer as the radio announcer, with as much Crimson tone as possible, acknowledges bad/lazy passes and mental mistakes on the radio, that's not great. But when he LITERALLY screams with about 2 and 1/2 mins to go, after a defensive rebound "PUSH THE BALL, PETTY! YOU'D HAVE NUMBERS IF YOU'D PUSH THE BALL!" ... That... THAT is bad. Lack of situational awareness in your players = coaching.
I love Avery personally. He's a great man. But we are fundamentally sloppy as a team with mental breakdowns and lazy passes during critical moments in FAR too many games. I think that Avery is a good PRO coach. But in college, there still needs to be a heavy emphasis on FUNDAMENTALS and MENTAL DISCIPLINE. Something we clearly lack. In the pros, you have a bunch of super-talented players that are being PAID to stay fundamentally sound. All you have to do is put that talent together. Do we have talent? Yes. Has Avery been a good recruiter? Yes. But talent can only get you so far in college if you're not FUNDAMENTALLY sound.
I think that after 4 years if we're STILL seeing the same mentally undisciplined mistakes where fundamentals go out the window far too often, then it's time to make a coaching change. Because fundamentals and mental toughness can and SHOULD be taught.
Even your best teams... Your Dukes, your Gonzagas, and Georgetowns of the basketball world, will have their occasional games where their mental energy just isn't there and they lose one that they shouldn't. But it's not the norm. It's a rarity. They're CONSISTENTLY fundamentally sound, and play with mental toughness. Bama, on the other hand, is CONSISTENT at being mentally inconsistent. We play with our heads on fire and beat a few top 25 teams, but we lose to teams we shouldn't FAR too often. And in year 4, that's a "trend" that should have been fixed by NOW.
"Tale of two halves" has been said far too many times. That's a coach ADMITTING that his team is consistently inconsistent (as I saw either Aaron Suttles or Cecil tweet earlier).
It's time for Avery to head back to the NBA.
Sloppy, lazy passes and careless turnovers at crucial moments = lack of discipline, lack of MENTAL discipline.. THAT is coaching..
When even Chris Stewart, whose JOB is to be a homer as the radio announcer, with as much Crimson tone as possible, acknowledges bad/lazy passes and mental mistakes on the radio, that's not great. But when he LITERALLY screams with about 2 and 1/2 mins to go, after a defensive rebound "PUSH THE BALL, PETTY! YOU'D HAVE NUMBERS IF YOU'D PUSH THE BALL!" ... That... THAT is bad. Lack of situational awareness in your players = coaching.
I love Avery personally. He's a great man. But we are fundamentally sloppy as a team with mental breakdowns and lazy passes during critical moments in FAR too many games. I think that Avery is a good PRO coach. But in college, there still needs to be a heavy emphasis on FUNDAMENTALS and MENTAL DISCIPLINE. Something we clearly lack. In the pros, you have a bunch of super-talented players that are being PAID to stay fundamentally sound. All you have to do is put that talent together. Do we have talent? Yes. Has Avery been a good recruiter? Yes. But talent can only get you so far in college if you're not FUNDAMENTALLY sound.
I think that after 4 years if we're STILL seeing the same mentally undisciplined mistakes where fundamentals go out the window far too often, then it's time to make a coaching change. Because fundamentals and mental toughness can and SHOULD be taught.
Even your best teams... Your Dukes, your Gonzagas, and Georgetowns of the basketball world, will have their occasional games where their mental energy just isn't there and they lose one that they shouldn't. But it's not the norm. It's a rarity. They're CONSISTENTLY fundamentally sound, and play with mental toughness. Bama, on the other hand, is CONSISTENT at being mentally inconsistent. We play with our heads on fire and beat a few top 25 teams, but we lose to teams we shouldn't FAR too often. And in year 4, that's a "trend" that should have been fixed by NOW.
"Tale of two halves" has been said far too many times. That's a coach ADMITTING that his team is consistently inconsistent (as I saw either Aaron Suttles or Cecil tweet earlier).
It's time for Avery to head back to the NBA.
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#80
Member
Ultimately it's the coach's responsibility to recruit the talent develop and coach them up. We don't have the killer instinct to step on a teams throat when we have them down. Poor decisions killed Petty is careless on an in bounds pass the barn steals and hits a 3 that is potentially a 5 pt swing . Jones throws the ball away twice on in bounds passes and they score. It may just be time to stroke a $8M check and move on but they will not do it. Like I said in a previous thread it appears we made a mistake not hiring S. Prohm. Last time I checked ISU will be in the dance. Or go it Kelvin Sampson.
Tidestalker
Member
Don't get to watch a ton of Bama games... But that was a meltdown. Not so much the fact that Auburn made some shots and Bama went cold, but the handful of really ugly TO's. Just looked like a team that was scared to win.
TerryP
Staff
Nary a point has been offered to counter the reasoning.
Alabama Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short to Auburn, 66-60, in Regular Season Home Finale - University of Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama- The Alabama Men's Basketball team lost at home Tuesday night against Auburn, 66-60, in Coleman Coliseum. Auburn held a 28-8 advantage of points off of forced turnovers and outscored Alabama 43-26 in the second half.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team fell to Auburn, 66-60, Tuesday night in its final home game of the regular season inside Coleman Coliseum. Despite the Crimson Tide dominating the first half, the Tigers owned a 43-26 advantage in the second half to pull out the victory.
"It wasn't our best second half," Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. "I thought in the first half we did everything pretty much to a tee defensively. We limited them from getting to the free throw line. We did a terrific job defending the three-point line. I think that was all because offensively, we had a pretty decent flow on offense, but they did score eight of our turnovers they converted into 11 points. In the second half, we turned it over too much. They converted our 11 turnovers to 17 points. It's hard for us to get our defense set when we turn the ball over like that. They didn't shoot a free throw in the first half and had 14 attempts in the second half. Give them credit, they did a nice job coming on the road and getting a win. We just didn't have a great second half and we have been that way a lot this season. We are still trying to put our finger on why we just don't have the effort and energy in the second half that we need and why we don't make great decisions with the basketball. We got to get back to work on Thursday and see if we can finish the SEC play on a high note at Arkansas."
Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. led Alabama (17-13, 8-9 SEC) with 13 points and three assists. Sophomore Herbert Jones had 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals off the bench. Sophomore John Petty Jr. had eight points and a team-high nine rebounds, while junior Tevin Mack added 10 points go along with a pair of steals and blocks.
Alabama came storming out of the gate with a 12-2 run over the first three minutes of the game. The Tide held its largest lead of the contest at 29-16 after a Mack jumper with just over five minutes left to play in the first half. At the break Alabama led by 11, 34-23.
The second half began as a back-and-forth affair with Alabama maintaining its lead within the first five minutes, before Auburn (21-9, 10-7) rattled off an 18-2 run over a span of 5:37. Over that span, the Tide had six turnovers and went 1-for-6 from the field that helped turn a 43-31 UA lead into a four-point deficit, 49-45.
Over the final eight minutes, neither team was able to gain a clear advantage. Auburn would take a five-point lead after a three-pointer, 60-55, with just over two minutes in the game, however, the Tide responded by scoring five-straight points, including a three-pointer from Mack, to tie the game at 60-60 with 1:40 left to play. However, Auburn scored six-straight points including two crucial baskets from Auburn's Jared Harper in the last 70 seconds of the game to seal the win.
Chuma Okeke led the Tiger offense with a game-high 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Harper finished the night with 16 points.
Alabama will hit the road to play its final game of the regular season when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday to face the Arkansas Razorbacks. The game will tip-off at 5 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.
JoseyWalesTheOutlaw
Member
The Four Tops..."it's the same old song"
PurlJam
Member
I went to bed at the half. Told my wife that I've just seen the best part of our game and they are going to fold in the second half and blow it, they did not disappoint.
BamaFan334
Member
Honestly, it's a lot of mental failure. Losing a lead and the game once just happens. Losing the lead and game over five times is mental. Just like Georgia-Florida. For years Georgia had the better team, but mentally they just couldn't win in Jacksonville.
Talent is there. I think we have a good coach. During crunch time I think communication is key and we fall a part because we do not communicate. Kira let me down last night, but I know we'd be lost without him. We have zero cohesion and can't seem to get everyone to play well on the same night. Any given night Mack goes off, another night Petty goes off, then the next game Norris goes off, then Herbert Jones, but never on the same night. The inconsistancies are on the players, not the coach. He's clearly assembled a team that can win, they just have to execute.
Did you notice that Georgia has gotten over the mental hurdle once they fired Mark Richt? Kinda makes you wonder if good coaching starts between the ears.
planomateo
Member
Of course I get behind a damn Auburn fan on the way to work today.
BamaFan334
Member
I mean, they're 2-1 under Kirby, so I think it remains to be seen. Richt also went up against one of the best coaches ever in Urban Meyer when Florida was winning Championships, not a rebuilding team under Jim McElwain. Richt did win three in a row.
Let's see how he does against Mullen before we annoit them as getting over that mental lapse.
BamaFan334
Member
And let me ask, what are you calling what Georgia did against us in the Natty and SEC Championship? Hopefully bad coaching.
So, just for the record, are these mental lapses you speak of inherited or can they just be caught like a virus? If Kirby suddenly comes down with this dreaded ailment, even though 42-7 and 36-17, the last 2 seasons, might indicate he has weathered the storm, is it not coaching that causes this disease in the first place?
You say you're seeing mental failure with our basketball team. So is most everyone else that is commenting about this team right now. Is this not a stinging indictment of our coaching staff in year 4?
Our players really have a low basketball IQ and then are mental midgets to add to that. It's not that they aren't talented, they have some talent. I think CAJ gets caught thinking that these guys are in the NBA where he has the best of the best and that they will slow it down or speed it up as needed. It's not that there are a ton of turnovers or missed FTs or missed layups, it's the timing when they occur.
The kids look and act like our kickers, waiting for the shank to come. They know it's coming and they can't push through it to overcome.
The kids look and act like our kickers, waiting for the shank to come. They know it's coming and they can't push through it to overcome.
I don't believe Georgia keeps losing to us because of a mental hurdle. They keep getting beat by the better team, barely. I also don't believe Alabama has some type of mental hurdle about not being about to play well against the Dawgs in the first half. Stuff happens, but overall, I would say both teams are well coached at all positions.
BamaFan334
Member
Weathered the storm by blowing out a garbage Florida team both years, while getting waxed himself the first year? Please.
You blame Avery for Petty's "travel" in Knoxville? You blame Avery for the pass Kira threw that was intercepted last night? You blame Avery for guys missing free throws? You blame Avery for Petty and Ingram stepping on the baseline at the end of the game against LSU? You blame Avery for Ingram driving sloppy through the lane on multiple occasions at the end of games only to turn it over without a shot? Come on man, y'all are simply looking for a scapegoat. Yes, we have the talent, but that doesn't mean we're a great team. Avery could easily polish up a few things, it's not all on the players, but I also don't see it as all on him. He is changing the culture and we are a better team and program than we were before he came to town. You hate facts, so I'm not going to share any, but you can keep calling out Johnson all you want.
TerryP
Staff
Tell me how this tastes, will ya?
As you were bragging about LSU last season one of the wins you pointed to was against Georgia. The Georgia mental hurdle, is it not?
