🏀 BAMA at A&M

[UAgrad93]

Bama comes back from 14 down at the half to pick up their 18th win on the season. Obasohan scored 12 in the second half to go along with three others to score double digits. Does this game prolong Grant's tenure at the Capstone and prolong the BAMA fans' agony?

 

[bamabigdawg]

i think that all depends on if they can beat anyone in the sec tourney and if they even make the nit. but god i hope not

 

[BamaFan334]

One win shouldn't mean more than the overall product. Let him go and start new. He'll get another shot elsewhere and he can prove his ability to be at a big time program. I think it's time to move on. The NIT is very unflattering to me. It's a consolation prize like a ribbon for "trying" in my eyes. Yes it gives these guys a chance to play a few more games, but I personally don't watch or like it.

 

[UAgrad93]

When I typed this up, I probably should have added the sarcasm emoticon. I too think that one game shouldn't save his job. Now if he was to get this bunch to the final game of next weeks' tourney and go deep into the NIT or even win it, I might give him one more year. Thing is, we all know that "AIN'T HAPPENING!"

 

[psychojoe]

I applaud the efforts today that led to a come from behind road win in a fairly tough venue, against a team that is going tothe Big Dance. The win probably put Us in the NIT, and for the sake of the players I hope that they d get an invite. The win itself comes in the too little, too late category.

As far as the tournament is concerned, we draw Florida in the first round, definitely a team we can beat. UK is lurking, awaiting the winner of this game. We are not likely to be still playing Saturday.

 

[bamabigdawg]

definitely a team we can beat still translates into CAG could have Coach Cal's players and still couldnt beat Billy Donovan

 

[Bamabww]

Give the players their due

Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist


Set aside, for a moment, the questions about the future of the Alabama basketball program. Those will be answered in due time and, now that the Crimson Tide regular season has ended, due time will not be a long time in coming.

For one day, though, set aside anything you might think about coaching and contracts, and give the Alabama players credit for a remarkable 20 minutes of basketball in Texas on Saturday. Texas A&M isn't a great team, but they are good, a Top 50 RPI team (and much has been made of Alabama's recent record against Top 50 teams) and, very possibly, an NCAA Tournament team.

The Aggies were playing at home, on their Senior Day. They had a tough injury, sidelining guard Daniel Hause, but that didn't match Alabama's casualty list. Then, Alabama had its coldest-shooting half of the year from 3-point range.

"Just about everything that could go wrong in the first half went wrong," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said afterwards.

So when the halftime score was Texas A&M 36, Alabama 22, there probably weren't many fans who were surprised. But they were about to be.

Staring at that 14-point deficit, knowing that two of Alabama's limited supply of scoring options hadn't even made the trip, who believed that Alabama would get off the deck? After all, why would they? What spark was there for Alabama to get off the deck and win?

The game might have marginal value for an NIT selection, but a loss would not even have hurt the Crimson Tide's SEC Tournament seeding, as things turned out. Plus, any bad outcome would be blamed on the coach and not the players. So why wouldn't you expect Alabama to coast for the final 20 minutes?

That's certainly what I expected, not that UA would quit, but that they would make a cursory run at the Aggies and then go quietly into the night.

That's not what competitors do. Competitors don't always win, and Alabama certainly hasn't. But they do always try to win, and that's what happened on Saturday.

I'm not saying that playing hard is some remarkable achievement. It should be the standard for every athletic team. But given the amount of negativity, justified or not, that has surrounded the Alabama basketball program in recent months, it's worth giving those players a nod.

It was Dakota Slaughter, the former walk-on, providing crucial minutes and two clutch 3-pointers. It was Jimmie Taylor, who on Saturday was the best big man on the floor for either team. It was Levi Randolph, overcoming a first half of frustration and double-teaming to play his usual leadership role in the second half. It was Retin Obasohan driving fearlessly to the hoop for what proved to be the winning points. It was all five players on defense, holding Texas A&M without a point for the final 2:36 of the game, as Alabama culminated its comeback.

Such finishes have been rare for Alabama this season, especially against strong competition.
What if there has been more occasions where one shot bounced away, as the Aggies' 3-pointer at the end did?

The story of the season might be different. The story going forward might be less fraught with doubt. But the story on Saturday was a group of players who weren't willing to accept the same old unhappy ending, and the spotlight, for this day, belongs on them.

https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1744260

 

[Bamabww]

Strong second half spurs comeback victory

By Joshua Koch

COLLEGE STATION | Everything that could go wrong went wrong for Alabama in the first half on Saturday.

But the Crimson Tide would answer the call with four different players reaching double digits in scoring by the end of the night, leading to a come-from-behind 61-60 victory, downing the Aggies at home to close out SEC regular season play with a win.

"Texas A&M is a very solid defensive team, they have been all year," Alabama head coach Anthony Grant said. "They make it difficult for you. So we knew we had to come in and do a good job with sharing the basketball and taking what the defense gave us. In the second half, it was good to see some consistency from the offensive standpoint. It really helped us being able to set our defense."

Looking to continue to make a push for a possible NCAA Tournament berth, Texas A&M (20-10, 11-7) came out on fire behind 11-point and 10-point first-half performances by Peyton Allen and Jordan Green, respectively.

Allen finished with 11 points, while Green topped off at 13, joined by Jalen Jones with 13 points as the team leaders for the Aggies.

In the first half, the Crimson Tide (18-13, 8-10 in SEC play) went through a five minute and 21 second scoring drought, in which the Aggies pieced together an 11-0 run, jumping out to a commanding 32-17 lead with 2:36 left in the first half. Texas A&M would lead 36-22 at the half.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Alabama pieced together an 11-3 run, cutting the Texas A&M lead down to 39-35 with 15:55 left in the game, behind Retin Obasohan, who finished with a team-high 12 points for the Crimson Tide.

Joining Obasohan in double digits was Jimmie Taylor, Rodney Cooper and Levi Randolph, who all scored 11 points in the win.

Along with the scoring, Randolph crashed the boards with nine rebounds, all defensive, getting him close to a double-double in the regular season finale.

"I was just trying to make plays to help the team win," Randolph said. "I was just trying to do the things that the coach asked me to do. The things he emphasizes every day in practice. When it comes to rebounding it's something that we drill every day and it's just what happened today."

As Alabama continued to chip away, A&M could not respond, scoring just six points in the opening 10:18 of the second half, opening the door for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide took advantage of the opening and pounded the basket for a 24-6 run, giving them the 46-42 lead with under 10 minutes left in the game.

Down the stretch, Alabama and A&M would trade the lead six times before the Crimson Tide finally got it for good.

With 1:32 left in the game, Obasohan drove the baseline and tossed up the game-winning layup giving Alabama the 61-60 lead, which was the final score after A&M missed its final three shots of the game.

"I think for our guys the thing they've been all year is resilient," Grant said. "They love playing with each other, they continue to grow, continue to accept every challenge myself and my staff puts in front of them in terms of just approaching the games the way we need to. Just really proud of them."

Now Alabama turns its attention to the SEC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

For his team, Grant said every win is big at this time of the year and now they have to just focus on what they can improve on moving forward into the tournament.

"Every game is different," he said. "We feel like if we can control the things we can control; how hard we play defensively, our ability to do the little things within what we have to do offensively and defensively then we're going to have a chance every time we step in between the lines. So we just try to get better at those things every day."

https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1744256