🏀 🏀 Alabama Falls on the Road to Memphis, 92-76

[Bammerboy321]

Credit to Memphis playing well. They were selfless and we couldn't protect the rim. Bediako and Gurley got caught multiple times ball watching and allowed easy buckets inside. Rebounding was again awful. Really poor effort from Bediako, Gurley, and Gary.

Sorry, but Gurley has been a huge disappointment for me. One of the biggest transfers in CBB and he just seems absent.

Oh well. Knew this was a trap game. Twenty-two NBA scouts in attendance + Memphis backed into a corner after losing four straight equals a prime opportunity for an upset. Throw in the fact that 48 hours ago, we played an emotional and physical game against Houston. Just a recipe for a let-down game.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Whooooo boy. I think he's going to be a good player and I'm glad he's on the team... but in the last 2 games, Bediako has played a total of 35 minutes. He had 1 rebound.

 

[UA Press Release]

No. 6/8 Alabama Falls on the Road to Memphis, 92-78 - Alabama Athletics

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The No. 6/8 Alabama men's basketball team fell on the road at Memphis Tuesday night, dropping a 92-78 decision inside the FedExForum. The lo...

rolltide.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The No. 6/8 Alabama men's basketball team fell on the road at Memphis Tuesday night, dropping a 92-78 decision inside the FedExForum. The loss snapped the Crimson Tide's (8-2) four-game winning streak while the Tigers (6-4) won their first game after dropping four consecutive entering the contest.

Senior guard Keon Ellis led the team with 19 points to go along with six boards, while junior guard Jaden Shackelford added 10 points and a team-leading eight rebounds.

Junior Jahvon Quinerly added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists on the night. Freshman JD Davison also had a solid performance, matching his season high of 10 assists to go along with eight point in the loss.

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments​

"I didn't think we came ready to play tonight and that's on us coaches. I warned our guys that we were going to get their best shot and I think they wanted to make a statement that if they wanted to get this thing turned around, they were going to do it against a top-10 team. When you look at their schedule, they had one chance to do that, they were at home and came ready to play. I thought out of the gate, our energy wasn't where it needed to be and I didn't think we were locked in. We had multiple guys not play their best basketball game. That's the best Memphis has played all year so you have to give them a lot of credit. We had issues rebounding the ball once again. It's been a major problem, particularly with our bigs. We also had a major problem turning it over. We didn't do a good job in our major points of emphasis. We have got some work to do."

Team Stats​

• For the second-straight game, the Crimson Tide lost the battle of the boards, getting outrebounded 33-31, which helped result in a 17-11 deficit in the category
• The 55 second half points scored by Memphis were the most points allowed by any opponent in any half during head coach Nate Oats' three seasons at Alabama
• The Tide racked up 20 turnovers on the night which are the second-most in a game this season (22 vs. Miami)
• Alabama concluded the night 30-of-65 (46.2 percent) from the floor and 10-of-33 (30.3 percent), while Memphis shot 53.3 percent (32-of-60) from the field and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from beyond the arc

First Half​

• After a fast start gave the Tigers a 9-2 lead at the 17:36 mark, Alabama responded with its own 9-2 run to tie the game at 11-11 with 15:54 remaining in the half
• That run continued as the Tide scored seven of the next nine points to make it a 16-4 run overall which gave UA its largest lead of the half at 18-13 with 12:17 left
• Memphis closed the half with an 8-0 run to take a 37-32 lead into the break
• JD Davison recorded seven assists, two steals and a block in the half

Second Half​

• With Memphis holding a seven-point lead (49-42) at the 15:04 mark, the Tigers scored 12 consecutive points over the next 2:28 to take its largest lead of the game, 61-42, with just over 12 minutes remaining
• Trailing by 17, 78-61, with six-and-a-half minutes left to play, the Tide scored eight of the game's next nine points, which included threes from Shackelford and Ellis, to trim the lead to 79-70 at the under four-minute timeout
• The Tide would not get any closer as Memphis sealed the 14-point win
• Ellis hit three threes on his way to 13 points in the half as Davison and Jahvon Quinerly both added eight points over the final 20 minutes

 

[TerryP]

That’s the biggest win in the Penny Hardaway Coaching Era.

 

[PurlJam]

Up until July when we moved to the North Carolina coast we were lifelong Memphians. That being the case let me just say if you were going to be downtown and you want ribs go to a place called Cozy corner on North Parkway. It is about a mile and a half or so north of the rendezvous and their ribs are much better, I will warn you it is not the best area of town but hands-down their food is delicious! Then again, I have never been a rendezvous fan, I think Corkys ribs are actually better.

Ditto on Corky’s.

 

[PurlJam]

I wasn’t expecting to win this one after the drain Saturday. Memphis has Tennessee next…I believe that will be a skull dragging by the Vol’n’tears. IMO, Memphis has the athletes but not the attitude to maintain game after game. We need rest and to refocus.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Two steps forward, one step back. It's a good time to lose a ball game, if they learn from it.

 

[bamascw]

Ditto on Corky’s.

It’s funny, Memphis has such good barbecue that you can basically go anywhere and get good food. We’ve been out here in North Carolina now since July and of course they think they know how to make barbecue, I have already hurt multiple people‘s feelings just flat telling them, you guys don’t know how to make barbecue! I’ve told him over and over that I can go into a gas station in Memphis and get better BBQ than they have here.

As for the ball game last night, Memphis does have athletes they always will, and you are correct, they will not maintain this, they will have spurts every now and then where they are athleticism just takes over but they can’t be a winning team right now. I love Penny to death, but he needs to find a way to get these guys to play team basketball

 

[bama alum]

Ditto on Corky’s.

bbq nachos there are fantastic!

 

[mando]

Two steps forward, one step back. It's a good time to lose a ball game, if they learn from it.

Hope this is the case. We will see... Biggest issue I see right now is in the paint. Was concerned about this before the season and it is turning out to be the case. Someone with some want to down low is going to have to put a body on the opponents players.

 

[BamaFan334]

Wow, I must have missed where we were hitting 3 of 10 from three, because our shooting last night was absolutely terrible. Our rebounding was non-existent. At times our defense was great, Memphis just hit some amazing shots that couldn't have been defended any better.

It appears to have been a let down, but I think it also reminded everyone of what Memphis was capable of. #2 recruiting class in the country. Growing pains on their end.

I don't believed in let down games after an emotional win. I doubt Oats does either and wasn't still focused on Houston. He reminds me of a Saban type in that regard. We beat #14, not #1-#5. Gonzaga was a much better victory. We just did not execute. Shackelford shooting only four threes? The game I watched made it appear we were playing to be scouted, not playing to win a game. It was upsetting. I had us 2-2/1-3 against Gonzaga, Houston, Memphis, and Baylor, so atleast we'll hit that goal, but we just gotta keep getting better

 

[mando]

I had us 2-2/1-3 against Gonzaga, Houston, Memphis, and Baylor, so atleast we'll hit that goal, but we just gotta keep getting better

Same here but when you win the first 2 you mentally reset the expectation so losing this one was frustrating. I guess I should not say surprising however. The Basketball program or at least with this group still has much maturing to do to get to the level people are telling they are. As CNS would say you can't just show up and script A win the game for you.

 

[Rolltide24]

Memphis played a good game last night. They have a few incredible athletes. They hustled. They fought much harder for rebounds. They actually passed the ball very well. I expected more of a selfish team, but they were anything but selfish. They shot free throws impressively. They played very solid D. Their D gave us fits, but isn’t the sole cause of our loss. Duren, damn he just got another power dunk, is a freakish specimen. Good grief the guy is built. Turned 18 3 weeks ago, can’t imagine him playing high school which is where he should be. And Bates is still 17, he’s going to be a player too. He didn’t score much and didn’t play the second half but you can see he’s talented.

On the other hand, we’ve got to get more physical. Our guards were our leading rebounders. That’s wrong… Our bigs don’t box and and don’t show any muscle on the boards. Pathetic performance by the bigs. Bediako was no where to be found and Gurley flat out sucks. He’s awful, looks like he’s lost when he enters. He’d come in and then coach would immediately pull him. He shouldn’t be stepping foot on the court right now. 3 point shooting was atrocious and we got some good looks. The foul calls were way out of balance. Memphis fans were complaining about calls so we kept pointing to the foul counts. It was 11-1 at one point in the 2nd half. That’s hard to believe. But In the tournament, you’ve got to play tough challenging games every few days. We can’t use the excuse that we left it all on the court a few days ago, for much longer. You’ve got to bring it every night. Plenty of time to get that right, I think last night was an anomaly. Hopefully…

 

[alabama mike]

Credit to Penny and his Tigers for doing whatever they wanted to do whenever they wanted to do it. It was a bad game, need to get over it and move on to the next. This is a long season.

 

[PurlJam]

It’s funny, Memphis has such good barbecue that you can basically go anywhere and get good food. We’ve been out here in North Carolina now since July and of course they think they know how to make barbecue, I have already hurt multiple people‘s feelings just flat telling them, you guys don’t know how to make barbecue! I’ve told him over and over that I can go into a gas station in Memphis and get better BBQ than they have here.

As for the ball game last night, Memphis does have athletes they always will, and you are correct, they will not maintain this, they will have spurts every now and then where they are athleticism just takes over but they can’t be a winning team right now. I love Penny to death, but he needs to find a way to get these guys to play team basketball

Spot on.

 

[Bammerboy321]

Good news is Keon Ellis found his shot back and we fought hard after being down by a big margin.

The rebounding is Hogdson's work. I rewatched it and was shocked to see how soft Gary played. Usually he's our junkyard dog, but his energy was poor. Gurley needs to find his role. He's been a poor screener, a bad shooter, and isn't doing well on the glass either. He needs to have a one-on-one with Oats I believe to refocus. No reason one of the top transfers to come in and dissappear.

There's a lot of issues defensively that need work. Our switches were poor last night.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Biggest issue I see right now is in the paint. Was concerned about this before the season and it is turning out to be the case. Someone with some want to down low is going to have to put a body on the opponents players.

On the other hand, we’ve got to get more physical. Our guards were our leading rebounders. That’s wrong… Our bigs don’t box and and don’t show any muscle on the boards. Pathetic performance by the bigs. Bediako was no where to be found and Gurley flat out sucks. He’s awful, looks like he’s lost when he enters. He’d come in and then coach would immediately pull him. He shouldn’t be stepping foot on the court right now. 3 point shooting was atrocious and we got some good looks. The foul calls were way out of balance. Memphis fans were complaining about calls so we kept pointing to the foul counts. It was 11-1 at one point in the 2nd half. That’s hard to believe. But In the tournament, you’ve got to play tough challenging games every few days. We can’t use the excuse that we left it all on the court a few days ago, for much longer. You’ve got to bring it every night. Plenty of time to get that right, I think last night was an anomaly. Hopefully…

What I'd give for a 7 foot rebounder from the Eastern Bloc who wears a knee brace, has a neck tat covering a shrapnel scar, and can't travel to Europe because of active Interpol warrants...

 

[TerryP]

Up until July when we moved to the North Carolina coast we were lifelong Memphians. That being the case let me just say if you were going to be downtown and you want ribs go to a place called Cozy corner on North Parkway. It is about a mile and a half or so north of the rendezvous and their ribs are much better, I will warn you it is not the best area of town but hands-down their food is delicious! Then ag

ain, I have never been a rendezvous fan, I think Corkys ribs are actually better.

Man this a great post!

I can't tell you how many times I've been to Corky's. It was once a week, maybe more, when I was working out of the Clark Tower. But mentioning Cozy Corner?!?! Oh damn!

I can't tell you how many times I used the pay phone there (late 80's, early 90's.) Geez, how many beer runs...or just stopping to get a single. I had a friend how lived about a block from there. It wasn't a great neighborhood then but you didn't feel the need to look over your shoulder. Whew, man, the memories. Now you have me longing for a bowl of black been soup and a margarita from Molly's.

 

[Rolltide24]

I’m surprised you guys like Corky’s so much. They’ve been overrated for years in my mind as well as my local friends. Haven’t eaten there in probably 8-10 years because the food wasn’t special. Interstate isn’t my favorite either. And someone mentioned Ribs from the Irish pub? Just playing with you there. Folks we know don’t go there for the food. We go there for the live music they have on their huge patio on the weekends. The food I’ve had there in the last wasn’t special but I’ll give the ribs a try next time.

The ribs last night were on point for my tastebuds, old school atmosphere, I love that dry spicy rub, Vous Brew pilsner was cold, and the pecan pie was sweet.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

So in 2 years Coach Oats has changed the national perception of our Basketball program to "elite/near-elite" status.

So much so, that if a historically successful program like Memphis happens to catch us sleeping, it's considered a huge win for our opponent.

I hate moral victories, but this is bigger than just this one loss.

We are respected again as a basketball program, for the first time in nearly a generation.