CECIL HURT: Harsh realities for Alabama in 2016
Cecil Hurt | Sports Editor
There's a fairly vigorous debate about whether anything that this year's University of Alabama basketball team does can be considered "disappointing." After all, Avery Johnson inherited a situation that, if not a total rebuild, then at least a reboot. From that standpoint, 2016 is already a success.
On the other hand, if there is disappointment to be found, this is it. In recent years -- including a couple where Anthony Grant's team wound up on the wrong side of the "bubble" -- the damage was done to the Crimson Tide's NCAA resume in two ways: in December and on the road. The Alabama teams of recent years always seem to come up short in the nonconference, losing home games to good teams like Dayton and Wichita State or, memorably, falling apart in a tournament in St. Thomas and digging a three-loss hole in the beach sand that could never be filled. Also, road wins in the SEC were tough to come by -- not an uncommon issue for most teams in the league, but still a sore spot in some seasons.
This year, Alabama has done enough in both those areas. There were December wins over Wichita State, Notre Dame and Clemson, and losses to lofty RPI teams like Oregon and Xavier that didn't scuttle the Crimson Tide hopes. On the SEC road, Alabama found success at Starkville, Baton Rouge and, for the first time in decades, Gainesville. A tough but winnable game against Georgia in Athens awaits.
Frustratingly, the problems came at home. Even with excellent (and enthusiastic) attendance, Alabama went just 5-4 in home SEC games. The losses, with the exception of Kentucky, were close, games that might have been different with a free throw here or a rebound there. They weren't defeats by terrible teams. LSU, Mississippi State and Arkansas all came into Coleman Coliseum playing some of their best basketball of the season. Also, as the season has worn on and the scouting reports have gotten thicker, Alabama has lost a little bit of the element of surprise.
At this point, Retin Obasohan is carrying 50 percent of the offensive load. Teams know that and make it as tough as possible as they can without being able to stop him. What has hurt Alabama, though, is the lack of complimentary scorers around him. That's not because the players aren't trying. The fact is, it is a roster with some obvious offensive issues. On top of that, a couple of players are going through deep late-season slumps. Justin Coleman hit five 3-pointers in the Crimson Tide win over LSU.
In the four games since, he has made just give of 26 shots. In the past five games, Riley Norris has scored just 11 points in 136 minutes over the past five games. Again, that's not pointing any fingers. But coupled with Alabama's lack of a post scorer -- Arkansas' Moses Kingsley provided a stark contrast by consistently hitting from 10 to 12 feet out on Wednesday night -- it leaves Alabama with little production other than Obasohan's output. That doesn't mean anyone is "to blame" -- it's just the way things are.
Perhaps this team has hit a ceiling that was always there. Perhaps there is one more bit of magic in the few remaining games. Perhaps, and probably, an NCAA berth for this team was always a dream, one that came close to coming true but couldn't quite outrun some harsh realities.
Rivals
Cecil Hurt | Sports Editor
There's a fairly vigorous debate about whether anything that this year's University of Alabama basketball team does can be considered "disappointing." After all, Avery Johnson inherited a situation that, if not a total rebuild, then at least a reboot. From that standpoint, 2016 is already a success.
On the other hand, if there is disappointment to be found, this is it. In recent years -- including a couple where Anthony Grant's team wound up on the wrong side of the "bubble" -- the damage was done to the Crimson Tide's NCAA resume in two ways: in December and on the road. The Alabama teams of recent years always seem to come up short in the nonconference, losing home games to good teams like Dayton and Wichita State or, memorably, falling apart in a tournament in St. Thomas and digging a three-loss hole in the beach sand that could never be filled. Also, road wins in the SEC were tough to come by -- not an uncommon issue for most teams in the league, but still a sore spot in some seasons.
This year, Alabama has done enough in both those areas. There were December wins over Wichita State, Notre Dame and Clemson, and losses to lofty RPI teams like Oregon and Xavier that didn't scuttle the Crimson Tide hopes. On the SEC road, Alabama found success at Starkville, Baton Rouge and, for the first time in decades, Gainesville. A tough but winnable game against Georgia in Athens awaits.
Frustratingly, the problems came at home. Even with excellent (and enthusiastic) attendance, Alabama went just 5-4 in home SEC games. The losses, with the exception of Kentucky, were close, games that might have been different with a free throw here or a rebound there. They weren't defeats by terrible teams. LSU, Mississippi State and Arkansas all came into Coleman Coliseum playing some of their best basketball of the season. Also, as the season has worn on and the scouting reports have gotten thicker, Alabama has lost a little bit of the element of surprise.
At this point, Retin Obasohan is carrying 50 percent of the offensive load. Teams know that and make it as tough as possible as they can without being able to stop him. What has hurt Alabama, though, is the lack of complimentary scorers around him. That's not because the players aren't trying. The fact is, it is a roster with some obvious offensive issues. On top of that, a couple of players are going through deep late-season slumps. Justin Coleman hit five 3-pointers in the Crimson Tide win over LSU.
In the four games since, he has made just give of 26 shots. In the past five games, Riley Norris has scored just 11 points in 136 minutes over the past five games. Again, that's not pointing any fingers. But coupled with Alabama's lack of a post scorer -- Arkansas' Moses Kingsley provided a stark contrast by consistently hitting from 10 to 12 feet out on Wednesday night -- it leaves Alabama with little production other than Obasohan's output. That doesn't mean anyone is "to blame" -- it's just the way things are.
Perhaps this team has hit a ceiling that was always there. Perhaps there is one more bit of magic in the few remaining games. Perhaps, and probably, an NCAA berth for this team was always a dream, one that came close to coming true but couldn't quite outrun some harsh realities.
Rivals
