If you expand student seating, they will come.....hopefully

Hit the link to read Gentry Estes' article regarding the new student seating at Coleman Coliseum. Starting this season, students will occupy the front row behind the basket on both ends of the court.

Personally, I like the idea. Opponents will now have to endure the witty and caustic remarks from Alabama's fine, upstanding student section for an entire game. Obviously this does not mean Coleman will turn into the new Cameron Indoor Stadium, but it should result in more students having an interest in attending games and, hopefully, a little more atmosphere for an arena that has, let's face it, resembled a library too many times the last several years with the exception of the students who did turn up for games.

I normally leave this to the football bloggers... SEC division predictions

SEC East
1) Florida- I think they lose at least one, maybe 2 games in conference, but they're still the class of the East.
2) South Carolina- This is SOS' bestest chance to have an impact in the SEC. UGA is retooling, UT is stinking, and they should be better than Vandy and Kentucky. I think.
3) UGA- normally they overachieve when the pressure's off. I'm not sold on them though.
4) Tennessee- for all the flack Kiffin has receivd I think he somehow manages 7 wins from that bunch.
5) Kentucky- Six wins is their benchmark.
6) Vanderbilt- they made a bowl game last year. Don't expect another one for 24 years.

SEC West
1) Ole Miss- I'm going against the belief that Nutt has his best seasons when his team is under the radar. Many of their toughest games are at home.
2) Alabama- I think we take a small step back, but still win 10 games.
3) LSU- They have to be better at QB, but they are quite the undisciplined bunch. It'll cost them a few games.
4) Arkansas- 2 years away from being a force.
5) Auburn- They don't have the right Gene. I'd be surprised if they win 5 games.
6) Miss St- their fans are geared up for hoops.

MLB ballpark ranking this year- added 2 to the list

A post from May

1) AT&T Park- Giants
2) Coors Field- Rockies
3) Turner Field- Braves
4) Rogers Centre- Blue Jays
5) Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum- A's

I was disappointed at Rogers Centre (that's in Toronto for those that don't know). I was expecting more, but it looks like a rundown Tropicana Dome in Tampa. Tickets are cheap even using that funny Canadian money, but the atmosphere is pretty dead.

An aside... the roads on the QEW make that I-10 stretch through New Orleans look like brand new pavement. Saying that, it's a nice drive from Buffalo to Toronto with Lake Ontario as a backdrop.

Oakland... all I can say is the stadium is a reflection of the city. That's too bad because if they spent some money fixing it up it would be a nice venue to watch a game at. The surrounding neighborhood reminds me of the old Yankee Stadium days... after a game you'd do wind sprints back to the train. The neighborhood around Yankee Stadium has gotten much better over the years... maybe someone in Oakland should consider renovating the area.

Next up is Arizona. I'm prepared to be completely miserable out there watching a game, but it will complete the NL West for me. Strange how that has worked out.

What's this "Full Court Press" he speaks of?

Grant presses for tighter 'D'
From today's Huntsville Times

"As he spoke to the coaches, Grant's style of a pressing, swarming team quickly became apparent."

To quote Bill Simmons, I'm giddy..... :)

David Hobbs Fired! (and Alonzo Gee's Summer League Stats)

This poor guy can't stick anywhere, even Japan. ESPN has reported that everyone's favorite former Alabama basketball coach has been fired from his coaching position by the Japan Basketball Association. Reportedly, Hobbs was on leave due to health issues before the termination. Nothing like being ill and then being fired. Not a nice way to end the week, that's for sure. Follow the link to read more.

At 60 years of age, one would imagine that this might be the end of the line for Hobbs, particularly if his health does not improve.


For those of you interested, here are Alonzo Gee's stats so far with the Spurs summer league team.

PPG: 1.7

RPG: 1.30

APG: 0.0

EFF: + 1.00

His minutes have diminished from 11 in the first game against the Hornets to just 7 minutes total in the last two games. This does not bode well for Alonzo making an NBA roster, but I have a hard time believing his athletic ability alone won't earn him a paycheck in some basketball league somewhere.

Edit: And here are the summer league stats for Richard Hendrix:

PPG: 9.0
RPG: 4.30
APG: 0.3
EFF: + 11.00

Richard has had a solid summer league. My feeling is he will be on an NBA bench next season and possibly contributing. NBA.com lists Richard as playing for the Nuggets summer league team, yet I was under the impression he was playing for the Orlando team? Maybe that's for the better since Orlando recently re-signed Marcin Gortat.

Samford to visit Alabama on Dec. 16

It's that time of the year when schedules start leaking out and we can piece together our own schedule bit by bit. Samford will come to Tuscaloosa on Dec. 16. They have beat us before in Tuscaloosa, and they will be fired up to play us when we have lower expectations. Hopefully Coach Grant can keep the guys focused and we won't have another Belmont/Mercer debacle. Samford has a pretty good non-conf. schedule

Yamene Coleman to play final year at Troy (St)

I was hoping someone could talk him into returning to the team. We really could've used him this season to clog the middle.

Yamene Coleman, who left the Alabama basketball team after graduating this spring, will play his final year of eligibility for Troy this year, head coach Don Maestri said Sunday.

The 6-foot-9, 240-pound center graduated from Alabama, but will enroll in August at Troy in the master’s program in sport/fitness management. He’s already been accepted into Troy and just recently, the NCAA approved Coleman eligible for Troy.

Alabama hired a new coach this year, Anthony Grant, and Coleman chose to look elsewhere for his final season. The former Wilcox Central standout had been at Alabama for four seasons, but redshirted his first year. Coleman played in all 32 games for the Crimson Tide last season, averaging 3.7 points and 3.8 rebounds as a reserve.

Yamene to Troy

Ron Steele to test his skills overseas

He holds no grudges it seems. Good for him and good luck to him overseas.

"But do you know that Ron Steele will not speak negative about Mark Gottfried? And Mark Gottfried will not speak negative about Ron Steele?

That's the truth."

Steele may have left the Alabama team midway through his injury-riddled senior season, but he didn't leave the Alabama program behind. Last month, he spent time visiting with new coach Anthony Grant and working at his camp.

Side note- was this article really 6 pages? It was like a paragraph per page.

Link

One less Bama basketball reporter- Rapaport leaves for NE Patriots

This broke yesterday, but I wanted some verification. From the horse's mouth.

I know he's gotten a lot of heat for calling CNS Nick in press conferences (still not sure what's the big deal about that), but outside of Cecil Hurt IMO he was the only other one in the state media that actually did some research on Bama hoops.

Good luck to him... it's definitely a step up. As much as I hate all sports teams in Boston I wouldn't mind living there.

Buh bye he said

Shawn Kemp to enroll at Hargrave

He needs to get his ACT score up. Tis a shame as we really could've used him this season.
Link

Tentative UGA 09-10 Basketball schedule

Here

4 quality non-conference games. Make that 3 as St John's isn't worth a crap, but they're still a name (for now).

Richard Hendrix makes Orlando Magic Summer team roster

Read more at this Magic Blog. I agree that Hendrix could be a good fit there, they could use another big man and he should be able to get some boards for them. It's nice to see him going to a good team, hopefully he can stick.

Alonzo Gee Makes Spurs Summer League Roster

According to NBA.com, Alonzo Gee has made the San Antonio Spurs summer league team. The Link.

Here's the roster:

NO	PLAYER	POS.	HT.	WT.	DOB	COLLEGE/COUNTRY	NBA EXP.
1	Malik Hairston	G	6-6	215	2/23/87	Oregon	1
3	George Hill	G	6-2	190	5/4/86	IUPUI	1
10	James Gist	F	6-9	235	10/26/86	Maryland	R
13	Nando De Colo	G	6-5	200	6/23/87	France	R
14	Donnell Taylor	G	6-5	193	7/26/82	Alabama-Birmingham	2
16	Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson	G	5-10	180	1/28/83	Alabama-Birmingham	R
17	Antonio Anderson	G	6-6	215	6/5/85	Memphis	R
18	Eric Dawson	F/C	6-9	235	7/7/84	Midwestern State	R
19	Marcus Vinicius	F	6-9	235	5/31/84	Brazil	2
23	Romel Beck	G/F	6-7	185	5/29/82	UNLV	R
28	Ian Mahinmi	C	6-11	250	11/5/86	France	1
33	Jack McClinton	G	6-1	185	1/19/85	Miami	R
35	Alonzo Gee	G	6-6	219	5/29/87	Alabama	R
45	DeJuan Blair	F	6-7	265	4/22/89	Pittsburgh	R

This is exciting news for Alonzo and I wish him the best. It's a long shot, but at the very least he'll have a chance to play in the D-League. The cool thing for me is I only live 90 miles from San Antonio, and should Alonzo be relegated to their D-league team, it's right here in Austin, giving me yet another reason to attend Toros games (that and Quin Snyder's hair, of course). Give 'em hell, Alonzo!