Thoughts on the Bama/Detroit Game

As I enjoy my long weekend thanks to some unused vacation time at work, some observations about the Bama/Detroit game and beyond.

Obviously I’m happy with the win as it snapped a 2-game losing streak, but this was yet another inconsistent showing by the team. While they played well on the defensive end, causing turnovers and converting them into points, they once again struggled in half court sets and perimeter shooting remains abysmal. They also had a sluggish start to the second half, which allowed Detroit back into the game. If Detroit had been able to knock down a few open shots in the second half after closing within nine points, that game would have been much tighter than it became.

I thought Coach Grant made a good decision in starting Nick Jacobs tonight. He struggles on the defensive end and he must improve as a rebounder (he didn’t have one rebound tonight), but he’s playing with a lot of confidence and I felt he took some pressure off JaMychal (though Green did foul out…again….the fouls were spread out). It also allowed Tony to play more on the perimeter. It will be interesting to see if this starting line-up sticks. I’ve got to hand it to Jacobs. Coming into the season I thought the guy was going to need some time to develop. And I mean more than a couple of weeks. His recent play has been impressive to say the least.

I hate to say it (write it), but this Alabama team is not a very good basketball team right now. In fact, an argument could be made that the team has regressed since the Puerto Rico trip. This isn’t necessarily a surprise since Anthony Grant and his coaches are asking so much of freshmen players, but it is a concern as we inch ever closer to the beginning of conference season. While the team started off great in terms of quality wins, if they don’t finish the non-conference schedule strong and, say, go .500 in conference play, they will be on the bubble once again. And, frankly, they have not looked like a tournament team the past couple of weeks.

I do believe the team will improve as the season goes along. The biggest issue with the young guys right now is confidence. They’ve all struggled to some degree, particularly the perimeter guys. The shots aren’t falling for them and you can tell they’re second guessing everything they do on the offensive end instead of just playing basketball. Fortunately, they’ve continued to play solid defense.

Cooper started the year as the best of the three perimeter freshmen, but he has really fallen off since Puerto Rico. Randolph has been the best defender of the three freshmen guards, but he’s really struggling with his shot. He did play better on the offensive side against Detroit so hopefully that’s a sign of things to come. I really like Trevor Lacey. He isn’t jumping out at you with his play, but he is a smart player. He doesn’t rush things, he takes care of the ball, usually makes the right decision, and he is really the only one of the three who has continued to take shots when they are there. Once his shot begins to fall, he’s going to take off.

To me, the biggest criticism has to be directed at Trevor Releford and the returning bench players. Not that Releford’s play has been terrible, but it’s been inconsistent. And with the number of freshmen the team has to rely on right now, Releford can’t afford to be inconsistent. For Alabama to be successful right now Tony, JaMychal and Releford must play well. Releford played well for the most part against Detroit, but he also had periods in the game where he seemed to lose his focus. Once again, the ESPN cameras caught Grant a couple of times voicing his displeasure with Releford’s play. He has to pick it up.

Our returning bench players aren’t exactly all-SEC material, but their play has still been disappointing. Obviously we don’t expect offensive production from Ben Eblen, but we do expect him to play well on defense and take care of the ball. He’s improved since looking pretty bad earlier in the season, but when you’re struggling to score and you’re bringing in a guy who has zero offensive game, that’s not good. I give Engstrom a pass because he’s been a project since day one, but I also have to question why we potentially wasted a scholarship on this guy to begin with. It’s taken Nick Jacobs about a month to work his way into the rotation and crack the starting line-up while Engstrom at this point is improved but may never crack the regular rotation. Finally, there was a lot of noise in the offseason about Hankerson’s improvement, but he’s played sparingly and appears to have fallen behind the freshmen in the rotation. When you have Cooper, as poorly as he’s played recently, still logging more minutes than Hankerson, that’s not good.

Again, I believe the team will improve as the season progresses, but they are no longer a tournament lock as I believed they would be in the preseason. Here’s hoping they make me look stupid.