Alabama is much more complex than I first thought. And their game against Mississippi State was an excellent basketball game that was even closer than the four-point difference indicates. The Crimson Tide never give up and have a pretty wide range of techniques to throw at opposing teams, and it will take everything we have to top them in Tuscaloosa. I have done my research though folks, and may have spotted some keys to victory. Hope you enjoy it.
JaMychal Green is the first guy I have to breakdown. Alabama is decisive in getting him going early, and he was given control of the ball four out of the first five possessions. It is clear to me that he likes to establish his stellar offensive game along the baseline, facing up with opposing post players that usually cannot match his skill set. He is never afraid to take the long two-point shot and actually prefers to get his stroke going further away from the basketball in the early parts of the game. As his oppositions get tired is when he likes to post up, and he clearly has a great touch on hook shots from the evidence I witnessed. One of the more surprising parts of his game is his solid court vision and natural passing abilities. He finds cutting teammates with ease and is a tough player to matchup with from a defensive standpoint. As for his own defense, he is not the best. When defending against a post up player, he gets pushed around quite easily and has a bad habit of fouling. He isn’t always in great position for the defensive rebound either, which hurts his team. However, he has great instinct when it comes to blocking a driving offensive player. Which, considering the sometimes faulty defense his teammates have, patches up a lot of mistakes of the Alabama defense as a whole and naturally intimidates opposing players. Overall, he is surprisingly one of the most clam players on his team and is good at getting the game under control when the Tide get a little too fast for their own good.
Tony Mitchell is the other deadly forward for Alabama. He, much like his teammate, can stretch the court quite well for a post player and has actually taken more threes than any of his teammates. However, his a little too aggressive for his own good sometimes. My thoughts are that he gets a little panicked when controlling the ball too long and throws up tough shots. Still, his offensive outburst can really be a difference maker for Alabama if he gets going. Mitchell seems to like to play parallel to the baseline, and lacks the post up game Green can present. He does have that odd talent of being a good passer, and can find his fellow forward easily if Green establishes position in the paint. His defense overall seemed decent, although he lacked some of the explosive blocks his teammate had. Mitchell has been known to nearly foul out of games, but he generally plays a lot more minutes than the foul happy Green. And this is one of the reasons why his value is similar to that of Green, although he is not as skilled.
On the perimeter, the Crimson Tide start to look a little foolish at times. No one really hits the long ball with any consistency. All of the guards really rush if they get caught in a momentum trap, as in they do the exact same thing that everyone is told not to do. Instead of slowing the game down, they like to push the ball even harder which leads to many mistakes, especially considering that their passing is not the greatest. And that is one of those moments when they are better off giving the ball to Green and letting him work. However, they do excel in some areas. In man-to-man defense, they play as tight as any team in the conference and really know how to run as soon as opposing teams make a mistake. All of the guards are textbook in fastbreak execution and know how to finish in those scenarios. And when they drop back into zone defense, they are great at reading opposing teams and snatching passes that lead to more breaks. Trevor Releford, in particular, is a great finish and without a doubt the most threatening of the Alabama guards. Other than he, they can really struggle in halfcourt situations when Green or Mitchell are not getting the ball.
Off the bench, only two players are really going to do anything. Andrew Steele is a really tough guard of the bench who could pose some problems if we let him. Nick Jacobs is a freshman forward who actually has a decent post game put will not get many plays designed for him, and his defense can really be exposed by opposing players. I expect both to get decent bench playing time, especially if Green is in foul trouble and one of the starting guards is struggling (both of which are very possible).
Overall, Alabama has some good pieces and they are a serious threat to our winstreak. We cannot allow Green to get to the free throw line eleven times again, and we must make sure he gets his foul. Overall, our essential game plan should be to get some things going in the post, because Alabama as a team is known to foul and allow offensive rebounds. And that is why I expect Lance Goulbourne to have a pretty nice day for us. I say this because Arnett Moultrie to abuse them on the glass this past weekend, and Goulbourne has the same rebounding intensity of Moultrie (although he lacks the same offensive instinct). If Festus Ezeli could magically come back to form over this longer break then his post moves could probably destroy Green, but we cannot but all our faith into that. We need our perimeter players to take control of the ball and be ready to scare Alabama out of their deadly zone by shooting the ball. I know that sounds a little funny but if the Mississippi State game was evidence of anything, then Alabama plays a darn good zone defense that simply does not allow for post play. It took Dee Bost making some great plays from the perimeter for the Bulldogs to top Alabama, and we will need our guys to do the same.