Daily Archives: November 27, 2012

Alabama, Lamar basketball coaches’ comments

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Alabama coach Anthony Grant talks to an official during Tuesday’s win over Lamar. (AP photo by Michelle Lepianka Carter of The Tuscaloosa News)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — The Crimson Tide beat Lamar 75-47 at home Tuesday night, and here are the opening statements from the Tide’s Anthony Grant and Lamar’s Pat Knight:

–Grant’s comments: “It’s always going to be about our team getting better and understanding what we have to do in terms of where we want to be as a basketball team. I’ve got to do a better job as a coach making sure we get that across. We’ve got to do a better job in terms of understanding how we need to play for 40 minutes.

“I thought in the second half our defensive intensity picked up. Offensively, we have to get better in some areas in terms of understanding what allows us to have success. I thought the intensity from the defense, the focus in terms of what we need to do in the press, being matched up in the press and being effective with the style of play was good in the second half.”

–Knight on Lamar’s success in first half, before he was ejected near the start of the second half: “I thought our guards did a really good job breaking their press by going up the sidelines. If you go into the middle against that kind of press that’s where the trap is and I thought our guards did a great job breaking the press. I thought we did well changing up the defenses and not letting Alabama get in a rhythm. We just attacked the basket really well and I thought that really helped us. Talking to my assistants, (Alabama) picked up the pressure more in the second half even more so and added more traps to it and we just didn’t handle it well. We kind of backed down a little bit, because they picked up the pressure and instead of us picking up our intensity, we kind of let down.

“That’s my fault — when the head coach isn’t in the game it’s tough for the kids — especially for all the young kids. I’m not there telling them to get it up the sideline, not reminding them to call a timeout if they get in trouble. So it’s really on me for that last 15 minutes. I was proud with the first 25 minutes; I thought we played really well. Talking to my assistants, I think (Alabama) amped up their intensity and we kind of backed off.”

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Tide hoops: Big win, Dakota Slaughter shines, Bobby Knight’s son gets ejected

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Alabama guard Trevor Lacey (5) had seven points and four rebounds. (AP photo by Michelle Lepianka Carter of the Tuscaloosa News)

Lamar coach Pat Knight said after he was ejected he went to the locker room. “There’s no TV. Nothing to do. It’s kind of boring,” he said. (AP photo by Michelle Lepianka Carter of The Tuscaloosa News)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Alabama’s basketball team won by a lot, the other team’s coach got thrown out of the game, and a Tide walk-on played so well at the end the students chanted his name.

Alabama beat Lamar 75-47 on Tuesday night in what was a reasonably close game until Lamar coach Pat Knight received two quick technical fouls two minutes into the second half.

After getting the first technical after protesting the rough play, Knight argued fiercely, with his assistant coaches holding him back. That got him a second technical and a trip to the locker room, where he said he was bored and talked on the phone to his wife, a friend in Florida and his dad. He is the son of coaching legend Bobby Knight.

“The physical play, the calls need to be called,” said Knight, whose team is now 1-6. “I didn’t earn the first one. I made sure I earned the second one. I got my money’s worth.”

The Tide led only 36-29 at the time, but Knight’s ejection seemed to breathe some life into the Coleman Coliseum crowd, which was listed at 10,436 but seemed a lot less.

“In the second half, we were much better,” Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. “Defensively, we were locked in.”

Two regulars in the playing rotation didn’t appear in Tuesday’s game for Alabama (6-0). Leading scorer Trevor Releford missed the game because of flu-like symptoms, while reserve guard Andrew Steele aggrevated a groin injury.

That opened the door for sophomore walk-on Dakota Slaughter, a 6-foot-6 forward who got 10 minutes on the floor and scored the first 10 points of his college career. He joined the team last year after going through an open tryout.

“He brings it every day in practice,” Grant said. “Our team trusts and believes in him. He did what we see him do in practice on a daily basis. With 10 scholarship guys, we’re going to need him in spots this year.”

Slaughter made four of his five shots, including a 3-pointer. When he made a driving layup near the end, about a half-dozen students chanted “Slaughter, Slaughter, Slaughter.”

Rodney Cooper, who missed the Friday’s win over Charleston Southern with shoulder tendonitis, came off the bench Tuesday. He finished with a team-high 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists and said afterward the shoulder felt fine. Freshman point guard Retin Obasohan, making his first career start in place of Releford, had 13 points and three steals.

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Tide’s Williams wanted TD catch to show his athleticism

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Alabama senior tight end Michael Williams (89) nearly had a touchdown catch against Auburn. (Copyright photo by Gary Cosby Jr. of The Decatur Daily)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Alabama tight end Michael Williams says he’s athletic and wishes he could have proved it against Auburn.

In Saturday’s 49-0 win over Auburn, he nearly caught a pass in the end zone, even though linebacker Daren Bates was between him and the ball. It he had made the catch, it would’ve looked a little like the one former Tide receiver Tyrone Prothro made against Southern Mississippi in 2005.

“A lot of people don’t see me as athletic, but I like to think I’m athletic so I wish I could have made that play so I could at least have something to go off and say I’m athletic,” Williams said tonight with a smile.

As you can see from the photo above, he nearly made the catch but lost the ball as he went to the ground.

“It was very close,” he said. “You wish you could have plays back and I think if I could have that play back I’d squeeze just a little bit harder and come down with that one.”

For fun, here’s video of Prothro’s catch:

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Thoughts from Tuesday’s Alabama practice

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TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — The Crimson Tide went through a second straight day practicing inside the indoor facility. That will be routine for the week, considering Saturday’s SEC Championship Game will be inside the Georgia Dome.

Alabama true freshman safety Eddie Williams got some work with the scout team as a wide receiver. He wore No. 12, which is the jersey number of Georgia’s Tavarres King, who is 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds. Williams stands 6-3 and 204 and came to Alabama as a prospect to play either receiver or defensive back.

Noseguard Brandon Ivory (ankle) stood and watched for the media viewing period, which covered about 16 minutes. Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday that Ivory should be able to play Saturday.

Offensive guard Chance Warmack wore a heavy tape job on his hand, which is protecting an injured finger. He has said the tape looks worse that it actually is.

Here’s a short video of the Alabama receivers today, which gives you a look at how Kevin Norwood (83) and Chris Black (5) are running. They both looked fine at practice. Norwood, who has struggled with a leg injury this week, had a good week of practice last week, and it paid off with five catches and a pair of touchdowns against Auburn.

Why shoot receivers for the second straight day? Well, they practice the closest to where we’re allowed to stand when the Tide works out inside.

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SEC Championship Game hype video

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Here’s the Southeastern Conference’s hype video for Saturday’s championship game. Alabama players speaking in the video include Barrett Jones, Damion Square and Michael Williams.

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How much of an effect did that 2008 ‘black-out’ game have on Georgia?

Posted on November 27, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Remember the 2008 Alabama-Georgia game in Athens? Georgia declared it a “black out,” asking fans to wear black to the stadium.

Georgia was unbeaten and ranked No. 3 nationally, while the Tide was No. 8. Alabama won 41-30, but it wasn’t nearly that close. The Crimson Tide led 31-0 at halftime, and Georgia scored two meaningless touchdowns in the final three minutes.

So what did it mean to Georgia’s program? ESPN.com has a story examining that game from the point of view that it sent Georgia into a three-year tailspin. But did it?

For goodness sakes, it was just one game. If you’re program can’t survive one loss, then what kind of program did you have in the first place?

Georgia coach Mark Richt isn’t quoted in the ESPN.com piece, and there’s a reason. He was asked Sunday if he knew the 2008 game would have a lasting effect.

“Not that I know,” he said. “You take one game within itself. The bottom line was we didn’t play well that day. We played a much better second half. I think we scored I don’t know in the second half, scored a good many, but not enough to overcome what had happened in the first half.

“But we just got whipped obviously. I mean, I don’t think how it might have affected anything other than that day.”

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Alabama vs. Lamar, basketball game information

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Alabama guard Trevor Lacey (5) makes a pass against Charleston Southern. (AP photo by Robert Sutton of The Tuscaloosa News)

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa

Records: Alabama 5-0, Lamar 1-5.

TV: None.

Alabama lineup: G Trevor Lacey, 6-3, So., 14.8 ppg., 4.2 assists; G Trevor Releford, 6-0, Jr., 18.6 ppg., 3.4 assists; C Carl Engstrom, 7-1, Jr., 3.8 ppg., 3.2 rpg.; F Levi Randolph, 6-5, So., 6.4 ppg., 3.8 rpg.; F Devonta Pollard, 6-8, Fr., 4.4 ppg., 3.6 rpg.

Lamar lineup: F Nikko Acosta, 6-9, Sr., 5.3 ppg., 3.0 rpg.; F Rhon Mitchell, 6-5, Fr., 11.0 ppg., 6.0 rpg.; F Stan Brown, 6-8, Sr., 9.0 ppg., 5.7 rpg.; G Keilan Blanks, 5-9, Fr., 6.0 ppg., 1.8 rpg.; G Donley Minor, 6-1, Sr., 10.2 ppg., 3.3 rpg., 2.3 assists.

Noteworthy: Alabama’s Rodney Cooper, who averages 15.5 points a game, missed Friday’s win over Charleston Southern with shoulder tendonitis and will be limited tonight, if he is able to go. … Alabama is shooting 40.2 percent from 3-point range after making only 28.9 a year ago. … The Crimson Tide is 5-0 for the second straight year, and the last time the team did that in back-to-back seasons was 1995-96 and 1996-97 under David Hobbs. … In the Associated Press Top 25 poll, Alabama is first among other teams receiving votes. … Lamar has lost to Kansas State, North Texas, Charlotte, Virginia and Arkansas State and has beaten Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

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Alabama may need Kevin Norwood as much as ever Saturday

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Alabama receiver Kevin Norwood (83) with quarterback AJ McCarron after the two hooked up on a touchdown pass against Auburn. (AP photo by Dave Martin)

This is my story for today’s editions:

—

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Maybe the most important play in Alabama’s 49-0 win over Auburn came early in the third quarter.

Lined up at the Tigers’ 38, AJ McCarron threw deep to receiver Kevin Norwood, who had a couple of steps on an Auburn defensive back. Norwood made the catch in stride and rolled into the end zone for a touchdown.

With speedy receiver Kenny Bell out with a broken leg suffered against Auburn, Alabama could use another deep threat to go along with freshman Amari Cooper, and Norwood showed ont hat play he’s healthy and ready to provide one.

Since the third game of the season, Norwood has struggled with a leg injury he said he doesn’t know precisely how he hurt. But in the week leading up to Saturday’s win over Auburn, he was able to work out every day. On Saturday, he caught five passes for 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Tigers.

“I couldn’t feel any better,” Norwood said Monday before practice, as No. 2-ranked Alabama (11-1) prepares to face No. 3 Georgia (11-1) in the SEC Championship Game.

Bell provided Alabama’s best deep threat, averaging 25.4 yards a reception. He played backup at the “Z” receiver position to Norwood, who starts and averages 15.2 a catch.

However, Norwood has missed one game and played sparingly in two others because of the leg injuries. In some cases, he played even though he didn’t practice full speed during the week.

“I’ve been dealing with injuries ever since I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s basically a mental thing for me. I basically push it aside and worry about what I have to do for the team. Injuries don’t affect me as much as everybody thinks they do. I really just block it out.”

Norwood’s backup at the “Z” in Monday’s practice was true freshman Chris Black, who hasn’t played this year because of a preseason shoulder injury that required surgery. He returned to practice three weeks ago, although Monday was the first time he was allowed to go through contact drills.

“We’re going to try to get him some reps,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, although he wouldn’t commit to revealing if Black will play Saturday.

Other than Norwood (26 catches) and Cooper (45), Alabama doesn’t have many experienced pass-catchers left. The rest of the rotation for Saturday will include Christion Jones (24), Cyrus Jones (four), Marvin Shinn (four) and possibly Danny Woodson Jr. (one), if Black remains on the sideline and redshirts, which was the original plan for him.

Norwood said if Black has to play, “it’s going to be very difficult, being that he really hasn’t played all season.”

Either way, it might come down to the role Norwood will play. He’s done well before in games with high stakes. In last season’s BCS National Championship Game win over LSU, he had four catches for 78 yards.

In the season-opening win over Michigan, he caught three passes for 53 yards. When Alabama won at LSU, he had five catches, including three on the game-winning drive in the final two minutes.

“I love doing everything,” Norwood said. “I love moving the ball for us and making plays for this offense. As long as AJ throws me the ball, and I’m able to make plays, I’m going to continue to make plays.”

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