Seems the head coaches at major Division 1 basketball schools are not in favor of the current system that allows underclassmen to test the NBA Draft waters and later withdraw their names. The coaches are in favor of a much shorter time frame for the players to make a final decision. It does put coaches like Gottfried in a terrible position, faced with the prospect of potentially losing three players out of the starting lineup. Do you sit back and hope everyone returns, or do you become proactive and sign potential Plan Bs (assuming scholarships are available) during the late signing period? Read the article here.
Justin Britt - Cincinnati Bengals
Simeon Castille - Cincinnati Bengals
Matt Caddell - St. Louis Rams
Wallace Gilberry - New York Giants
Keith Saunders - New England Patriots
The men’s golf team swept the SEC championship by winning both the team and individual championships this weekend in Georgia. Good luck to the team in the NCAA tournament next month.
14
Apr
A-Day 2008 gallery
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- Wilson tuck and run
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- DeJohn, Bullard, Higgenbotham, Davis, Chapman, McCullough
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- Maze tacked by Sharrief
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- McCall securing the catch
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- McCall running down the sideline
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- McClain getting the call
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- McCoy catch
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- McCoy leaping grab along the sideline
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- McCoy makes the catch despite tight coverage from Arenas
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- McCoy extending to make the catch
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- Ross, Caldwell, Vlachos, Pharr
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- McElwain gonna coach em up
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- Tipped pass the Johnson ended up intercepting
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- Peek played well on Saturday
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- Peek making the catch before turning upfield
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- PJ kicking one deep
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- Play action pass
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- R. Johnson benefitting from an overthrown pass
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- R. Johnson pregame
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- Signee
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- Rogers recovering a fumble
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- Saban and Arenas
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- Saban observing Darrah
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- Talbert and Stover on the sidelines
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- Grant scoring his 1st TD of the day
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- Hanks wide open in the end zone
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- Tiffin kick possibly blocked
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- Upchurch heading outside
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- Washington, Deaderick, and Greenwood pregame
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- Watching the replay
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- Saban running interference for Wilson
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- M. Johnson and Jackson pregame
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- Smith, Johnson, Caldwell, and M. Davis
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- Signees and Gilberry
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- Signees (3)
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- Pregame
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- Pregame (2)
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- 2nd Team O & D
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- Andre Smith
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- Corey Smith
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- D. Goode taking it outside
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- Defensive Linemen
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- Darrah completing one to the sideline
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- E. Alexander rising above Jackson for the TD
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- Unknown
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- Goode tacked by McCullough
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- Goode cutting it back inside
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- Grant sprinting down the sideline for his 2nd TD
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- Grant tackled in the backfield by Fanney
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- Jackson wrapping up Griffin
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- King picking one off in the end zone
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- Arenas pregame
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- Garnier and Davis
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- Johns and McClain
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- J. Woodall pregame
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- K. Jackson pregame
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- Griffin looking for room outside
Alabama fans love them some Jimmy Johns. Johns has a lot of energy and a positive attitude, and quickly became a fan favorite when he set foot on campus. Since arriving on campus as a dual threat quarterback in 2005, Johns has been the topic of many position discussions. Would he better serve the team as a run/pass option at QB, as a running back, or as a linebacker? Ultimately the decision was made after a few practices (reportedly by Johns) to move to the tailback position.
After watching Johns run with the ball his freshman season, it seemed that he wasn’t a natural fit at running back. Although he was typically able to pick up positive yardage, he kept his body in an awkward vertical position when running between the tackles. The rare occasions when he ran outside the tackles, he appeared to be in slow motion. One other item stood out during Johns’ freshman season…he liked to hit people. Fans would single him out on kickoff coverage, following him down the field to see whose head he would try to take off. John’s biggest play in 2005 came in the opening kickoff of the 2nd half against State, where he forced Derek Pegues to fumble the ball, which was then returned for a TD by Matt Miller.
With Johns’ propensity for contact combined with the return of Darby (who had back to back 1000 yd. rushing seasons in 2004 and 2005), fans were hoping for a move to LB. Then a funny thing happened in 2006…we couldn’t run the ball. Darby was injured, our OL was being physically manhandled (especially in the red zone), and there was a definite need for a physical back who could gain tough yards. Johns filled this role to the tune of 66 carries in 2006 and eventually became the fan’s choice for RB ahead of Darby.
Saban came along in 2007 and evaluated the tailback situation. With three or four tailbacks (Grant, Coffee, Upchurch, and Goode) with more natural running instincts than Johns on the team, Johns was moved to the fullback position. Throughout the 2007 season, Johns was relegated mostly to special teams, only receiving a handful of rushing attempts late in the season. Some insiders may know this and maybe they can provide input, but I would speculate that Saban probably gave Johns the option of switching to defense in late spring or summer of 2007. Johns probably still saw himself as a RB at the time and declined the move, but then saw the light at the end of 2007 before the bowl game.
With Saunders and Mustin graduating, Knight’s health questionable, and Hall’s status uncertain, there are a lot of unanswered questions heading into the 2008 season at the linebacker/jack positions. Although Johns only has a few bowl and spring practices under his belt, he seems to be in good shape to take ove the WIL position, at least for the spring. He has all of the physical tools and the attitude, it’s just a matter if he can pick up the mental aspect. It will also be interesting to see if any of the incoming freshmen can overtake Johns in August.
Another Johns topic I wanted to touch on is how did Alabama fans become so obsessed with Johns? There seems to be this extra longing to see Johns excel on the field which is not displayed by many fans to the same degree for other players. I think it comes from the recruitment of Johns and comments made by Sylvester Croom. Croom privately told Johns that he would never play quarterback for Alabama, which in itself isn’t a fallacious or deceitful statement when made privately to a player your recruiting. The problem comes when you publically make the same statement after your team was just beaten where the player in question makes a huge play to turn the tide of the game. Croom stated, “I think it’s very obvious that what I told (Johns) is true. He’s never going to play quarterback at Alabama.” Of course, next week Johns did play quarterback at Alabama against LSU. Sour grapes by Croom? Of course. Behavior very unbecoming of a head coach? Without a doubt. But the heart of the statement is something that troubles some Bama fans. Would Jimmy Johns be better off Mississippi State?
In my opinion, the answer is no. Jimmy learned a lot about Croom when he made those comments following the 2005 State game. A year later, Jimmy gave the following response to Croom’s comments.
“I haven’t had a conversation or a hug or a handshake or anything from Sylvester Croom since I signed with Alabama. I just want to beat them. (After last year’s game), I tried to find him. But, you know, after the game he ran off the field. Like a Bulldog, you know. You get beat, you tuck your tail and run. He thinks I betrayed him. I didn’t betray him. I never committed to him. I told him that he was in the lead of my recruitment. I told him that when he was sitting in my living room that if I had to sign today that I would sign with him, but I hadn’t been to Alabama yet. I came over here and fell in love over here. (Croom’s comments) actually hurt me. I was a freshman and, you know, for a head coach to say something like that . . . it gets to your heart, you know. I never had nothing but praise for him. If I see him today I’m going to shake his hand and tell him that I love him. I still care for him. But Jimmy Johns made a decision that was best for him.”
Why did Jimmy choose Alabama? Did he commit to a position or a person? No, he committed to the experience of playing football for the University of Alabama. Jimmy says it best himself.
“This is a place that I love, this is where I want my sons going.”
“ I want everybody from Mississippi and Mississippi State to know why I’m at Alabama — it’s these fans. I want these fans to be as loud as possible, just being in the game and letting them know how loud Alabama fans are.”
In short, while Johns was not able to beat out the current quarterback and tailbacks at their position, I’m hoping that he will earn the starting linebacker spot and be a permanent fixture on the field for the 2008 season.
I’ve been busy at work and now I’m taking a little vacation. I’ll be back with more useless information and opinions at the end of March. Roll Tide
Mykal Riley carried the team again, but his fall away three pointer at the end of overtime rattled out, leaving Alabama on the losing end against Miss. St. for the third time this season. The game had a little of everything, including a possible tornado. Miss. St. jumped on us early, scoring easy baskets as our offense struggled to generate open looks. Eventually our three point shooters heated up, and we turned an early deficit into a 7 point halftime lead. Right before the half, we had the ball out of bounds with around 6 seconds remaining. Instead of throwing the ball inside to Hendrix, Jemison sent a “jump ball” pass all the way to the backcourt, where the ball was promptly stolen resulting in a Pickett foul and FTs for State with less than a second remaining in the half. It was an embarrassing play, but not really surprising given the way we played during the season.
We pushed the lead out to nine points in the second half, but then the wheels came off offensively. In the remaining 10 minutes of the 2nd half, we would only score 10 points (including Riley’s shot at the buzzer). I can’t remember how many times our PG had the ball in his hands 30 ft. from the basket with less than 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock. State was able to pressure our guards out on the perimeter without having to worry about helping out on Hendrix. We set screens for Riley, but he struggled to separate from Hansbrough. On the other end, Gordon penetrated into the lane with ease, at one point driving straight down the lane for an uncontested dunk with a minute remaining. While our defense could not stop the penetration, they did do a good job of anticipating passes resulting in some key steals to keep us in the game.
Down two late in the game, we ran a great out of bounds play to get Hendrix a great look. Instead of going strong, Hendrix tried to finesse a shot around Varnado, which was blocked. There were a few occasions in the game where we tried to alter our shot instead of just taking it strong straight at Varnado and getting the foul. After Hendrix had his layup blocked, he fouled Stewart with about 7 seconds remaining. Stewart only hit 1 of 2, and as Hollinger quickly pushed the ball upcourt, State attempted to foul since they had a three point lead. As Hollinger and the ball were nudged out of bounds, the officials decided to give the ball to Bama instead of calling the foul. Bama inbounded the ball to Riley, who hit a tough shot with Hansbrough in his face.
In OT, all of our points came from FTs or offensive rebounds. Hansbrough hit a big three pointer, and State was still able to penetrate inside for easy layups. Gee missed the front end of a 1 & 1 after the tornado delay. He was 7/8 at the line at that point, so I felt good about him being at the line, but it was a very tough situation to be in after the long delay. Hollinger got a couple of good 3 pt. looks in overtime, but was unable to knock them down. Hansbrough missed two FTs to give us a chance, but Riley’s awkward driving shot was blocked out of bounds and his fall away three pointer at the buzz just missed. I’m hoping we’ve done enough to earn a selection to the NIT, and our team could really benefit from postseason play.
Ending the regular season on a positive note, Bama defeated the Dores 78-73 on Senior Day in Tuscaloosa. Riley had a great game offensively, hitting six three pointers and scoring 13 of the Tide’s 16 points in OT. I wasn’t able to watch the game, but it was a pleasant surprise when I pulled up the box score on Saturday night to reveal our victory. It was nice to see Gee regain his offensive productivity and also make a few steals. Vandy had won eight of their last nine games before Saturday’s game, so this victory is nothing to scoff at. Hopefully Bama can build off the momentum from this victory heading into the SEC tournament. Alabama is scheduled to face Florida Thursday night at 7:30 pm Eastern in the tournament. SEC tournament brackets can be found here.
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I was able to attend the Louisville/Georgetown game on Saturday at the Verizon Center in DC. It turned out to be a good game, with Georgetown winning 55-52 and claiming the Big East regular season title. The game was a little sloppy in the first half, with both teams struggling to score. Louisville tried to keep the ball out of Hibbert’s hands with their zone, but Georgetown countered by hitting a couple of open threes early in the second half to extend their lead to double digits. Louisville was eventually able to briefly regain the lead late in the game, mostly due to their pressure defense. Other than Wallace, Georgetown didn’t have a guard who looked comfortable handling the ball against Louisville’s backcourt pressure. Ultimately Louisville could not overcome its poor free throw and outside shooting, and couldn’t answer Summers’ game winning three made with 4o seconds remaining. Georgetown didn’t have much of a home court advantage. Other than the student section behind the baselines, the rest of the crowd was overly subdued.
Hibbert shooting over the defense.
Verizon Center from the nosebleed section.
Padgett driving over Hibbert
Padgett shooting a free throw
Alabama native Jonathan Wallace before the game on Senior Day.
Final Four banner.
03
Mar
Greetings from the road
Coming to you live from Calgary, Alberta this week. Well, I missed the Ole Miss game on Saturday. Not that I could’ve watched it online if I wanted to, because the hotel internet connection is unbelievably slow. We had a miraculous comeback in the last 2 minutes, only to fall short at the end. Apparently there was some questionable officiating at the end of the game when the officials refused to call a foul as Bama was obviously fouling an Ole Miss player. For whatever reason, the official made up his mind not to call a foul. Hopefully the league office will issue some kind of punishment, but I have my doubts. While it’s important to protect officials from being publicly ridiculed after every game by whiners like Coach K and Calipari, there should also be a process of public accountability for officials who purposely make incorrect calls.
Speaking of accountability, it appears that the police report in the Rashad Johnson arrest included enough fabrications that Johnson has been offered a plea deal that would dismiss all charges against him. Was this only an isolated incident, or more indicative of a pattern with the TPD?
Back to basketball, the Tide needs one more win (either in the regular season or SEC tournament) to finish 0.500 on the season. The best candidate for a win is over LSU, but beating the Tigers on the road will be a difficult task. Bama has no SEC road wins this season, and LSU has been playing well as of late. Finishing 0.500 may not technically be required to qualify for post season play in the NIT or CBI, but it is generally needed as a rule of thumb.
Antwan Odom signed a 5 year deal with the Bengals today. Read about it here.
If I find a better internet connection, I’ll post some pictures of Calgary.
28
Feb
Bama over Arkansas by 3
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. Jemison had his best offensive showing of the year, scoring on offensive rebounds, short jumpshots, and going 5/5 at the free throw line (including two clutch free throws near the end of the game). The Hogs did a nice job in the second half of denying Hendrix the ball, but Hendrix still scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Gee never got into the flow of the game and only played for 16 minutes. Hillman, Riley, and Pickett all played ok…they had some silly turnovers but also some big baskets on the offensive end. Torrance had a poor showing in his limited 4 minutes of playing time. Coleman, Knox, and Hollinger all played limited minutes.
Both teams struggled shooting from the outside and free throw line. There were also several careless turnovers where passes were made with someone standing directly in the passing lane. Just like our previous game against Arkansas, Townes shot a very high percentage and had several easy looks inside. Unlike last game, Alabama played a whole lot more man defense and looked much improved. Players understood their assignments and our big men did a good job showing against ball screens. Also unlike last game, Alabama enjoyed an advantage over the Hogs at the free throw line, attempting 8 more FTs than Arkansas.
Up next for Bama is Ole Miss. Bama will be trying to achieve its first SEC road victory on Saturday. Arkansas, fighting for an NCAA tournament bid, have now lost 4 of their last 5 and need to turn it around quick as Vanderbilt comes to town this weekend.
