re: Alabama Basketball Megathread | 26-7 (16-2)

How does herb finish the year 0/19 from 3 point line?
And the first offensive foul I can accept, but the second foul on the next possession is really hard to accept. With him having the foul trouble he had earlier in the season and the way Oats reacted to questions pertaining to it in post game pressers throughout the season I’m shocked Herb wasn’t wise enough to avoid that second foul this far along in the season. It had to be an ongoing conversation between Oats and Herb. “Don’t foul out, we need you.” Oats pretty much said he passed along those exact words in one of the pressers. I mean come on Herb.

I didn’t post here much during the season, but it seems like the players I criticized the most early on in the season were the ones who came through when needed the most. (Reese, Quinerly)

And the ones who I thought would be there when we needed them the most weren’t. (Petty, Jones). At least on the offensive end.

Pressure does crazy things. I never thought when we were 4-3 Quinerly and Reese were the ones I would end up hoping were holding the ball at the end of the game in the sweet 16, but that’s how it turned out.

If the just called that charge when they barreled into Herb...

Lots of “ifs” from that game.

I don't get why *some Arkansas fans love bragging about their Elite 8 and Final Four appearances. To me, nothing matters unless you win the championship. That'd be like bragging about making the College Football Playoff and losing. Now their championship 30 years ago, that's an achievement.

Same thing with *some Auburn fans and their Final Four appearance, it's really nothing to hang your hat on. Now the SEC achievements are big because you were the best in your conference. That's something that gives a fan bragging rights. Even if Arkansas gets to the NCG it doesn't really mean anything unless they win it. For me, an Elite Eight or Final Four loss would've been just as disappointing as tonight was.

Easy to say when we don’t have one.

Don’t be obtuse. We’d be shoving final four appearances if we had them. We want them. Full stop.

Gonna be a long arse 8 months till our next game. Cant wait!!

I thought UCLA wasn’t very good before this game but I was wrong. They are sneaky good. Everyone focuses on Juzang and Jacquez but that’s the illusion; they go at least 6 players deep with guys that can change the game. Not take it over and score 35, just get hot and drop 4 straight 3’s on you, or take over the paint and just flush several easy buckets close in, or make all their free throws at critical times.

They are a collection of very solid players that play their role until it’s time for their highlight moment. Then they step up and seize it. They are very underrated. If you told me this morning that we hold Juzang to 13 and he fouls out, I’d have bet my house we beat UCLA’s arse. They take turns sliding a dagger between your ribs. Take away one player and another does the damage. Right after the loss I thought Michigan will run them out of the gym, but now I’m not so sure. I still think Michigan will be too much for them but I’ll bet UCLA stays close and in the game until late.

It sucks. We played terribly, didn’t play our game, had a chance to win and pissed it away. But that’s not a bad team we lost to. They just aren’t flashy and don’t have a superstar. They just all do their job and do it well.

Looking back we’ve been much more pedestrian offensively and just relying on defense most of the last month or two. Our 3 point shooting the last month plus:
- 7/28 (25%)
- 16/33 (48.5%)
- 5/16 (31.3%)
- 12/36 (33.3%)
- 7/28 (25%)
- 13/36 (36.1%)
- 10/22 (45.5%)
- 10/35 (28.6%)
- 7/28 (25%)
- 11/33 (33.3%)
- 10/39 (25.6%)

Tonight was bad, but the only two games above 40% recently were Maryland and Georgia. In contrast, we shot over 40% from 3 in all but two of our first eight conference games. The question is what exactly can we expect going forward? Is it possible to sustain our January production? Or was that was that an anomaly and the last 2 months are a more realistic expectation for our offense going forward? Because that’s basically the difference between being a title contender and a S16 team.

And tonight we were 7/28 from behind the arc. With Petty and Q taking half of those attempts by both going 2/7. The rest of the team was 3/14. Herb 0fer, Primo 0fer, Shack 0fer. How could they all be so bad on the same night? I have to think the spotlight got to them. Got to improve on that.