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re: Alabama Vs Michigan S16 Chat
Posted on 3/25/26 at 9:46 pm to hwyman108
Posted on 3/25/26 at 9:46 pm to hwyman108
I've seen Michigan play on TV 3 times this season other than the NCAA tournament. The first 1/2 of the year they looked like a Saban version basketball squad - they were physically mauling everyone as well as dropping 3-point buckets all over the place. They absolutely looked unbeatable. Purdue beat them in the Big 10 tourney by spreading the ball around using great passing, driving and kicking out to an open player. It looked like Purdue wore Michigan out physically - plus MI didn't hit their usual number of 3's. So to beat the big beasts Alabama has to run - run - run, then pass effectively all around the perimeter while shooting at least 40% from behind the line. Then get back on defense - get in their face defensively, like they did with Texas Tech. There is no way Alabama can match up with their size, even if Williamson undergoes a metamorphosis and roughs up their 7' 4" bruiser. I think Bama's backcourt is far superior, and can do damage by moving the ball constantly and wearing Michigan down. That is what Purdue did. It also helps if MI has an off-night shooting from outside.
I think the Tide will play poised and I expect them to play with confidence on Friday. I agree with HWYMAN that Coach Oats looks more comfortable in this environment which helps the team play more loose and with less pressure.
No one, other than a few of us Tide fans, even think Bama can win this coming game. Remember, if you are old enough, that no one thought Villanova in 1985 could beat Georgetown and Patrick Ewing, but shooting 78% for the game kind of evened the playing field! I just pray Alabama can play their best, which is all we can ask for.
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Posted on 3/25/26 at 10:25 pm to Bryant91092
Ah. Yes. Now I remember. That UCONN team was good. Olafor dominated down low.
Posted on 3/26/26 at 10:00 am to ChauvinisticPigAttit
I hope we play hard and leave it out on the court. Empty the mag.
Posted on 3/26/26 at 10:02 am to deltadummy
quote:
We beat #1 UCLA back in the early 80s, I remember. Not the tournament, but still.
Mark "Tree" Farmer from Arab Alabama got his only start of his career in this game because of the center UCLA had. Mark played decent and held his own for a player that rarely got any playing time.
As far as this weekend goes, a lot will depend on what Michigan decides to do when we drive. Do they help like TT did, do they just leave 7'2 Mara as a rim protector and leave Sherrell alone at the 3 point line, or do they just trust their on ball defense and try to make us shoot tough 2s and stay attached to all of the other men around the arc. I hope they help like TT did, we had open 3s all around the arc. We tend to move the ball better when teams play this type of D. The D that stays attached to shooters seems to make our offens more stagnent and we watch Philon dribble most of the clock away. (But he's probably one of the best in the tournament at handling one on ones)
Posted on 3/26/26 at 10:07 am to ArabianKnight
quote:
do they just leave 7'2 Mara as a rim protector and leave Sherrell alone at the 3 point line
They would be fools not to do this. I love Oats but the rock to his scissors is having your tallest player guard the rim and telling the other four guys to stay around the 3-pt line and try to clog potential kick-out lanes.
Posted on 3/26/26 at 10:11 am to TheTideMustRoll
quote:
They would be fools not to do this. I love Oats but the rock to his scissors is having your tallest player guard the rim and telling the other four guys to stay around the 3-pt line and try to clog potential kick-out lanes.
I agree with this 100%, but I don't want them to do it.
So do I give it an upvote for agreeing or a downvote because I don't want it to happen?
Posted on 3/26/26 at 10:28 am to ArabianKnight
It would appear you chose violence.
Posted on 3/26/26 at 10:42 am to TheTideMustRoll
Wasn't me!
Posted on 3/26/26 at 10:46 am to ArabianKnight
We prettty much know how they will play how do we go at them?
Posted on 3/26/26 at 10:50 am to antibarner
Let's take MIchigan down
Posted on 3/26/26 at 11:31 am to antibarner
We unleash the secret midrange offense tomorrow. Michigan won’t know what to do.
Posted on 3/26/26 at 11:56 am to elposter
we are winning. Took off work to celebrate the whole day
Posted on 3/26/26 at 2:00 pm to A-TOWNUAFAN
Posted on 3/26/26 at 2:00 pm to Alabama_Fan
Posted on 3/26/26 at 2:06 pm to CrimsonBoz
If we can keep up the 'mo', anything is possible. But teams with a big physical inside presence usually do well against us.
Posted on 3/26/26 at 2:20 pm to TJ4UA
I remember that Villanova-Georgetown game. It was like EVERYTHING Villanova threw up went in the hoop. Even crazy, off balance wild shots that should never have gone in did. Villanova probably could have beaten Magic Johnson and the Lakers that night.
Posted on 3/26/26 at 3:00 pm to Amarillo Tide
Nova was 22-28 from the field that day. Did not miss from the field in the 2nd half.
Posted on 3/26/26 at 3:55 pm to McGregor
CW posted this tweet on the rant. No reason we can’t do it back to back
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here.This post was edited on 3/26/26 at 3:56 pm
Posted on 3/26/26 at 4:13 pm to TheTideMustRoll
quote:
They would be fools not to do this. I love Oats but the rock to his scissors is having your tallest player guard the rim and telling the other four guys to stay around the 3-pt line and try to clog potential kick-out lanes.
And Mara is like having a 7’2” Spanish octopus in the lane. For a big guy, he has some of the quickest hands I’ve ever seen. He contests EVERYTHING and swats at the ball, getting a hand on it more than you would think is possible and he doesn’t pick up fouls. He gets away with a lot of player contact because he makes contact with the ball almost every time. Everyone talks about Yaxel but in their last game, he wasn’t a factor and really disappeared.
My biggest fear is this game is going to resemble the Duke game last year a lot. We had no answer for their big men and I don’t see how we have an answer for Michigan’s unless Allen just goes beast mode and gets some help from Bowen and Williamson and Sherrell has a career game against Mara. Michigan will struggle to contain our back court but the drive and kick out game is not going to be there. They don’t have to collapse on the lane to help out, Mara can protect the rim all on his own. We just have to stay hot from 3 but usually after games like the T Tech game, Bama reverts to the mean and goes ice cold from deep.
I’m not into moral victories but if we stay close and have a real shot in the second half, I will be proud of our guys and consider it progress. I do NOT want to watch another beat down like we took from those Duke pricks to reiterate that Bama hasn’t gotten over the hump from pretty good to can hang with the elites. Gonna be watching and pulling hard for ‘em! Roll Tide!
This post was edited on 3/26/26 at 4:15 pm
Posted on 3/26/26 at 4:19 pm to phil4bama
Here is my thing, last year we struggled with Duke so much because of their length and quickness at 1-3. They swallowed Sears alive. He was too small and slow to do anything. We will not have that problem this year. We have the length to compete on offense. I dont believe they are as quick defensively as Duke was last year. I honestly think our offense would struggle more against Iowa St because they do have the speed and length on the perimeter to bother us.
The main problem is rebounding. I think we need to get 10% of our misses, and prevent them from getting more than 20% of theirs.
Hopefully playing 5 out will allow us to be more competitive on the boards because it will keep their bigs out of the lane. Either that, or it leaves Williamson and Sherrell wide open shots.
The main problem is rebounding. I think we need to get 10% of our misses, and prevent them from getting more than 20% of theirs.
Hopefully playing 5 out will allow us to be more competitive on the boards because it will keep their bigs out of the lane. Either that, or it leaves Williamson and Sherrell wide open shots.
This post was edited on 3/26/26 at 4:21 pm
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