re: Tide Hoops | 25-12 (13-5)

The socks with sandals concerns me lol.

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Is img moving to Birmingham?

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There's a rumor going around about this, but I doubt it. They have better facilities where they are.

If there's any truth to the rumor, I think the more likely scenario is they're starting a second campus.

quote:

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Is img moving to Birmingham?

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Reportedly looking at B'ham Southern College campus.

Game day boys LETS GOOOOOO!!!!!

quote:

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Is img moving to Birmingham?

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Sounds bad for local HS athletics

I can’t wait to be up 10. Rtr

I think we will come out and play good and acquit ourselves well. Don’t know if it will be enough, but I think we will be ready.

What I think will be keys to the game.

1. Shooting. I do worry about the sight lines and the threes. These stadiums can be tough to shoot in. But I think we need 15-20 threes to pull it off.

2. We have to get off to a good start. Start we like we did against Clemson and we will be buried. Just hang early and don’t get blitzed out of the gate. We’ve been dynamite second half in the tourney.

3. Have to limit their runs. Nate will have to use his TO’s smartly and efficiently.

4. Have to try to stay out of foul trouble. Their big man is a load but Nelson and Pringle have to stay on the floor. I think, if we pull it off, we look back and Wague and Dioubate give big minutes and fouls.

LINK

Meet the 'secret weapon' in Alabama's Final Four run: Analytics guru Michael Schwimer has many roles for Tide

The dervish of Alabama basketball has no handle, no moves, no game, no rep, really. But the dervish of Alabama basketball also cannot be stopped. Michael Schwimer is all at once a floppy-haired, ball of energy, forward-thinking, idea man. Hanging around State Farm Stadium this week for the Final Four, you'll notice him way before you know him.

Just don't try to name him. There are 14 assistant coaches and support staff listed on Alabama's web site. You cannot find Schwimer's designation on that list.

"He's our secret weapon," assistant coach Ryan Pannone said. "He's a beautiful mind."

Analytics are as common in basketball as the stepback these days. Everyone has an angle, or thinks they do. KenPom.com references outnumber quotes in game stories. Small fortunes are spent subscribing to Synergy.

But here's the thing about analytics. Transferring them to the actions of the actual players in a game so instinctive like basketball is the challenge. NC State's DJ Burns Jr wouldn't dominate many weight rooms but his weight surely translates around the basket.

Point being, not everyone has that angle. They might think they've cornered the market. At Alabama, coach Nate Oats, his assistants and players think Schwimer is the market, as the 38-year-old CEO of Big League Advantage, a East Coast-based sports analytics firm.

How many analytics guys run the numbers but also push out the scouting report, develop the recruiting strategy, basically assemble the roster, and also game plan?

"We finished the game, we're eating dinner," Pannone said describing Sunday's postgame meal after the Elite Eight win vs Clemson. "Schwim says. 'Do you want the [UConn] report tonight?' I said, 'You know I want it.' This is 1 ½ hours after the game. The smile on his face was one of joy."

Before revealing a sliver of that game plan (more on that below), consider Schwimer's involvement is so deep, mystical and effective that Oats struggles for a title for the former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher.

"You know what, a consultant GM would be a good way to put it," Oats told CBS Sports.

That'll work despite Schwimer acting like he wants neither the credit nor, really, the money. When he met Oats two years ago at the Final Four in New Orleans, his contract was hammered out in about a week -- without Schwimer exactly asking for a salary.

"We trust our work so much we'll work for nothing," Oats recalls Schwimer saying. "Just a big bonus when we win the whole thing."

The whole thing is at hand. Alabama has gotten to its first Final Four replacing the entire coaching staff. Five transfers from mid- to low-major programs populate the roster. Leading scorer Mark Sears (Ohio) is second in the SEC. Grant Nelson was a first-team Summit League pick at North Dakota State who was recruited by the likes of Northern State, Minot State and Minnesota State-Moorhead. Nick Pringle came from Wofford and Dodge City (Kan.) Community College. Guard Aaron Estrada arrived from Hofstra.

They've all jelled for this moment because they fit the model Schwimer and Alabama have created. Oats is a guy who arrived at Romulus (Mich.) High School 22 years ago with $78 in the team's budget. He left 11 years later having established what he called "a 7-Eleven out of my classroom." He'd load up at Sam's Club with Cheetos, Capri Suns, Pop Tarts and gummies, selling them for a profit to the students to fund the basketball program.

In time, there was a line out the door.

"It was like crack cocaine," Oats said, "Hot Cheetos for those kids."

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He's such an amazing story that isn't getting enough attention IMO.