ALABAMA!

[Whatsthatdan]

Bama fan here... just came over here to have some lively discussions about our upcoming game. Although most of the threads on tidefans.com are signaling that 'Bama is looking past this game, the coaching staff and the team are definitely not falling into that trap. Also, I believe that UWM is a very good team and a dangerous team in the tourney. I am looking forward to y'all's comments and a great game.

[Hack]

Looks like ESPN Page 2's Quickie likes UWM as well ... of course, didn't they like UWM two years ago?

sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/quickie?date=quickie/shanoff

Upset Specials
Who do the 12-seeds play?!

Midwest: (12) UW-Milwaukee
Upset vs. Alabama? Like it!

Insta-Gut Picks
Taking my cue from the long-time bracket wisdom that your "insta-gut" Tourney picks are your most reliable:

Midwest (Chicago):
Out of 1st Rd: ILL, NV, UW-Milw., BC, Zona, UAB, SIU, OK St
Out of 32: ILL, BC, Zona, OK St
Out of 16: ILL, OK St
Region Champ: Illinois

[pnthr97]

Here's some info from ESPN Insider I figured you'd all like to know....


Updated: Mar. 13, 2005, 7:30 PM ET
Tourney Guide: Alabama résumé
By Chris Dortch, Special to Insider


Alabama's complete Bracketology chart
Take a look inside the data used by the tournament selection committee in seeding the bracket.
TEAM DATA
Points per game: 75
Points allowed: 64.5
Scoring margin: +10.5

FG percentage: .482
FG allowed: .402
3PT percentage: .394
3PT allowed: .359
3PT-to-FG attempts: .370
FT percentage: .736
FT totals: 527/716

Rebound margin: +1.2
Turnover margin: +1.1
Assist-to-turnover ratio: 1.12:1
Assist-to-FG ratio: 0.55:1

The Players

Starters

Pos. Player Min. Basics Good Bad
1 Ronald Steele
(6-2, 185, FR) 34.0 7.8 ppg, 4.9 apg .400 3PT 2 DQs
Comment: Quietly took over this team as a freshman point and turned in excellent numbers.

2 Earnest Shelton
(6-3, 215, SR) 32.8 16.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg .391 3PT 2.2 tpg
Comment: Game-breaking shooter who can toss in several three-pointers in a hurry when he gets on a roll.

3 Kennedy Winston
(6-6, 230, JR) 34.3 18.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg .479 3PT 2.2 tpg
Comment: Does everything well: handles the ball, creates his own shot, deadly free-throw shooter, passes and looks smooth doing it.

4 Chuck Davis
(6-7, 230, JR) 32.7 14.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg .583 FG 2.2 tpg
Comment: Long-armed junior has become one of SEC's better low-post scorers.

5 Jermareo Davidson
(6-10, 210, SO) 25.9 7.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg 1.4 bpg 3 DQs
Comment: Long, lean sophomore isn't called on to do much offensively, but he's the Tide's leading rebounder and second-leading shot blocker.

Rotation

Pos. Player Min. Basics Good Bad

F Evan Brock
(6-8, 205, JR) 12.3 2.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg .513 FG 6 blocks
Comment: Tide's only tested reserve at the four and five spots.

F Jean Felix
(6-7, 205, JR) 12.2 5.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg .467 3PT .421 Asst/TO
Comment: JUCO transfer can put points up quickly.

G Justin Jonus
(6-5, 210, FR) 9.6 2.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg .317 3PT .545 FT
Comment: Walk-on has filled a role as a situational shooter and lone backcourt reserve to see much time.
Complete roster | Team statistics



Season notes
High point Winning a share of the SEC's Western Division championship.
Lowlight A home court loss to Kentucky on Feb. 26.
Most Revealing Moment Faced with finishing second in the division, the Tide won its regular-season finale at rival Mississippi State to earn a tie with LSU.
Did You Know? All five Alabama starters earned All-SEC honors: Winston (first team), Shelton (second team) and Davis, Davidson, and Steele (third team).


Scouting report
Offensive Preference The Tide has a versatile offense that isn't totally reliant on one scorer, which makes this team hard to defend. Chuck Davis has become a fine low-post scorer, and Winston and Shelton are the most dangerous three-point shooting duo in the SEC.

Defensive Philosophy Alabama will use man-to-man and zone. Depth problems sometimes necessitate the zone.

Secret Strength Interior defense. 'Bama has long, wiry shot-blockers Davis and Davidson patrolling the paint.

Achilles Heel This team doesn't have much depth.

Will Lose When ... Winston is contained and foul trouble thins out Gottfried's rotation.

Famous Last Words 'Bama made it to the Elite Eight last year. Could it happen again? If the draw is right and foul trouble or injuries aren't a problem, yes it could.


Tournament History
64-team era Overall
NCAA appearances: 12 (of 20)
Seed average: 5.75
Highest seed No. 2 (2002)
Lowest seed: No. 9 (1994)
Biggest upset: 2004 vs. No. 1 Stanford
Most upsetting: 2002 vs. No. 10 Kent State
Bracketology score: 1.04 NCAA appearances: 16
All-time record: 19-16 (.542)
Best finish: 2004, Elite Eight
Coach's NCAA record: Mark Gottfried (4-4, .500)

[dylanrocks]

So, Alabama is an eight-man team (one of whom is a walk-on) with four players who average 32 minutes or more. In the meantime, to coattail on what Panther 97 has stated about depth, Adrian is the only Panther who averages 30 minutes per game. In the meantime, we're quite comfortable in an up-tempo style and regularly play 10 players per contest. I think this demonstrates why many are so pleased at this draw. That, and the fact that most so-called experts had us as either a 13 or 14 seed. "Bracketologists? I thought those people were more like proctologists the way they were treating us." -- Bruce Pearl

[CaribbeanTide]

Another Alabama fan just dropping in to say hello.

As has been stated, the biggest weakness we have is depth. Our starting 5 can play with anyone when they're on, but we only have about 3 guys that contribute regularly off the bench. Fortunately all 3 of those guys are extremely athletic and don't tire out very easily. However, I wasn't pleased to see you guys were a pressing team as that will undoubtedly test the depth. I'm hoping since it's a first round game that won't be as big an issue for us as it would be in later rounds. Still, it could be a tough matchup.

I wouldn't read too much into us having a freshman PG though. This kid has started from day one, has played against tough competition all year long and has basically lived up to the extremely high expectations we've had for him. He doesn't make many mistakes, he led the SEC in assists and while he's a very good outside shooter, the wealth of talent in the starters he has around him doesn't require him to win the games with his own scoring ability.

[CrimsonTide334]

;D ;D

UWMKrazie said:

Very happy to have grabbed that 12 seed too

Just to let you know Alabama will ready for your UAB style press...ask Arkansas about that

64-61 @arkansas ;D ;D

[PANTHERfan]

cool to see some Bama fans on on board... welcome! i see we're not getting too much respect on your d-board but i suppose that's to be expected.
should be a great game. i think this is an intriguing matchup in terms of how the Tide will handle our relentless defense/press. Sounds like you've seen some teams that do what we do to a degree... I would agree for the most part on the comparison to UAB. they reminded me a lot of UWM in their tourney run last year.

i'm not certain but it looks like our only common opponent was Wisconsin? Bama fans shouldn't gauge the Panthers on that game as it was a very strange one for us. we played lineups i hadn't seen all year to try and match their half court style of play and that was a HUGE mistake. it was after that game that we switched to our current lineup that's guard heavy and as a result we've won 17 out of our last 18 (or something like that).

[CrimsonTide334]

I say Alabama wins 64-60 UWM plays a good game but comes up short. and the best upset is New Mexico over Nova

[dunzz]

Man, Bama knows how to win.

Anyways, we are clinging to this idea of depth. While its a very good argument for the Panthers ability to win. I believe that our bench players will have to bring their A++++++ game. Especially D-Ford. Maybe someone will buy him some lotion to soften up his rock hands. Additionally Mark will have to be a producer on the offense and taller on the defence. Normally, Mark comes in for Joah, which in my mind is scary bc mark does not make that tall of a defender. But in this game he will not be able to replace joah at all. which only makes him viable as a guard. I am interested to see McCoy play in this game. Jason has become a very valuable player this year with his great reach and his speed and hustle for the ball. I believe Jason will be a great match for the Bama team and will prove a great test for McCoy.


Anyways, I wanna spend some time talking about the depth v non depth. Only one game really stands out in my mind as a pure depth win game. and that is The tides lost to Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt played 10 players with the most mins played was 29 by two guards and the least amount of mins played at 8. Vanderbilt has a great defence that game holding the tide to just 26% beyond the arch and 38% fg shooting.

www.rolltide.com/livestats/mbasketball/2004-05/vandy.htm

The other losses which were to WI, LSU, and Florida. The box scores only show a slight difference between the mins played by all players.

[uwmsafan]

Im also glad to see some Alabama people on our board. Ive been visiting their board and see that they are mostly looking past our game. I believe this will be a very hard fought game between both teams. I imagine it being a close one at the end, and i do think UWM can come out with a win, but we do have to bring our "A" game.

Ford, Hansen, and Sanders have to give us big nights off the bench. Im ready for an upset for sure!

[dunzz]

Sanders will most likly not be playing. if he is playing, he wont be at his best seeing how his shoulder could pop out very easily.

[uwmsafan]

i was being optimistic ;D

[dylanrocks]

Crimson Tide, why would you predict a score in the 60s. I would have thought you might have at least guessed something in the mid-70s. After all, both teams average about 75 points per game and show an eagerness to play at a faster pace. For a comparison, we shot the ball horrendously in the first half two years ago against Notre Dame and lost, 70-69. This UWM team, by the way, is quicker and more athletic than that one. If you hope that the Tide will win by taking the air out of the ball, that might not work either as we defeated Air Force 50-45 and St. Louis 57-47. Oh, well.

[Womack]

Bama is a tough team...They have some size on us...However, we have depth and quickness...They are athletic but wil have a problem with our quickness and press...My hope is that we run them up and down and wear them out early....I still believe they are looking past UWM which is a HUGE mistake....There best two guys will be matched up with Joah and Ed....I like our chances there...If they get in foul trouble cause Joah is taking it hard to the rack they are in BIG BIG trouble...

There PG is tough from what I read despite being a frosh....He takes care of the ball reasonably well however, he does NOT look for his own shot and rarely shoots the ball....Bama does NOT defend the perimeter well which is a HUGE plus for us, since we live and die by the three..It could be a fun fun night for Boo and Ed....Lets get AT rolling from behind the arc and its gonna be a great first round upset...Nice and close to home for us as well

Go Panthers

[fineshot2000]

Good Luck to the Panthers vs. Alabama from a former UWM student now working in Marquette, MI. Wish I could be in Cleveland for the game. You guys have a blast. Why couldn't they have been this good when "I" was attending in the late 1990's!! They were horrible then, but then again just starting out in D1. They have come a long way. Win or lose, lets just hope for a great effort like the ND game in '03. Bruce is a great coach and hope he's committed to staying at UWM like Gonzaga's coach and further developing this program. Now let's go get 'em!!! Knock the Tide down hard!!

fineshot