Sorry about the lack of updates. My laptop decided to throw a fit during my trip to Tuscaloosa over the weekend. I'll have pictures up from the tour of the football complex tomorrow.
Apparently that lethargic home win over a struggling Kentucky team really helped us out with the bracketeers. It REALLY helped out the RPI because we jumped 9 spots after the win. Imagine if we can get a road win over the #15 rpi ranked team this Wednesday. Against a team that hasn't lost a home game all year. Yes, the Kentucky game is over, so we can start thinking about that one.
But, for right now, we'll talk about the Kentucky game since I was not able to on gameday.
The Tide looked like they should have looked all year. Played well early. Held off a run by a good team, and took over in the clutch. That's what this team was supposed to do all year. Even last year they never really BEAT anybody. Every win was close. It always came down to the wire. We did what we were supposed to - beat an overmatched basketball team. Tubbs is really becoming the spark, and seeing him and Hollinger in the lineup at the same time seems to be giving teams fits. It caught Florida off, and it beat Kentucky. Steele is looking MUCH healthier. He was able to drive and man-up against Bradley and Jasper a few times. His defense is much better, and he's not being as careless with the basketball. Currently, this team is playing good basketball...not great, but good. It's the perfect time for them to start gelling together. Coach Gottfried is figuring out the right combinations to put on the floor and is actually working with a pretty deep rotation right now (9 men). I am almost as comfortable with Jemison and Coleman on the floor as I am with Davidson and Hendrix. Gee and Riley can switch out the three while Tubbs, Hollinger, and Steele rotate the one and two. It's a good rotation and will keep everyone fresh without completely losing production. If you want to go ahead and start thinking about next year, we'll have back 8 of the 9 in the rotation (minus Davidson, who's a senior). That's assuming Riley isn't a senior...I can't remember that at the moment. I think he's only a junior.
Anyway, Saturday was a good win and it makes me believe that we can pull off the last two at home (Auburn and Ole Miss), and steal either Tennessee or Mississippi St on the road. That would be a pretty decent run to enter March. A win over Tennessee on Wednesday will all but solidify our spot in the tournament, so it is a VERY important game - along with the fact that we've got a seven game winning streak over them currently. Be prepared to see Hollinger and Tubbs all over Chris Lofton like white on rice. He'll get his points, but the key is to make sure he doesn't beat you. We'll see LOTS of man in this game, so I'm thinking we'll have an incredibly high scoring game.
Alright, it's late, so I'm going to get out of here for now. More about my trip in the morning. G'night!
¶ 11:13 PM
