Happy Monday everyone. As you know, last night the men's basketball team defeated Grand Canyon University to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The women's team fought valiantly against top-seeded Texas in Austin, but fell short, ending what can only be described as a highly successful season. Softball was a split with 11th place Virginia Tech, and baseball was unfortunately won by Athens. Jim Tide finished second in the SEC and will be heading to the NCAA Regional Championships, but the destination will be determined today.
The men's team had a great time after the game.
Nick Kelly beats Rush and shares his predictions for Nate Oats and others' game against the Heels.
UNC 88, Alabama 83: If the Crimson Tide guards like they did against Grand Canyon, they'll have a chance. Combine that kind of defensive effort with their usual good shooting and Alabama should be able to upset UNC. However, the Tar Heels will be a bigger offensive threat than Grand Canyon. And UNC's defense is elite as well. It was a tough game for the Tar Heels due to the Crimson Tide, but in the end UNC defeated Alabama and won.
This game probably won't tip until closer to 9pm PT. Let's take a nap on Thursday. Alabama is reportedly staying in the West all week, which will help them adjust to Pacific Time and give them at least a slight advantage. North Carolina State played in Charlotte this weekend.
Casagrande said Alabama won on defense when it needed to, which is encouraging, but what about Cool Mo D?
On this night, it was Moe Diubate, a true freshman from Queens who played like he was born for this rock fight. The 6-7 forward hustled for a tough rebound with 5:21 left, and his putback gave Alabama its final lead of the game. Foul trouble and Latrell Lightsell's head injury in the first half left Alabama's bench thin, but they scored seven more points in the second half.
Diubate scored six points in Friday's first-round loss, but had just seven points in his previous five games combined.
In football news, I don't know what to make of this.
I'll let everyone chew on that. No statement of any kind has been issued.
We're still getting used to this brave new world of Alabama assistants speaking freely to the media. DC's Kane Womack said over the weekend that DeVonta Smith appears to have a key role in the secondary.
Womack on DeVonta Smith…
“I think Smitty has a really great skill set. Obviously, from his standpoint, he's injured. He's going through the rehab process. He's done a really great job with it. Jeff Allen and his staff did a great job getting him back.
“I'm excited for Smitty. I think he can cover. He's a big guy, weighing over 200 pounds. He started putting on pads, so he showed some physicality. And , I think he can process and make checks and adjustments.
“That Husky position is very important to what we do because we ask a lot of that player. Man-to-man coverage, blitzing off the edge, zone coverage, sometimes in the box. We're asking for quite a bit, to pit inside and stuff like that. So you need a very versatile skill set, and I think Smitty has that.”
“Husky” is basically the nickel position on defense. Since it's a basic 4-2-5, that player never leaves the field, but the Tide has spent most of his time in nickel the past few seasons, so he hasn't really been on the field much. All signs point to Moore being moved to safety full-time. In a scheme that plays a significant amount of single-high, he will likely be a rover while Keon Sabu is a centerfielder.
Jermalien Latham also appears to have found a place in the scheme.
“I really like this new system,” Latham said. “It gives everyone on the defensive end an opportunity to show off their talent. Especially on the defensive line, we can run more freely. This gives us the ability to show what kind of athletes we really are. I can.”
Latham said he weighed about 285 pounds at his heaviest last season. This came in handy when he had to move inside and fill the role of defensive tackle.
Alabama's new system limits those duties, so linemen have lost about 10 pounds over the past few months to keep up with running backs on the edge or occasionally drop back to cover tight ends. I did it. But earlier this month, Alabama defensive line coach Freddie Roach said he still has confidence in lining up stout defenders against run-blocking linemen.
“I think I’m a hybrid,” Latham said. “I'm doing both. The last couple of years when Saban was here, I was a little bit heavier, so I was more of a defensive lineman. But now I'm a little leaner, so I'm more of a defensive lineman. You can participate in it, you can come out on the edge, you can go inside, you can do it all.”
Can A Day get here yet?
Karen DeBoer got another recruit this weekend. This time it's Luke Metz, a linebacker from Georgia.
“He's an instinctive off-ball linebacker prospect who can weave through traffic and stop in the hole,” 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivans wrote in his review of Metz. “He spent his junior season working hard both inside and outside the box while also developing his profile as an edge rusher. He plays with a steady energy and flashes in wide areas while rushing forward. Athletic enough to handle his responsibilities. He has a tendency to attack ball carriers and uses his incredible grip strength to slam them into the ground.”
Lastly, I'll leave you with this. Because they are all so beautiful.
The team gets heated, everything goes their way in a sport where one game doesn't mean anything, they win, to the delight of an easily amused public… and then they get defeated in round 2 and the spot is wasted. I did. It happens 99% of the time. But at least everyone should have said, “Aaaaaah.” What a system. #Very fun
— War Blogle (@WarBlogle) March 25, 2024
Auburn quitting on something they can't win is never fun. By count, Nate Oats has led Alabama to the Sweet Sixteen three times in five seasons. Bruce Pearl led Auburn to one Sweet Sixteen in 10 seasons.
Today is up to here. Have a nice week.
roll tide.
