All season long, the Alabama men’s basketball team talked extensively about controlling its own destiny and only controlling what it can control.
In reality, when the last day of the regular season came along, Alabama had no control over their seed in the Southeastern Conference tournament and were forced to sit idly by and watch as Tennessee took a first-round bye away from the Crimson Tide, leaving Alabama to face South Carolina in the first round.
If Alabama were able to avenge the earlier loss to the Gamecocks, they would have the tough task of playing Florida the very next day. The Gators would be coming off of a bye.
If Alabama were to beat the Gators, the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament and a likely No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, Kentucky, will await them, barring an upset.
With the treacherous waters ahead of the team, head coach Anthony Grant is trying to keep his team focused on the “one day at a time” mentality.
“We know the situation – it’s not like it’s going to catch us by surprise,” Grant said. “We have to focus on today.”
With the mentality well installed, Alabama will now turn all of their attention to the Gamecocks, who beat the Tide 56-54 in Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 25.
South Carolina was able to beat Alabama at their own game in the first meeting. Alabama shot 10 percent better from the floor and held South Carolina to a .161 3-point shooting performance, as well as getting more free throw attempts and more rebounds.
“They played with great energy,” Grant said. “I thought throughout the game, their energy was probably better than ours. They rebounded the ball really well and played more aggressively on both ends of the floor.”
Senior forward JaMychal Green added, “I think we lost because we didn’t play as a team. We didn’t have the togetherness that we need to have.”
Grant said a lack of effort would not be acceptable in the rematch this afternoon.
“We’re not a very good basketball team at all when we don’t play with energy,” Grant said.
There have been times when Alabama was not very good when trying to play against a 2-3 zone defense, a defense that South Carolina can play well.
“When teams run zone, that takes away a lot of things I’m good at, like getting in the lane and penetration,” sophomore point guard Trevor Releford said. “But, like Coach Grant says, I still have to take those chances.”
South Carolina will occasionally deploy a 2-3 matchup zone, which combines the concept of zone that the Tide has had trouble breaking at times, with the on-ball pressure associated with man-to-man defense.
“Their defense is all over the place,” Releford said. “They might come at you and double-team you; you never know. You have to take what you can get.”
