In collegiate basketball, sometimes the schedule can be a team’s worst enemy.
On Saturday, Alabama traveled to No. 20 Mississippi State and was defeated 56-52. Alabama now has to rebound from that loss on Thursday when the Vanderbilt Commodores come to Coleman Coliseum, lest the Crimson Tide head into Rupp Arena to meet Kentucky on a two-game skid.
In an effort to fix the wrongs that led to the Tide’s first conference loss of the season, head coach Anthony Grant is focusing on his team’s mindset.
“I think one of the biggest things for the team right now is we need to make a decision on who we want to be and what we want to do,” Grant said. “When you look at it, a lot of the things that cost us the game against Mississippi State were probably the same things that cost us the game against Kansas State, and the same things that cost us the game against Georgetown are probably the things that cost us the game against Dayton.
“I think there’s a point in time where winning needs to take priority over many individual things, and I don’t think we understand that all the time,” he said.
The question of team chemistry not being as good as it should be never crosses the minds of the players, though.
“[Coach Grant] went over it with us about how it looks, like some guys aren’t playing how they are capable of playing, and it’s looking selfish at times,” freshman guard Trevor Lacey said. “But we all know that’s not the case. He’s just addressing it with us and saying we need to get back to the way we were playing in the first couple of games of the season.”
“I think our team chemistry is good,” sophomore guard Trevor Releford said. “We know we have to work on it every day, but I think it’s pretty good for the young team we have.”
The players want to push through those issues by running the floor in transition on the offensive end.
“In transition, we’re just out playing and not thinking much,” Lacey said. “We just go score. In the half court offense, we settle and think too much. Sometimes, guys try to force it to the play sometimes. In transition, there’s no certain way to go. You just go and play.”
“[We need to] push the ball up the floor faster on misses and makes and give ourselves more time on the clock to run the offense,” Releford added.
The downside to pushing the pace on the offensive end is the added possessions the other team gets. That could result in a serious problem against Vanderbilt, who has two of the top three scorers in the Southeastern Conference in John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor.
The Commodores are also deadly from 3-point range. Jenkins has made more 3-point shots than anyone in the SEC and is third in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage.
“That’s going to play a role in the game,” Releford said. “You have to have a sense of urgency to stop them from getting threes. That’s how you have an effect on the game. If we do that, we should be in a good position to win.”
