The Pinkie Previews: W4 Alabama (17-14, 6-10) vs. E1 Kentucky (29-2, 14-2)

What does Kentucky have to play for in the SEC tournament, not much. They have the No. 1 seed pretty much locked up. So now they try to win their first SEC Tournament Championship since what seems like forever. An accomplishment that would be welcomed with open arms, but the real goal is to win six strait in March. Yes, I spelled strait like the website. If you don’t like it, get over it and go to KentuckySportsRadio.com, where they don’t even do previews of their opponents. I’m in Florida, I can’t believe I’m even doing this right now.

Alabama is a team that scores much better in transition than the do in the half-court. When forced into a half-court game or an offensive set the Crimson Tide struggle to get shots off. Despite these half-court struggles expect Anthony Grant to go against the grain a bit and attempt to slow the game down against the Wildcats. The Elephants of Alabama just do not have the depth or the guard play to run up and down the court with the ‘Cats.

Alabama has hung close with pretty much everyone this year, they just haven’t found a way to close out close games. In their upset win over South Carolina in the first round of the SEC tournament they beat the Gamecocks and won their third strait game in SEC play for the first time all season.

JaMychal Green has been solid underneath all year long, but they have yet to find someone to take pressure off of him from the perimeter. Mikhail Torrence is their best outside shooter and leading scorer, but when the game is on the line the Tide have been unable to find someone to knock down the big shot. A lot of this can be immediately credited to their inability to manufacture points out of their half-court sets.

Alabama is usually in games late because of their defense. On the season they are holding opponents to just 42-percent from the field. They have also been effective at guarding the perimeter, allowing just 32-percent from deep. In a three game stretch that included wins over LSU and Mississippi State, the Tide allowed just six three-pointers combined. Then in their next game, Auburn shot just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc. In conference play opponents are only shooting 25-percent from three range.

Their struggles have come in the rebounding and scoring department. They have been outrebounded by opponents this season but their big problem has been closing out possessions. Too many times they allow opponents second and even third chance opportunities by not bringing down defensive boards. In their 66-65 home loss to Florida halfway through the season, the Gators outrebounded them 35-24 and scored 21 second-chance points to Alabama’s six.

Their inability to pull down boards does not bode well for them against a Kentucky that possesses one of the most talented and deepest frontlines in the country.

Like I mentioned earlier, the Crimson Tide offense revolves around the play of 6’9″ sophomore, JyMychal Green. Green, who is second on the team in scoring with 14.3 points-per-game, is a big post guy who has the ability to score in a multitude of ways. Whether he is facing the basket or has his back turned, he will find ways to score and often demands double teams. He has scored in double figures in all but four games this season and is shooting 50-percent from the floor.

He is also an effective rebounder and shot blocker, averaging a team-leading 7.0 and 1.7 effectively.

Because of their struggles in half-court, the Crimson Tide often rely on shots from the perimeter despite their streaky shooting. Torrance, a 6’5″ senior guard, is their most consistent threat. He leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points and has knocked down 38 threes on the season, while shooting 36-percent. He has scored in double figures in all but three games this season, including their loss at Kentucky. He is also an effective distributor of the basketball, leading the team in assists with 5.3.

Freshman forward Tony Mitchell and junior guard Senario Hillman will also provide scoring for the Tide. Mitchell is averaging 9.2 points on the season but has really come on as of late. Hillman, who averages 8.0 points-per-game, has finished in double figures in five of their last seven games.

Charvez Davis and Anthony Brock are the three-point specialists for Alabama, both knocking down more than 39 shots from deep this seaosn.

Alabama is one of the few teams in the SEC that has the talent necessary underneath to potentially challenge Kentucky. Green and Justin Knox, a 6’9″ 240-pound forward, are physical enough to potentially get the Wildcat bigs into foul trouble and cause problems. They ahave the size necessary to frustrate DeMarcus Cousins and get into his head.

Despite their size underneath, I still don’t think the Crimson Tide can score consistently enough to hang with the Wildcats.

Kentucky 80, Alabama 69