photo credit AP
By Andrew Wallace
TUSCALOOSA — The University of Alabama men’s basketball team hosts Ole Miss in Coleman Coliseum Tuesday night. The Tide will look to snap a four game losing streak against the Rebels who are coming off a win against the Missouri Tigers. The state of Mississippi’s flagship university has had an up and down season and continue that trend.
Marshall Henderson is not the only player to watch. Jarvis Summers has been lights out and if not Henderson’s equal, his superior. The Senior Guard from Hurst, Texas has been the definition of efficiency. More of an interior slasher when compared to Henderson, Summers is shooting over 50% relying on propping the interior of the paint. He also can hit from range but
Coach Andy Kennedy doesn’t rely on Summers to shoot a high volume of 3 point shots mainly because Marshall Henderson averages right at 12 attempts from beyond the arc per contest.
Alabama’s Retin Obasohan in Coach Anthony Grant’s press conference (which you can listen to below) stated the importance of stopping Henderson due to his ability to get off shots anywhere. Henderson is a rhythm shooter. This means that once he finds the basket it is simply muscle memory for him to consistently knock back triples. Fading away, with a hand in his face, without eye contact with the basket, he can achieve all of this. Therefore the Tide will have to make it a priority to keep him off as off balance as they can. Barring a rare night of unconfident play, Henderson is going to get his due. That being said, Obasohan is an elite level SEC defender at the guard position. He has ideal size and speed. Even if he doesn’t score, he could be the MVP of this game by limiting Henderson.
UA will have to continue to improve upon their front court rotation. Nick Jacobs must see significant playing time alongside Trevor Releford. With the addition of Shannon Hale and Jimmy Taylor this season, Jacob’s playing time has dropped. He also hasn’t brought his best efforts to the defensive side of the court this season. In order for the Tide to stand a chance they will need to have a legitimate outside/inside combination. Releford has carried the show successfully all season when Alabama has the ball, but this has not translated to wins. Sebastian Saiz and Aaaron Jones are the Rebel’s dominant inside presence but in no form are upper-echelon SEC talents on either side of the floor. Both can crash boards. They will likely not see as much floor time so long as Carl Engstrom and Taylor fit into a proper rotation.
Ole Miss does have a simple off-court mental advantage. They play Bama twice to close the season and are fighting for the third spot in the SEC. The top four seeds receive a bye come SEC tournament time in Atlanta. Last season Ole Miss finished third, a spot above Alabama.
The Tide will need to win at least six of their final eight games to finish at .500 in the conference.
You can hear Alabama Men’s Basketball on 90.7 The Capstone. Crawford Rogers and myself (Andrew Wallace) will be broadcasting the game starting at 8ct.
