Tuesday's Game: Alabama at Clemson

Jan 5, 2009, 9:58 AM

Who: Alabama (10-3, RPI 200) at Clemson (14-0, No. 16 and rising, RPI 5)
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum, Tuesday at 9 p.m.
The Line: Clemson favored by 18
Is it on TV: Huzzah! Yes! If you get FSN, that is.

Who knew Ronald McDonald was a Tide fan?
Didn't we see enough of 'Bama Labor Day weekend? Ugh! Don't remind me! But the good news is OP and the team have a chance to redeem Clemson's name. And there's no Julio Jones to woory about.
But, didn't Bama just mash Ga. Tech? They did indeed. Virginia beat Tech, too, as did Penn State and Illinois-Chicago. Forget the Jackets ... concentrate on the Elephants.

Alabama's backcourt

OK, what shall we look for? Three guys, all guards, make the Tide flow, and two of them can be problematic. The first is 6-6 senior Alonzo Gee (15 ppg, 7 reb). He's tall enough to create matchup problems, and he can hit 3's if you play off him. But mainly, he likes to take smaller defenders inside. Over the past few games, Gee has been shooting less and rebounding more, getting 15 points and 18 boards against GTech. He hasn't built stats on weak teams, but seems to have more trouble with a tight zone that limits his chances on the offensive boards.

Gee likes to drive

Picking up the slack outside is 6-1 senior Ronald Steele (14 ppg, 4 reb, 4 ast). He's hit 50 percent of his 3's in the past 3 games and had 10 assists vs. GTech. Think of his as a taller, but slightly slower, Downey.

The third player is 6-1 sophomore Senario Hillman (14 ppg, 4 reb, 2 steals). He's not in for his 3-point shooting (about 15 percent) but he has a knack of getting open when defenses sag off on either Steele or Gee.

The inside game for Bama centers around 6-9 All-Everything freshman JaMychal Green (8 ppg, 7 boards) and Yamene Coleman (5 ppg, 6 reb). Both get most of their points on garbage and both are prone to fouling (Green has fouled out 3 times this year) so you can probably see the Bama offensive scheme already: a lot of guard motion for the open shot and hope that the big guys are in position for a rebound if they miss.

Alabama plays a lot of people, with nine players getting 15 minutes or more per game (the same as Clemson). Much of that is due to foul trouble on their big guys, and their bench is not a strength.

Tide starters wear out

They don't press much, and aren't especially good against the press. GTech was able to trim their lead 15 points in the last 5 minutes with a pressing D.

Aside from Steele, the Tide is absolutely Allenspachian from beyond the arch. A good matchup zone has been enough to beat them, as long as someone can slide off on Gee inside. The overall key is to score points with a moderate defense, get some turnovers and hit the ample free throws that Bama will give you.

Sound like something Clemson can do, right? There'd be cause to worry after our win over ECU. The Pirates scorched us from 3-point land and our shooting was not especially good. Nice to know we can bring our B game this year and still have a double-digit win.

Grant in control

And thank goodness for Jerai Grant (6 ppg, 4 reb, but 14 vs. ECU) and Tanner Smith (4 ppg, 2 reb but 8 vs. ECU). Should our starters be looking ahead to NC State, there's quality depth on the bench who'd love to see some minutes.

We'll still need a good game from KC Rivers (15 ppg, 6 reb, 24 ppg in the last 3 games) since he'll be opposite Gee most likely. This would also be a good time for Demontez Stitt (9 ppg, 4 ast, but only 4 ppg his last 2 games) to snap out of his funk. Bama plays a matchup zone, and Stitt has enough speed to take his defender inside for a dish to Trevor Booker (14 ppg, 10 reb, 2.5 blk) or Ray Sykes (9 ppg, 5 reb). It will also be interesting to see if Terrence Oglesby (14 ppg) can shake of his game against ECU.

What's the outlook? This is the last shakedown cruise for Clemson before we dive into the ACC. Bama is a decent challenge, but if we want to make any noise in conference, this is the sort of team we need to thrash...a lower tier ACC equavalent in our home should be a double-digit victim.

That said, we may be looking ahead to State and Wake, and Bama will be emboldened by their mauling of the Jackets. I'd look for Clemson to press early, trying to disrupt the Tide's tempo. We shouldn't have trouble scoring on the Tide. The trick is slowing them down. They remind me a bit of South Carolina on offense. Deny the inbound pass to their guards, because it's a lot harder to stop them once they get the ball.

Our press is a heckuva lot better than GTech's, and as the game goes along should take a toll on Bama. Hopefully we'll pull away late. If it works, we're off to the races. If not, this could be a dogfight.

Message was edited by: RevDodd®

Message was edited by: RevDodd®