Jumbo Package

The Alabama Jumbo Package │03.27.13

Your daily dose of Crimson Tide related links and quotes.

By Lah-ell Tawd-Bammar@Lyell_Walker Mar 27, 2013, 8:18am CDT

Alabama coach Anthony Grant reflects on an NIT quarterfinal loss to Maryland | al.com

"Give Maryland credit," Grant said. "They really played aggressively. I thought they really controlled the first half. The challenge for us in the second half was to flip that and get momentum back in our favor. "We focused more from a defensive standpoint in terms of what we needed to do. When I look at the effort that we gave in the second half, Maryland did a great job, and they were able to extend the lead, but our guys never stopped fighting, never quit. They gave great effort, and gave us a chance at the end. As a coach, that's all you can ask."

Heartbreaking loss last night but yet again Alabama had periods, especially in the 1st half, where the offense just disappeared. Give credit to Maryland; they did what they needed to do to get the win. And you have to be happy with how the team fought back but there is definitely a bad taste left in the mouth after this one. (I feel like we've said that a lot this season)

Alabama season again ends with missed shot | TuscaloosaNews.com

"We were looking intially for a shot for Releford up top," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "We wanted to try and get a ball reversal and Coop (Rodney Cooper) felt like he had to be aggressive with a lane to the basket. I thought for a second he was going to get it up on rim, but he needed maybe one more inch."

I didn't have a problem with Coop driving the lane and trying to either draw a foul or get the bucket but I thought his approach to the basket was a bit weak..In that moment you have to be looking to draw contact...Which leads to..

After last shot doesn't fall, Tide's Trevor Lacey says he wishes he'd have drawn the foul | al.com

On the in-bounds play, Lacey came off a screen, pump-faked the Terrapins’ Nick Faust high off of his feet and launched a shot that hit off the rim as the buzzer sounded. "I think if I shot it again, I’d probably lean into him and try to draw the foul," said Lacey, who hit two last-second game-winners earlier this season. "His foot hit my elbow, but I can’t say anything about that. I should have made the shot."

Again, not sure why Lacey wasn't looking for contact. Regardless, hindsight is 20/20 and you hate to have had two chances at the win in 3 seconds and come up that short. Tough loss.

Terps hang on to beat Alabama and advance to NIT semifinals - baltimoresun.com

But Len blocked sophomore Rodney Cooper's layup attempt with 3.1 seconds left, setting up a heart-stopping finish for the announced 9,479, who made themselves heard from the start.

One final comment on the game..If there is one silver lining after rather disappointing season is that we had nearly 10k people at last nights game. We may be a football school, and for good reason, we (the fans) have shown we will support and want to win....at everything.

Safety HaHa Clinton-Dix (sort of) looks forward to encounters with Tide's big, fast RBs | al.com

Now Hart is a defensive back. “Dee is learning it,” Clinton-Dix said. “He’s picking it up very well. That’s my roommate, so we talk about it a lot. We watch film a lot, so he’s catching on pretty well.”

It's good to hear Hart is adjusting well to his new role as a DB. I know Saban has stated all these moves were/are just experiments but you have to wonder, given HaHa's statements if Hart's switch is permanent.

Five UAB pitchers shut out Alabama as Blazers snap five-game losing streak | al.com