Jumbo Package: Tide Hoops still holding strong in NET despite Kentucky loss

Happy Monday, everyone. The Gym Tide posted their highest score of the season to win the tri-meet on Friday night, and women’s basketball won at Vanderbilt yesterday.

That is more than we can say for the men’s team, though some big wins still have them solidly in the NCAA tournament field. As Nick Kelly and anyone with eyeballs has noted, they simply must start shooting the basketball better.

“When you start overthinking all your missed shots because you’re overly concerned about that, it affects your effort on defense and you start to go into a little bit of a tailspin,” Oats said. “You start to overthink a little bit of your offensive stuff. It turned into one of those nights. We’ve got to be a little bit more mentally tough to be able to handle a bad shooting night.”

If not, Alabama’s postseason could well be short-lived.

But figure out the shooting woes from 3-point range, and one of the country’s most perplexing teams could make another deep NCAA Tournament run.

Funny enough, there hasn’t been as much correlation between successful three-point shooting and winning this season as you’d probably imagine, but it’s still a core of the team’s offense. It would be a shame if the season ended with a clunker like the one we saw Saturday night.

Edwin Stanton from SI sees big things from Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs.

Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs, a 5-11 200-pound junior, could be a perfect pickup. His hands make him an ideal back for Alabama. He caught 36 passes for 476 yards for Georgia Tech in 2021, along with 746 rushing yards. He’s similar to Najee Harris with his versatility, ability to make quick cuts and field vision.

Gibbs will certainly get his shot.

The dumpster fire on the pasture rages on with no resolution in sight.

That’s the dilemma facing Auburn’s administration: Does it bring back Harsin if the influential boosters who are making the big decisions behind closed doors don’t think he’s the long-term solution? Or does it fire him and hope there’s a better coach who would be willing to come to a place that just fired its second coach in about 14 months? Would someone capable of competing with Smart, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher take a chance at a school with boosters who have been tearing down coaches since 1998?

“It’s Auburn being Auburn,” one SEC coach said.

That about sums it up, doesn’t it?

Last, the two-hand touch Pro Bowl is a joke, but at least Mac Jones was in on it.

Hilarious.

Mac went 12/16 for 112 with a TD and a pick, Najee Harris had 15 yards on 5 carries, and Trevon Diggs got his weekly interception. Dumb game, but nice to see Bama represented. Brian Robinson and Phidarian Mathis did fine in the Senior Bowl, but it was a pretty uneventful event this year where Alabama is concerned.

That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.

Roll Tide.