Thursday, March 12, 2009

Live-Blogging the SEC Tournament (Check us out at

UPDATE (8:26): Vanderbilt's defense was not impressive, but you've got to give Alabama credit. They played a very good game and took it to Vanderbilt all night long.

Bama 76 - 69

UPDATE (8:13): You hear that? It's our tournament window closing...

BAMA 65 - VU 56

UPDATE (8:01): Down 10 at the under 8...things are not looking good since we appear incapable of stopping their penetration.

Bama 60 - VU 50

UPDATE (7:56): If Vanderbilt's going to win this game, AJ's got to become a factor on the offensive end...thank godness for Jeffrey Taylor. Need some stops if they're going to pull this out. I just asked DOuglas James offline, why not go back to the 1-2-2 and try and force some turnovers. Need to cut it to 8 or under by the next media timeout.

Bama 56 - VU 46.

UPDATE (7:47): Vanderbilt's inability to stop Alabama's penetration is a major reason they've opened the half on a 15-4 run. That, plus some terrible shots (Jeffery does not need to fire up a 3 with 28 seconds left on the shot clock) and the rim not being kind is the reason the lead is double digits. Here's a question: why does it seem that Festus is able to get good looks close to the basket and AJ isn't? Is Alabama denying AJ the ball? Not allowing him to establish position? Are the other VU players just not patient enough? Vanderbilt has opened up each half (as TIm Brando just pointed out) without field goals for over 9:30 minutes and counting...maybe this 4 minutes will be better than the last.

Bama 48 - VU 34

HALFTIME UPDATE 2: If you want to know why we're losing there are 2 numbers: 7 and 47. 7 is the rebounding edge Bama currently has over Vanderbilt 21-14, including 6 offensive rebounds leading to 8 second chance points (the commodores only have 3 second chance points). 47 is Alabama's field goal shooting percentage. That number is particularly impressive considering the Tide are only 1-5 from downtown. 8 Alabama players have scored (compared to only 6 Commodores), but Gee and JaMychal Green accounting for 19 of their 36. George Drake (who honestly causes me to hold my breathe every time he touches it, leads the Commodores with 9 points. AJ's only got 2 points on 0-2 shooting, but he's got 5 rebounds and 4 assists. I'd love to see Vanderbilt commit to working the play down low to AJ to open the second half. With Brad and Dolla going a combined 3-10 from downtown, hopefully some inside buckets will give those guys some better looks. Of Vanderbilt's 11 field goals, 9 have been assisted, that bodes well for CKS's squad in the second half. Vanderbilt outscored Alabama 24-8 to open the second half in Nashville, a fact I'm sure has not been lost on either coach. Look for both teams to come out hungry. As always, the first 4 minutes is key. It'd be great if the Commodores could be tied at the first TV Time-out.

HALFTIME UPDATE 1: Vanderbilt did a great job closing the half. With that said, there were 2 straight break-downs on the defensive end that just can't happen at this point in the season. Given the feast or famine nature of our offense in the first half, I can't say I'm too upset being down 6 at the half.

Bama 36 - VU 30

UPDATE (7:14): Couple big buckets cuts it to 5. You hate to have a turnover like that from AJ in transition, but he made up for it with the block. Gotta finish strong.

Bama 30 - VU 25

UPDATE (7:10): Good time-out from CKS. Bama's 13-2 run was problematic, but Kevin stopped the bleeding (something we've been critical that he doesn't do enough. Right now, the pace of the game favors the Tide, but before you start panicking, remember that Bama led the Commodores by 7 when these teams met in Nashville a few weeks ago.

Bama 30 - VU 20

UPDATE (6:55): Alabama is having a lot of difficulty guarding against the "back-door" ...(Can you say "Princeton Offense?"). Both teams are heating up, but Commodore fans should be happy that all of Vanderbilt's field goals have been assisted.
Bama 20 - VU 15

UPDATE (6:51): First FG 5:30 minutes into the game... awesome. At least Alabama hasn't taken advantage of Vanderbilt's slow start.

UPDATE (6:44): I've noticed as of late that Jeffery Taylor hasn't been taking care of the basketball lately. After he gets the step, he gets "stuck" and either leaves his feet or walks right into a double-team. With all that said, I love the fact that the offense is running through the middle. AJ's already got 3 touches, and he looks like he's looking to get involved early.

UPDATE (6:40): I really like the defensive match-up with Jeffery Taylor guarding Gee

UPDATE (6:36): I love that Tim Brando is doing the call, but there is nothing subtle about that plaid

We've live-blogged before despite Stanimal's observation that we haven't actually won a game this season where we've done this. To add another wrinkle, VSL is now on twitter. I really have no idea how twitter works, but for all of you who are, you can know follow us at


Douglas James said...

Real nervous not gonna lie. Better come out strong.

Anonymous said...

we're gonna lose. shit

Anonymous said...

Question for VSL Nation: Is AJ Ogilvy the next Andrew Bogut or the next Ted Skuchas? (not to hate on Skuchas)

The game wasnt on TV here, but I'm guessing from his numbers that he was double-teamed the whole game (quite a few assists resulting from passing out of the double team, but not many points?).

Regardless, he has the talent to take over games and I never see the necessary aggression out of him. I like that the freshman stepped up (numberswise) and that the team showed some fight down the stretch, but AJ needs to play meaner.

I guess I already threw in the necessary disclaimer that I didn't watch the game (and I'm a little drunk), so I may have no idea what I'm talking about, but Ogily's inconsistancy is annoying for someone with so much ability. (He's had two full years of college basketball... I don't give him the excuse of youth anymore). I guess there's always next year.

Stanimal said...

I'm pretty critical of A.J. I obviously don't think he's Ted Skuchas because he has much more talent, but he's been pretty inconsistent this year.

To be fair, even though he's had two full years of experience, he was plagued with the heel injury, had the sickness, etc. But regardless, he wasn't yet ready to step in as our rock this year. For one, you make an excellent point about his lack of fire at times. When he is truly "in the game", he is near unstoppable in the post. But too often he has these "deer in the headlights" moments where he seems to be shell-shocked by a player with speed, and then he gets frustrated and it takes him out of his offensive rhythm. He definitely needs to realize that with his big body he can outmuscle just about anyone in the conference down low. I really wouldn't be sad at all to see him throw an elbow or two just to enforce his presence down there.

Probably the thing we need most out of him though is his rebounding and I really don't feel like he crashes the boards hard enough. With our height, there is no reason we should not be running the show on the boards, and AJ has to be the primary source for that. But once again, when a quick, athletic player gets put against him he seems surprised.

I do not think, however, that he is incapable of improving in these areas. Like I said, when he's in the game, he does dominate the post and boards. Last night he demonstrated that he can see the lanes when he's double-teamed and get open looks for our other guys. He does a lot of things that make the team as a whole better. I think with another offseason, a more seasoned roster, and some good luck that he'll remain healthy for a full year, that he'll reach his full potential. Alas, he just couldn't do it as fast as we would have liked.