Alabama Basketball: Avery says Tide not ‘coming together’ yet

Avery Johnson is by nature, an optimistic person. He strives to be positive with his Alabama basketball team but he is also honest that much improvement is needed.

Earlier this month in the space of seven days the Alabama basketball team slumped badly. After an impressive win at home against Texas A&M, the Tide’s performance plummeted on the road against Vanderbilt and Georgia.

In the two SEC road losses, the team failed to compete with the focus and effort necessary for a NCAA tourney team. Even worse, the players showed no indication of understanding how to get better. ‘Un-buckled’ fans questioned Avery Johnson.

A three-game winning streak, including a road win at LSU, turned the Tide. The Tide’s RPI climbed back to the mid-20’s. Bracket experts placed Alabama basketball back in the NCAA Tournament field. Fans are believing it may be safe to ‘buckle up’ again.

Avery Johnson, always full of enthusiasm and optimism is also wary of overconfidence. When asked by al.com if his team was “on the verge of piecing everything together.” his reply was,

"Not close. Not close. I think sometimes we’ll give a little bit of a taste and a tease. I think until we can get completely healthy with this roster, then I’ll have a little bit more of an idea of how close we are. But we’re not close yet."

Eerily similar to football, Avery’s Alabama basketball team has been plagued with injuries. Braxton Key, Armond Davis, Riley Norris, Donta Hall and Collin Sexton have missed games. Davis and Norris are out for the season. Key missed most of the pre-conference games. Hall played sparingly against Auburn just five days after wrist surgery. Collin Sexton missed the Auburn game with an abdominal injury. Alabama basketball has never been completely healthy this season.

Inconsistency comes with a young roster

Alabama basketball does not lack talent. Talent cannot always erase inexperience. The Tide’s poor performances do not outnumber its good ones. Still, the losses to UCF, Texas, Vandy and Georgia suggest a team coming nowhere near the lofty, pre-season optimism of fans.

Discussing specific team weaknesses, Avery cited “perimeter defense and rebounding.” Asked for an overall assessment of his team, Avery said,

"We still have about two or three levels to go on both ends of the floor. I think we’re one of the teams in our conference that has just scratched the surface on our potential."

The problem is for this season there is not much potential scratching time left. In a much improved SEC, nothing will come easy. Alabama basketball’s NCAA hopes cannot withstand another four-game run with three losses. In the 13 games before the SEC tournament, Alabama basketball will have nine games with teams currently in the RPI Top 50. Five of those games are against teams with a higher current RPI than the Tide.

Somehow the team Avery describes as a “work-in-progress” must win at least seven of those games and needs to win more. Finishing 8-5 would put the Tide at 20-11 going into the SEC Tournament. One SEC tourney win and 21-12 should be enough for the Big Dance.

The next step is a 14-4 Mississippi State team Saturday night. Collin Sexton will be a game-time decision. Donta Hall will not be at full speed. Mississippi State Junior Quinndary Weatherspoon is multi-talented scorer and passer. The Bulldogs are not an easy team to beat. What follows is a road trip to Ole Miss and a return to Tuscaloosa to play one of the top teams in the nation, Oklahoma.

Next: Visiting football recruits to follow in T-Town this weekend.

On a lighter note, check out the tweet below. It is about freshman Herbert Jones who has been solid all season and played with confidence during the three-game winning streak.

A choice response indeed!