The 2019 Alabama basketball season ended Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa with an NIT opening game loss to Norfolk State. The result should surprise no one.
For Alabama basketball 2019 began with an exciting upset of the perennial powerhouse, Kentucky Wildcats. For Crimson Tide basketball, the ’19 season ended with an NIT opening game loss to Norfolk State.
Anyone surprised by Wednesday night’s loss has not been paying attention. There was an abundance of signs the Alabama basketball team would not go far in the NIT Tournament. There were the intervals in so many games when the team played listlessly. There were the too frequent second-half collapses. And the pathetic free-throw shooting coupled with an alarming inability to protect the basketball. Add in the seeming absence of a coherent plan to inbound the basketball against pressure.
Not the least of all the apparent clues was the doubt about the head coach, Avery Johnson. His substitution patterns were frequently erratic. His offensive schemes too often ill-matched for his player’s abilities. Ability to motivate most of his players was in question.
For many Alabama basketball fans, a sad awareness could not be hoped away. For all his admirable traits as a person, Avery Johnson is not very good as the coach of Alabama basketball.
What happened Wednesday night? Despite a vivid flash of brilliance by Alex Reese and a truly gutsy performance by Herbert Jones, the Crimson Tide lost to a team who played better basketball. And that team came into the game, according to Ken Pomeroy, the No. 266 ranked team in Division 1 basketball.
How the Crimson Tide found a way to lose the game is redundant. It managed to snag an overtime opportunity after a deep, desperation three by John Petty. Norfolk State missed a pretty simple, offensive putback at the regulation buzzer to just miss the win.
Alabama basketball had one lead, by one point in overtime. Norfolk State led by as much a five. Six points by Herbert Jones in the last thirty seconds got the Tide within one. Norfolk State fumbled away the inbound pass, giving the Tide 4.7 seconds to inbound, and score the game-winner.
The inbound execution was unsurprising poor. Riley Norris got a pass in late in the count and the ball was almost immediately returned to him. Riley had not made a shot all night. He did not make one at the buzzer as the ball barely made it to the rim. Credit Riley for trying. His career of unselfish effort deserved a better ending.
What is next? Only Greg Byrne knows. Those of us still daring to care about Alabama basketball hope Byrne has a plan that does not include unsurprising losses in a consolation tournament.
We have a few additional details for the Tide basketball fans who have an appetite for more from Wednesday night. The Tide shot 59 percent from the foul line. It committed 16 turnovers to 11 for the opponent. The points off turnovers was a plus-nine advantage for Norfolk State. The stats clearly show Alabama basketball was not NCAA bid-worthy.