TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Plenty of times this season, John Petty Jr.’s corner 3 has helped Alabama basketball dig its way out of a deficit. Tuesday night, the junior guard found himself a few feet away from one of his favorite spots on the court unable to help his team spur a comeback.
Petty has missed Alabama’s past two games after suffering a sprained elbow at Mississippi State on Feb. 25. While the Crimson Tide was able to get by without him during a 90-86 victory over South Carolina last week, his presence was sorely missed during an 86-79 defeat to Vanderbilt on Tuesday.
“It’s been very difficult,” Petty said. “Even though I know my teammates are very capable of winning when any player goes down — we’ve got a lot of guys willing to step up and make huge plays — it’s just the fact that I couldn’t be out there to help them and contribute to the game the ways that I do. That’s just the most part that bothered me.”
Less than two weeks after he was seen writhing in pain on the court in Starkville, Miss., Petty describes his arm as “way, way better” and said he has been able to practice full-go with Alabama the past two days. The expectation is that he will be able to return to the court for Alabama’s game at Missouri on Saturday.
“I’m finally starting to get my extension back and to get it back where I’m finally starting to get my range back in my shot and my strength back. So everything’s coming along faster than we expected. So, hopefully, well, I’ll be ready for Saturday.”
Petty sustained his injury while diving for a loose ball during the first half against Mississippi State. Friday, the junior said he had initially hurt his arm after it was caught trying to get through a screen earlier in the game. He then had it briefly taped up in the locker room before returning to the court where he injured it further.
“I remember it was a loose ball, and I tried to plant my hand down to get it, and I just felt someone dive into the back of it,” Petty recalled. “And it was just like a whole shock, numbness through the arm. I thought it was broke, honestly. Like Clarke (Holter) said, we’re lucky we dodged a huge bullet.”
Petty participated in the pregame shootaround Tuesday night but was ruled out of the game as the team did not want to risk him furthering his injury. The Huntsville, Ala., native said he tried to appeal to enter the game late but understands the reason for precaution.
Petty is Alabama’s leading 3-point shooter, averaging 45 percent from beyond the arc. He also leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game while ranking second in assists (2.6 per game) and scoring (15.0 points per game).
“He looked alright in practice,” head coach Nate Oats said. “We look a lot better with him out there, that’s for sure. Obviously, his shot-making is a big deal to help space the offense better, but it’s more than that. His leadership, his intensity on defense. We need more long, athletic defenders. Just having him out there, we look a lot better. I’m planning on playing him, barring any setback after today’s practice.”
Petty said it has taken some time to redevelop his stroke from deep but stated he has now regained enough strength to get better range on his shots. Friday, the sharpshooting guard expressed confidence on his recovery heading into Saturdays’ game.
“I feel like I’m pretty prepared,” Petty said. “I told the guys, ‘Just cause I was hurt, don’t like shy back. Or when you see me come at you, don’t like slow up, like hit me like they do in the game.’ They did a pretty good job of getting me prepared for what’s coming, so I feel like I’m ready.”
Alabama (16-14, 8-9 in the SEC) will wrap up regular-season play against Missouri (14-16, 6-11) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT inside Mizzou Arena. Depending on how Saturday’s outcomes play out around the conference, Alabama will enter next week’s SEC Tournament as either the No. 9 or No. 10 seed.
Following Tuesday night’s loss, the Crimson Tide’s only realistic chance of advancing to the NCAA Tournament is through the automatic berth that comes with winning the SEC Tournament. While that doesn’t appear likely at the moment, Petty said he spoke to his fellow teammates to remind them there is still plenty left to play for this season.
“I just told the guys, we’ve just got to look at ourselves in the mirror,” Petty said. “This ain’t the way we wanted the season to end. This ain’t the way we wanted it to go. But we dug ourselves in this hole, so now we have to look out ourselves in the mirror and ask, ‘So are we just going to quit here, or are we going to keep fighting and try to push to our goals?’ I feel like all the guys responded to that well because the last two days of practice have been great with effort. Guys have been practicing hard, so I feel like we’re going to answer the bell coming around.”
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Andrew Bone, of BamaInsider.com, is a real estate broker in the state of Alabama.
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