Unlike some coaches, University of Alabama men's basketball coach Avery Johnson encourages his players to pay close attention when upcoming opponents play on television.
When watching last Wednesday's Vanderbilt-Auburn game, the Crimson Tide players may have seen more than they wanted.
The Commodores, who come to Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night for Alabama's SEC home opener, buried AU 80-61, making 14 3-pointers in the process.
"We know we're playing a fantastic team in Vanderbilt," Johnson said. "You've got to get to the 3-point shooter and they have several of those."
Matthew Fisher-Davis, a 6-foot-5 junior swingman, poured in 33 points, including seven of 14 from 3-point range. Fisher-Davis averages a team-high 17.6 points per game. But even 7-foot-1 center Luke Kornet has hit 14 3-pointers this year.
"For us, watching that was really important on the defensive end," Johnson said. "We look at other teams (and) put ourselves in their situation. It's amazing to see when (our) players are watching what other teams do and can relate that to what we do in practice."
Alabama will attempt to answer a Commodore barrage with a steadily improving defense that limited Mississippi State to just 58 points in its latest outing.
"We got a good defensive grade in that one," Johnson said. "The offensive end is still emerging."
A key to that emergence is a rotation that "gives Dazon (Ingram, the Crimson Tide point guard who had 13 points and nine rebounds in the MSU win) more room to operate," Johnson said.
"Part of that was the coach," Johnson said, referring to himself. "It involved eventually figuring out rotation. It's amazing how we used to have the Three Stooges, just three guys standing together holding hands. That's not going to work at any level of basketball, down to middle school. Now those three guys (Ingram, Braxton Key and Riley Norris) take pride in it. They talk to each other about spacing.
"It helps our big guys, too, when we throw it in the post. We are still developing, but we are starting to see progress."
This will be the 137th meeting between Alabama and Vanderbilt. The Commodores have won the last three meetings to even the all-time record at 68-68.
Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or 205-722-0225.
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