TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Riley Norris “isn’t walking through that door” for the Alabama basketball team. Hinting at an infamous speech made by Rick Pitino when coaching the Boston Celtics, Alabama head coach Avery Johnson made it clear his injured forward won’t return to the floor this season.
Instead, the Crimson Tide will have to find a new source of veteran maturity on the court. As it has several times this season, Alabama’s veteran presence went missing Tuesday night in a 67-63 road loss to Mississippi State
Despite entering the bonus with 12:39 remaining in the game against the Bulldogs, Alabama settled for several 3-point jump shots instead of driving to the basket to pick up fouls. That resulted in a dismal 3 of 22 performance from beyond the arc as Johnson told reporters his team took the “easy way out.”
To be fair, Johnson has urged his players to take what they feel like are good shots when they get them on the court. Tuesday night, Alabama believed they were making the right decisions.
“They probably felt like they were taking good shots,” forward Herbert Jones explained Friday. “[Johnson] tells us to shoot our open shots and take them with confidence. So I guess they felt like they were good shots.”
It’s hard to fault a player for trusting his instinct on the court. Although considering Alabama ranks No. 348 of 351 Division I teams in terms of experience according to Ken Pomeroy, the Crimson Tide’s judgment might not always be where it needs to be.
It doesn’t help Alabama that Riley Norris, who suffered a season-ending hip injury in December, is the Crimson Tide’s only veteran pure shooter. Would having the senior forward on the floor Tuesday night have helped Alabama? Sure. However, Johnson’s expecting more from his team heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
“We’re good enough. We can’t continue to use immaturity or inexperience as an excuse, we’ve got to just grow up,” Johnson said. “I have to do a better job of coaching that… Our guys have shown flashes of being capable enough to play with any team in the country. We just have to grow up and do it on a consistent basis.”
Consistency has been a problem for Alabama (15-9, 6-5 in the SEC) as the Crimson Tide has failed to win consecutive games since a four-game winning streak in mid-January. Tuesday night’s defeat came after a 68-50 road win at then-ranked No. 23 Florida, a game that looked like a turning point in Alabama’s road woes this season. However, 24 games into the season the Crimson Tide still hasn’t found a way to build on its momentum.
Interestingly enough, Alabama’s struggles haven’t come against its tougher opponents. The Crimson Tide is 4-1 against top 25 teams with its lone defeat coming against Minnesota in a game where Alabama was forced down to three men on the court.
“I don’t know, I just think we bring our A-game for top 25 teams, and that’s something we need to do for every team,” forward Daniel Giddens said. “To be honest with you, I can’t tell you why it’s like that.
“We[have to] come to work, just come to work. We need to bring that passion and effort into every game.”
Alabama will have another shot at a top 25 opponent Saturday as it hosts No. 15 Tennessee (18-5, 8-3) at 5 p.m. on SEC Network. The Volunteers are riding a six-game winning streak and are fresh off a road win over No. 24 Kentucky earlier this week.
“When we talk about a team, this is a team,” Johnson said of Tennessee. “They have great teamwork, good balance on both ends of the floor. They do a good job of knowing when to play inside, they got guys that can stretch the floor outside. They are very competitive defensively. That’s why they’ve won nine out of their last 10 games."
Johnson said Alabama will have to be physical without fouling in order to stay out of the bonus early. He stressed the importance of smart possessions on offense by taking care of the ball and finding the open man.
In other words, growing up.
