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How Avery Johnson being a bad ref helped Alabama overcome adversity

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama players weren’t getting the calls they wanted during Wednesday night’s 77-74 victory over Louisiana Tech. Although, it was nothing they weren’t already accustomed to.

“We just stayed aggressive, we kept attacking the rim,” Alabama guard Dazon Ingram said. “We knew we weren’t going to get no foul calls. Coach Avery [Johnson] is a bad ref in practice, so we’re used to it.”

No.24 Alabama (6-1) drew 29 fouls Wednesday night, eight more than Louisiana Tech (5-1). However, there were moments when the Crimson Tide was clearly frustrated by the calls on the court. Several times, Alabama players appeared to be bumped on their way to the basket only to put up awkward shots without hearing a whistle. On the defensive side of the ball, the Crimson Tide was called for a couple of charges, including one on Herbert Jones in the first half that led to Alabama assistant Antoine Pettway briefly losing his cool.

Despite the mounting frustration, Alabama players carried on as they would if was their head coach making the calls, occasionally showing dismay but never voicing their displeasure.

“I think the word is getting out that we don’t complain,” Alabama head coach Avery Johnson said. “ We do not complain to officials. If there needs to be a clarification on a call, I talk to the officials. So even if things didn’t go our way, if you thought you got fouled or you thought it was a charge, our guys, we’re not showing up officials at Alabama.”

Alabama is no stranger to adversity. During its 89-84 loss to Minnesota over the weekend the Crimson Tide were forced to go down to three men after its entire bench was suspended for coming onto the court during an altercation. After Alabama went down to five men with 13:43 remaining, Ingram fouled out with 11:37 to play. The Crimson Tide was then cut to three as it lost freshman guard John Petty to injury, leaving freshmen Collin Sexton and Galin Smith and senior Riley Norris as its three remaining players for the final 10-plus minutes.

Alabama didn’t complain then either. Instead, the Crimson Tide outscored the Golden Gophers 30-22 over the remainder of the game, despite playing three-on-five.

“That says something about your DNA and your culture when you can play through adversity,” Johnson said. “We sure played through it in our last game, and I think some of the lessons from that game carried over tonight, especially in the second half.”

Wednesday, Alabama made the best of its trips to the line, hitting 27 of 37 (73 percent) of its free throws. Ingram led the way, going 13 of 17 from the line as part of 22 points on the night. Sexton was also efficient from the stripe, hitting 9 of 11 attempts, including his final six to seal the victory.

Following the game, Ingram said that success can be attributed to practice as well.

“We can make free throws, and we know that,” Ingram said. “We work hard in practice making them, and if we don’t make them Coach Avery’s going to make us run.”

Johnson later shrugged that off, stating he only makes his players run for missed free throws in practice, not during games. Although, as for Ingram’s original complaint about his officiating during practice, Johnson doesn’t deny being a little shy with the whistle.

“Yes, I’m a bad, bad, bad official in practice,” Johnson said. “and it’s intentional.”

For the head coach, it’s all part of getting his team ready to handle different types of adversity. So far this season, that plan has worked pretty well.

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