The box
Ole Miss at Alabama
WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday
WHERE: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
RECORDS: Alabama 16-12 (9-7 in the SEC), Ole Miss 18-11 (9-7 in the SEC)
TELEVISION: SEC NETWORK
ALABAMA LINEUP: G Dazon Ingram, 6-5, R-Fr., 10 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 3.4 assists; G/F Braxton Key, 6-8, Fr., 12 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 2.3 assists; F Riley Norris, 6-7, Jr., 9 ppg., 3.6 rpg.; F Bola Olaniyan, 6-7, Gr., 3 ppg., 6.4 rpg.; F Donta Hall, 6-9, So., 5.9 ppg., 5.8 rpg.
OLE MISS LINEUP:. G Deandre Burnett, 6-2, Jr., 17.1 ppg., 2.2 rpg., 3.3 assists; G Breein Tyree, 6-2, Fr., 6.5 ppg., 1.8 rpg.; G Terence Davis 14.4 ppg., 5.5 rpg.; F Marcanvis Hymon, 6-7 Jr., 3.7 ppg., 4.9 rpg.; F Sebastian Saiz, 6-9, Sr., 15.1 ppg., 10.8 rpg.
Three points
1.) Senior goodbyes
Alabama head basketball coach Avery Johnson grinned upon correcting himself while he looked back at his time coaching senior forward Jimmie Taylor.
The head coach started by telling reporters Taylor embraced him from Day 1 of his coaching career at Alabama two years ago. In actuality, it took the 6-10 forward from Greensboro, Ala., some time to warm up to Johnson’s high-energy style.
“He embraced me from Day 5,” Johnson said. “He wasn’t the most bubbly guy when I first met him. I remember meeting the team in the video room and Coach [Bill] Battle brought me in, and Jimmie was looking at me like I was crazy.
“After we got through the first several days and I kind of explained to him what we were doing and what I was all about, we started to pull back those layers.”
Taylor, a four-year player at Alabama, will suit up for what is most likely his last game inside Coleman Coliseum, as the Crimson Tide hosts Ole Miss on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. for senior night.
“It’s quite a feeling, man,” Taylor said. “It’s kind of a bitter-sweet moment, being your last game here close to home. It came by kind of quick. Four years went by fast.”
Splitting time with Donta Hall this season, Taylor has averaged 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds over 18.3 minutes per game this season. With two more blocks, he will become the sixth player in school history to record 200 for his career.
“I’ve had a great time with Jimmie,” Johnson said. “Jimmie’s been fun to coach. He gives his all. Even if he didn’t understand what we were trying to do, he’d do it.”
Taylor won’t be the only player honored on senior night, as graduate transfers Bola Olaniyan and Corban Collins will also be recognized. Collins is averaging 6.4 points and 2 rebounds over 22 minutes per game, while Olaniyan is averaging 3 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds over 15.4 minutes per game.
“It just wraps up a great regular season,” Collins said. “Like I was telling them, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to play here. Seeing that the season has come and gone so fast, it’s kind of surreal, but I’m just looking at it and trying to take advantage of the next game we got.”
Another big one
While back-to-back losses to Georgia and Texas A&M put a serious dent in the Tide’s NCAA Tournament chances, Alabama will want to enter the SEC Tournament with the highest seed possible.
Alabama (16-12, 9-7 in the SEC) is currently tied with Ole Miss (18-11, 9-7) for fifth in the SEC standings. With Vanderbilt's loss to Kentucky Tuesday night, Alabama would be in a good position to head into the SEC Tournament with no lower than the No. 5 seed if it beats Ole Miss Wednesday night.
“We’re just trying to focus on what we have in front of us,” Collins said. “So this next game against Ole Miss, we are just trying to make sure we come in locked in on them and not thinking about the SEC Tournament, not thinking about anything but just that game in front of us.”
Ole Miss has three players averaging double digits in scoring with junior guard Deandre Burnett (17.1 ppg.), sophomore guard Terence Davis (14.4 ppg.) and senior forward Sebastian Saiz (15.1 ppg.).
“Ole Miss is a team that is pretty talented offensively,” Johnson said. “Boy, they can score the ball... They can score 80 points in their sleep, so we are going to have to play some really good defense and make them work on the defensive end.”
Back at it
Johnson admitted he doesn’t still have many of the moves from his playing days in the NBA. However, that didn’t stop him from hitting the hardwood again Monday to help his players out during practice.
With Brandon Austin and Nick King out for the year and Shannon Hale suspended indefinitely, Alabama was already short on numbers. Collins had to miss Monday’s practice while getting treatment and another unnamed player sat out with an illness, leaving the Tide with just nine available players.That meant in order to do any five-on-five drills, Johnson was needed on the court.
“Telestration is good, coaching is good, but demonstration, sometimes, can be even better,” Johnson said. “So, that was the first time since I’ve been here where I actually, from the warm-up all the way through to the end, that I did that.”
Johnson felt he needed to take more of a hands-on approach to demonstrate to his players what he is talking to them about during practice. That included going through each position and explaining what he would be needing from every player.
“Yeah, I needed ice on my knees afterward,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the players responded well to him being back on the court, stating they put a lot of pressure on him and forced him into a few traps. However, the head coach reiterated that his playing days are over and his goal remains to make practice about the players.
“I don’t have many moves,” Johnson said. “I threw a nice pocket pass to Daniel Giddens yesterday for a dunk. But again, the idea is we’re trying to raise our players to a different level, and whatever teaching techniques that we can utilize to try to make a point about something, that’s what we’ll do.”
