Gottfried should consider turning up the heat on opponents

By Ken Rogers

Published: January 22, 2008

There is much hand-wringing and angst about Alabama basketball and it’s 0-4 start in Southeastern Conference play.
Solutions to a turnaround are much tougher than identifying problems — poor defense, both inside the 3-point line and beyond; poor perimeter shooting — a combined 7-for-34 in consecutive losses to Georgia and Mississippi State; and sloppiness with the basketball — a combined 36 turnovers in its past two games.
Maybe the key to starting over is identifying what the team does well, or what advantages it may have on opponents. Every coach in the league, whether he means it or now, raves about Alabama’s athleticism. Mark Gottfried can throw speed on the floor. He has played a lot of people and his core starting unit hasn’t won a conference game.
If Gottfried concludes his offense and defense can’t get things turned around, I would suggest using that depth and athleticism to its fullest. I think they should go to a Nolan Richardson-style all-out attack.
Is there a risk of fatigue? Yep. Is there a risk of giving up too many easy baskets? Sure, but how are they doing now? It’s all a gamble. But playing in that style wears on an opponent, too. And, sure, if you give up some easy buckets, that style also is designed to create easy baskets in transition.
It’s unsolicited advice, and perhaps worth only what you paid for it, but there is enough athletic ability on the roster to be disruptive and enough quick hands to get turnovers and turn them into easy points.
I think it’s worth a shot. Besides, 40 Minutes of Hell beats the 40 minutes of torture Tide fans have been seeing in the past four games.