ALABAMA BASKETBALL: Tide's success hinges on free throws
A double-digit underdog to Kentucky?
Alabama players must feel that way as they venture into Rupp Arena today for the Crimson Tide's annual battle with Kentucky.
The Crimson Tide has felt like the underdog on numerous occasions when venturing into the hallowed arena of college basketball's winningest program. But in a battle of two teams that are similar in ability, one glaring statistic stands out.
Kentucky leads the Southeastern Conference in free-throw shooting at 75.7 percent. Alabama is last at 59.4 percent. That's a difference of roughly a dozen points, considering what the two teams are averaging on offense between the two programs.
"That has crept up on us in every game and we've got to find a way to improve that," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "I think we've hurt ourselves there. I went back and looked at last year's numbers and I think that just about every player shot a better percentage a year ago, including Richard (Hendrix). Brandon (Hollinger's) foul shooting was much better. Demetrius (Jemison) was much better. So there may be a mental part of that right now that we have to overcome.
"If you look at our six losses in the league, I think we've shot 53 percent at the foul line or worse in all of those. We're making the game harder. We've got to take advantage of the opportunities to score, and we haven't."
Those statistics are also the difference between a Kentucky team that rates as the hottest in the league with a four-game winning streak and Alabama, which likely has just nine more games before the end of a nightmarish season.
"The biggest difference for us in every game is the availability of players," said first-year Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie, who was plagued by injuries earlier this year and may be without his most experienced player, Ramel Bradley, for today's game. "Derrick Jasper coming back has made us a totally different team because he's a good defender, a smart player and an athletic tall guy that gives you a lot of versatility."
Gillespie said he was uncertain whether Bradley would return from a concussion suffered last weekend against Georgia, noting, "I really expected him to play (Wednesday) night but he didn't."
While Kentucky has a 96-35 lead in the one-sided series, Alabama has won two of its last four trips to Rupp Arena, including a 68-64 win on its last trip in 2006. Jermareo Davidson had a career afternoon against the Wildcats, but the 10 points of then-freshman Brandon Hollinger were big in helping the Crimson Tide hang on for the victory.
Alabama followed up with a 72-61 win at home last year.
"The difference, I think, between their team last year and this year's team is they play four guards," Hollinger said. "Last year they didn't really do that too much. This year when they sub a guy out, they bring in Jasper and they have four guards out on the court. They have a pretty good lineup when they have their four guards out there."
Alabama counters with a four-guard attack of its own along with the conference's top rebounder and third leading scorer, Richard Hendrix. That could give Alabama the type of advantage it had two years ago when Davidson dominated Randolph Morris in the paint because Hendrix has a decided edge on size and experience over Kentucky freshman forward Patrick Patterson.
But unlike Davidson, who could finish his domination at the free-throw line, Hendrix's struggles at the foul line have clearly hurt his team, which has lost its last seven conference road games and 13 of the last 14.
The three players who handle the ball the most -- Hendrix and point guards Brandon Hollinger and Rico Pickett -- have posted poor free throw percentages. Hendrix is shooting just 45.9 percent at the foul line in conference play, while Hollinger is hitting 44.4 percent and Pickett 37.5 percent.
See more
at www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
