ALABAMA BASKETBALL: Hendrix looking for strong finish
Richard Hendrix may have just four remaining games in his college career, but that isn't his mindset.
The junior power forward and his Alabama teammates are in Oxford, Miss., today, trying to snap a 10-game losing streak in Southeastern Conference road games against Ole Miss. Tipoff is 1 p.m., and the game will be televised by WSFA.
There's plenty at stake for a team trying to enter the SEC tournament on a positive note. The Crimson Tide (15-13, 4-9) is locked in a four-way tie for third in the SEC West Division and play two of those teams (Ole Miss and LSU) in its next two games before closing out at home against Vanderbilt.
Win two of the three and Alabama likely will be the third seed in the tournament, pitting it against the East Division's worst team. Win one of the three and Alabama will be fourth or possibly fifth.
Alabama is hoping to find the spark that was missing in losing its last two road games to South Carolina and Auburn.
"It's tough to bounce back," Hendrix said, "but at the same time you have to have the mentality of a competitor to come out every night with the same focus to win. You have to somehow put it behind you and know that the next game is the game you're going to turn things around."
It hasn't been an easy season for Hendrix. While the Athens native has been a force in the paint this season, his inability to finish plays, particularly at the free-throw line, is mirrored by his team's inability to finish off opponents.
Hendrix is the only player in the SEC averaging a double-double, ranking third in scoring at 18.3 points per game and first in rebounding at 10.1 boards per game.
Yet he knows he could be leading the league in scoring if he could hit free throws.
In the last four games alone, he has converted both ends of a two-shot foul just twice in nine attempts. He has converted just 52.6 percent of his free throw attempts.
"It's been frustrating," he admitted, "but what I've decided as of late is to get my mind focused on making them. Because I know that I'm a good shooter, I have a nice touch. I've just gone through a slump where I think it's all mental."
Hendrix played his first two seasons at 265 pounds, a weight that often left him tired after several minutes of banging opponents in the paint. He has increased his time on the court by five minutes each game by slimming down nearly 15 pounds, a weight loss he attributed to hard workouts and better eating habits.
"When he came in as a freshman, his body obviously is different now," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "He's changed his body. But just the experience of going through the league one year and the going through the league another year, you begin to see that when you start to walk through a scouting report, there's not much left to show an upperclassman that a team does. They've seen it."
Hendrix has been called by at least one NBA mock draft analyst as the most physical player in the league and he's certainly seen his share of double-teams from opponents who shove him away from the basket.
He has put up rebounding numbers that has him on pace to finish with the most in a season since Erwin Dudley in 2001. He also could finish with the highest rebounding average in a single season since Eddie Phillips in 1980.
"He knows how to use his body and then I think he's one of those players that, when he can get his fingers on it, he usually secures it," Gottfried said. "We used to always joke around there were some players that had bad hands. We used to always say, 'Touches everything, secures nothing.' Richard is the opposite. What he touches, he secures. And then I think he's got a high basketball IQ. I think he understands and reads where the ball is going to."
Hendrix has until April 27 to decide whether to apply for the 2008 NBA draft.
While his rebounding and strength in the paint is a plus, his lack of lateral quickness and inability to take mid-range shots has driven his stock down to a late first-round or early second-round pick.
"I'm really trying to stay focused on, first, my education and finishing up this semester strong," Hendrix said, "And secondly, finishing up this season on a strong note. Basketball is a tournament sport and it's never over until it's over."
His poor free-throw shooting probably doesn't help his NBA draft resume, either.
"As far as that goes, I think they look at free throws and understand that I'm leaving a couple of points on the board that I know could help myself as far as a (scoring) average," he said, "but I feel my problems with free throws is something I can have corrected, that I will correct and that's only going to make me a better player."
If he returns, he should team with Ronald Steele and Andrew Steele in the backcourt and St. Jude's JaMychal Green in the post to give the Crimson Tide a formidable lineup.
"If he's there, it'll take a lot of pressure off of me and all the freshmen that are coming in," Green said. "If he's there, that'll be a lot of help; if he's leaving, we're just going to have to step up."
In any case, he'll likely apply for the draft, go to camps and tryouts and get an evaluation. Then he has until June 16 to withdraw from the June 26 draft if he is interested in returning to Alabama for his senior season.
Hendrix, who will earn his undergraduate degree this May, has the option of getting a free year's worth of postgraduate work next season if he returns, but says he hasn't thought about what subject to pursue for a master's degree.
"As long as someone is paying for my education, I'm going to get as much as I can possibly get," Hendrix said. "I haven't thought about it. I have plenty of time to think about it, as well as all the other decisions that I have to make."
See more
at www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
