Vanderbilt Gets Hot, Runs Over Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 69-59
by Christian D'Andrea on Jan 19, 2012 9:04 PM EST
in Vanderbilt Commodores Basketball
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PrintVanderbilt came into Thursday night's game at Alabama at +200 underdogs at the sports book. They left Tuscaloosa with their eighth straight win.
John Jenkins scored 20 points to go with eight rebounds and Jeffery Taylor added 17 as the Commodores opened up a big second half lead and rolled to a big victory at Alabama Thursday night.
A 34-12 run turned a 15-19 first half deficit into a 49-31 second half lead. Vanderbilt took advantage of Alabama's cold shooting and some beneficial calls from the referees to turn around what had been a disappointing start for the Commodores. Vandy shot just 3-11 to open up the game, ceding the early lead to the Tide and playing the ugly, slow-paced type of game that 'Bama excels at.
However, Vanderbilt caught their stride and took advantage of their opponents' miscues to pull away late in the first half. 'Bama suffered through a 7:37 scoring slump to finish out the frame, allowing Vandy to grab a lead that they wouldn't relinquish. It also helped that Vanderbilt seemed to get the majority of the 50/50 calls from the SEC referee crew - an aspect that was well noted by coach Anthony Grant as well as the lively Alabama crowd.
Grant's frustration boiled over with a technical foul that led to John Jenkins scoring five points in seven seconds. The points effectively took 'Bama out of the game until under the four-minute mark, when the Tide's full-court press forced three straight Brad Tinsley turnovers and cut Vandy's lead to 13. Fortunately, Vanderbilt was able to respond and hang on for the 69-59 win.
Festus Ezeli had 12 points and 10 rebounds in one of his best offensive showings of the year., but was just 2-9 from the free throw line. Lance Goulbourne had 11 and two blocks. The win improves Vanderbilt to 4-0 in the SEC and 14-4 overall. They'll head back to Nashville to host #15 Mississippi State in their biggest test of the young SEC season on Saturday.
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So good for so much of the game and yet...
The last few minutes has me very nervous about us being able to beat any sort of team with a lot of quickness that can bring 20-30 minutes of good pressure.
But without the first and last five minutes — wow. And that’s with a Festus who is still nowhere near well.
by Andrew D. Smith on Jan 19, 2012 9:11 PM EST reply actions
I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Bama took a lot of chances at the end because they had nothing to lose (given that they had lost the game already), and we were just trying to run the clock out. Under their normal defense, we were able to handle it quite well – especially when we attacked it as opposed to just trying to get it across.
99% of teams have worse defenses than Bama as well, so there is another reason to not worry about it.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 9:21 PM EST up reply actions
I have to echo Andrew D. Smith
And I wouldn’t worry except that they’ve established a pattern for about 3 years now of lazy, lead-relinquishing final 10 minutes. Here, the lead was 20, so of course they were fine. But come tourney time, they will have to play their best in the last 10. Not their worst. I haven’t seen it yet.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
Here's what I want to see:
I want to see Vandy match the opponents intensity when the intensity is turned up for those inevitable 5 minute spurts every 20 minutes or so. It happens every game. Vandy has become adept at lulling the opponent into a defensive game and slowly creating a 10 point lead. Then, predictably, the opponent turns up the intensity and cuts the lead to nothing or regains the lead. During this upturn in intensity, Vandy is consistently blindsided and vulnerable, as if they were not expecting it. I want to see this change.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
It is one thing in a 10 point game,
Which it was in the early 2nd half when Bama cut the lead from 18 down to 10, but we quickly answered their pressure to push it back out. Bama last charge was with 5 minutes when we were up by 23. At that point, the only way you lose is by turning the ball over every time or jacking up quick shots. Burn 20 second off the shot clock in 5 possessions and the opponents run our of time. In this case (as with USC), take the win on the road regardless of how it looks. Everything else is aestetics, and needless handwringing. I don’t really care how we play when the game is over and the other team is just trying to avoid an embarrasing boxscore. The only place where it will really make a difference is at Kenpom.com and possibly sagarin.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 10:02 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t see it a problem to turn off the offense when up by 20+, as long as don’t do it too early. They haven’t yet – winning by >10 while running really bad garbage at the end.
Yes, but 3 of the 4 wins in SEC
have been against the worst of the worst.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
The schedule is back loaded
with teams that we will be lucky to even get a lead on.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
Who pissed in your coffee? Enjoy this win.
We had 4 double digit victories in SEC play all of last season. Two were against an LSU and Auburn team that were worse than anything we’ve seen so far this season, and the other two were at home to USC and Ole Miss. Otherwise we had to scratch and claw for everything, including a similar Bama team at home.
If you don’t see that this team is playing much better than we did at any point last season, then it is your choice to dwell on the dwindling number of negatives, but it is clear to me that we are going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Did you really not notice that we outrebounded Bama by 13 on their own court? Or that we held Mitchell and Green to 6 total points? A Vanderbilt team really did that. Bama is a top 5 defensive team that had only lost once in their last 29 home games (a two point loss to Georgetown). We absolutely spanked them for 35 minutes and gave up some of the lead during garbage time. I’ve probably seen maybe one more dominant road performance by Vanderbilt in 23 seasons, and that was the Marquette game. I’m going to choose to relish this one, because I guarentee you that is the worst that Bama will look at home all season.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 10:24 PM EST up reply actions
Fair enough.
I love your optimism, your knowledge and your enthusiasm. Please note the positives I eluded to in my post. That aside, I look forward to a great season.
Oh, and I never drink coffee at night. So the piss must’ve been in my beer.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
I don't mean to be to hard on you.
But this was a dominating performance against a very good team that has legitimate deep tournament aspirations. And this is the second legit team in a row that we’ve dominated in their own home gym. It wasn’t perfect, but we are seeing something far different than what we’ve seen the last couple of seasons, and possibly from anything we’ve seen in the modern 64+ team tournament era. Three road games in a row where we’ve had 20 point leads into the second half – Marquette, USC and now Bama.
The fact that people are complaining about winning by 10 instead of by 20 indicates how well we’ve been playing and perhaps an entitled nature of the complainer. I remember when we would go 1-7 or 2-6 on the road and it was a cause for celebration when we actually did win on the road, usually in a nail biter. We are playing some really good ball right now, and we haven’t come close to our offensive ceiling.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 11:14 PM EST up reply actions
Not too hard. I enjoy the back and forth.
I too believe this team is great. I’ve dreamed of this season since the recruiting of the key components in ‘08. This is the best Vandy team since ’92-’93. Therefore, I don’t judge them against recent Vandy teams but against the best in college basketball this year. I agree we have been dominant on the road, but Louisville and Xavier are the kinds of teams we will have to beat in the third and fourth rounds of the tourney and we led both of those games by double digits in the second half. But we did not have Ezeli, and I agree he is the biggest difference maker on this team. See my post from the beginning of the season:
Anyway, I am not offended. Have at me. Essentially, we are arguing over how great this team is. At least we are not here arguing over how to get the program out of the cellar.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
CKS clearly treats road wins
like gold. When he reaches a point where the game is clearly won, he will shut the offense off and play the shot clock equivalent of four corners, to ensure the win. We employed a strategy that guarentees us a win up 20+ points with under four to go. Not pretty, but a one point win counts the same as the 20 point blowout except in a computer.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 10:14 PM EST up reply actions
What were your thougths
(I’m curious) when Tinsley gave up the 3 turnovers in a row with about 6 minutes left? Any concern long term?
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
The first one ...
the one that got Releford going, he was allowed to hack Tinsley about three times before actually getting the steal. The last one was a hair’s breadth from being a breakaway dunk. And the middle one … well …
I think
Tinsley doesn’t have the quickness/athleticism to beat an aggressive-trapping full count press and hasn’t since his Freshman year. Stallings need to figure out a way to counter this because its not the last time a team goes after Tinsley in the last few minutes, and we usually don’t have a 20pt lead to make his turnovers not matter.
Your analysis is solid.
I have been burned by the early dismissals in the NCAA’s. Twice now, I’ve seen us win many regular season games before coming up empty when it mattered most. So, this year, I’m trying to look beyond the W’s and focus on the elements that I believe will drive us deep into the tourney. I agree with you about the defense. It is far better this year than in the past. I also believe the return of of Ezeli has been crucial. I made a comment at the beginning of the season that every player seems to fall perfectly into their role once he is in his. He is also the emotional leader of the team. However, I do not see repeatedly squandered double-digit leads as aesthetics. And I will continue to wring my hands watching J.T. lose 70% of his confidence in the final 5 minutes of most every game.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
NCAA wins are about matchups.
The last two seasons have been deemed disappointments because of single possession games out of 30+ game seasons. But honestly, while we were a bit unlucky the last two seasons, you cannot argue that we didn’t get more than our fair share of luck in 1987, or 2004, or 2007 in getting to the sweet 16 each time.
But in my mind our major problem was that when it got down to it, teams would just slow the game down against us and force us to play 30 seconds of defense, which we showed time and time again that we could not do. And when we did we had the tendency to give up too many offensive rebounds. This was the real reason why we were unable to hold leads last season, much more so than finding a go-to guy on offense. Our offense was really, really good last season, even most of our losses.
Shooting can come and go, but the defense should be there all the time, especially on the road and in neutral sites. I honestly do not worry at all about a CKS coached offense. We’ve had two bad offenses in the last 10 seasons – 2003 and 2009. Every other offense has ranged from very good to excellent. When it is all said and done this one will be at least very good.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 10:33 PM EST up reply actions
Again,
Our problems with holding leads last season were largely related to the DEFENSE. It wasn’t laziness, but a simple inability to stop anybody in pressure situations.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 9:57 PM EST up reply actions
Yet another game...
where the final score really doesn’t tell the story. Bama really tried to ugly it up at the end, when the game was essentially over unless we turned it over on every possession. The main story was our defense again, which was fantastic, especially Lance, who was dominant. But we really attacked the glass with everybody, pretty much conceding the ability to run a break, but understanding that if we defended the glass we would have a decided advantage over them.
On offense, we were able to attack the basket and got fouled with good frequency (as Bama has shown they will do) and more importantly, made our foul shots (Festus excepted). Again we got good minutes from the bench (outside of the first 10 minutes) and did an excellent job of distributing the shots and not falling in love with the three.
But again, the most impressive thing about this effort was our defense, which has now continued through several games. It is miles ahead of last season.
I'm actually starting to feel more confident when they play on the road than at Memorial
This the anti-2008 team.
Starting?
It is funny how emotions can get in the way of observing what is actually going on, but we’ve now beaten NCSU, Oregon St., Davidson, Marquette, USC and Bama on the road (the first two w/o Festus and the last three by double digits), and our only loss was a 2 pt OT loss at Louisville without Festus. In those games it has become clear that we are now able to play perimeter defense, as John has become a plus defender and Dai-Jon is already very good. This was partially masked by the fact that our post defense is not nearly as good without Festus, which made the first four road/neutral games closer than they would have been had he played in them (I realize that he wouldn’t have been elidgible for the first two).
I would say that part of our issues (a small part) is that our crowds have been pretty disappointing so far this year. Georgia was the first game that was well attended, and not that well in the student section. Plus the energy has been pretty blah as if the crowd expects blowouts and is going to be disappointed if there is anything but. We certainly haven’t provided anything for the team to feed off of.
But the effort on the road has been impressive, and they seem to have an “us against the world” attitude that they can really play out against hostile crowds.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 9:32 PM EST up reply actions
Now if we can take this attitude to Thompson-Boling
That game scares me as much as any we have left.
Very good game tonight, bookending ten minutes aside.
by Aaron Novick on Jan 19, 2012 9:36 PM EST up reply actions
The last 3:50
Up 21 with 3:50 to play, our guys seemed content to run it out. 5 points, 3 rebounds, 6 turnovers, win by 10. We looked great from 11:50 left in first half until then. Only 5 turnovers, convert 6 point deficit to 23 point lead, 5-11 from 3, 11-29 from line, 33-25 rebounding.
We scored 1.38 ppp
where we did not turn the ball over. Basically, when we were able to get a shot off against Bama’s defense, we absolutely shredded them. Even with the turnovers we still scored over 1 PPP, which is well above what Bama typically gives up. Excellent job getting open looks and we were doing a great job slipping screens for easy dunks.
This is a defense that gives up an adjusted 85 points for every 100 possessions, which is just sick. And when we were able to get the ball up clean we were able to score against them like nobody else has, certainly not on their home court. And this is for the second season in a row.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 19, 2012 10:11 PM EST up reply actions
This was an absolute beat down.
The most encouraging aspect is that this team absolutely had their way with Bama’s vaunted defense. Absolutely dominating.
As for the end of the game, the team clearly shut it down and had trouble getting on the same page when we were forced to bring the ball up against their press. I wouldn’t worry about it. They’ll learn from it and will hopefully show a little bit better concentration in a similar situation later on this year.
Bama’s defense is LEGIT. It is stifling. But this team absolutely demolished it. It was an unbelievably great performance. And it came in a hostile environment.
We will have their attention now. The media won’t be able to ignore this one.
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by KingJamesIV on Jan 19, 2012 10:55 PM EST up reply actions
Agree. It was impressive. Our defense and rebounding was fantastic. Free throws were a positive. I’m not worried about the last 4 minutes. Otherwise:
After Ezeli went to the bench one minute into the game we didn’t have all 5 starters on the court at the same time until the start of the second half.
We are trying to involve Lance offensively. We ran two plays at the end of the first half for him. Although he went 2-8 from the floor, he was 6-6 from the free throw line.
Ezeli double-double.
Despite the early turnovers, when they pressed we had a scoring advantage. Given the offensive ability of our team, pressing us should be a dangerous proposition
So...
That was one hell of a statement.
We played like shit the final 4:00 or so, as we have noted. I can’t remember the last time we owned the boards like we did tonight. I’m loving what Lance is doing this year in every aspect of the game.
It’s all coming together, and now consistently enough over the several games that we can let ourselves start to believe that this is the real team.
Jason Fukuda nailed it – the reason this team is different from the recent early exit tourney teams is that they can flat out play defense, and it is a good time to watch. Also – John Jenkins will punish you if you give him one cubic foot of space.
by Pope Vanderbilt on Jan 19, 2012 11:13 PM EST reply actions
loved the D
DaiJon’s perimeter D is really becoming impressive. If he can get some confidence on the offensive end he will be a real asset towards the end of the season. But I think the greatest improvement is due to having Ezeli guarding the rim. He basically shut down and frustrated Bama’s big men and their guards seemed terrified of driving to the rack against him. If he can stay out of foul trouble and put up 10-12 points a game this team will always be tough to beat.
That was a spanking
I figured the game to be a toss-up. That was clearly wrong.
One thing that I’d like to see us do from start to finish is attack the press. Against both SC and Bama, we seemed content in the first half to only get it across, not attack. Starting both 2nd halves, we attacked the press and blew open the game.
As I see it, the 2 things that can derail this team are turnovers and foul trouble at either the 1 or the 5. Fouls are somewhat out of our control. The turnovers are almost all a result of pressure defense and pressing. Until we make teams consistently pay for pressing us, we’re going to keep seeing the press. And when we decide to attack it, we are rather effective. It would be good to see us do that from start to finish. We havent yet.
That was a spanking
I figured the game to be a toss-up. That was clearly wrong.
One thing that I’d like to see us do from start to finish is attack the press. Against both SC and Bama, we seemed content in the first half to only get it across, not attack. Starting both 2nd halves, we attacked the press and blew open the game.
As I see it, the 2 things that can derail this team are turnovers and foul trouble at either the 1 or the 5. Fouls are somewhat out of our control. The turnovers are almost all a result of pressure defense and pressing. Until we make teams consistently pay for pressing us, we’re going to keep seeing the press. And when we decide to attack it, we are rather effective. It would be good to see us do that from start to finish. We havent yet.
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