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Ordinarily, we try to Gump on this day; however, one can be forgiven for just not quite being in the spirit after the No. 4 Crimson Tide basketball team finally returned to its home floor and then proceeded to shart out the worst display of hoops we have quite literally seen in years, <\/em>in a ten-point loss to the No. 21 Ole Miss Rebels. <\/p>\n The final score was 74-64, but that doesn\u2019t quite do justice to how thorough of a deserved asskicking the Tide took after a lazy, selfish, soft, unmotivated, and frankly stupid 40 minutes of play that should have many of these guys questioning whether they are trying to go pro in the NBA or State Farm. Disgust doesn\u2019t quite measure up in terms of adjectives I have for this one. <\/p>\n It was far, far worse than 10 points. And how Alabama lost is even more frustrating the double-digit stomping they inflicted upon themselves. <\/p>\n There are a string of awful performances and low-lights to choose from, with nothing but bad to report: the ball movement was non-existent, the ball control was worse, Alabama refused to chase their misses, they refused to play position defense on the interior, the bench refused to match-up on Dia who was running roughshod over a smaller lineup, etc. <\/p>\n There\u2019s no sugar coating this one. There are no mitigators. There is nothing take from it, or silver lining: It was bad basketball, poorly coached and executed worse. And you have every right to be mad about it. <\/p>\n I, for one, am glad that the Tide didn\u2019t manage to come back and hit a few perimeter shots to steal a late win, and I\u2019m certainly glad it was a decisive beating. They deserved to lose, and the worst thing imaginable for the psyche of this team would have been to let them off the hook for their ineptitude and sloth. <\/p>\n In December, I wrote this going into the Kent State game:<\/p>\n I simply don\u2019t believe in this group in the long-term…I think, for all the talk of back-to-the-OG, you can\u2019t expect a tiger to change its stripes. The Tide will shoot poorly from the perimeter, they will be outhustled far too often, they will have some inexplicable defensive lapses, they will commit too many stupid turnovers while forcing few of their own. And, in the end, they\u2019ll simply out-talent an opponent who plays harder. We\u2019ve seen it 6-7 times already this year. No reason to believe that changes today. I think it\u2019s going to take losing three or four in a row to open SEC play before it really sinks in. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n All of that happened again last night, and those stripes reemerged…but their talent couldn\u2019t save them. Good. With a morning trip to Rupp up next, a whole lot has <\/em>to change. But I fear we have only seen a reprieve the last few games, and not a true turning of the corner. And, if you dread that was <\/em>the real Alabama on display in Coleman last night, you can be forgiven \u2014 even justified. We\u2019ve seen this version far too often this year. <\/p>\n I love Alabama basketball, and I love Nate Oats and his brand of pell-mell analytical nuttiness. And at the end of the day I want <\/em>to love this team…but they\u2019re giving me few reasons to trust them. Nor can I drink from a half-full glass and say \u201cit\u2019s just one game \u2014 there are still 14 to go.\u201d Because as of this morning, that sounds more like a threat than an opportunity. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s disgusting\u201d \u2014 Nate Oats:<\/p>\n\n
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