Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Wvuafm, tuscaloosa.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Happy Easter, everybody. Welcome into the low tide here on 90.7. The capstone. Nicholas Percy, Joe Schott, Adam Hambright here in Tuscaloosa celebrating Alabama beating Clemson in the Elite Eight. And they are headed to the final four for the first time in program history. So, first, I want to start off, where were you guys at? What was your immediate reaction to the insanity that we witnessed last night?
[00:00:41] Speaker C: Well, I'd say I watched most of it from just a confines of a nice little booth out in Tuscaloosa at a restaurant and bar, I should say, too. Restaurant, bar, and ended up just watching with a lot of the die hard locals who were very adamant about Alabama not only winning, but every foul, every step, every dribble was bated breath. I would imagine it was the same way with you guys watching it, but to be in a room full of that type of feeling is quite impressive considering that you're watching Alabama and potentially, you know, pregame, you didn't know who's going to win, but you're talking final fours, potential matchups with. With Uconn. And then it happened. So, just a crazy reaction. I put it out on Twitter, just kind of the scene in galettes when the horn did sound and Alabama did officially win. So it was a raucous atmosphere.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I was just in my apartment, just me and Jasmine on the couch, you know, thought about going out to a couple of the places that were doing some watch parties, but I was already like, that's where I watched the Thursday night game against North Carolina. And I was like, if we're gonna do it, I'm gonna be in the same exact spot, same outfit, everything. Don't move. And then, you know, it happened. And then Jasmine got a nice picture of me, you know, almost in tears on the couch as the final seconds are taken away. So, you know, very big moment for Alabama basketball. And, you know, we've seen a lot of success in Alabama's programs. I don't think this was one that many people saw coming, especially this year, after this season had been.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I was also like you in my apartment, screaming at the tv, just like my next door neighbor was also for both games, actually. It was pretty hilarious.
But, I mean, what the crazy thing to me, right, is, like, Alabama has had some basketball success recently since NATO's came in several SEC championship teams, you know, and it's almost like you would have thought one of those years would have been the year. You would have thought last year would have been the year but then you've got this team that has the best offense in the country and it's not really close, but then just crappy defense. Haven't been able to play defense all season. Then they finally decide to figure it out once they get to the tournament. Coming off a couple losses at the end of the regular season and a loss in their first game in the SEC tournament, they magically figure it out. They take down a number one seed in North Carolina that nobody expected them to win that game, and then they go and beat Clemson and now they're in the Final Four. I just can't believe that it's this team that made it. Like, you knew it was a strong team, but also lost several assistant coaches, brought in a lot of transfer players, a lot of injuries. Honestly, it's just wild. I could not believe it.
[00:03:54] Speaker C: Yeah, it's actually not to verge too often basketball, but it is very reminiscent of like, what Nick Saban would do at Alabama almost every year on the football field, where you, you'd lose the offensive coordinator or the defensive coordinator or both, and then you'd lose, you know, a player or a coach to the NFL or to the, I don't know, transfer portal or something or whatever. And then it was just, oh, well, are we going to do it again? And sure enough, Alabama was in the national title the next year. And this is kind of what it was like for basketball where you lost, you know, Brandon Miller, Noah Clowney, those guys went to the league. You lost coaching staff. You brought in, like you said, nick, almost an entire new starting five outside of, you know, Sears and I guess, Griffin starting. So just, you know, stuff like that to get to where they got is pretty remarkable, especially considering, I mean, going into the tournament, I was like, this team going into the tournament were under 500 away from Tuscaloosa and they were going to Spokane and LA and somehow they got better and, you know, started to really figure out defense and just kind of a crazy season. And like you said, nick, it's kind of interesting that this is the squad that gets to the final four for Nate Oates.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: And, you know, we've watched the way this season's gone and obviously, you know, you mentioned it. Number one offense, I think they're averaging 90 a game about and, you know, earlier in the year, like, they started off and they start off the season and they're putting up a lot of points, but they hadn't really played like, they played good teams, but they hadn't played those big name teams yet. And then they had those three games against Purdue, Creighton and Arizona back to back, and they lose all three. But once again, you see that the offenses, they're just like, will the defense be able to stop anybody? And, you know, I think, like, right before that, they had lost to Ohio State where they had let them score like 90 points. And it was just like, are they ever gonna figure it out? And you get to the SEC play and they still weren't, other than a couple, like most of the teams that they were losing to. It wasn't really like a shock that they, they lost to them. Like losing to Tennessee, losing to Auburn at Auburn, even the Florida game that was in, in Florida and everything. And, you know, you just kind of hoped that, you know, they're winning. You know, most of the games that they're supposed to win, you're just hoping that they can put it together on defense and finally win some of those games they're not supposed to win. And then, you know, they still get, you know, a double buy for the SEC tournament. You're like, okay, this is the shot. You know, get to the SEC tournament, have a little run, and then carry that momentum into the NCAA tournament. And then they let Florida score 100 again and they lose. And that's when I think, I won't say everybody, but, you know, a bunch of the people on the outside looking in are like, oh, this team's toast. They're gonna lose first round. You know, whoever they get matched up with, they get matched up with Charleston. And then that's when everything kind of starts clicking. I know that the final score, you know, what was a 109 to 96, but at one point Alabama was up by like 30. And they had played really well on defense for the majority of the game. And then, you know, most the year that the team had been carried by Mark Sears. And, you know, Luttrell writes on, right, so had been in night of injury. And then you get to the NCAA tournament in that first game, Charleston Sears has 30, Reichsil has 17. It's like, okay, it's just gonna be Sears and Littrell Ricel. How far can they take the team? And then they play Grand Canyon and, you know, ricel gets hurt. Sears still puts up, you know, good points. And then it's who, what's the really the story of the game? It ends up being Mohamed Diabani, you know, how well he played defense and everything. And then you get to the North Carolina game, and then it's Grant Nelson. He finally has that game that everybody had kind of been waiting on all year. And then you get to the game against Clemson and it's Jaron Stevenson and it's like he has the best game that he's had all season. And, you know, that for a guy that's really technically should still be in high school right now, finally stepping up in the elite eight game. And so they finally put it together when it mattered most. And now it's not going to be just one guy caring. It's actually like a team effort and everybody, you know, who's going to be the next guy to step? Is it going to be rice Logan? If he's healthy? And I know he said that he was going to go, we'll see what actually happens, you know, next Saturday when they face UConn. But, you know, if, if they play like UConns, it's going to be tough no matter what. But if they keep playing like they've been playing, they got a shot.
[00:08:33] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, it's just crazy to me, like how all the pieces have finally started to click right. Mark Sears has been your consistent piece all year. That was never a question. Even though he started off this game pretty shaky, he ends up dominating and hits a couple just disgusting step back threes that were incredible to watch, including one three from like nearly the half court line. Like it. It was insane. But that's been him all year. We talked about how this team could not defend anybody. I mean, you know, just look back to that Kentucky game earlier. What was it, 100 1717 points given up?
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Almost the most in team history or it was like the second most.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's, it's super rare that a team that is so unbalanced, like Alabama being so dominant on offense and having that weaker defense to even go this far to begin with, that is super rare. You really only see teams that are in about the top 25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency make it this far. But, you know, Alabama's defense as of late has stepped up majorly. I mean, they, against North Carolina, RJ Davis gets held to what I think he was like over seven from three. Yeah, over nine.
The defense has completely stepped up and changed. And Clemson, you know, we thought they were going to dominate this game inside and they did for some time, but then it felt like they kind of got away from that and started trying to play Alabama's game, hitting threes and that sort of stuff. And you do not want to get into a three point shootout with Alabama. I think that is crystal clear now. But it just seems like all the pieces have finally clicked. This team's finally started to find its identity. You've got players stepping up all over the place. Obviously, you had that grant Nelson legacy game against North Carolina, and last night, you know, Nick Pringle has a big game. Jaron Stevenson can click home. Actually called that on Twitter. Just want to shout that out. He called that out, like, I think, 20 or so minutes before the game started. He tweeted that that was going to be who stepped up. And it was, you know, you just have all sorts of. You had Rylan Griffin hit five threes against what? Against Grand Canyon? Or was it unc?
[00:10:55] Speaker C: I believe he hit five against UNC.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah, five against UnC. But you have all these guys stepping up. All the pieces are coming together, and this team's on one heck of a run. And we're going to talk, you know, later on in the show about the absolute mountain that is in front of them now. But, you know, just take a moment to appreciate this for what it is. I mean, this is a first in program history. Nobody ever thought that Alabama was gonna make it to a final four in basketball.
Not to mention the fact that the Alabama athletics program is just on fire. You make the semifinal in the college Football playoff and the final four in the same year. That's insane.
[00:11:39] Speaker C: Yeah. And I just. I think it really speaks volumes to what not maybe what natives has done, because I think that kind of speaks for itself, but just this kind of run in terms of what he can do, even when he doesn't have the Brandon Millers coming in. I mean, this was a team, and. And I listen, like, I'm not. I'm shocked that. Not shocked, but I'm surprised that this team got to the final four. Like, I don't know how many people, even the most optimistic Alabama fans, thought they could pass, you know, the. The likes of, you know, UnC and Clemson, and now they're going to play UConn in the tournament. But I feel like this is kind of why NATO built this roster the way it was. I mean, if you look at who Alabama started, you know, essentially in all their tournament games, it's, you know, four seniors and Riley Griffin. You know, it's guys that essentially everyone on the floor. I. I believe. I don't. I believe. Right, so, made the tournament before he transferred to Alabama. I'm not totally sure, but you have guys that have been in the setting before, and that's why when they can, when this team did flip a script and they were able to come out and play this really good defense like, that wasn't totally shocking to me because you have guys that have been here. I think this team, we talked about that three game stretch, Purdue, Creighton, Arizona. This team wasn't necessarily built for that in November. But once they've kind of figured it out and they've gone through, let's be honest, a lot of growing pains and a lot of really kind of poor performances and bad efforts and probably, I'm sure, a ton of screaming in the locker room.
This is what that end product is. It's a team that on its day can compete with anybody in the country, can beat almost anybody in the country, and now they're going to have a chance to do it against UConn, who seems like the country's basketball team with.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: How good they are, which, you know, I think we kind of knew that this was a team that could compete with anybody on their best day. But they have had several games, this tournament where, you know, things have not started off well or they've had some rough beginnings. Just look at this game against Clemson. They start off and they're down big time really early in this game, and then they go on a massive run and all of a sudden they're up, what, three at half, like 35, 32? I believe it has.
[00:13:57] Speaker A: That was a 22 to six run to end.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: Yeah, like, that's absurd.
And I think we knew that, like, you know, if all the pieces come together and, you know, they start hitting threes from everywhere, like, nobody can beat them. But at the same time, this is a team that had to be the number one seed in North Carolina, which on paper, North Carolina, a much better team than Alabama, didn't show on the court.
And you had, you know, just a heroic effort from Grant Nelson to, you know, get to that point to begin with.
But then against Clemson, this is a team that they lost to earlier this season in convincing fashion. Like Clemson. Clemson dominated them, and the paintbroke a 19 game home win streak, I believe, for Alabama. You know, it's very, very rare that you get to the tournament and you get a rematch of somebody you played in the same season. So, you know, it just felt like everything clicked, but it's just wild, like how much this team has had to overcome. And then we, you know, we talked about it a little bit, the amount of injuries. I mean, at the end of that UNC game, Nick Pringle, it feels like he's playing on one leg because he bruises his heel. You know, you never want to see anybody grabbing at their heel. You instantly think Torna keel is, thank God it wasn't that.
Then he comes out of the locker room and he's out there playing and you can just tell how much pain he's in, but he keeps going. And then in this game, I mean, just a fantastic game. I mean, really, he had several and ones, you know, a lot of tough rebounds, a lot of made free throws there at the end of the game. I mean, just could not ask for a better performance from him even though he's injured.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: And then you also had, you know, Rollin Griffin, who wasn't out for long. But there, there's that one play where he went up for the block, it's called for, the foul comes down and, you know, he's reaching back. It looks, looks like his hamstring or something. And maybe it was just, you know, cramped. Maybe it was just pulled. I don't really know exactly what happened, but to see him, you know, back out there after a couple minutes and, you know, you're hoping with the, you know, a week off, I know they're going to be practicing everything, but a week off from not playing any games, you know, if Pringle can kind of heal up a little bit, you know, I know Lutrell writes so, you know, he's, he said he, in the, in the postgame, he was saying that he was going to play Saturday. We'll see if he actually gets cleared and everything. But if this team can get healthy, you know, they're dangerous. I think, though, the main thing about, you know, this team compared to the other teams, you know, you had that team that went on like their magical run after having a slow start, but they put it together right after December. You know, they had that run back in 2020, 2021, and, you know, they went to the Sweet 16 and then they lost. And then, you know, the next year was a little disappointing. But then they had last season where one of the best players in the country, you have a team that's number one in the country, number one overall seed going in, you get to the Sweet 16 again and you lose to San Diego State. And kind of what you were talking about, Joe, when they lost to San Diego State, San Diego State was a very senior and grad student heavy team. And I believe it was, it was either six or seven of the final eight teams that were in it last year all had very senior heavy teams. And that's why you saw a lot of, I know some people left that they didn't expect to leave, but Nate Oates went out and he was like, you know, we're going to get some more, you know, up upperclassmen, more experienced guys. I can come in and kind of show the young guys, you know, what to do when they get to a tournament. And he wasn't able to fill the Betty, aka hole. And we felt that for most of the season and you kind of saw like, you, you saw like that game against Tennessee where they actually played defense, but then, you know, they couldn't hit a shot and then the last like eight minutes and it's like if they could just put it together, we know they could do it and then they finally did it.
And, you know, I'm hoping that they can go all the way this year, but, you know, next year they got some good guys coming in again. And, you know, this, this went from a team last year when I saw them lose in Louisville. When we go and that was our one shot, you know, we're never going to get back to now all of a sudden we're in a final four and the future looks bright even past this team.
[00:18:19] Speaker C: Yeah, I think to kind of go off your point you made about that Tennessee game and a lot of those games NATO talked about a lot just throughout the season of not letting a poor offensive knight dictate how they're going to play defense because it happened a lot. Like Alabama, maybe not a lot, but especially towards the end there against Kentucky, you led up 117 and they didn't particularly shoot well in that game despite the 95 points. Florida, they let that game get away early and, and they really couldn't, they couldn't stop Florida. Both times they played them, or I should say the last two times they played them, SEC tournament and then the regular season game.
And I didn't really think Alabama could pull a game like that out this season. And what really kind of flipped the switch for me was that Grand Canyon game in the second round where Alabama did not shoot it well. They were under 40% from the field, they were 25% from three, and, you know, missed six free throws as well and just really couldn't put much of an offense together in that game. But you look at Grand Canyon stats, the field goal percentage, 32%, you know, lower than Alabama's. They were two from 20 from three. Grand Canyon was, they missed 60% of their free throws, which I guess Alabama doesn't have a ton of say in, but, you know, they missed their shots and that's the type of game that in March, that's what you need to win and that's how you need to win in some instances, because you're not going to be able to score 100 points in the game and rely on the fact that you're playing Charleston and you can let up 96 and win by double digits and look comfortable throughout the whole game.
You know, you're not going to get those performances. So can you kind of, to phrase it a little, I don't know, lack of a better phrase, got out a win. Can you kind of dig deep and get the stops when you need to? And they did against Grand Canyon, they did against North Carolina and they, they really did against Clemson down the stretch where they. You could just kind of see an intensity on the defensive end that wasn't there for sure.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: One more thing before, you know, we start getting into that UConn game after the break, in your mind, who was the most impressive player in this game.
[00:20:39] Speaker C: To you in the Clemson game?
[00:20:41] Speaker B: In the Clemson game?
[00:20:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna be honest, all the, all the talk's gonna be about Jaron Stevenson and Mark Sears, and deservedly so. They both played out like Jared Stevenson should be a prom or at least getting ready for it right in high school, like, and he's dropping almost 20 points. I'm gonna go just to be a little different. I'll go. Nick Pringle, he's someone who I thought really impressed me with just the way he played. Like, this is a guy who, I mean, if you followed Alabama basketball, he's been in the headlines a couple of times, got suspended a couple of times. Seemed like he just wasn't fully there, you know, during this reg, during the regular season and against Clemson, one of the biggest stage. He gets the start, you know, right souls out. You're going to need to rely on a big man to play Clemson who's going to be inside. He finishes 16 points, eleven rebounds. Really the big thing for me, eight of 13 from free throws, which he, you know, if you didn't watch or don't know, he shoots them essentially one handed and is like, I think, 60% on the year from the line, but he finished 813 from that line. Got eleven, you know, like I said, eleven rebounds, 16 assists, double, double, had a block, three assists. Like, he just kind of put together a very complete performance when Alabama needed the most and he really helped, I will say just him guarding, you know, PJ hall and Schefflin, who both had really solid games for Clemson, just getting hall to foul out. And I know I don't fully remember how many fouls Pringle was responsible for on hall, but just getting that ball inside and making hall play you straight up without fouling, which is going to be hard to do to get him out of the game was impressive.
You guys are probably going to say the highlights. I'll go. Nick Pringle, I think he just put a really, a really good 32 minutes of play.
[00:22:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, Pringle with the double double, you know, the end of his defensive effort, that was, that was really good. Obviously, you know, Sears having another 20 plus point game is 3rd 20 point game of the thing. But for me, you know, it's, it's the generic answer for this one. It was Sharon Stevenson for me, just with, you know, he hasn't really had, you know, he's had some good moments, but he hasn't really had like a full game to where he's, you know, stood out. And, you know, the last time obviously was a while back, but the last time that Alabama played Clemson here in Coleman, he only played eight minutes in that game. He had one shot. It was a three pointer, missed it, one rebound, two fouls. Basically he wasn't. And he talked about in his post game press conference, you know, how he had worked on, you know, defensively and, you know, kind of getting bigger in the weight room throughout the season, you know, because he is so, you know, you forget that he should be in high school, like we've said multiple times. But, you know, when, if he had been like this back then and you could have had him in there to kind of take some pressure off of Nelson and Pringle trying to, you know, guard these guys down low, he wasn't able to do it. And then to come into this one, you would have almost expected it to be in the UNC game because it was hometown team. But, you know, Grant Nelson took care of it that night. But then coming in to this game and then all of a sudden it's like, okay, we're down 13 at one point and then all of a sudden it's like, okay, Stevenson into three. Oh, we hit another one and then, you know, he ends up going five of eight, seven of eleven from the field and, you know, it was just, you know, it was one of those games where, you know, he kind of arrived and hopefully he can carry that momentum into the next couple ones. Hopefully we can actually get, you know, all of them to have, obviously they're not going to all have their best game, but if they can all kind of get, you know, close to that, they're going to need it against UConn.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: So, and, you know, the crazy part about that game for Jaron is that he had multiple air balls from three in that game, and he's still chucking them up and still making them. Like, that's the crazy thing to me, confidence, you know, maybe. Maybe it's the youth, you know, just not afraid to keep chucking them up. But, I mean, that. That's almost more impressive than anything.
[00:24:47] Speaker A: I think he had also said, like, even after the airball, like, Mark Sears was like, just shoot it. Like, just keep throwing it up for.
[00:24:54] Speaker B: Real, you know, obvious, obvious answer. But to me, it's Mark Sears, right. Every time that, you know, Clemson started to pull things back, who's the guy that goes and gets you a bucket? It's Mark Sears. Several big time clutch step back threes at the end of this game. That three that we mentioned from the logo, some insane passes, drive into lane three, guys are collapsing in on him, and he whips one around the defender's back to the corner for three. Like, believable game from him. And this was after he started out pretty much ice cold.
About as bad of a start as you could possibly ask. I believe he was like zero for four from three or something to start this game.
But, you know, then he finishes with 23 points, 50% shooting, named the regionals, regional MVP.
Just a fantastic name from him. And this is a guy who stuck around and saw the way that this team lost last season, and it was very clear that he did not want that to happen again. So just a fantastic performance from him, and you couldn't ask for it to come at a better time. And he's been that guy all season, been super consistent. It has not been a question of whether Mark Sears was ever going to show up, and that has been extremely valuable for this team. When we come back, we are going to break down this Yukon matchup and this seemingly impossible mountain that Alabama now needs to climb to make it to a national championship game. We will be right back after this break.
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Welcome back into the low tide here on 90.7, the Capstone Easter Sunday. Everybody's celebrating. And in Alabama, we're also celebrating Alabama basketball headed to the final four for the first time in program history. Waiting for them in Arizona, the number one seed, Yukon Huskies.
This will be undoubtedly the best team Alabama has played all season, potentially the best team Alabama has played in many seasons. This is a team that went on a 30 to nothing run to take down Illinois. Who thought they had a chance. They indeed did not.
This is a scary team.
[00:27:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: I almost think here's the big thing that concerns me, right.
Donovan Klingon, seven foot two, nickname Kling Khan. Kling Kong. Is that tough to say?
Seven foot, 2280 pounds on shots that he defended, Illinois was zero and 19 in addition to him scoring 22 points.
Yeah, that's gonna be a tough matchup for Alabama.
[00:28:33] Speaker C: Yeah. Especially considering just when you looked at, you know, a team, and I don't mean to discredit them at all, but just look at what Clemson was able to get on the inside, you know, with how their big men, you know, rolled. PJ Hall, 14 points. Sheflin had a double double with 18 points. Eleven rebounds. Like those guys went to work against Alabama. Really, it was mostly in the first half, maybe the last, I should say maybe 1st 30 minutes of the game. Final ten was a little different, but yeah, like, Klingon is always one of the nation's best. Just watching him play basketball like he looks like a robot. I don't know how else to describe it. Like he looks like a CGI like basketball player. Like, you know, you ask chat GPT to build like a great basketball player. It's like seven, 2280, you know, can get on the rebound. You know, the one thing that does give me hope for Alabama is that, you know, he, Alabama's going to run. And when you're seven two and 280 pounds, you don't really run a whole lot in basketball. So, you know, you might be able to outrun him, but, you know, when, when he gets down low and he gets in this block and sets up, especially defensively, it's, it's going to be tough.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: Yeah, there's, there's a couple things that I wouldn't be looking at for this game, and it's one I need to see. You know, we talked about last week, we want to see if Lutrell Rice was going to play and then how effective is he going to be in the game after being out for really two and a half games and then, you know, the end of the season, we miss, what, four or five games in a row. So it'll be interesting to see who's all healthy, who, who all can, you know, hit shots. Because if, if Alabama can just start hitting the three, then you, maybe UConn has to go to a smaller lineup. But also another thing that I would like, I mean, it's a little it's a little risky, but maybe you try to go at them, try to get fouls. But we have seen many times in this tournament, if somebody's over seven foot and the refs kind of hold the whistle on them, you know, you had a Zack Edie a couple of games ago, literally knock somebody to the floor. Zach E. Sees Kirby like, nothing, nothing, nothing called. And so if the refs actually officiate it correctly, and I'm not saying, you know, just give Alabama all the calls, but if you have, don't, don't hold the whistle just because the guy is over seven foot. So if Alabama can get him into foul trouble, you know how they, they were able to get PJ hall to foul out? I think it was like four minutes, three minutes left, something like that. If they can get Klingon into foul trouble early and like get him a couple of fouls early in the game, maybe he has to sit for a bunch of the first half that, you know, that would really help out. Obviously, when you're not having to go around a guy that's got a 80 foot wingspan. But we'll see what happens. And, you know, another thing we, the defense has to show up, obviously. You know, we've talked about it all year. We've talked about it. You know, the first part of the show, how the defense has shown up. The defense especially has to show up in this game. You know, there's, in every game of the tournament, Yukon has had a 30 point lead, at least one point in the game. And they had the 300 run against Illinois, but Illinois had them in the first half. I mean, they were down, but it was 25 23. You really thought Illinois had a shot and then all of a sudden 300 run to come out of halftime. So if Alabama can play good defense and like NATO says, good defense and not foul, because, you know, there's, we've had a couple of games where we've had, you know, a lot of foul trouble and some people fouling out. So hopefully they can play good defense, not foul against somebody like Klingon. And, you know, the rest of, I mean, everybody in their offense can score, but if they can play that defense, keep it close and then hopefully get cling on into some foul trouble. I really like Alabama's chances.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, it feels like this is a, Alabama has a very tall task literally ahead of them. And the crazy part about it is, okay, let's say everything comes together and they take down UConn. Guess who they probably have waiting for them on the other side, Purdue. That would be three one seeds in the same NCAA tournament, which is just, I wonder, wild. I'd have to look up the numbers and see if that has. I'm sure it's happened once or twice, but just insane. The betting odds do not like Alabama.
UConn is the overwhelming favorite to win the entire thing. They're -225 Purdue at plus 190, Alabama at plus 1700, and NC State just behind them at plus 1800.
[00:33:21] Speaker C: So the Alabama NC state championship. Arizona, get ready.
[00:33:25] Speaker B: Could be wild.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: Well, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but Alabama's run in the NCAA tournament has had Charleston, North Carolina, Clemson, and then could potentially have NC State. So four teams from the Carolinas. That's a real.
[00:33:45] Speaker B: Can we win the Carolinas championship also.
[00:33:48] Speaker A: This weekend alone, if you are paying attention, they had North Carolina, Clemson, a basketball, and a three game series against South Carolina.
[00:33:56] Speaker B: Just too good. You can't make it up.
You know, kind of like you said. I mean, Alabama literally, I mean, this. This is a tall task, but it just feels like Alabama is going to need literally everything to go right to win this game. And I'm not saying that it's not possible, right. Like, there is always a chance. And, you know, we've seen what this team can do. I firmly believe that this team can beat anyone in the country on their best day.
Now, the problem is that you need it all to come together in the right moment. And so far in this tournament, everything has been coming together when it needed to. You needed to play great defense to win a gritty game against Grand Canyon, you got it. You needed Grant Nelson to step up against UNC, you got it. You needed Jaron Stevenson to have a big game against Clemson. You needed Nick Pringle to show up. You got it. So they've been on one heck of a run, and it is absolutely going to take everything they have to take down UConn. They are going to have to shoot unbelievably well.
They're going to have to get hot. They're going to have to push the pace in transition.
And you got to stay out of foul trouble because that has been a major concern for Alabama. Grant Nelson has been in foul trouble several times.
And that's the big concern is that if you have a couple of those key players for Alabama in foul trouble, you got to start sitting them. And then things. Things can get really ugly. And you do not want to allow a 300 run like Illinois.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: One of the, you know, it's obviously, we're looking at, you know, the run that UConn's been on, in the NCAA tournament. You know, it's been impressive. You know, none of the games have been close and, but like, there have been moments throughout the year where you see that they are vulnerable. Obviously they have the three losses, I mean, but they're still 35 and three.
All their losses were on the road.
I would expect a decent Yukon contingent to make it out to Phoenix. But, you know, at least it's not right in their backyard. I mean, they were playing their last couple of games in, of Boston right there. And I think they started off in Brooklyn.
[00:36:08] Speaker C: So, yeah, they haven't gotten on a plane since like, I don't know.
[00:36:12] Speaker A: Yeah, and last rogue. So the loss to Kansas, you know, was only a four point loss, but then Seton hall was a 15 point loss. And then at Creighton, they did beat Creighton at home at one point, but then their loss at Creighton was a 19 point loss. And, you know, I'm, I'm hoping that, you know, there's, this will be the game that UConn kind of comes out a little like, I mean, they came out sluggish in the first half against Illinois, but I'm hoping that it's one of those games because, you know, you're going to need a little bit of help to beat them. But there's so many games that are at like Villanova one by one point.
Then there's a, there's a couple games here. Butler was a seven point game. St. John's was. They only won by four points. So, like, there's, there's shots in there where you can see that they didn't play their best game. They still, you know, came out victorious, except in three of them. But you're kind of hoping that with the streak that they've been on that this will be the game that they finally take a step back.
[00:37:14] Speaker B: Yeah, and.
[00:37:15] Speaker C: Sorry, I was just going to say to kind of go off that actually I was going to get into that St. John's game just a little because it was really the last time UConn struggled and it was the last time they let up over like 80 points. Like they kind of ended the year on the stretch of not letting up 84 up until that crate and loss in January, I think February, something like that. So just kind of a remarkable run. But the last time that they did let up 90 kind of big amount of points, they almost lost to St. John's in the biggie semifinal.
The Huskies did win by five, like Adam said, but this was a St. John's team shot ten to 22 from three. So 45%. They were 40, essentially 45% from the floor, and three made 16 to 18 free throws and had two of their, you know, their two starting guards and Denise Jenkins and Jordan Dingle both hit over double digits. But, you know, that's kind of the closest representation I think they've probably had to an offense like Alabama's, at least here recently, that the team that can score 90 points and can keep up with them and, you know, this was kind of the way that they did it, was Klingon only had six points, had three fouls, five rebounds, you know, wasn't really a factor. Clemson or Clemson, sorry, UConn won the game just based off of guard play alone, who their two guards combined for 55 or, sorry, 45 points in that, in the win. So it's not, you know, it's not unlike Alabama to put up a point total like that. And if UConn hasn't played a team like Alabama, which I think you could argue on, just strictly on offensive ability, they haven't. I mean, you're talking about the number one rated offense in the country, or at least top three, I guess, depending on where you look.
So, you know, and that's kind of how some teams lose a march. I mean, it's kind of how, you know, Alabama lost last year. You get into a dogfight that you might not have really been expecting and you can lose. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but there's reason for hope. There's glimmers.
[00:39:35] Speaker A: Well, I mean, you know, it, like everybody says, you know, this, this is March and crazy things happen. I mean, who would have thought that North Carolina State would have made it all the way to the final four? I mean, eleven seed, they had to win the conference tournament to get in and, you know, they, let's see, to end the year winning one two. So they had to, you know, they had to play that first game of the tournament, so they had to play five games to, to win the conference tournament. They won that and they get in the NCAA tournament and it's like, okay, they're, luck's going to run out here shortly, and then they just didn't lose. And then they just took down Duke today. So now they're in the Final Four. They're going to play Purdue and Zack Edie. So they kind of have, you know, the same kind of tasks that Alabama has. Alabama obviously has the better statistical offense, had a better season, but, you know, it's, it's really interesting how both Alabama and NC State are kind of facing these really big, you know, eighties, seven foot four, klingon seven two. And this line that's, most people think the one seeds are going to win, but, you know, it's.
NC State has. I mean, we've seen other upsets in the term of NC State has shown you how crazy March can be. And Alabama needs a little bit of March madness in this one.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: Yeah, it's pretty wild. Ken Palm has NC State as the 43rd best team in the country, and they're in the final four. That's pretty crazy. A couple things before we go to break. Alabama and UConn have only played two times in basketball. UConn leads the all time series 20. They played last season in Portland, one of those early season tournament, Phil Knight Invitational, I think.
[00:41:15] Speaker A: Yeah, it was in between. Like, Alabama had beat Oregon, I believe, in the first. I believe it was Oregon in the first game. And then they had the North Carolina game where they wanted four overtimes, but they had the UConn game sandwiched in there, where UConn kind of handled us pretty well.
[00:41:31] Speaker B: Yeah, it was tied at 52 before UConn outscored Alabama 30 to 15 down the stretch to win that game.
[00:41:39] Speaker C: So just don't let up a 30 point run.
[00:41:42] Speaker A: Stop. Yeah, just stop the runs and just score more points.
[00:41:48] Speaker B: Obviously, Alabama's first trip to the final four. This will be UConn's 7th. They are five in one in their previous six final four outings and won their fifth national title last season. They're looking for the repeat. They would be the first back to back champions since the 0607 Florida Gators. So quite the task. Can Alabama spoil that for UConn? We'll have to see on, what, next Saturday.
[00:42:17] Speaker A: Next Saturday.
And we do have 750 tip central time. Yeah.
[00:42:24] Speaker C: So it's gotta be tBs and tNT, I believe, both states.
[00:42:28] Speaker B: It's gonna be a fun one regardless.
[00:42:29] Speaker C: Alabama's undefeated on, I believe, TBS, so there's hope.
[00:42:34] Speaker B: So you're saying there's a chance?
[00:42:36] Speaker C: Might also be. I don't. I don't know.
[00:42:38] Speaker B: But with that being said, we will be right back here on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:42:57] Speaker A: Wvuafm, Tuscaloosa.
[00:43:09] Speaker B: Welcome back into the low tide here on 90.7 the capstone. Finishing things out for you up until the top of the hour. So usually this would be when we do beef of the week, but things are very cheery here in Tuscaloosa. Not only is it Easter, Alabama is headed to the final four. So we decided we keep things positive. So instead of beef of the week, it's going to be best of the week this week. So we're all going to say what the best thing we saw this week was. So, Adam, I believe you're going to start us off.
[00:43:40] Speaker A: Yeah. So for me, it was baseball, Alabama's baseball team. You know, they came out with another series victory, taking two out of three against South Carolina. And, you know, a couple weeks ago they had taken two out of three against Tennessee and then they had went to Georgia for their next SEC series and got swept. They were in it in the first couple of games.
Didn't work out. You know, couldn't pull it out. It was a doubleheader because it was raining on that Friday, doubleheader Saturday, had it close, couldn't pull it out. And then they were down, I believe ten to one on that Sunday game before they made a little bit closer at the end. And then South Carolina comes to town. South Carolina ranked number ten in one of the polls. And this was, you know, we've seen it before, you know, how it can kind of season kind of start going away, like going south real fast. And they were able to take game one, four to three, taking the lead in the bottom of the 8th. And then, you know, they were down, or it was, it was tied with South Carolina again on Saturday, bottom of the 8th. They had seven run inning and then they dropped the game on.
Well, I messed up the dates, but it was Thursday, Friday, and then Saturday, you know, this whole Easter scheduling kind of threw me off. But the final game, which was Saturday, they weren't able to win. But they had, they made a comeback in the bottom of the 9th, almost had a chance to win. Just one mistake, running the bases. They're able to let South Carolina get out of there with the win that day, nine to eight. But another SEC series win, they got Samford on Tuesday before going on the road to Kentucky. So hopefully they can just keep piling up these SEC wins and hopefully we just had, you know, basketball make the final four for the first time. Maybe baseball can make it to Omaha for the first time since 99. Not saying it's going to happen.
[00:45:45] Speaker C: Four and three sports is crazy.
Yeah, I would go next. I. I do want to give a kind of an original thing that I saw online that was really nice, was I did see the, if you guys saw the Ernie Johnson kind of tribute to Chris Stewart, that was really, really nice. But I'll go with something a little maybe less tear jerking and that's just DJ Burns today. I don't know if anyone, obviously, you know, you saw NC State beat Duke, kind of a old school ACC rivalry to the founding members of the conference.
Obviously, who knows what's going to happen with conferences now? But DJ Burns, just at the end of the game against Elite to advance to the Final four, started chanting at Duke, players or fans that there's your season's over, was shooting, or was at a foul shot. I believe Duke was shooting, too, and he was gesturing to the people that were kind of mocking him a lot of the game, saying, you know, enjoy your ride home and all that. But the best part of it was today, just in the NBA, there was, I guess, a media availability or a game, you know, with the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic, who actually announced to the press that the reason he was late to their media availability was he was watching DJ Burns play at NC State and said, and I quote, he's amazing. So the league MVP is. Everyone's got eyes on DJ Burns. He said that he loved his hook shot from his left hand, which is kind of burns, his big go to move. So just. Just the idea of, I would imagine this NBA guy who, to be fair, Nikola Jokic has had the reputation of not exactly loving the game about or watching the game of basketball outside of when he's involved, but for him to be even gravitated towards March Madness and DJ Burns and what the tournament means is just. That was really cool to see.
[00:47:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it would. It would be cool if, you know, an NBA player was saying your game was nice, but for Nikola Jokic, who, like, in your position, yeah, that's, like, actually insane. Not only league mvp, but someone who, as you said, like, has been known to, like, not really care much. So that's actually cool. Crazy. The best thing that I saw this week, so I don't know if you caught, after that UNC game, they were talking to Ryland Griffin, asking him about how he felt, and he said that he felt like he was Brock Lesnar and that he had just beaten the streak at WrestleMania, which, okay, super cool wrestling reference, you know, bit of a niche audience, but quite the moment. It was shocking when it happened.
We still don't know to this day whether that was supposed to happen or not, but it did. One of the craziest moments in WrestleMania history and in wrestling history. So after they take down Clemson, somebody comes up to Ryland Griffin and hands him a replica of the WWE Universal championship with Alabama side plates on it, and he is just thrilled. Like, way he said is better than the trophy. He's, you know, pretending to be Triple H. It was just. It was too much fun. And this was something that I was just. I feel like it's very rare that I have things that for this interaction, this is a very niche audience. Okay. Alabama basketball fans and also massive wrestling fans. And for that to. For that to happen, it was obviously awesome.
Video of it went wild online. And then, of course, Triple H, the game retweets the video and says, nice job, Ryland. Roll tide. Which you could not ask for something more cool. I cannot imagine how Ryland felt when he saw that. I know I would be freaking out, but that's awesome. And then not to mention WWE ambush marketing, you know, with WrestleMania 40 right around the corner, it's gonna be during the final four, which is gonna be tough. But, you know, we'll have the dual screens going two nights, Saturday and Sunday. But, yeah, it was just. It was just wild. I was super thrilled to see that. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. And then there was a great photo of NATO's with the trophy and the belt. Just fantastic. You love to see it. So that was the best thing that I saw.
[00:50:17] Speaker C: Maybe after a career, Griffin, all of a sudden walks out. Royal rumble.
[00:50:21] Speaker B: Yeah, you might see him in the performance setter. You know, one day, maybe he'll get one of those WWE nil deals.
[00:50:28] Speaker C: He breaks Roman's reigns. Unbelievable streak that has. He has probably amassed at that point.
[00:50:32] Speaker B: Well, hopefully Cody's gonna finish his story this upcoming weekend at WrestleMania. Roman will still not be holding the title in, you know, five or six years, when Ryland could potentially be there. But let's hope that's gonna do it.
[00:50:50] Speaker A: Okay, final thing. I'm just remembered, but so, obviously, we've talked about how Alabama.
I can't remember if we actually said it on this show, but, you know, everybody's been saying it about how Alabama and Michigan State are the only two programs that have made both a final four and College football playoff. And there's one thing that Alabama will have up on Michigan State, which is they will be the first team to play a Final Four in a stadium that they played a College Football playoff game in.
They'll be playing in out in Arizona, the game that Alabama did beat Clemson to win the national championship back in 2015.
[00:51:35] Speaker B: So pretty wild.
[00:51:37] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:51:38] Speaker B: But that's going to do it for us here on the low tide. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in, and we will be back next Sunday, hopefully in another celebratory mood. But we will see you then.
