The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team aims to succeed again as they've done in the past. It will certainly be interesting to see how things play out for this talented team. The 2008-2009 schedule has enough games left to keep things interesting to say the least. The Crimson Tide have games left to play against South Carolina on February 14, Florida on February 18, Mississippi State on February 21, Arkansas on February 25, Mississippi on February 28, Auburn on March 3, Tennessee on March 8, the Sec Tournament game on March 12 and the NCAA Tournament final game on March 19.
Alabama Crimson Tide players on the 2008-2009 roster include junior Anthony Brock (1) from Little Rock Arkansas, junior Greg Cage (20) from Indianapolis Indiana, junior Yamene Coleman (34) from Boykin Alabama, senior Alonzo Gee (12) from Riviera Beach Florida, freshman JaMychal Green (32) from Montgomery Alabama, sophomore Senario Hillman (21) from Irwinton Georgia, senior Brandon Hollinger (4) from Mobile Alabama, junior Justin Knox (40) from Tuscaloosa Alabama, sophomore Andrew Steele (25) from Birmingham Alabama and Mikhail Torrance (2) from Eight Mile Alabama.
Philip Pearson is serving as the interim head coach and brings a wealth of coaching experience to table. Having made five NCAA trips and 3 NIT trips in the past, Pearson is not only a natural with coaching the Crimson Tide to the finals but also hails from Alabama with a collegiate career where he made many appearances in NCAA tournaments as a player. Coaching this year with Pearson are assistant coach James Holland, assistant coach Antoine Pettway and director of basketball operations Jeff Dunlap.
The Crimson Tide record for all games is an overall 13-9 with home games 11-3, away games 0-5 and neutral games 2-1. Category rankings for points lines up the top five with Gee with 14.3, Hillman with 13.0, Green with 10.2, Steele with 12.9 and Torrance with 8.7. FG percentage top fivers are Cage with 1.0, Green with .544, Knox with .526, Jemison with .516 and Brock with .486. Three-point percentage top fivers are Cage with 1.0, Brock with .524, Steele with .381, Gee with .341 and Torrance with .318. FT percentage top fivers are Torrance with .867, Steele with .863, Hollinger with .778, Hillman with .742 and Steele with .727. Green holds the top spot for rebounds with 7.1 followed by Gee at 7.0, Knox with 5.0, Coleman with 4.0 and Hillman at 2.8.
For those interested in a little history, in the 1900s, the Alabama football team was known as the Crimson White after the school colors. The name was changed to Thin Red Line until around 1906. Crimson Tide was said to first be used by Hugh Roberts, a sports editor for the Birmingham Age Herald when he witnessed a game between Alabama and Auburn and the Auburn team was the favored one to win. Auburn couldn't hold the lead and after a 6-6 tie, the new name Crimson Tide was given to the Alabama team.
Lynyrd Skynyrd' famous song "Sweet home Alabama" would be on the lips of many after the list of the first team of AP All ? American was released.
Alabama puts the most players in the AP All American 2008 first team than any other school. Three players have made it to the first team, about 1,000 pounds of linemen. Offensive tackle Andre Smith, listed at 330 pounds, was selected unanimously, he is joined by center Antoine Caldwell and Crimson Tide nose guard Terrence Cody, listed at 365 pounds.
Five players earned honorable mention and praises from the Pro Football Weekly, wide receiver Julio Jones, nose guard Terrence Cody, linebacker Rolando McClain, free safety Rashad Johnson and return specialist Javier Arenas.
Tide's strong offense line garnered them two selections with left tackle Andre Smith and left guard Mike Johnson. Smith, a consensus first-team All-American, and Johnson spearheaded the left side of the much praised offensive line and helped pave the way for the SEC's No. 2 rushing offense at 196.5 yards per game and a 125.8 passing efficiency that ranked fourth in the league.
Cody, another consensus first-team All-American from Fort Myers, Fla., played at the middle line of defense and allowed just 78.9 rushing yards per game (fourth nationally). He also helped the Tide rank third nationally in total defense at 256.9 yards allowed per game.
Rashad Johnson, a second-team All-America selection, has developed into one of the finest defense players in college football after accounting for 82 tackles, five tackles for loss (-15), one sack (-7), five interceptions ? two of which were returned for touchdowns ? and 11 pass break-ups. His 16 passes defended lead the SEC and is tied for 21st nationally.
Sophomore middle linebacker, Rolando McClain, garnered third-team accolades after leading Alabama with 91 tackles and 11.0 tackles for loss (-44). This season he looks to shutdown and opposing threat from the other teams offense. He plays very well under pressure.
Jones was a rookie entering into the season but his performance didn't show anything of that sort, especially the one in Tuscaloosa, setting school freshman records for receptions (51), receiving yards (847) and touchdowns (4).
Arenas, a second-team All-America selection by Phil Steele, garnered honorable mention for his average 14.42 yards per return to rank second in the SEC and 13th nationally.
The other luminary players to make it to the first team were Laurinaitis, who also became a three-time AP All-American. Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and star receiver Michael Crabtree joined him on the first team.
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