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CLEVELAND — It's a little too simplistic to say it's the basketball version of the tortoise and the hare. Unless the tortoise was showing up to the race in a 6-foot-10, 250-pound frame.
Even then, it's not doing stylistic justice to the matchup that will take place Sunday evening in the NCAA tournament second round between No. 2 seed Alabama and No. 7 seed St. Mary's. The better way to do it justice is to look at these two numbers:
"We like to get up and down and go fast, especially off misses," Crimson Tide point guard Mark Sears said in the locker room Saturday. "When they're making shots, we want to get it out of the net and go fast. Seeing them, they kind of play slow. They're welcoming to play late in the shot clock, and they're just going to bet on their bigs just to get the rebound and then just reset the shot clock and do it over again." But we just got to do what we do and continue to push the pace."
Those numbers would indicate a clear delination as to where each team wants to play the game. Alabama has scored at least 90 points in a national-best 19 games, including Friday's 90-81 opening-round win over Robert Morris.
St. Mary, meanwhile, has held 28 of its 33 opponents to less than 70 points. That would include Friday's 59-56 win over another SEC team, Vanderbilt, in the first round of the tournment.
"I think we're obviously going to try to slow them down," Gaels 6-10 center Luke Barrett said. "I think we've done that to a couple teams this year. But we already talked about they're going to still play fast. They're not going to slow down in the half court. They're still going to try to get their shots. But as long as we're not giving them easy shots, we can force them to take bad shots, and we can use that to our advantage and just clamp down on them and hold them under their average."
There's a blueprint to see how St. Mary's wants to approach the game from the win over the Commodores. It's one Alabama can study closely considering the familiarity it has with Vanderbilt, which it beat 103-87 in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 21.
For roughly 33 minutes, Vanderbilt was slashing its way to the basket, while also finding kick-outs to shooters on the perimeter, helping them to open up as big as a 12-point lead in the second half. However, the final seven minutes looked like a different Commodores team as the effects of the Gaels' physicality started to wear SEC team down.
What it was, though, wasn't St. Mary's physicality on defense. It was its physicality on the offensive boards, where the Gaels doubled up the Commodores 10-5, on their way to a 10-3 edge in second-chance points.
"It's way easier to play fast when you're getting stops," Alabama guard Chris Youngblood said, "so the key is focus on getting stops and make sure we take care of the glass because they're a great offensive rebounding team. So the key is getting stops and taking care of the glass, and it's easier to play fast where you're playing off stops."
St. Mary's has national-best 10.7 edge in rebounding margin over its opponents, averaging 39.8 rebounds to 29.1 rebounds by its opponents. The Gaels are plus-355 overall and plus-189 in offensive rebounds compared to their opponents.
Alabama can crash the glass as well, leading the nation with 42.9 rebounds per game. In the Crimson Tide's 26 wins, they've had a 7.6 edge in rebounding margin, compared to only 1.3 in their eight losses.
Those rebounds, especially on the defensive end, are what allows the Crimson Tide to get into their offense quickly. Once they're into their offense, that's when the trouble starts for Alabama's opponents.
"I think that's the biggest key because even the game against Vanderbilt they — in the first half, most of their points were either just a fast break lay-ups or fouls or something in transition," St. Mary's point guard Augusta Marciulionis said. "So taking care of the ball would be the main key, and then just knowing personnel and just not letting their shooters shoot the ball and just playing the tendencies, but the most important thing is to not let them push the ball fast.
"After a make, after a miss, get back on defense. As we say, building the walls, not letting them play one-on-one in transition, bringing the help and taking care of the ball."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Alabama, St. Mary's bring contrast in styles to 2nd round showdown
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Even then, it's not doing stylistic justice to the matchup that will take place Sunday evening in the NCAA tournament second round between No. 2 seed Alabama and No. 7 seed St. Mary's. The better way to do it justice is to look at these two numbers:
- 91.1, which is Alabama's scoring average, No. 1 in the nation
- 60.7, which is St. Mary's defensive scoring average, No. 5 in the nation
"We like to get up and down and go fast, especially off misses," Crimson Tide point guard Mark Sears said in the locker room Saturday. "When they're making shots, we want to get it out of the net and go fast. Seeing them, they kind of play slow. They're welcoming to play late in the shot clock, and they're just going to bet on their bigs just to get the rebound and then just reset the shot clock and do it over again." But we just got to do what we do and continue to push the pace."
Those numbers would indicate a clear delination as to where each team wants to play the game. Alabama has scored at least 90 points in a national-best 19 games, including Friday's 90-81 opening-round win over Robert Morris.
St. Mary, meanwhile, has held 28 of its 33 opponents to less than 70 points. That would include Friday's 59-56 win over another SEC team, Vanderbilt, in the first round of the tournment.
"I think we're obviously going to try to slow them down," Gaels 6-10 center Luke Barrett said. "I think we've done that to a couple teams this year. But we already talked about they're going to still play fast. They're not going to slow down in the half court. They're still going to try to get their shots. But as long as we're not giving them easy shots, we can force them to take bad shots, and we can use that to our advantage and just clamp down on them and hold them under their average."
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There's a blueprint to see how St. Mary's wants to approach the game from the win over the Commodores. It's one Alabama can study closely considering the familiarity it has with Vanderbilt, which it beat 103-87 in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 21.
For roughly 33 minutes, Vanderbilt was slashing its way to the basket, while also finding kick-outs to shooters on the perimeter, helping them to open up as big as a 12-point lead in the second half. However, the final seven minutes looked like a different Commodores team as the effects of the Gaels' physicality started to wear SEC team down.
What it was, though, wasn't St. Mary's physicality on defense. It was its physicality on the offensive boards, where the Gaels doubled up the Commodores 10-5, on their way to a 10-3 edge in second-chance points.
"It's way easier to play fast when you're getting stops," Alabama guard Chris Youngblood said, "so the key is focus on getting stops and make sure we take care of the glass because they're a great offensive rebounding team. So the key is getting stops and taking care of the glass, and it's easier to play fast where you're playing off stops."
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St. Mary's has national-best 10.7 edge in rebounding margin over its opponents, averaging 39.8 rebounds to 29.1 rebounds by its opponents. The Gaels are plus-355 overall and plus-189 in offensive rebounds compared to their opponents.
Alabama can crash the glass as well, leading the nation with 42.9 rebounds per game. In the Crimson Tide's 26 wins, they've had a 7.6 edge in rebounding margin, compared to only 1.3 in their eight losses.
Those rebounds, especially on the defensive end, are what allows the Crimson Tide to get into their offense quickly. Once they're into their offense, that's when the trouble starts for Alabama's opponents.
"I think that's the biggest key because even the game against Vanderbilt they — in the first half, most of their points were either just a fast break lay-ups or fouls or something in transition," St. Mary's point guard Augusta Marciulionis said. "So taking care of the ball would be the main key, and then just knowing personnel and just not letting their shooters shoot the ball and just playing the tendencies, but the most important thing is to not let them push the ball fast.
"After a make, after a miss, get back on defense. As we say, building the walls, not letting them play one-on-one in transition, bringing the help and taking care of the ball."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Alabama, St. Mary's bring contrast in styles to 2nd round showdown
Continue reading...
