Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Why 'Bama Won't Be Back
In the Elite Eight.I don't care what Kyle Veltrop says, Alabama isn't posed for a breakout season.
Sure, Kennedy Winston (or is his name Winston Kennedy?) can do it all. But the 'Tide will be led by a freshman point guard, have a history of losing close games on the road, expect to lack depth and points off the bench and are coached by the overrated Mark Gottfried.
The pundits are high on 'Bama because of the Tide's performance in this year's tournament. But Gottfried's club needed a last-minute runner by Antoine Pettway to win the first-round game and barely hung on to beat a Stanford squad that turned in another lackluster performance in the second round. Syracuse provided for weak Sweat 16 competition -- the Orangemen had overachieved and lacked the offensive weaponry to go much further. When it came time to play Connecticut, the Tide lost without so much as a whimper. Ben Gordon went for 36 as the Huskies crushed Alabama.
