Ex-Coach Sanderson Likes Bama’s D

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Alabama has raced out to a surprising lead in the SEC West thanks to the team’s stellar work on the defensive end of the basketball court.  The Tide is giving up just 58 points per game and opponents are hitting just 37% of their shots.

Anthony Grant’s team could prove awfully dangerous in the NCAA Tournament if they earn an at-large bid.  Good-shooting teams can go cold, which usually spells death in the live-or-die tourney.  But good defense doesn’t go cold.  And that’s a good sign for Alabama.

Bama’s defensive effort has won over ex-Tide coach Wimp Sanderson:

“From what I can tell, Alabama has gotten better as the season’s gone on.  I think they’ve done a better job defending the dribbler, which is hard to do, and I think they’ve worked hard on defending the three-point shot.

“The big part of defense is defensive rebounding, and not giving people second and third shots.  I think they’ve done a pretty good job with that.”

Sanderson told Mike Herndon of The Mobile Press-Register that he also likes Bama’s ability to go from man-to-man to zone without a great deal of difficulty.

“So many coaches go to an alternate defense, but it doesn’t look like they’ve worked on it enough for it to help them much.  You can tell when (the Crimson Tide) go to a different defense, that defense has been practiced a lot.”

Now if only Grant would start wearing Sanderson-like plaid coats…