Time to get to work
MTSU opening Paradise Jam vs. tough Alabama
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands ? Business time for MTSU men's basketball as it begins play today in the eight-team Paradise Jam basketball tournament.
The trade winds might be blowing, but the attention of the Blue Raiders (1-1) must be focused squarely on one of the top teams in the country, No. 11 Alabama (1-0), which many consider to be the chief challenger to defending national champion Florida as the best the Southeastern Conference has to offer."I think this is their very best team," said MTSU coach Kermit Davis, whose teams plays Alabama at noon today in the first of four games in the first round of the Paradise Jam that also features Iowa playing Toledo (2:30 p.m.), Xavier facing Virginia Commonwealth (5 p.m.) and Villanova taking on College of Charleston (7:30 p.m.)
Alabama features one of the premier players in the country in junior guard Ronald Steele, a preseason first-team All-American according to the Associated Press. But the Crimson Tide also feature one of the best inside games in the country, anchored by 6-foot-10 senior center Jemareo Davidson.
"Sometimes, Alabama has had some good inside players," Davis said, "but the quality of guards have been good but not that outstanding.
"This season, they have a great point, two great inside guys, their wing players are really, really good. So, it's a legitimate top five, top 10 team."
However, Alabama may be without Davidson, who was a passenger in an auto accident in Atlanta this past weekend that claimed the life of his girlfriend, Alabama student trainer Brandy Nicole Murphy. Davidson was not seriously injured, but Alabama coach Mark Gottfried told the Tuscaloosa News earlier this week that Davidson was receiving grief counseling.
"Our primary focus right now has nothing to do with basketball," Gottfried was quoted as saying about Davidson. "We've told him that when he feels ready to play, that's when he should play."
If Davidson is not available, then 6-9 freshman Yamene Coleman would move up in the player rotation.
"If Jermareo doesn't play, then Yamene needs to step up," Gottfried was quoted as saying. "That's part of athletics. When someone is out, the next person has to be ready."
Even so, MTSU expects major problems in containing Steele, a 6-3 point guard who is only the second player in Alabama basketball history to be named preseason first-team All-American by the AP.
"He has great size and can really shoot," Davis said of Steele. "He has a great pace. He never gets sped up. But when he wants to go fast, he can. He has such a nice demeanor on the floor.
"The biggest thing is that when you have point guard who is fast, but you can't speed him up. He can just do it all."
In as much, Davis is more concerned about getting his team to play well today. The Blue Raiders have been hit by the injury bug with returning leading scorer Adam Vogelsberg out another month or so with a foot injury and several other players banged up as well.
"We spent so much time trying to cultivate an offense that will help Adam Vogelsberg really flourish," Davis said. "But he got hurt, and we have players trying to learn different positions. We haven't been very good offensively early, and we have been kind of real simple offensively early to try to catch up and give players more opportunity to score."
