Why Sip Loves Bama Basketball So Much

[CrimsonEyeshade]

Perry Campbell indeed. I remember our coaches putting his name at the top of the chalk board and saying we had to pick him up early. On the first possession of the game he pulled up from 30 feet. Our point guard was 10 feet away, thinking a normal human wasn't in range yet. What was about to unfold was anything but normal.

Campbell hit 9 straight. Think about it. If there had been a three-point line he would have had 27 in the first quarter.

 

[Padreruf]

When I was a student at UA in the mid-late seventies there was little or no interest in Bama Basketball, even though we honestly probably had the most talented basketball team in America.

The youngsters here will be rolling there eyes and saying, "yeah right", but man we had some talent.

I don't know if we will ever again have a team with the natural talent of Leon Douglas, Rickey Brown, T.R. Dunn, Reggie "Mule" King, and Amp Murray.

If we got beat...it was truly an upset.

We were awesome. Our average attendance was probably 5,000 a game even though we were consistently ranked in the top five and most always top ten.

But during that time I knew T.R. through the business school at Bidgood and he asked me and my room mate Ronnie to come out and watch practice.

We thought..."No way we can do that"...Tee assured us that we could.

Turns out, Coach Newton let us come in, all two of us, and we'd watch practice.

He actually smoked a pipe while coaching...lol...and he was very calm because he knew he had a juggernaut. And he would come up occasionally and sit with us and talk.

Even though we were students Coach Newton gave us two "reserved seats" directly behind the bench for home games.

T.R. would sometimes give a thumbs up during time outs and Reggie and me would sometimes go to "Grants, on tenth street Baby!!!"...and get some fried chicken.

He'd eat fifteen pieces and i'd be full at four.....lol

But I fell in love with Bama Basketball during that era.

Felt like a part of the team.

We came very close to a national championship during that time but lost to Indiana in the Mideast semi-final in 76 by five points after leading by three with three minutes left.

We just couldn't hit free throws and were the victim of a horrible offensive foul call on Leon Douglas when Kent Benson basically knocked him down as Leon made what might have been the game clinching lay up.

They ended up National Champs and undefeated but Bobby Knight still says it was the best team he ever faced.

At any rate....I have loved Bama Basketball since then and always will and I can't wait for Coach Grant to get us back to that level, if it's possible.

I don't mean that in a negative way.

Anyone who was at Bama when I was knows how incredibly unbelievably talented we were.

It was ridiculous.

RTR!

sip

I was a student at Samford in the early 70's and know how good they were. We had a summer league in our gym and the Birmingham guys played. One night Mule King came down on a fast break and did a behind the head dunk -- and bent the rim in half. (Before the days of the moveable rim.) That was while he was still in high school. As for Allen Murphy -- the extra benefits were the reason he went to UL....can't blame him either. He was a great player and really good, quiet, and responsible person. T.R. Dunn had one weakness -- he couldn't shoot consistently beyond a layup! But he was a terrific athlete. And yes...the '76 game was the best ever...we just couldn't handle the thought of beating IU and Coach Knight. Another was a great game against UK in the tournament in Birmingham -- I think in '80 but it may have been in '79. Kyle Macy beat us...in double overtime if I remember correctly.

 

[ccc2259]

This may be the greatest thread in the history of Tidefans! Almost every Bama fan knows the history of the football program like the back of their hand. Few know half of what has been posted in this thread. Thanks to everyone who has contributed!

Agreed. I love Bama Basketball, but didn't start until the Horry / Sprewell era. It's great to hear some history.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

I was a student at Samford in the early 70's and know how good they were. We had a summer league in our gym and the Birmingham guys played. One night Mule King came down on a fast break and did a behind the head dunk -- and bent the rim in half. (Before the days of the moveable rim.) That was while he was still in high school. As for Allen Murphy -- the extra benefits were the reason he went to UL....can't blame him either. He was a great player and really good, quiet, and responsible person. T.R. Dunn had one weakness -- he couldn't shoot consistently beyond a layup! But he was a terrific athlete. And yes...the '76 game was the best ever...we just couldn't handle the thought of beating IU and Coach Knight. Another was a great game against UK in the tournament in Birmingham -- I think in '80 but it may have been in '79. Kyle Macy beat us...in double overtime if I remember correctly.

Rah-Rah almost won the game for us single-handedly. I think he had 39. But Macy and Dwight Anderson (a blur of a freshman who scored 31) were too much. I think it ended 103-100.

 

[GreatMarch]

Rah-Rah almost won the game for us single-handedly. I think he had 39. But Macy and Dwight Anderson (a blur of a freshman who scored 31) were too much. I think it ended 103-100.

I played high school ball against West End when Robert Scott was coaching there. My senior year we upset them when they were ranked #1 in the state. Led wire to wire. After the game our managers were cleaning up the visiting locker room and found the white board in there broken in half. When they told our coach what they found, he said no big deal, it was done at halftime. One of the managers said it was just wrong and our coach told us to go say something to him about it. Dared him to say something.
As I walked out of our locker room I ran across him in the hall leaving the gym. I stopped and shook his hand and told him Roll Tide. He looked at me with this angry look and said, "Roll Tide kid" and slighly smiled. We played them again a mointh later and almost pulled the upset again. He remembered me and after the game was shaking players hands when he got to me and said "Roll Tide" quietly. The man was intense as a coach but could flat out coach the game. I saw him in Southside when he was on UABs staff and spoke to him. Much to my surprise, he remembered me and asked how I had been and remembered my Dad being with me in that hallway in high school. Needless to say, my favorite all time Bama basketball player was Rah Rah Scott. And, I would have played for him in a heartbeat no matter how tough he was.

 

[Alasippi]

I played high school ball against West End when Robert Scott was coaching there. My senior year we upset them when they were ranked #1 in the state. Led wire to wire. After the game our managers were cleaning up the visiting locker room and found the white board in there broken in half. When they told our coach what they found, he said no big deal, it was done at halftime. One of the managers said it was just wrong and our coach told us to go say something to him about it. Dared him to say something.
As I walked out of our locker room I ran across him in the hall leaving the gym. I stopped and shook his hand and told him Roll Tide. He looked at me with this angry look and said, "Roll Tide kid" and slighly smiled. We played them again a mointh later and almost pulled the upset again. He remembered me and after the game was shaking players hands when he got to me and said "Roll Tide" quietly. The man was intense as a coach but could flat out coach the game. I saw him in Southside when he was on UABs staff and spoke to him. Much to my surprise, he remembered me and asked how I had been and remembered my Dad being with me in that hallway in high school. Needless to say, my favorite all time Bama basketball player was Rah Rah Scott. And, I would have played for him in a heartbeat no matter how tough he was.

That's a great story. Very nice.