Trending with the Tide: Things are Clicking Again for Alabama Basketball

The Crimson Tide is getting hot at the right time on court while Montana Fouts continues to remain on fire in the circle.

Welcome back to Trending with the Tide where we give a stock report of Alabama athletics over the past week. Today we’ll look back at what was a generally positive week for the Crimson Tide.

Stock rising

Jahvon Quinerly

After a lackadaisical showing against Kentucky saw Jahvon Quinerly relegated to the bench, the five-star point guard answered back with two of his best games of the season last week.

Quinerly came off the bench to record a team-high 19 points during Alabama’s 74-72 victory at Vanderbilt. He followed that up with 20 points and five assists over the weekend as the Crimson Tide steamrolled South Carolina 90-71 inside of Coleman Coliseum.

Quinerly rediscovered his shooting touch over the two games, going a combined 13 of 21 (61.9%) from the floor and 7 of 8 (87.5%) from beyond the arc. That came after he had shot 35.1%, including a dismal 6 of 28 (21.4%) from deep, over his previous six outings.

“Everybody was questioning whether he was a shooter or not after the way he struggled this year,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said following the win over Vanderbilt. “We know he’s got it. He’s been doing it in practice. I think he just needed to relax. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. He’s a kid that’s been highly rated for a long time. McDonald’s All-American. There comes some pressure with what he’s been through. I think he’s getting back to where his mind is right. He’s just settling in and playing, playing hard, doing whatever he can to help us win.”

Buy or sell: Quinerly’s temporary move to the bench had more to do with his defensive effort than it did with his shooting ability. That being said, an improved approach on defense the past two games has led to more success on the opposite side of the court. It looks like the lightbulb has come on for Alabama’s point guard which could be a bad sign for the rest of the SEC heading into tournament play next week. (BUY)

J.D. Davison

Quinerly isn’t the only point guard coming into his own for Alabama. Five-star freshman JD Davison recorded his second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists during a start against Vanderbilt. He then recorded 10 points and six rebounds off the bench against South Carolina.

Over his last six games, Davison is averaging 10.33 points, 6.67 rebounds and 4.33 assists. It’s no surprise the Crimson Tide is 5-1 over that stretch.

“The biggest area of growth, he got more comfortable playing more aggressive as he’s played hard on [defense],” Oats said last month. “I think when you just play harder, just fly around and don’t overthink your offense too much, you just play really hard on defense and let the offense flow, that’s when he’s at his best.”

Buy or sell: Like Quinerly, Davison’s offensive success has been spurred on by his defensive effort. Davison is currently projected as a late first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft. However, if he keeps up at this pace, his stock should soar. That motivator along with his growing comfortability at the college level is why I’m buying his continued success. (BUY)

Montana Fouts

There’s going to come a point where it becomes redundant to have Fouts on this list. Alabama softball’s ace was too dominant to leave off this week.

Fouts earned SEC Softball Pitcher of the Week honors Monday after posting three wins and a save during the Mardi Gras Mambo over the weekend. The senior pitched 17 scoreless innings over her four appearances in Youngsville, La., striking out 28 batters while surrendering just five hits.

Over eight appearances this season, Fouts is 8-0 with two saves. The right-hander has a miniscule 0.38 earned-run average and has struck out 66 batters over 37 1/3 innings pitched.

Buy or sell: Fouts’ only earned run this season came on a solo home run from Oregon State’s Frankie Hammoude in Alabama’s second game of the season. Other than that the Crimson Tide ace has been virtually untouchable. Until she proves otherwise, I’m buying her continued success. (BUY)

Stock falling

Alabama’s baseball’s bats

This is a hard inclusion as Alabama baseball suffered a hard-fought sweep to No. 1 Texas over the weekend. A previously red-hot Crimson Tide lineup was mowed down by arguably the nation’s top pitching staff as the Longhorns held Alabama a single run over three games.

It’s worth pointing out that Alabama out-hit Texas in both of its shutout defeats. However, the Crimson Tide wasn’t able to capitalize on a strong pitching performance of its own as it suffered a 1-0 loss on Friday night before losing 2-0 on Saturday.

"This was an awesome experience for our kids,” Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon said following Sunday’s 6-1 loss to Texas. “We needed this experience going on the road and playing the No. 1 team in the country in a good environment," Bohannon said. "We'll grow from this. There were a lot of positives that we learned about our club and a lot that we need to improve upon."

Buy or sell: Alabama has nothing to be ashamed of following its trip to Austin, Texas. However, it will be interesting to see if the Crimson Tide can shake off the sweep and get back to business at the plate as it hosts a pair of mid-week games against Tennessee-Martin and Troy before welcoming Murray State for a three-game series over the weekend. This is an Alabama team that compiled 55 hits over its first five games of the season. I feel like it still has the potential to put together a productive lineup this season.