The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-22-2013 11:32 AM)58-56 Wrote:  The comment was "greatest," not "most points," and it's definitely a candidate, up there with Paul Delaney III willing a CUSA tourney win through sheer Belief while his coach whimpered like a bammer on the sidelines.

Yep.

Not to discount any other performances, it's just that one by Mo seemed the most miraculous and wonderful. Mo's play was just charismatic and beautiful to watch, perhaps because he was small and unheralded. He was a giant killer and all heart on the BB floor.

Was that year also the last year of the Arby's Hardwood Classic?

UAB obviously had so much more spirit in that building, and also the more complete and whole-hearted BB fans, even if we were fewer in number. It must have made the Bammer and Auburn fans feel like the half-assed bandwagon BB fans they truly are. After that, they were demoralized and didn't want to play in our neighborhood any more.

(03-22-2013 12:06 PM)DragonClaw Wrote:  Was that year also the last year of the Arby's Hardwood Classic?

No. See blazerjay's post.

And it was a great performance. No one said it wasn't. But the comments about Vaden and McDonald stemmed from Whodatblazer's statement that Mo's performance at Miss. State was the most ever on the road, which it wasn't.

(03-22-2013 12:12 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(03-22-2013 12:06 PM)DragonClaw Wrote:  Was that year also the last year of the Arby's Hardwood Classic?

No. See blazerjay's post.

And it was a great performance. No one said it wasn't. But the comments about Vaden and McDonald stemmed from Whodatblazer's statement that Mo's performance at Miss. State was the most ever on the road, which it wasn't.

I see. Though it could be taken as validating my point that after that, Bammer at least didn't want to share any BB venue with UAB. The contrast in spirit level shamed them.

Basically UAB carried the Arby's Hardwood Classic & they couldn't figure out a way to keep it going & still not have any talk about Alabama & UAB playing each other discussions.

Wish we still had this.

(03-22-2013 12:34 PM)Blazer88 Wrote:  Wish we still had this.

If teams would be willing to play it as a pre-season tournament(which the NCAA allows to count as a single game) we could have all 8 Alabama D1 basketball teams play. Acknowledging that some teams don't/won't play others(AU-UAB, UA-UAB,Samford-UAB) or are in the same conference(AU-UA, Troy-USA, AL St-AL A&M) we could still play over three days with each team playing every day.

Call it the Alabama Hardwood Classic.

For example...

Friday:
UA - AL St
AU - AL A&M
UAB - Troy
Samford - USA

Saturday:
UA - AL A&M
AU - AL St
UAB - USA
Samford - Troy

Sunday:
UA - Troy
AU - USA
UAB - AL A&M
Samford - AL St

(03-22-2013 03:08 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  If teams would be willing to play it as a pre-season tournament(which the NCAA allows to count as a single game) we could have all 8 Alabama D1 basketball teams play. Acknowledging that some teams don't/won't play others(AU-UAB, UA-UAB,Samford-UAB) or are in the same conference(AU-UA, Troy-USA, AL St-AL A&M) we could still play over three days with each team playing every day.

Call it the Alabama Hardwood Classic.

For example...

Friday:
UA - AL St
AU - AL A&M
UAB - Troy
Samford - USA

Saturday:
UA - AL A&M
AU - AL St
UAB - USA
Samford - Troy

Sunday:
UA - Troy
AU - USA
UAB - AL A&M
Samford - AL St

Why on earth would UAB play in a tournament with those three opponents? It doesn't help our RPI and we typically play against those teams out of conference anyway.

I would be a proponent of a four team tourney with UAB, Alabama Auburn and South Alabama.

(03-22-2013 03:18 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(03-22-2013 03:08 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  If teams would be willing to play it as a pre-season tournament(which the NCAA allows to count as a single game) we could have all 8 Alabama D1 basketball teams play. Acknowledging that some teams don't/won't play others(AU-UAB, UA-UAB,Samford-UAB) or are in the same conference(AU-UA, Troy-USA, AL St-AL A&M) we could still play over three days with each team playing every day.

Call it the Alabama Hardwood Classic.

For example...

Friday:
UA - AL St
AU - AL A&M
UAB - Troy
Samford - USA

Saturday:
UA - AL A&M
AU - AL St
UAB - USA
Samford - Troy

Sunday:
UA - Troy
AU - USA
UAB - AL A&M
Samford - AL St

Why on earth would UAB play in a tournament with those three opponents? It doesn't help our RPI and we typically play against those teams out of conference anyway.

I forgot about Jax St, so that is another Alabama team...

This whole thread came about in regards to al.com articles about Alabama teams losing high school players to out of state teams and a suggestion that state teams, specifically UA, AU, and UAB, play each other to build interest. Of course, that's not gonna happen. The post was just an example to show that teams could avoid other teams and still play in a tournament together. RPI was not a consideration and it has never been discussed in this thread. The tenor of this thread was the tournament itself and that is what this post was about. Preseason tournaments are not always about RPI but often about extra games leading into the regular season. With state teams wanting to avoid each other that's is what this tournament would be unless that changes. As something like this would probably have to be planned a couple of years into the future OOC games could be taken into account. With Troy wanting to end the football series, which has been tied to the basketball series, that game may not be an issue. Also, even though we are playing Alabama A&M(I think) in 2014, we haven't played them or AL A&M in a few years. We also seem to play 2 of USA, Troy, and Jax St in basketball yearly so it could done..

BTW, in a couple of years the strongest team outside of UAB, UA, and AU(?) will be Samford. They are building something special over there!

(03-22-2013 10:08 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  There was also a year in which a ranked Auburn team lost to Virginia, and UAB, led by 32 points from an unknown freshman named Mo Finley beat Jerry tarkanian in a thrilling overtime game.

I think the last one was a double header with Alabama and Auburn and UaB was not invited. It went to hell after that, and Beef N Cheddars have sucked ever since.

I remember that game,, and other than the W, the greatest thrill was seeing the guys carry Mo off the floor on their shoulders. Ive never seen that before in a UAB game, or any other for that matter.

(03-22-2013 03:53 PM)BlazrDawg Wrote:  The greatest thrill was seeing the guys carry Mo off the floor on their shoulders. Ive never seen that before in a UAB game, or any other for that matter.

Well, he only weighed about 160, so ...

(03-22-2013 10:47 AM)WhoDatBlazer Wrote:  Mo put up 38 pts in a 2 point loss @ Mississippi State in '03. I believe that is still a Blazer record for points on the road. That was a pretty exciting afternoon in Starkville. Lots of green in the Hump !

i recall leaving that game...all the way out of the arena, all i heard was MSU fans talking about how awesome Mo was.
stopped for gas on the way out of Starkghanistan and spent about 15 minutes talking to MSU fans and trying to answer their questions about "that kid from UAB" that was one of the best they had ever seen