'Bama's Steele fighting through injuries

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Ron Steele was trapped. Unable to get away from two LSU defenders, he had to call a timeout.<br> <br> Back on the court, No. 14 Alabama&#39;s point guard quickly turned it over in the same situation and nearly the same spot on the court.<br> <br> ``Normally I can probably beat both of the guys,&#39;&#39; Steele said Wednesday.<br> <br> But Steele hasn&#39;t been able to do a number of things as well as he normally does for most of this season, slowed by a knee with tendinitis and a sprained ankle.<br> <br> The preseason first-team AP All-American can&#39;t drive past defenders like he used to, scoring or dishing to a teammate. He seldom even tries these days.<br> <br> The Southeastern Conference&#39;s most accurate free throw shooter last season, Steele doesn&#39;t get nearly as many opportunities from the line as a result.<br> <br> He is still finding ways to be effective running the Tide&#39;s offense. He only attempted three shots in that 71-61 win over No. 13 LSU on Tuesday night, but made two 3-pointers and scored eight points along with four assists and three turnovers.<br> <br> ``He&#39;s just having trouble getting shots,&#39;&#39; Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. ``I think it&#39;s obvious that he had trouble. They pressed him a little bit late in the game.<br> <br> ``I think it&#39;s clear he&#39;s not near 100 percent. For us to win with him only taking three shots, hopefully that&#39;s a good sign.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Tide (14-2, 1-1) has mostly been winning even with the team&#39;s best player ailing. And that makes it easier for the point guard, who can still smoothly dish compliments to his teammates.<br> <br> ``I&#39;d be totally down if I was hurt and the team wasn&#39;t doing well,&#39;&#39; Steele said. ``Me being hurt, you see how good Alonzo Gee is and Richard Hendrix and Jermareo Davidson.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Steele has been bothered by tendinitis in his right knee all season and sprained his left ankle at Notre Dame on Dec. 7.<br> <br> Steele&#39;s numbers are mostly down. He ranks only seventh in the league at 4.62 assists per game, has slipped from first to fourth on the team in steals and has made 20-of-21 free throw attempts but hasn&#39;t taken enough to qualify for the league rankings.<br> <br> He is averaging 10.5 points, a four-point decline from last season and fifth on the team.<br> <br> The biggest decline has come in minutes. He averaged an SEC-high 38.4 per game last season. Now, he&#39;s coming out of games more frequently and spends fewer than 32 minutes on the court while missing three games.<br> <br> The good news for Steele is that Alabama has an eight-day break between games before playing at Vanderbilt on Jan. 17, giving him a chance to rest his legs.<br> <br> ``We all know right now, Ron&#39;s probably only playing 60 percent,&#39;&#39; said Hendrix, the team&#39;s leading scorer. ``Everyone who has been watching him over the past years, we all know what he&#39;s capable of doing.<br> <br> ``His first step&#39;s so explosive. He can shoot the ball from deep. He passes so well. We just all hope he can get back to 100 percent and be the Ron Steele we know he can be as soon as possible.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Steele said team doctors expect him to reach that point sometime during this season but aren&#39;t making predictions as to when. He said he makes ``four or five&#39;&#39; visits to the training room each day.<br> <br> But Steele doesn&#39;t show his frustration on the court, remaining stoic even after those two double-teams. That&#39;s by design.<br> <br> ``He always talks about, &#39;Richard, you&#39;ve got to have a swagger to yourself not to let people know that you&#39;re tired or injured or anything out there on the court,&#39;&#39;&#39; Hendrix said. ``That&#39;s just him. That&#39;s Ron all the time. You can never tell if he&#39;s hurt or anything. That&#39;s what makes him such a great player.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> See him at home watching tape of games ``over and over again,&#39;&#39; and it might be a different story. That&#39;s especially frustrating.<br> <br> ``I see opportunities where I normally could have made plays and I&#39;m not able to do it,&#39;&#39; Steele said.<br> <br> Steele was outplayed by Arkansas&#39; Gary Ervin in last weekend&#39;s 88-61 loss. Ervin finished with 18 points and 11 assists. Steele had eight points, four assists and four turnovers.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s frustrating because I don&#39;t feel like it&#39;s an even matchup with me not being healthy,&#39;&#39; Steele said.<br> <br> But he said the physical limitations have forced him to outthink opponents since he can&#39;t outrun them.<br> <br> ``He knows that this is making him a smarter basketball player,&#39;&#39; Hendrix said. ``He&#39;s still finding ways to be effective on the court even though he&#39;s not at full-strength. That just shows how smart a basketball player he is and how bad he wants to be out there on the court.&#34;