Thoughts on the Griffen commitment and the win vs LA Tech

[Jordan Harper]

We had our first basketball game last night so I wasn’t able to hop on here and give my thoughts on the commitment or the game so I thought I’d go ahead and do it this morning.

-Rylan Griffen is going to be a great multi-year scorer. You need guys like that in the program and not all potential one and dones. He is just a very solid player and solid IQ guy to have on the team. Alabama won’t finish outside the top 5 now which is nuts.

-Alabama DOMINATED a team that is expected to win their conference this season. From the tip, Bama played a complete game from top to bottom. Keon Ellis is the teams best player and he exceeded his high expectations last night. Both ends of the floor is just so good. JD looked the part of a potential one and done guy putting up a 12-6-6 line in only 25 minutes. Other guys like JQ, Shack and Gary looked great last night as well.

This team is better than last year by a lot. More versatile on both ends of the floor, more athletic, and I believe they’ll be better shooters. Getting Gurley and Bediako going will be the key because they are crucial pieces to our success. Great start to the season!

 

[Namron711]

Ellis is a smaller better shooting version of Herb Jones. And Gary is a man. They are the heart and soul of the team.

 

[Bama Swoosh]

Kudos to the student section for being there early, being there in huge numbers and creating the home court advantage this team deserves. I still dream of the day when our administration let's one entire side be nothing but students for the first 10 rows or whatever, Cameron Crazies style. What a great night for Bama b-ball. If we keep that intensity we will be a tough out for anyone, including the Gonzagas of the world.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Harp how do you expect Frenchie to fit in to the lineup? Heard so many good things about him pre injury and not such great things after coming back. Is he expected to be a big piece to the puzzle this year? I love the potential of being able to roll out a 4 guard lineup then turn around and have 2 7 footers in the game

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

I think replacing Rojas, Reese, and Bruner with Bediako, Gurley, Ambrose, Tchikou is a MASSIVE upgrade. And that’s with Gurley basically playing awful last night… I believe he will be much better than what we saw. It was a major weakness last year.

We also have better overall ball handling getting Petty out.

Also loved what I saw from Miles. Not bc he was 3-3 from 3 either. He did a lot of things well last night in 16 minutes

 

[BamaLegacy]

We had our first basketball game last night so I wasn’t able to hop on here and give my thoughts on the commitment or the game so I thought I’d go ahead and do it this morning.

-Rylan Griffen is going to be a great multi-year scorer. You need guys like that in the program and not all potential one and dones. He is just a very solid player and solid IQ guy to have on the team. Alabama won’t finish outside the top 5 now which is nuts.

-Alabama DOMINATED a team that is expected to win their conference this season. From the tip, Bama played a complete game from top to bottom. Keon Ellis is the teams best player and he exceeded his high expectations last night. Both ends of the floor is just so good. JD looked the part of a potential one and done guy putting up a 12-6-6 line in only 25 minutes. Other guys like JQ, Shack and Gary looked great last night as well.

This team is better than last year by a lot. More versatile on both ends of the floor, more athletic, and I believe they’ll be better shooters. Getting Gurley and Bediako going will be the key because they are crucial pieces to our success. Great start to the season!

I may not be giving enough credit to the increased athleticism we get from Gary, Gurley and even Bediako / Ambrose over the Bruner, Reese led group of last year. That seems to be a sustainable takeaway from last night.

Plus, if Ellis is really going to be able to sustain that level of all around play then he is going to win some awards and get paid at the end of the year.

I also presume Miles hasn’t shown that level of efficiency in practice or he would be a bigger part of the plan, but clearly he has shown flashes since last year and has another gear if he puts it together consistently.

 

[BamaNavyCPO]

I may not be giving enough credit to the increased athleticism we get from Gary, Gurley and even Bediako / Ambrose over the Bruner, Reese led group of last year. That seems to be a sustainable takeaway from last night.

Plus, if Ellis is really going to be able to sustain that level of all around play then he is going to win some awards and get paid at the end of the year.

I also presume Miles hasn’t shown that level of efficiency in practice or he would be a bigger part of the plan, but clearly he has shown flashes since last year and has another gear if he puts it together consistently.

You left out JD. Last night he lived up to the hype and the best is yet to come.

 

[cola68]

I think replacing Rojas, Reese, and Bruner with Bediako, Gurley, Ambrose, Tchikou is a MASSIVE upgrade. And that’s with Gurley basically playing awful last night… I believe he will be much better than what we saw. It was a major weakness last year.

We also have better overall ball handling getting Petty out.

Also loved what I saw from Miles. Not bc he was 3-3 from 3 either. He did a lot of things well last night in 16 minutes

Miles was a good looking preview of his potential.. he is long and. Moves his feet well.. of course his shot was on last night too so that helps

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

Ellis is a smaller better shooting version of Herb Jones. And Gary is a man. They are the heart and soul of the team.

I don't know why, but I think of Sprewell when I see Ellis. I may be the only one but that's who comes to mind first for me...

 

[BamaLegacy]

You left out JD. Last night he lived up to the hype and the best is yet to come.

I did…I guess because I already expected that he would be a physical mismatch most nights and that certainly seems to be a good guess. No doubt that is a big deal for this squad, but some of that other stuff I didn’t really expect.

I had somehow completely missed how efficient Ellis was last year on offense…kind of pigeon holing him into the defensive wing role, but I looked back and he shot over 50% from the field and almost 40% from 3pt last year.

I do think it is pretty telling about the talent on this squad that a player like JD can be brought off the bench, even if he plays a lot of minutes, because he seems to be the real deal.

IMO there appears to be a substantial upgrade at PF/C with a healthy Gary taking over Reese’s minutes, and both Gary and Ellis don’t require the ball as much as Reese or Herb, so our guards can stay more involved in the flow which should make us a better ball handling team. Plus, if Ellis maintains his shooting form with more minutes, he was a higher percentage shooter than Petty last year, so those minutes are soaked up well.

 

[Bocat69]

We had our first basketball game last night so I wasn’t able to hop on here and give my thoughts on the commitment or the game so I thought I’d go ahead and do it this morning.

-Rylan Griffen is going to be a great multi-year scorer. You need guys like that in the program and not all potential one and dones. He is just a very solid player and solid IQ guy to have on the team. Alabama won’t finish outside the top 5 now which is nuts.

-Alabama DOMINATED a team that is expected to win their conference this season. From the tip, Bama played a complete game from top to bottom. Keon Ellis is the teams best player and he exceeded his high expectations last night. Both ends of the floor is just so good. JD looked the part of a potential one and done guy putting up a 12-6-6 line in only 25 minutes. Other guys like JQ, Shack and Gary looked great last night as well.

This team is better than last year by a lot. More versatile on both ends of the floor, more athletic, and I believe they’ll be better shooters. Getting Gurley and Bediako going will be the key because they are crucial pieces to our success. Great start to the season!

This team is better than last year by a lot? We're jumping the gun here after one game into the season. Replacing Herb and Petty will not be an easy task. Going 16-2 in the conference will be hard to duplicate. I love the expectations but last years team was full of seasoned veterans. This group has a chance to be really good by the time SEC play rolls around. Gary and Q really made a huge difference from our exhibition game where we did not look that great. Tchikou is definitely the wildcard here, his highlights are to impressive for him not to be a huge contributor. Gurley seems to be pressing a little trying to get use to playing in our system. His improvement will be key to this team reaching it's full potential.

 

[DrElliot]

I was trying to watch the game on an iPad with a poor satellite connection so I couldn't really see details well enough to tell why he picked up fouls so quickly, but Bediako seemed to be productive for the 11 minutes he he was in. Were his fouls due to being too aggressive, or trying to make up for being late or out of position? Anyone know if he can play at a high level for 20-25 minutes.

 

[RollTide15]

I loved the last 2 minutes featuring Tyler!!!! The team and the fans love him. He is a big asset to the team.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

This team is better than last year by a lot? We're jumping the gun here after one game into the season. Replacing Herb and Petty will not be an easy task. Going 16-2 in the conference will be hard to duplicate. I love the expectations but last years team was full of seasoned veterans. This group has a chance to be really good by the time SEC play rolls around. Gary and Q really made a huge difference from our exhibition game where we did not look that great. Tchikou is definitely the wildcard here, his highlights are to impressive for him not to be a huge contributor. Gurley seems to be pressing a little trying to get use to playing in our system. His improvement will be key to this team reaching it's full potential.

Last years team caught fire shooting to start SEC play. No guarantee this teams record will be as good bc that’s how basketball is I do believe this is a more well rounded team. Also Petty was brutal most of last season, especially late. We are better without him imo. And we are just way better down low

 

[StablerCountry]

This team played to mid season form last night in the opening game of the season. They showed tremendous depth. They can play three guards at once, put bigs on the floor and rain three pointers. Scored 93 points last night without huge runs. This team is loaded with potential. The sky is the limit for this team depending on avoiding key injuries and team chemistry.

 

[Sheerperfection]

I personally have never seen Alabama put a more athletic team on the floor from top to bottom of the roster. This team to me has so much more potential than the team we put on the floor last year. Super excited about Alabama basketball. RTR!

 

[BeastofBourbon]

Very impressed with the way the team played last night on both ends of the court. If I'm nitpicking I would say that we struggled at times rebounding. Thought their big guy Lofton got too many second chance opportunities in the first half.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Very impressed with the way the team played last night on both ends of the court. If I'm nitpicking I would say that we struggled at times rebounding. Thought their big guy Lofton got too many second chance opportunities in the first half.

Lofton could play! Gary is an unbelievable rebounder. Bediako and Gurley lost position a few times. CB just has to learn you can’t just be 7 feet anymore. He’ll be a good one but very raw for sure

 

[vegas man]

Bediako seemed to be productive for the 11 minutes he he was in. Were his fouls due to being too aggressive, or trying to make up for being late or out of position? Anyone know if he can play at a high level for 20-25 minutes.

He played well for a true freshman and showed some flashes of great potential. Although he has size (6-11) he has a very lean build and got pushed around a bit down low but that's to be expected. My main issue with him last night was not doing a better job protecting the rim against smaller guys taking shots in the lane. I guess I thought he was a better shot blocker than I saw last night.

 

[winin11]

I personally have never seen Alabama put a more athletic team on the floor from top to bottom of the roster. This team to me has so much more potential than the team we put on the floor last year. Super excited about Alabama basketball. RTR!

I totally agree. I’ve been around Bama BB for a long time and never have we had this many basketball players that athletic.
We have had a great many athletic players but they were really not basketball players.

 

[drg1955]

I was surprised by how good we were defensively without Jones and Petty. Didn’t miss Their turnovers and inconsistent shooting

 

[Jordan Harper]

I’m

This team is better than last year by a lot? We're jumping the gun here after one game into the season. Replacing Herb and Petty will not be an easy task. Going 16-2 in the conference will be hard to duplicate. I love the expectations but last years team was full of seasoned veterans. This group has a chance to be really good by the time SEC play rolls around. Gary and Q really made a huge difference from our exhibition game where we did not look that great. Tchikou is definitely the wildcard here, his highlights are to impressive for him not to be a huge contributor. Gurley seems to be pressing a little trying to get use to playing in our system. His improvement will be key to this team reaching it's full potential.

I’m not saying they’ll have better success, just overall as a team we are better defensively, athletically, and arguably offensively. Just a lot deeper talent wise

 

[Jordan Harper]

Harp how do you expect Frenchie to fit in to the lineup? Heard so many good things about him pre injury and not such great things after coming back. Is he expected to be a big piece to the puzzle this year? I love the potential of being able to roll out a 4 guard lineup then turn around and have 2 7 footers in the game

I don’t foresee Alex to be part of the rotation moving forward. He is a freak athlete and has great size but he lacks fundamentals. Remember he hasn’t been playing basketball long and jumped to college really early.

 

[vegas man]

I don’t foresee Alex to be part of the rotation moving forward. He is a freak athlete and has great size but he lacks fundamentals. Remember he hasn’t been playing basketball long and jumped to college really early.

And he was sidelined for most of last year with an Achilles injury, which has further delayed his development.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

I don’t foresee Alex to be part of the rotation moving forward. He is a freak athlete and has great size but he lacks fundamentals. Remember he hasn’t been playing basketball long and jumped to college really early.

Somewhat surprising based off the hype when he committed. Last year definitely hurt his development

 

[Bocat69]

I refuse to believe this Alex T. thing about not being ready to be a big contributor to the team. I know highlights and film can be deceiving, but he looks good on every piece of film I've ever seen. I refuse to believe it until I see him buried on the bench come January. This just seems like the coaches are downplaying his talent since he has not played in a while. Just comparing his highlights and Bedioko's highlights its not even close. I wish I could see practice for about thirty minutes then the Frenchie mystery would be solved. The kid is seven foot and can dribble, pass and shoot. Maybe I'm missing something but last I checked dribbling, passing and shooting were fundamentals. If anybody has any practice footage, highlights or tape of him not being fundamentally sound please share.

 

[Jordan Harper]

I refuse to believe this Alex T. thing about not being ready to be a big contributor to the team. I know highlights and film can be deceiving, but he looks good on every piece of film I've ever seen. I refuse to believe it until I see him buried on the bench come January. This just seems like the coaches are downplaying his talent since he has not played in a while. Just comparing his highlights and Bedioko's highlights its not even close. I wish I could see practice for about thirty minutes then the Frenchie mystery would be solved. The kid is seven foot and can dribble, pass and shoot. Maybe I'm missing something but last I checked dribbling, passing and shooting were fundamentals. If anybody has any practice footage, highlights or tape of him not being fundamentally sound please share.

I have seen him in practice. He is not good. That is all I have.

 

[AnInterestedParty]

I refuse to believe this Alex T. thing about not being ready to be a big contributor to the team. I know highlights and film can be deceiving, but he looks good on every piece of film I've ever seen. I refuse to believe it until I see him buried on the bench come January. This just seems like the coaches are downplaying his talent since he has not played in a while. Just comparing his highlights and Bedioko's highlights its not even close. I wish I could see practice for about thirty minutes then the Frenchie mystery would be solved. The kid is seven foot and can dribble, pass and shoot. Maybe I'm missing something but last I checked dribbling, passing and shooting were fundamentals. If anybody has any practice footage, highlights or tape of him not being fundamentally sound please share.

As Harper said, he needs a lot of work on fundamentals. The talent is there. He just needs to learn how to play the game like we need him too. The real question is, how much time will he have to learn?

 

[Bocat69]

I have seen him in practice. He is not good. That is all I have.

Thanks Coach that's all I need hear...

 

[mr4bama]

I have seen him in practice. He is not good. That is all I have.

maybe he is one that will not be back next year.