What’s your thoughts on this team through 10 games

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Coming into the year I could easily see a 6-4. 8-2 was probably best case and if you told me neither loss was Houston or Gonzaga I would have called you a liar. Solid start to the season

We have only played 1 team I would consider “bad” And that’s Oakland(even they had one guy that looked like potential nba talent). So we have a solid sample size of what this team is capable of, even though we will obviously continue to develop over the next 2 and a half months.

biggest surprise - Charles Bediako. He’s further along than I anticipated based on pre season reports. I do fear we need him to progress quickly and play smart for us as he is far and away our best 5 and really there’s not a replacement for him on the roster.

biggest concern - depth. The rotation has been reduced to 8 against better competition and frankly Gurley and Miles have been liabilities. Miles is a guy that can do some good things on offense but he is loose with the ball, and not a very good defender despite having great length. Gurley is simply not playing the role I believe we brought him in to play, and I just can’t see him being able to play it. I know I know I know he did this and that and shot great at furman….. I’m baffled by that Bc it’s not there from anything I’ve seen. Ambrose just doesn’t seem to really have it and it’s obvious Frenchie isn’t ready but hard to believe he’s so much worse than Gurley that we can’t get him some minutes and see if he starts to progress

Keys - we need JD to be our best Player. He’s our best talent and clearly nba written all over him but he’s much closer to his floor than ceiling. We’ve seen a ton of progress already but need him to be be a scorer for us imo. JQ, Shack, and Keon are obviously key and also have to carry us.

I think we can be a 24-6 type team and get a 2-4 seed in March. We have proven to be capable of playing with the best, and also shown we aren’t above a bad night. I think it’s going to be another great year

 

[WAR_GA]

Great breakdown!

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

Great post! Agree with every word.

 

[frazor]

All I'll say about Gurley is when you watch his highlight reels while at Furman he appeared to do a lot of scoring with 15' shots. I don't recall seeing many 3 balls go in. The guards are solid and will carry this team. Frontcourt is going to be the problem all year as we are well aware.
Bediako- easily bullied
Gurley- Poor shooter
Gary- how much of his success is athletics vs good ballplayer?

 

[brown155]

Good team. Still very sloppy with the basketball.

 

[BeastofBourbon]

Agree with everything you said except Oakland being a bad team. They are a top 25 RPI team.

My biggest concern is rebounding, which has been exposed recently against extremely athletic teams like Houston and Memphis. We can't continue to give good teams 2nd and 3rd chances every time down the court.

 

[BamaNavyCPO]

The team has exceeded my expectations thus far but playing a tough pre-SEC season should be a positive. Our front court is what it is. Boxing out will instantly cure a lot of the rebounding problems on both ends of the floor. Giving up defensive rebounds has hurt us the last two games. We need a Dennis Rodman type low-post player (a rebounding fool).

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

The team has exceeded my expectations thus far but playing a tough pre-SEC season should be a positive. Our front court is what it is. Boxing out will instantly cure a lot of the rebounding problems on both ends of the floor. Giving up defensive rebounds has hurt us the last two games. We need a Dennis Rodman type low-post player (a rebounding fool).

Gurley had two offensive boards literally fall into his chest last night and he couldn’t corral them. Some guys just do not have a nose for the ball and unfortunately he’s one of them.

 

[pwestbro61]

Agree with everything you said except Oakland being a bad team. They are a top 25 RPI team.

My biggest concern is rebounding, which has been exposed recently against extremely athletic teams like Houston and Memphis. We can't continue to give good teams 2nd and 3rd chances every time down the court.

Agree but Memphis and Houston might be 2 of the top 5 rebounding teams in the country.

 

[Codie B]

Agree but Memphis and Houston might be 2 of the top 5 rebounding teams in the country.

This ^^^^. I didn’t notice our rebounding being that bad until we played Houston and Memphis. Those are just two of the best rebounding teams in the country. This team needs to cut down on the turnovers, and like I keep saying, it will be as good as its shooting. Shoot good, beat top notch teams like Gonzaga and Houston. Shoot like crap, lose to Memphis and Iona.

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

This ^^^^. I didn’t notice our rebounding being that bad until we played Houston and Memphis. Those are just two of the best rebounding teams in the country. This team needs to cut down on the turnovers, and like I keep saying, it will be as good as its shooting. Shoot good, beat top notch teams like Gonzaga and Houston. Shoot like crap, lose to Memphis and Iona.

Completely agree. I was telling a buddy of mine the exact same thing yesterday. We haven't been a bad rebounding team until the last two games and we played two teams that hang their hat on offensive rebounds. Now... hopefully you don't get punked on the glass as badly as we did, but they pretty much do it to everyone. If we can get to 10-2 going into conference play with this schedule that's pretty impressive.

 

[michael1965]

I like where we are and I like this team. Because we are Alabama the expectations run a little higher. Turnovers at critical times hurt as does rebounding. We are playing together better than the team did last year At this point. The first 6 are playing well, the next 3 need to step up more consistently.

 

[StablerCountry]

Final four potential.

I do see them making the sweet sixteen. I think they are legit SEC contender regular season and tournament.

 

[Codie B]

Final four potential.

I do see them making the sweet sixteen. I think they are legit SEC contender regular season and tournament.

This is why the tournament for so many teams is a crap shoot. If we shoot like we did over a handful of games in the NCAA tournament, like we did against Miami and Gonzaga, we can win it all. If we shoot like we did in the last game, we can lose to an Iona in the 1st rd, regardless of how high our seeding ends up. If we shoot the ball consistently well, and cut down on the turnovers, in the back half of SEC play, I will have more confidence the former will happen than the later. This team has shown it can do it against the best teams on the road, we just have to wait and see if they grow in their consistency or not.

 

[Tide60T]

Rebounding needs to improve. This team is not aggressively pursuing rebounds. Not sure how to fix the problem, but maybe Coach Oats needs to add a practice routine for “fighting” for rebounds.

 

[mr4bama]

Coming into the year I could easily see a 6-4. 8-2 was probably best case and if you told me neither loss was Houston or Gonzaga I would have called you a liar. Solid start to the season

We have only played 1 team I would consider “bad” And that’s Oakland(even they had one guy that looked like potential nba talent). So we have a solid sample size of what this team is capable of, even though we will obviously continue to develop over the next 2 and a half months.

biggest surprise - Charles Bediako. He’s further along than I anticipated based on pre season reports. I do fear we need him to progress quickly and play smart for us as he is far and away our best 5 and really there’s not a replacement for him on the roster.

biggest concern - depth. The rotation has been reduced to 8 against better competition and frankly Gurley and Miles have been liabilities. Miles is a guy that can do some good things on offense but he is loose with the ball, and not a very good defender despite having great length. Gurley is simply not playing the role I believe we brought him in to play, and I just can’t see him being able to play it. I know I know I know he did this and that and shot great at furman….. I’m baffled by that Bc it’s not there from anything I’ve seen. Ambrose just doesn’t seem to really have it and it’s obvious Frenchie isn’t ready but hard to believe he’s so much worse than Gurley that we can’t get him some minutes and see if he starts to progress

Keys - we need JD to be our best Player. He’s our best talent and clearly nba written all over him but he’s much closer to his floor than ceiling. We’ve seen a ton of progress already but need him to be be a scorer for us imo. JQ, Shack, and Keon are obviously key and also have to carry us.

I think we can be a 24-6 type team and get a 2-4 seed in March. We have proven to be capable of playing with the best, and also shown we aren’t above a bad night. I think it’s going to be another great year

we can blow any team out when we are hitting three`s and we can lose to any team when we shoot bad.

 

[pfaud001]

I am only disappointed in the effort in the Memphis game. I think they were tired and that is ok. The only positive from last game is Ellis got his shot going again. As for the season, I agree with what you all think. Gurley has been a major disappointment. I do think Gary has stepped up his game and is a difference maker. I am ready for a big season. It‘s going to be fun.

 

[RollTide15]

A few things...
(1) When I see Shack constantly driving to the basket, I know that we are in trouble. He shoots crazy, off-balance shots on his drives that are a low percentage. And it seems that when Shack starts that, it is contagious and Quinnerly starts it.
(2) Although Bediako is somewhat of a pleasant surprise, he is a two-edged sword. We give up another 3 point shooter, and he doesn't have the muscle and determination to be a good rebounder. He needs to get a lot more rebounds, or we need to go with another shooter.
(3) We get way too cocky with the ball. JD is terrible at that. They need a mentality that every trip down the floor is important. Stopping turnovers is critical for this team.
(4) Odds and ends...need a leader, need mental toughness, need better free throw shooting.

All of the above can be accomplished. The team has exceeded expectations. They play hard and are fun to watch.

 

[Holt Ironman]

Coming into the year I could easily see a 6-4. 8-2 was probably best case and if you told me neither loss was Houston or Gonzaga I would have called you a liar. Solid start to the season

We have only played 1 team I would consider “bad” And that’s Oakland(even they had one guy that looked like potential nba talent). So we have a solid sample size of what this team is capable of, even though we will obviously continue to develop over the next 2 and a half months.

biggest surprise - Charles Bediako. He’s further along than I anticipated based on pre season reports. I do fear we need him to progress quickly and play smart for us as he is far and away our best 5 and really there’s not a replacement for him on the roster.

biggest concern - depth. The rotation has been reduced to 8 against better competition and frankly Gurley and Miles have been liabilities. Miles is a guy that can do some good things on offense but he is loose with the ball, and not a very good defender despite having great length. Gurley is simply not playing the role I believe we brought him in to play, and I just can’t see him being able to play it. I know I know I know he did this and that and shot great at furman….. I’m baffled by that Bc it’s not there from anything I’ve seen. Ambrose just doesn’t seem to really have it and it’s obvious Frenchie isn’t ready but hard to believe he’s so much worse than Gurley that we can’t get him some minutes and see if he starts to progress

Keys - we need JD to be our best Player. He’s our best talent and clearly nba written all over him but he’s much closer to his floor than ceiling. We’ve seen a ton of progress already but need him to be be a scorer for us imo. JQ, Shack, and Keon are obviously key and also have to carry us.

I think we can be a 24-6 type team and get a 2-4 seed in March. We have proven to be capable of playing with the best, and also shown we aren’t above a bad night. I think it’s going to be another great year

Solid breakdown.

 

[kansas77]

This entire thread is accurate af. All you guys have expressed all of my different thoughts and concerns. Apparently we're all right too or else we wouldn't all agree.

 

[IgnatiusJacquesReilly]

Good team. Still very sloppy with the basketball.

We were really sloppy early on last year and did much better toward the end of the season. Hopefully, we can repeat that this year.

 

[IgnatiusJacquesReilly]

Agree with everything you said except Oakland being a bad team. They are a top 25 RPI team.

My biggest concern is rebounding, which has been exposed recently against extremely athletic teams like Houston and Memphis. We can't continue to give good teams 2nd and 3rd chances every time down the court.

I agree with this about Oakland. Their RPI is 20 right now.

 

[IgnatiusJacquesReilly]

Coming into the year I could easily see a 6-4. 8-2 was probably best case and if you told me neither loss was Houston or Gonzaga I would have called you a liar. Solid start to the season

We have only played 1 team I would consider “bad” And that’s Oakland(even they had one guy that looked like potential nba talent). So we have a solid sample size of what this team is capable of, even though we will obviously continue to develop over the next 2 and a half months.

biggest surprise - Charles Bediako. He’s further along than I anticipated based on pre season reports. I do fear we need him to progress quickly and play smart for us as he is far and away our best 5 and really there’s not a replacement for him on the roster.

biggest concern - depth. The rotation has been reduced to 8 against better competition and frankly Gurley and Miles have been liabilities. Miles is a guy that can do some good things on offense but he is loose with the ball, and not a very good defender despite having great length. Gurley is simply not playing the role I believe we brought him in to play, and I just can’t see him being able to play it. I know I know I know he did this and that and shot great at furman….. I’m baffled by that Bc it’s not there from anything I’ve seen. Ambrose just doesn’t seem to really have it and it’s obvious Frenchie isn’t ready but hard to believe he’s so much worse than Gurley that we can’t get him some minutes and see if he starts to progress

Keys - we need JD to be our best Player. He’s our best talent and clearly nba written all over him but he’s much closer to his floor than ceiling. We’ve seen a ton of progress already but need him to be be a scorer for us imo. JQ, Shack, and Keon are obviously key and also have to carry us.

I think we can be a 24-6 type team and get a 2-4 seed in March. We have proven to be capable of playing with the best, and also shown we aren’t above a bad night. I think it’s going to be another great year

It should be noted that EVERY team we have played so far this year has a winning record. And ALL of them are in the top 100 RPI except Drake. They are at 146 with at NET of 111.

That is an unheard of schedule for us. UNHEARD OF. And it makes me so happy. Oats has us playing with the big boys now.

 

[Bama Swoosh]

Great thread! Ignatius makes a great point with us having the most difficult SOS in the country - SOS rankings

Bediako has been an awesome surprise for me. Vs Houston it was awesome that we had the ability to carve them up at the beginning, answering their buckets with Quinerly penetrating and finding Bediako for two jams. We just haven't had that, and Bediako makes a huge difference with his length (those 6 blocks vs the Zags, I felt like we finally had a guy that makes our opponents think twice about their shots in the post). I know Bediako is a freshman, skinny, with some limitations - but what a huge piece of the puzzle to me. I hope he keeps working on his rebounding and FT shooting.

I don't know the Jon Rothstein guy that well, but keep seeing him post that we have the best backcourt in the country. Quinerly-Shack-JD-Keon is an amazing group. The all add a little something different:
Quinerly - seems unguardable 1 vs 1. Houston, Memphis and others doubled him a lot - I remember Jimmy Dykes kept saying "you have to build a wall" to stop Quinerly. I thought he looked tired vs Memphis which makes sense after the effort he had to give to beat Houston. When his three-ball is dropping to go along with his drives, we are damn near unbeatable. He's a huge key to us scoring 90+ on anybody.
Shack - I agree that there are times when he drives to the basketball with his head down and I get frustrated, but the guy is a pro. He's our most confident/consistent offensive player, and he's a willing rebounder. Teams have to account for him on D because he can hit back to back triples on you and blow the game open without blinking an eye. I remember what he did to Maryland in March Madness last year. He almost always gets his. So glad he came back out of the portal.
JD - his instincts to get steals, rebounds, and make game changing dunks are off the charts. Basketball IQ - check. How about his 6 assists in the first 10 minutes against Memphis? In a game where we looked less athletic (or just tired) than Memphis, he was the guy picking us up and keeping us in the game as long as he could. He has work to do on turnovers at times, and shooting - but he is going to help us win a ton of ballgames. I love on D when he just skies straight up and blocks a shot or disrupts one. His athleticism is so fun to watch.
Keon - I loved his edge in the 2nd half vs Memphis. We were losing but he was dunking and making threes and play pissed off. If he can find that focus with regularity for a whole game, we will be really hard to beat. Love the guy's defense and plays within himself.
I try to imagine where Nimari Burnett would be in this conversation if he had not gotten hurt. Sounded like he was out best shooter - hello.

Juwan Gary plays like he's 7-feet tall at 6'6''. No fear. Not the shine that the players above have but every bit as important.

Agreed that we aren't deep. So far Miles, Gurley haven't stepped up and seem like liabilities at times. We need them to find their confidence. I keep hoping the Frenchy guy will appear but that is probably wishful thinking for this year.

Overall - when is the last time you've felt this good about the overall health of our program? The only time I can even faintly remember this is when I was a really young kid and remember my dad hating Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan beating our 1987 team with the first year of the 3-point line in the sweet 16. Wimp had the plaid palace rocking and we had a bunch of pros.
Coach Oats has us there again, and it's looking like he can pass where Wimp had us given the recruiting we're seeing. The guy on ESPN the other night said something along the lines of "if I had a son I would want him to player either at Bama, Villanova, or Baylor" because they run NBA systems and are getting players ready for the next level moreso than anyone else. That is stunning to hear, but obviously players are realizing it.
What a golden age for Bama sports. There will be some bumps like in Memphis, but I'm enjoying the ride!!!

 

[adsmith4]

Need Keon to be a consistent scoring threat. He struggled the two games prior to Memphis, as well as the first half. He played better down the stretch of that game. Also need JD to develop a jump shot of some sort. All of his scoring comes at the basket, and mainly on fast break or out back dunks. If he could consistently give us 12 - 16 points, we are easily a Final Four team. JD is done after this season based on pure athleticism and upside regardless.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Need Keon to be a consistent scoring threat. He struggled the two games prior to Memphis, as well as the first half. He played better down the stretch of that game. Also need JD to develop a jump shot of some sort. All of his scoring comes at the basket, and mainly on fast break or out back dunks. If he could consistently give us 12 - 16 points, we are easily a Final Four team. JD is done after this season based on pure athleticism and upside regardless.

JD has not shot it that poorly. He just isn’t confident enough in his shooting ability. He has to be wide open to take a shot and has many opportunities to pull up and shoot and passes it up

 

[jmillerbama]

I am very pleased with 8-2 but should have beat iona! This team is very talented but need more leadership!

Biggest surprises
1. How good Nate Oats is and how fast its happened.
2. Bediako is a problem for opponents when he stays out of foul trouble.

Biggest disappointments
1. Foul shooting....it kept us from a possible final four last and will ruin our season this year if we dont correct it.
2. Rebounding is a problem also.
3. Alex T needs more minutes, and heard he was kevin durant esc.......

O and Nate Oats and the University need to quit being stingy with those 🔥🔥🔥🔥 courtside shirts he rocks! 😂🤣😎😎

 

[jtr4dad]

I’m pleased with 8-2 record, especially with the big wins over Gonzaga and Houston. My biggest concerns are lack of consistency and quality depth. We’ve failed to show up ready to play 4 times already - South Alabama, Iona, Drake, and Memphis. That’s 40% of our games so far. We can’t do that in SEC play if we want to contend for another title. Right now JD is our only bench player that we can count on night in and night out. Miles started the season off well, but has regressed lately. Gurley has been a major disappointment. We’re getting basically nothing from him. KAH, Holt, and Tchikou obviously aren’t ready yet in our coaches eyes. We need a couple more guys to step up their games for this team to get where they and we all want them to go.