Not saying the sky is falling but the NCAA tournament as a top seed is a bad spot to be trying to flip a switch. Even Birmingham will feel like an away game with all of the opponents fans pulling against Bama.
With what do you attribute this current trend of starting slow?
- Thread starter frazor
- Start date
I'm not sure, but it's very concerning to me. We've started slowly in 5 of our last 6 games. I'm hoping that last night's celebration may have lifted some of the pressure off of our team. As for Birmingham, each team is allotted only 450 tickets. The overwhelming majority of the other tickets will be purchased by Bama fans. The crowds will be a decided advantage for us.
Last edited:
A little rest and something new to chase in winning some tournaments should help the cause. They probably need some less
Intense days physically. Even some days where they don’t jack up 100’s of threes. Just some form or free throws and let the body rest.
Intense days physically. Even some days where they don’t jack up 100’s of threes. Just some form or free throws and let the body rest.
It is time to insert JQ into the starting lineup.
I was already thinking that myself. SEC tournament might be a good place to try that out. Not sure if playing 3 games in 3 days is good or bad for this team but I suspect a lot of guys are going to see an increase in minutes.
I get where you're coming from. The problem I see with that is we're currently getting nothing offensively from what would then be our first four guys off the bench - Bradley, Griffen, Burnett, and Welch. All of them are in a funk right now. It's always nice to get some instant offense and spark from a player coming off the bench.
Would you rather have guys coming off the bench down 6-10 points or playing with the lead?
I'd rater be up 6-10 points at the first media timeout, regardless of who is in the starting lineup.
It' would be a whole lot easier on this old man's ticker. I understand the rationale for possibly starting JQ, and I'll also understand if Oats decides to keep him as the first guy off the bench. He's probably gonna get the majority of the minutes at point guard for the rest of the season either way.
First thing I noticed is how teams are adjusting to our three point attempts ….. teams are selling out defensively on brandon and Sears, face guarding these two and not helping on any other bama player. Defenses have wen extended as well.
Teams have down a good job on our pick and rolls. Bediako is the screener and the guy defending Charles stops the dribbler going around his screen, completely stopping that progression.
It ends up almost being a temporary tarp with two defenders on the ball or dribbler
Finally we are not making 3 pointers.. I don’t know our percentage but it’s bad.
On the bright side, these adjustments have forced bama to be a downhill team…. For the most part bama is doing a good job around the rim.
This is the most surprising and , frankly, exciting development of this team.
Areas bama needs to improve: defending the pick and roll, free throws, inbounds plays, being too sedentary on offense in general and offensive sets against zone defenses.
Idk if it was just personnel late in the AU game but bama was very confused as to how to attack AU’s zone
Slow starts are due to the ridiculous distractions entire team has had to deal with.
In my opinion.
In my opinion.
Missing uncontested shots to start the first 4 or 5 possessions from our starters has been a problem. Not ready to play defense with good intensity at the start also doesn't help.
We need to start trending in the right direction with tournament play starting next weekend.
I would like to see us come out strong against A&M from the opening tip.
With all that being said, we all need to congratulate these players for their hard work all year.
Coach Oats should be COY in my opinion, both in the SEC and nationally.
Q has always been best off the bench. And I love it when other teams sub out a guy and we can put in Q. Oats has said he doesn't always want his best 5 starting. It's great to mix a lineup that can be successful throughout the game whether "starters" are in or not.
And season long fatigue and the fact that our young players are trying to adjust to the grind, and it's possible we've not peaked yet. I'm hoping we'll find our legs for the home stretches ahead of us. Don't forget, this is basketball, and even though we're not playing well in general we're demonstrating the "pluck and grit" necessary to grind out W's.
You might be right my man, but I definitely disagree only because I think back to when I was 18, 19 and 20 years old the baseball diamond was my safe space, I forgot all other issues (and boy did I have some) and just did what I loved and that was play baseball and I think the guys on our team love basketball the same way.
I think one big issue is now many teams have finally realized that Bradley can’t hit water if he is sitting in a boat so there is no need to go out and check him past 20 feet which has taken away much of what he can do. Auburn did it for 37 minutes and then for some reason decided to pressure him at 25-27 feet from the goal. He has scored 12 points his last 4 games combined since teams have figured this out. Bradley has been phenomenal on defense this year as well.
ROLL TIDE!!!!
Another thing in regards to Bradley and though I know it sounds like I am down on the guy I want to be clear that I like the guy and he has been a huge part of this SEC Championship team, but with that said we have 4 guys shooting 80+% from the free throw line: Miller 84.7%, JQ 84.6%, Sears 82.6% and Dom Welch 80% (limited attempts 8-10) yet it seems Bradley 69% always has the ball inside of 30 seconds with the lead. Now last night he was 4-5 overall, but I worry down the stretch it might cost us. Thoughts?
ROLL TIDE!!!!
ROLL TIDE!!!!
The only 2 that I trust with the ball in their hands in the closing minutes are Miller and JQ. Sears hits a high percentage of his free throws, but he can make some boneheaded decisions with the ball as well. Case in point last night when he chunked up a 3 late in the game when we all we needed to do was run the clock down. He also turned the ball over a few times late in the game in our first matchup against the boogs.
I cannot remember a team that has had to deal with this type of distraction. Shooting and passing are natural acts and must be second nature. The distractions get you thinking and when you are pressing to think you don’t see the obvious.
JQ is where he needs to be and where he can best help the team. Some people have to see the game flow from outside before they see the inside. JQ is an all star coming off the bench.
This team has been at it since August. I think they are tired and need a couple of days to get their legs back. I would not be upset if they lost in the first round of the SEC Tourney. They need the rest. I would not be shocked if Coach sat the team on Sunday and Monday of next week.
Agree. l would not push this team in practice for a while. Some light shoot arounds and film watching for a few days.
A team this deep doesn't get to use the tired excuse. Every team in the nation is tired right now. Love that they are able to come from behind but that won't fly in the NCAA tournament. Waiting until the second half to turn it on is infectious and reduces passion IMO. Hoping they play like they have nothing to lose against A&M.
They come out lazy against teams gunning for them. Our style of play is determined by how intense we play defense and rebound which leads to a better offense.
Some might be fooled because this team has 3 good gears but 1st gear is lazy for this group but probably better than what we've seen in the past.
At the same time you have to avoid early foul trouble because you never know what game the refs are playing today. If the refs just let Alabama play they won't lose again.
Some might be fooled because this team has 3 good gears but 1st gear is lazy for this group but probably better than what we've seen in the past.
At the same time you have to avoid early foul trouble because you never know what game the refs are playing today. If the refs just let Alabama play they won't lose again.
This ^^^
I totally agree. I was scared to death with Bradley handling the ball in crunch-time due to his iffy FT shooting (although Wed night he went 4/5). He doesn't have a jumper, so all he can do is drive and hope to get fouled. Every now and then he makes the basket on a drive. The tradeoff is playing good defense.
