ALABAMA PREVIEW - CBS SPORTS

Coog1992 · July 20, 2022, 5:30pm

Lose 8 players:
*Keon Ellis, JD Davison, Juwan Gary, Jaden Shackelford, James Rojas, Alex Tchikou, Keon Ambrose Hylton, Jusaun Holt

Add 7 players:
Brandon Miller, Jaden Bradley, Rylan Griffen, Noah Clowney, Nick Pringle, Mark Sears, Dom Welch

Return 5 players:
Noah Gurley, Darius Miles, Jahvon Quinerly(injured), Charles Bediako and Nimari Burnett (injured early last season)

Coog1992 · July 20, 2022, 5:33pm

pesik · July 20, 2022, 6:07pm

Didnt realize how bad quinerlys injury was … didnt recognize that he will miss most of the noncon for bama

when we play bama will be interesting, one of our open dates is late december (last ooc date), when JQ could be back… if we play them extremely early its a bunch of mid-major transfers and touted recruits for their guard core, who haven’t meshed

CMCoog17 · July 20, 2022, 9:32pm

I hope we trash them when they come here. I want them to feel despair in our stadium

Coog1992 · July 20, 2022, 11:45pm

I’ll have to dig into some of their recruits further. But i do think they’re gonna be better this year.

Shackelford + Ellis + Davison + Quinerly, just didnt get it done defensively last season. Thats why they lost to Georgia, Iona, etc

WhoWeTalkinBout · July 21, 2022, 12:42am

Bama was cursed after they cheated us last year.

pesik · July 21, 2022, 12:54am

im not sure i agree… defense was an issue for bama but it wasnt from the perimeter, but because they have no post preference …
but all of that is by design…the way we focus on defense/rebounding, is the way bama focus on offense… floor spacing and pace are big to them, so they intentionally go small… and purposefully go at an insane pace which puts stress on their defense
they were also prone to upset because if you live by the 3, you die by the 3…and some games the 3 didnt come

i think their roster last year was better than this year, but i dont think their roster last year lived up to its potential. so this year could exceed what last year achieved

their guard for this year- quinerly (5star& 25yr old senior)- injured, bradley (5star fresh), sears (ohio transfer) welch (st bonnies transfer), burnett (5star ttech transfer- deep bench as fresh year/injured as a soph), griffen (top 50 4star fresh)

remove quinerly their is almost no high major guard experience, remove quinerly they arent as threating…the magic sauce to bama was 3pt shooting based on 2 things; striking in transition before defenses set up and quinerly being so shifty he could beat almost anyone off the dribble and swing to the open man on the help… without quinerly there isnt anyone i see us have a real issue guarding 1on 1, with maybe bradley being the exception, but his film doesnt make him seem like that kind of player

Coog1992 · July 21, 2022, 4:08am

Thats fair. Looking at their Kenpom numbers from their Sweet 16 year compared to last year.

Defensive Efficiency

2020-21: 3rd

2021-22: 92nd

To summarize other stats: their 3pt shooting Efficiency was lower. Their turnover rate was higher. They didnt guard the 3 as good as the year before

When i watched Alabama, you could tell that the guys driving the ship were Quinerly, Shackelford, Ellis and Davison. Those 4 had a lot of freedom last year.

Davison i heard really struggled with turnovers.

And they went from Herb Jones and John Petty who had length to a team with not a great perimeter defender. Ellis i guess

And for a team that jacks 3s like they do, they shot 30.8% as a team from 3.

Are the guards that are coming in as quality as last year? I dont know. But, i do think the team needed new leaders. The Quinerly+Shackelford+Davison show was inconsistent

So hopefully this new set of guards, will guard better, and be more efficient offensively

They played a brutal schedule. But losses to Iona, Missouri, Georgia, Vandy are inexcusable

Coog1992 · July 21, 2022, 4:54am

pesik · July 21, 2022, 4:57am

i think the major difference in both years on defensive is having gritty forwards, who is also skilled. herbet jones allowed them to still play to their strengths = spread the floor, jones could still handle and shoot…but he would still bully you in the post or the preimeter on defense

they were extremely soft in the post last year.

during the our game vs bama i thought, “damn j’wan is massacring bama on the boards, if he is doing this vs a top 15 bama he can dominate the rest of our schedule”… then i realized everyone massacred bama on the boards… i dont think the issue was the guards as JQ, shackleford and ellis all played heavy minutes the year before… petty for davidson alone doesn’t drop you from 3rd to 93…

to me its the softness of their bigs, remove the 21 offensive rebounds we got on them (which is an insane numbers) they blow us out

they are going small again next year, the average size of their big rotation is 208lbs …but all have spread the floor capabilities (which they prioritize) eye test they’ll be soft again but herb jones was only 208lbs himself and was/is dominant defensively. And was being debated for all-defense as a rookie in the NBA… are any of their big additions tough enough is the question…

but eye test their guard core was better last year, purely preseason, im not sure its close (especially with quinerly missing half the year)

pesik · July 21, 2022, 5:00am

context is that mid major jump ups rarely workout, especially year 1… zach nutall at smu came in with all the acclaims and was a major flop… their guard core to match up with last year means sears and welchare the real deal… im not ready to buy into that yet

Coog1992 · July 21, 2022, 5:05am

Their guards til Quinerly returns:

Sears, Welch, Nimari Burnett, Jaden Bradley and Rylan Griffen alot of question mark ups.

I think they’re frontcourt has improved. Bediako, Gurley, Miles, Miller, Clowney & Pringle. If they were smart, they would try to lean on their frontcourt early in the season

Dom Welch: 91 made 3s last season at St Bonaventure

Mark Sears: 60 made 3s last season at Ohio

Coog1992 · August 21, 2022, 1:03am

@pesik I know its just a scrimmage. And they’re not showing much/running plays.

But if Alabamas (2) playmaking guards are Jaden Bradley #0 and Mark Sears #1. They’re gonna have problems. Both dont seem to be super quick.

Sasser and Shead are gonna be all over them.

*This team needs Quinerly

We play them December 10th.

pesik · August 21, 2022, 4:51pm

interesting is that one of their not as touted recruits (still a top 50 guy) led the guards in scoring on their foreign tour

Coog1992 · August 30, 2022, 7:45pm

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1564604319340666888?s=20

I dont expect us to see Quinerly on December 10.

pesik · August 30, 2022, 9:25pm

sec schedule is around the 28th, itll be close…even if he does play, likley on limited minutes… plus i dont think theyd want to bring a player back from a year hiatus and have houston be his 1st game