| MBB/WBB 🏀 Alabama hosts Oakland Friday night, 7CT, on the ESPN/SECN network.

[RTB.com]

Alabama Closes Out Four-Game Homestand With Oakland Friday Night - University of Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will conclude its four-game home streak to begin the year by welcoming Oakland on Friday night in Coleman Coliseum. The contest...

rolltide.com

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will conclude its four-game home streak to begin the year by welcoming Oakland on Friday night in Coleman Coliseum. The contest, which will be the Tide's last home game for three weeks (Dec. 11 vs. No. 15 Houston), will tip off at 7 p.m. CT and can be viewed on SEC Network+.

Alabama is coming off a 73-68 win over in-state foe South Alabama last Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum. The win improved the Tide to 3-0 on the year, which is the best start since beginning the 2017-18 campaign by winning its first five contests.

The Broadcast​

• Friday's game will be available on SEC Network+ with Roger Hoover (play-by-play) and Richard Hendrix (analyst) on the call
• The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call, and Tom Stipe (engineer) turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

ESPN Player

www.espn.com

 

[TerryP]

OATS ON OAKLAND​

Oakland, picked to finish sixth in the Horizon League preseason poll, enters Friday’s contest with a 2-1 overall record, with both victories coming in the last week. After a narrow loss at West Virginia to open the season (60-53), the Grizzlies secured a 56-55 road win at Oklahoma State a week ago before most recently toppling Toledo, 80-59, at home Wednesday night.

Oakland is one of the top defensive teams in the country, allowing just 58.0 points per game while limiting the opposition to only 38.7 percent shooting from the field and 21.7 percent from beyond the arc. None of their three opponents this year have crossed the 60-point mark.

“Oakland’s really good,” Oats said. “They obviously played West Virginia really tough. They beat Oklahoma State at Oklahoma State. They just beat Toledo fairly handily. They play a zone that’s very effective. They turn people over. They’ve caused people to shoot poorly, particularly from three, so we’ve got our hands full.

“Our offense wasn’t very good last game, and now, we’ve gotta go against a zone like they play, it’s gonna be hard. It’s gonna put some stress on our defense. I think our defense is gonna have to be really good. Their point guard, (Jalen) Moore, led the country in assists last year. Jamal Cain’s as good as anybody that we’re gonna see, and he’s playing really well. He’s a high-major kid that’s from Detroit. This is gonna be a tough game for us. We’re gonna have to play better than we did Tuesday night to get this one.”

 

[alabama mike]

Hopefully, the Tide cagers are firing on all 8 cylinders tonight. Huggy Bear and his WVU team is a tough team and Oakland only lost by 7. This should be a good test for our young men.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

In town and was going but good tickets are outrageous

 

[rick4bama]

ROLL TIDE!!!

 

[BamaFan334]

I broke my damn phone last night and can't use it, and now ESPN is not letting me watch it on my computer either. It has before and allowing me to sign in using my service provider, but then it never does anything once I click the Play button.

 

[Bammerboy321]

Boy JD is just making some great junkyard plays and dominating on the boards. Oats was right though - he needs to get back to the gym and shoot. He's had a few missed layups that would have blown this game wide open. But his talent is clearly through the roof.

We're matching their energy on defense and are clearly causing havoc. I don't remember a game where I've seen an opponent have this many air balls. Hopefully shots start to fall from deep. Oakland is closing out well, but we've missed some great looks.

 

[Bammerboy321]

This was a really impressive win by the club. Oats challenged them and the team responded. It's really awesome seeing the effort our guards give on the boards. Big reason we blew out Oakland was because of second chance opportunities created by guys like Keon, JD, Shack, and Gurley (I know he's not a guard).

Other notes:
-Bediako is the big man we have wanted for so long. Finally a guy at 5 with soft hands, can run the floor well, protects the rim, and of course, rebounds.
-It was good seeing Tchikou get some PT, but clearly needs to get better game shape. Lot of potential if he gets his mind right.

 

[Bammerboy321]

Sorry last note: Shack clearly has worked on distributing the ball better. Didn't think his vision on the court or decision making was the best his first two years, but he has a scorers mentality. Lately, he's finding open guys. Thought the most underrated play of the game came when he found Miles for an alley opp.

This is a really fun team. Onto Iona.

 

[TerryP]

This is a really fun team.

 

[Bammerboy321]

 

[BamaFan334]

I didn't get to watch due to ESPN issues, I think, but I was concerned with the defensive side of Oakland I had read about. It appears we played a great game against them by the number of points we scored and the margin of victory. Another great win that was never guaranteed before, so it's nice riding this into a very difficult stretch for our boys.

 

[mando]

I didn't get to watch due to ESPN issues, I think, but I was concerned with the defensive side of Oakland I had read about. It appears we played a great game against them by the number of points we scored and the margin of victory. Another great win that was never guaranteed before, so it's nice riding this into a very difficult stretch for our boys.

I did not get to see the game either. Looked like turnovers were better in this game. Hopefully the D is getting tougher. I did see the stats where Oakland had one guy that we must have had trouble defending. I think he had 30 points. One man show for Oakland.

 

[Bammerboy321]

Turnovers were an issue early in the first half. Think the 1-3-1 zone threw them off a bit. Once the offense settled in, we were able to drive more and kick.

The biggest stat take away from this game is that we had 16 more rebounds than them. Coming into the game, Oakland had out rebounded WVU and OSU. Oats mentioned it in his press conference how much staff emphasized to attack the glass. This was definitely the most active I've seen Gurley, which is what we need him to be until he can start making shots. But look down the stat sheet: JD grabbed seven, Shack had five, Keon had five, and even Holt had five.

Considering how fast the team plays, that has got to be so frustrating for an opponent to see athletic guards attack the glass and then in seconds already pushing the ball up the court.