What will the injection of top 30 basketball recruits Collin Sexton and John Petty offer to a returning core of Alabama players that includes leading scorers Braxton Key and Dazon Ingram from a year ago? According to head coach Avery Johnson, an offensive attack that won't be as dependent on sets as it was during his first two years in Tuscaloosa.
"Offensively, our team is going to have a lot more freedom," Johnson said on Tuesday. "Sometimes, we've been too structured and too stale, but we'll have a lot more freedom and a lot more reads so we won't be so easily scout-able."
Teams that have a dynamic talent like Sexton at the point guard position are afforded the kind of freedom Johnson has in mind. Between Sexton's ability to push the ball in transition and work the screen and roll game in the half court, the true freshman will give UA the ability to score at a much higher clip than the SEC-worst 68.7 points per game the Crimson Tide averaged last season.
Even with anticipation for the upcoming season at a level rarely seen around the program, Johnson noted that newcomers Sexton, Petty, Herb Jones, Alex Reese and Galin Smith are all going through a transition process.
"They're young and very energetic," Johnson said. "They're all different. It's amazing to see all their different personalities, the way they recover from practices or weight training sessions or when we run on the track. Half of them are happy, half of them aren't but it's pretty cool to see how they're picking up on things."
"We only have two hours a week on the floor, so we aren't able to do much. That's why I'm looking forward to the 10 practices we'll have before we go to Canada [in early August for exhibition games against McGill University, Carleton University and Ottawa University]."
Though time on the floor has been limited, Johnson recently had an opportunity to gauge how the freshmen stack up with his returning players.
"We had one little session where we allowed -- for about 30 minutes -- the freshmen to play against the upperclassmen," Johnson said. "Pretty interesting little match there. The competition is good. All of our freshmen can play. They all have different strengths and they're pretty much playing to their strengths while trying to learn and adapt to a new culture here with college life. It's a new type of energy we have and it's pretty interesting how that's playing out on the court."
The competition has been intense, but the trash talking Sexton was known for on the high school level hasn't shown up at Alabama.
"There hasn't been any trash talking," Johnson said of Sexton. "I've seen him just play focused basketball. Have fun, but I haven't seen any trash talking."
While Johnson isn't exactly downplaying the impact guys like Sexton and Petty will have on his latest team, he fully understands the importance of having a handful of returning players who played starter minutes during the 2016-2017 season.
"I think the key part is not the freshmen; the key is our returning players," Johnson said. "Everybody is talking about the freshmen and I'm great with that, but it's Riley Norris and Braxton Key and [Avery Johnson Jr.] and Dazon Ingram and Donta Hall. It's their responsibility and we can't forget about those guys. They have the experience but at the same time, with the way our freshmen are picking up things, even though it's still early, they'll have their opportunities."
After giving consideration to professional basketball following a freshman campaign that saw him lead the Crimson Tide in scoring, Key decided to return for his sophomore season. Looking ahead to the 2017-2018 season, Johnson wants to see more in the way of intangibles from one of his most versatile players. As for Key's mindset since making his way back to UA, Johnson described it as "two feet in".
"He's been focused and shown more leadership at this stage of practice," Johnson said. "I think the NBA experience helped. He had a chance to have a workout and play against some really good players and he's gotten better. We need him to lead more this year. He's not a freshman anymore."
With Daniel Giddens eligible after sitting out as a transfer last season and Hall showing signs of improvement on the offensive end of the floor, the post could be an area of strength for UA during the upcoming season.
"[Hall] started shooting his left shoulder jump hook in the SEC Tournament and I've been trying to get him to shoot that jump hook for two years," Johnson said. "He waited until the last couple games of the season. I think his deal is having confidence in his body. You know, Donta came to us at 192 pounds and now he's up to 220, 230 pounds, so just having that confidence to make moves against bigger guys was big for him."
It's the kind of complete roster, one that will add a potential starter for 2018-2019 in Texas transfer Tevin Mack during Summer II, that Johnson and his staff have assembled that will be needed against a schedule that will include an Arizona team that may be ranked No. 1 in the nation when the Crimson tide travels to Tucson in early December.
"We're not playing all top 10 teams, but we've tried to sprinkle in some of those games that are going to be significant to our overall resume," Johnson said. "We had a [SEC] team [Vanderbilt] make the NCAA tournament with 15 [losses]. We were pretty much right in that same group and we didn't make it to the tournament, so we analyzed with some of our advanced analytical metrics of how we needed to improve our schedule and we think we've done it."
"But you've got to still go out and play games and win games and we hope we'll be able to do that."
Succès on the court during the upcoming season could lead to a return to a place Alabama hasn't been represented since 2001: the first round of the NBA Draft. Gerald Wallace was the last UA player to go in the opening round of the Draft and the Crimson Tide hasn't had a player tabbed in either round since 2008 (Richard Hendrix).
"Hopefully, this is the last year that an Alabama player doesn't get his name called in the first round," Johnson said. "I'd like to see more of our players get involved in the Draft and hopefully that will happen in 2018."
It all starts with where Johnson found himself on Tuesday. Surrounded by hundreds of campers, he understands the grass roots approach required to get his program to a place where the rest of the nation will take notice.
"It's very important because between our team camps and individual camps we're probably going to have over 1,000 kids on our campus, so that's a 1,000 different families that get a chance to see how great our university is and all the different things we have to offer," Johnson said. "You have a lot of kids that I've been able to talk to who aspire to attend the University of Alabama when they graduate from high school, so hopefully we'll continue to leave a positive mark by them having an unbelievable experience."
Those numbers reflect the growing buzz around his latest team, which will be expected to deliver an NCAA tournament berth and more.
"That's kind of what we've been after; a little bit more anticipation," Johnson said. "You look a the numbers for our individual camp, I believe we had 175 our first year and we've doubled that in Year 3, so I think that's a direct correlation to what's been going on with our program."
Alabama Crimson Tide basketball Avery Johnson Collin Sexton Braxton Key Dazon Ingram Donta Hall
"Offensively, our team is going to have a lot more freedom," Johnson said on Tuesday. "Sometimes, we've been too structured and too stale, but we'll have a lot more freedom and a lot more reads so we won't be so easily scout-able."
Teams that have a dynamic talent like Sexton at the point guard position are afforded the kind of freedom Johnson has in mind. Between Sexton's ability to push the ball in transition and work the screen and roll game in the half court, the true freshman will give UA the ability to score at a much higher clip than the SEC-worst 68.7 points per game the Crimson Tide averaged last season.
Even with anticipation for the upcoming season at a level rarely seen around the program, Johnson noted that newcomers Sexton, Petty, Herb Jones, Alex Reese and Galin Smith are all going through a transition process.
"They're young and very energetic," Johnson said. "They're all different. It's amazing to see all their different personalities, the way they recover from practices or weight training sessions or when we run on the track. Half of them are happy, half of them aren't but it's pretty cool to see how they're picking up on things."
"We only have two hours a week on the floor, so we aren't able to do much. That's why I'm looking forward to the 10 practices we'll have before we go to Canada [in early August for exhibition games against McGill University, Carleton University and Ottawa University]."
Though time on the floor has been limited, Johnson recently had an opportunity to gauge how the freshmen stack up with his returning players.
"We had one little session where we allowed -- for about 30 minutes -- the freshmen to play against the upperclassmen," Johnson said. "Pretty interesting little match there. The competition is good. All of our freshmen can play. They all have different strengths and they're pretty much playing to their strengths while trying to learn and adapt to a new culture here with college life. It's a new type of energy we have and it's pretty interesting how that's playing out on the court."
The competition has been intense, but the trash talking Sexton was known for on the high school level hasn't shown up at Alabama.
"There hasn't been any trash talking," Johnson said of Sexton. "I've seen him just play focused basketball. Have fun, but I haven't seen any trash talking."
While Johnson isn't exactly downplaying the impact guys like Sexton and Petty will have on his latest team, he fully understands the importance of having a handful of returning players who played starter minutes during the 2016-2017 season.
"I think the key part is not the freshmen; the key is our returning players," Johnson said. "Everybody is talking about the freshmen and I'm great with that, but it's Riley Norris and Braxton Key and [Avery Johnson Jr.] and Dazon Ingram and Donta Hall. It's their responsibility and we can't forget about those guys. They have the experience but at the same time, with the way our freshmen are picking up things, even though it's still early, they'll have their opportunities."
After giving consideration to professional basketball following a freshman campaign that saw him lead the Crimson Tide in scoring, Key decided to return for his sophomore season. Looking ahead to the 2017-2018 season, Johnson wants to see more in the way of intangibles from one of his most versatile players. As for Key's mindset since making his way back to UA, Johnson described it as "two feet in".
"He's been focused and shown more leadership at this stage of practice," Johnson said. "I think the NBA experience helped. He had a chance to have a workout and play against some really good players and he's gotten better. We need him to lead more this year. He's not a freshman anymore."
With Daniel Giddens eligible after sitting out as a transfer last season and Hall showing signs of improvement on the offensive end of the floor, the post could be an area of strength for UA during the upcoming season.
"[Hall] started shooting his left shoulder jump hook in the SEC Tournament and I've been trying to get him to shoot that jump hook for two years," Johnson said. "He waited until the last couple games of the season. I think his deal is having confidence in his body. You know, Donta came to us at 192 pounds and now he's up to 220, 230 pounds, so just having that confidence to make moves against bigger guys was big for him."
It's the kind of complete roster, one that will add a potential starter for 2018-2019 in Texas transfer Tevin Mack during Summer II, that Johnson and his staff have assembled that will be needed against a schedule that will include an Arizona team that may be ranked No. 1 in the nation when the Crimson tide travels to Tucson in early December.
"We're not playing all top 10 teams, but we've tried to sprinkle in some of those games that are going to be significant to our overall resume," Johnson said. "We had a [SEC] team [Vanderbilt] make the NCAA tournament with 15 [losses]. We were pretty much right in that same group and we didn't make it to the tournament, so we analyzed with some of our advanced analytical metrics of how we needed to improve our schedule and we think we've done it."
"But you've got to still go out and play games and win games and we hope we'll be able to do that."
Succès on the court during the upcoming season could lead to a return to a place Alabama hasn't been represented since 2001: the first round of the NBA Draft. Gerald Wallace was the last UA player to go in the opening round of the Draft and the Crimson Tide hasn't had a player tabbed in either round since 2008 (Richard Hendrix).
"Hopefully, this is the last year that an Alabama player doesn't get his name called in the first round," Johnson said. "I'd like to see more of our players get involved in the Draft and hopefully that will happen in 2018."
It all starts with where Johnson found himself on Tuesday. Surrounded by hundreds of campers, he understands the grass roots approach required to get his program to a place where the rest of the nation will take notice.
"It's very important because between our team camps and individual camps we're probably going to have over 1,000 kids on our campus, so that's a 1,000 different families that get a chance to see how great our university is and all the different things we have to offer," Johnson said. "You have a lot of kids that I've been able to talk to who aspire to attend the University of Alabama when they graduate from high school, so hopefully we'll continue to leave a positive mark by them having an unbelievable experience."
Those numbers reflect the growing buzz around his latest team, which will be expected to deliver an NCAA tournament berth and more.
"That's kind of what we've been after; a little bit more anticipation," Johnson said. "You look a the numbers for our individual camp, I believe we had 175 our first year and we've doubled that in Year 3, so I think that's a direct correlation to what's been going on with our program."
Alabama Crimson Tide basketball Avery Johnson Collin Sexton Braxton Key Dazon Ingram Donta Hall
