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I got curious. There's no ML on the game tonight. Bama is -32.5.

I noticed a parlay on ESPNBet that has the total tonight at Over 168.5 with a few other legs.

What's a little crazy is you can find some BIG money lines tonight. You might look at Vandy playing Lipscomb and see -20,000. Okay, right? But then you look at Bethune-Cookman...who is playing Auburn with that ML at -100,000. Geez.

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Would love to see your thoughts on this team so far.

Honestly, yours would weigh more heavily than mine... I love basketball, but I have a much better, deeper understanding of the other sports. What I lIke though is the guard play on this team. Deep, talented, and seasoned. We all know what wins in the NCAA tournament. Adding to that, looking forward to Bethea returning very soon.. maybe early December? Like you, love the freshmen. Looks like Oats nailed it with them. Will be fun watching them improve. Big fan of Allen, but the upside on all 3 is promising. Hate that Oats whiffed on Williamson... the analytics company owes Bama a partial refund on that one, but my hope is he can at least be serviceable on defense some when needed.

I haven't tracked it yet, but I'm pretty sure turnovers are down from last year and assists are up (I think). That's a good sign if so.

Like last year, there's going to be games where Bama gets bullied in the paint and it's gonna be frustrating. The Oats broken record of "we have to play hard..." is going to be on repeat all season in terms of the defensive play. I also worry a bit about the guys staying healthy, which is why I'm ok with the precautionary stuff right now. Really hope Wrightsell can have a full. healthy year, but that seems like a pipe dream. And as much as we love Oats' style of play, it lends itself (in games and practices) to more frequent injuries. But that's a side effect worth living with, you just hope they are smart about it.

In the end, I think they'll be right in the thick of it for the SEC regular season title... I haven't seen much of UF, but I know they'll be good. Have seen a good bit of the Vols, and they look really good again. Not real sure what to make of Kentucky yet, but it almost feels like they are on the next tier with teams like auburn. I just hope Bama is playing their best basketball in March... sitting in the weeds and being ranked #10 'ish all season would be just fine with me as long as they are improving. But man it looks like as a whole, this season is pretty top heavy with some really, really good teams.

Lastly, Mallette might be my favorite player on this squad. Not the most skilled by any means, but he plays his ass off and obviously has a deep love for the team. I'm glad they got his knees fixed up because the guy is a spark on and off the court this season.
 
Honestly, yours would weigh more heavily than mine...
A small point of contention here; not at you directly.

Impressions of any team at this point? It's November.

Yes, there are things we can take away from Nov and Dec and the "exhibition" games teams play. But, it's also like reactions to week one in football. There, we know more in week four. Here, we get a really good idea of what we have to look forward to in a season come the second week, maybe third, if January.

I'll say that 90% of the people who follow CBB and have made comments about his Bama team may be right. I just don't see a big enough sample size to make a judgment.

As one example. Out of the 105 scored last night, 48% of those points were scored in the paint. That's a good sign, but it is FAR from something you can draw an accurate assessment from.
 
Impressions of any team at this point? It's November.
True but I think with how Oats schedules these top tier schools Bama has a better idea of where they are than most teams. He absolutely knows where the most imrpovement needs to come from as does the players. That by itself at least in my eyes will be the catalyst for them pushing themselves to get better. I think we are already seeing it with Sherrel.

Also some folks on hear talking about the freshmen, I am excited about them also but Allen looks like he may be the best of the bunch. He already looks the part and it is like he has a year or two under his belt. How he handles hitting the freshmen wall when they get into SEC play will be telling. Physically he certainly looks the part.

When these three guys (Philon, Holloway and Wrightsell) are on it is going to take the opponents A+ game to beat us. You learn a lot form playing Purdue and Gonzaga where even with the problems inside they had a chance. At least in this tournament I am glad they did not have to play Michigan. How anyone beat Gonzaga but 40 is mind boggling. Just glad Michigan drilled the Barn.

Speaking of the Barn, I watched a few minutes of Pearl and that was all I could take. Some may like him but I just see the cow pasture all over him and can't stomache it.
 
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