| MBB/WBB No. 24 Alabama Victorious in Season Opener Defeating Morehead State 105-73

Bammerboy321 said:
I'm going to rewatch the game. First impressions is that Nelson is an absolute baller. So glad he didn't choose Arkansas. Really hoping we see Rylan take off. Not sure he's reached his full potential yet. We had some defensive lapses, but that's to be expected with new faces and younger guys.

We got a good team folks
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IMO, that is going to have to be the focus of the staff, especially early on... Really like the firepower on offense. Not sure we've seen a game so early in the season under Oats where guys valued the ball as well as they did tonight too... more assists than turnovers... One game and all that, but that's a really good sign...
 
Brandon Van de Graaff said:
IMO, that is going to have to be the focus of the staff, especially early on... Really like the firepower on offense. Not sure we've seen a game so early in the season under Oats where guys valued the ball as well as they did tonight too... more assists than turnovers... One game and all that, but that's a really good sign...
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Yeah ball movement looked a lot better early on than it has in previous years. Decision making and being more patient on when to attack the basket was a lot smoother. Still got to limit the turnovers, but it's a step in the right direction.

The two biggest positives are that Stevenson looks like he can absolutely fill Clowney's hole and free throw shooting.
 

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24/24 Alabama men's basketball team defeated Morehead State 105-73 Monday night in Coleman Coliseum in the season opener for both teams.

The Crimson Tide had four players finish with double digits, led by Grant Nelson with a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds. He was joined in double figures with Aaron Estrada (16 points, Mark Sears (13) and Jarin Stevenson adding 12 points in his collegiate debut.



Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments​

"I thought it was a great start to the season. We started well tonight and jumped out of gate. I was pleased with where our heads were at to start the game. I did think we had a little bit of a letdown at various points, but we were able to turn it back up. There's plenty of stuff we need to work on, particularly on the defensive end. I thought we got the ball moving, we had 16 assists tonight. A few too many turnovers but we were able to turn them over a little bit as well. That's a good team. They were picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference. It's a good team with good players and I thought our guys played well."
 
mando said:
I will keep beating this horse but Oats knows with his style that offense is going to have really ugly spurts either with cold shooting or turnovers. His system will not be successful w/o elite D to carry them through these times.
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It's going to be kind of difficult to have an elite defense this season IMO. I think we have the length to disrupt passing lanes, but not the physicality. I don't see a good onball defender like Keon Ellis or Nimari Burnett on this squad.

His system can absolutely be successful without an elite D. We just won't be looking at a top seed in the NCAAT and finish top 4 in the SEC. He wants intensity on defense because it travels and creates fastbreak opportunities.The offense will go through spurts in the middle of the year where the defense will have to win. It's the reason Alabama beat Mississippi State last season at home. I think the D will come in time as new faces get used to the pace of the game, but I doubt it'll mirror 2020 or last season.

I think this offense is going to be one of the better offenses Oats has had though.
 


Rewatching it now. We're definitely going to take more midrange with Estrada. He's got smooth handles and the ability to create space. His step back jumper is something we really haven't had under Oats. Quinerly had elite ball handling skills, but was much more of a downhill facilitator.

Pringle is going to have to work on his footwork some more. Especially setting screens at the top of the key. His explosiveness is through the charts though.
 
I was able to watch the game looks like we have plenty of guys who can shoot the 3. Also looks like our bigs will be able make FT's.
Nelson is a match up nightmare. This should be a very interesting season looking forward to see how far we can go.
 
Hard to critique specific aspects of the game here in a blowout win. But after looking over things there's a few areas that can easily be addressed.

1) Defense - Mainly beating a dead horse here, but yea we need to be a little more physical as the year progresses and try to defend the middle more. We also can't leave wide-open 3s need to at least get out and contest those.

2) Ball Screens - Kinda like @Bammerboy321 alluded to with Pringle, we didn't do a great job of setting ball screens up top. They seemed lazy and didn't really do much to bother defenders. Need to be more consistent on this, build a wall and give your guy the free shot or allow him an alley to drive into.

3) Bench Team Fix - I noticed later in the game as the bench players rolled in, there was a terrible lack of patience and selflessness. Many times, guys drove the rim and missed the kick out to the wide open wings. A few times guys drove into 2 defenders instead of making another pass to find a better lane. Just a lot of young guys or inexperienced guys out there, but they gotta be better than that. I noticed 2-3 times Walters was open for 3 when guys were pushing the break and they drove into a pile of people and attempted a layup or a dunk. Luckily we got some fouls and still got points, but a wide open guy right next to you should've been the play or at least a drive and a kick out.
 

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