🏀 ***OFFICIAL BAMA MBB Preseason Thread*** - Nate Oats Era begins the "Tide Tip-Off"

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

 

[BAMAneck]

BRING IT ......

 

[bama alum]

Alabama preseason picked to finish #6 in the SEC. Interesting choice for a program with a new HC.

 

[TerryP]

Alabama preseason picked to finish #6 in the SEC.

I've seen a few early brackets but haven't seen conference projections. Where'd you catch that?

On a related note ... SEC Basketball Media Days starts today. I saw a release the other day about the SECN being there today and tomorrow with live coverage.

 

[mando]

This has bama at #5 - cbs sports 2019-20 sec expert picks predictions and this one has bama at #6 - 2020 sec men basketball championship

 

[#80]

I wonder when we will gets some news on J. Quinerly eligibility? With those two injuries it would be huge if he can play.

 

[MunchyOs]

I'm excited to see what Nate can do. I had someone tell me the other day that we were looking at Avery 2.0. I don't agree with that. Nate Oates got Buffalo to the NCAA tournament, and it's much harder to win at a place like Buffalo than it is here. Avery just didn't have the college coaching experience to do this. Nate does. I am way more excited about this season than I have been about any season since the mid-2000's.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

I wonder when we will gets some news on J. Quinerly eligibility? With those two injuries it would be huge if he can play.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

 

[bama alum]

Yeah, it'd be nice, especially with two major injuries hurting the depth.

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[18Champs]

From SEC Media Days-

On the Eligibility status of Villanova transfer/sophomore guard Jahvon Quinerly:

“We’re working. I think our compliance office is one of the better ones in the country. They’re on top of it. They think we can get him cleared. There’s no time frame. We’ve got a closed scrimmage this weekend (with Jacksonville State). We have a charity exhibition game Homecoming weekend. There’s no update yet. The NCAA knows when we play.”

On how injuries to freshman Juwan Gary and junior James Rojas affected his depth:

“Juwan Gary and James Rojas were big wings. It’s unfortunate. Herb Jones will probably play some four (power forward). Alex Reese will play a lot of minutes at that four spot. John Petty will have to play there some. We’ll figure it out.

“Reese can shoot the ball really well. He’ll play four and five (center) both. He can shoot and post up. He had his best two practices these last two days. At the five he’s better defensively, but we can play him both ways and get a lot of mismatches. He's buying into our system and playing really well.

“We need Reese to play well. We don’t have a real four man other than Reese. We have no problem playing Herb down there . Defensively he’s long and tough.

“Juwan Gary was playing really well when he went down. Injuries are part of the deal. Our football team lost their two linebackers and they’re doing pretty well.”

On his guard rotation:

“It would be hard to play Kira Lewis, Jahvon and Beetle Bolden together, but I think you can play two of the three together. You can put Beetle on the point guard. If we get Quinerly cleared, I anticipate two of those three being out there together a lot.”

On Herb Jones’ game:

“Defensively he’s one of the best kids I’ve coached. Offensively he’s progressing and getting better. If Quinerly doesn’t get cleared, Herb will play minutes at the point. He can pass and dribble as well as anybody.”

On Bolden's not being physically cleared yet to go full speed:

“He’s getting close. He’s probably two weeks away from being 100 per cent cleared. I believe he can play some minutes against Georgia Tech. Hopefully by game one he’s cleared to play as many minutes as we want.”

On Kira Lewis:

“He’s putting weight on and he’s good enough to be playing in the NBA (soon). He’s got to get stronger and better on defense and he knows it, so we're working on that. If he does what we want him to do, I think he will have a chance to go after this year. If he does, that means we had a great year. Shoot, he’s good.”

On junior guard John Petty:

“Against Tennessee he looked like he’s first team All-SEC. He’s one of four juniors that are the leadership group on this team. I met with them and we talked about consistency. If you’re able to beat Kentucky first game last year, you should be finishing higher than what we did.

“You’ve got to have consistency in practice before you can have it in games. Make it who you are and let’s worry about stuff we can control. You can control your effort and all those will things. Petty led the team in rebounding at practice today and he’s giving us max effort. “

On junior center Galin Smith:

“My assistant Bryan Hodgson calls him 'Old Faithful.' He's consistent every day and he plays hard. We’re going to need Galin to play great for us. He’s been really good. He plays defense, he rebounds and he can score the ball in the right situations.

“He’s going to probably start at the five and be a big part of what we do.

“(Redshirt freshman center) Javian Davis has been progressing and lost 50 pounds. He’s coming along too. We've got some options on the interior.”

On changing the culture of Alabama basketball:

“We want to play faster. We played fast at Buffalo. We talk about effort a lot and giving max effort. We’re big on our guys getting in the gym. That goes along with the pace we play. We want them to work on their games so they enjoy being in the gym again and love playing basketball again. Now we want them to guard. I think we’ve changed the culture.”

On freshman guard Jaden Shackleford:

“I love Jaden and he’s playing great. He plays hard every day and is super coachable. His body was ready for college, because his dad’s a personal trainer. I anticipate him being a major factor in what we do. He can make shots. He’s a combo guard. He’s got to get a little more disciplined on the defensive end, but he’s going to play a big role this year.”

On the Georgia Tech exhibition Oct. 27:

“I like to play another division one school. You get to play in front of fans homecoming weekend. Even the returners haven't played with our staff yet. I’m glad Tech coach (Josh) Pastner agreed to do it.”

On the closed scrimmage this weekend:

“We’re bringing the same team (Jacksonville State) in that drilled Alabama last year (in a closed scrimmage), and we'll see about the players’ heart.”

 

[Max]

“(Redshirt freshman center) Javian Davis has been progressing and lost 50 pounds. He’s coming along too. We've got some options on the interior.”

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

 

[TerryP]

@uaCTP said they were streaming the game on the app ... I'm assuming that's the ESPN app

 

[Vabama77]

Ridiculous of anyone to call Oats Avery 2.0. loved the way Avery sold this program and raised our profile but Nate is way more accomplished on the college level. He did a lot at Buffalo through player development and is well thought of by his peers. If the kids buy in fully ...and I think they have, then we can do some great things.

 

[TerryP]

someone tell me the other day that we were looking at Avery 2.0.

loved the way Avery sold this program and raised our profile

That was the first thing that crossed my mind when I read the comparison; both took on a "face of the program" approach (although we see a lot of Hodgson.)

I've never seen this before from the basketball program.

 

[rick4bama]

ROLL TIDE!!

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]