Come on, NZAA. Let the kid play.
| MBB/WBB Video of Bama's "skills session" including player interviews
- Thread starter Sgt. Lincoln Osiris
- Start date
The thing I love about the practice video, @TUSKtimes :
Everything.
Ball movement drills at the beginning (quick, crisp passing), the ball handling drills (REFRESHING!) were nice.
I like the 2-man shooting drill. You shoot the 3, follow your shot and rebound, then pass to your partner. Building good habits of offensive rebounding from the perimeter. Rep, reps, reps.
Most importantly, the pace. I LOVE that tempo. Nobody... Not a single person... Standing still.
Everything.
Ball movement drills at the beginning (quick, crisp passing), the ball handling drills (REFRESHING!) were nice.
I like the 2-man shooting drill. You shoot the 3, follow your shot and rebound, then pass to your partner. Building good habits of offensive rebounding from the perimeter. Rep, reps, reps.
Most importantly, the pace. I LOVE that tempo. Nobody... Not a single person... Standing still.
There must be a vast difference in saying you want to play uptempo and actually getting your team ready to do it. Didn't Alex Reese look great? Dropping that weight was a good sign they are getting coach Oats message loud and clear. I know it was just practice but Jaden Shackleford, #5, has a beautiful shot.
footballer
Member
drill drill drill drill drill drill drill drill drill drill drill drill
Shack does have a really nice shot, from release, follow, to touch. All a sweet motion.
Another one with soft touch is JQ. Man, I hope the NZAA clears him for this year.
I see what you did there, @TerryP @planomateo
B
Bama News
Alabama Basketball Practice Open To Journalists
Kira Lewis, Jr., not taking part in Alabama summer basketball workouts as he practices with USA Men’s Basketball U19 World Cup candidates
247sports.com
Watching basketball practice in June is an unusual experience for journalists covering Alabama. In fact, for about the past decade, watching Crimson Tide basketball practice at any time has been a rarity.
But new Bama Coach Nate Oats opened the door in Coleman Coliseum to watch Alabama through its summer workout Wednesday. It was interesting.
The fast-paced practice ended with a 10-minute five-on-five halfcourt “game” in which the defense dominated.
“Our offense is nowhere close to where we want it,” Oats said. “Kira (returning starting point guard Kira Lewis, Jr.) wasn’t there. We’re really just starting to put some five-on-five stuff in. We’ve been do all transition stuff. We’ve got a long ways to go on offense.
“We do have some length and athleticism, though. Our defense I think can be elite.”
Not present for the summer workouts is star sophomore guard Kira Lewis. He is one of 18 finalists named Tuesday for the USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Cup Team. The final roster will be cut down to 12 before June 24 when the team leaves for Greece, and Lewis is expected to make that cut.
Oats said overall, “I like the attitudes, I like their work ethic.”
Although the workout Wednesday appeared to be rigorous, Oats said it was “a little lighter” than what they have done in these summer workouts.
The players working Wednesday included returning scholarship players John Petty, Jr. (6-5, 197 junior guard), Herbert Jones (6-7, 206 junior guard), Alex Reese (6-9, 238, junior forward), Galin Smith (6-9, 245, junior forward), and Javian Davis-Fleming (6-9, 248 redshirt freshman center).
Newcomers are Juwan Gary (6-5, 220, freshman forward), Jaden Shackelford (6-3, 185, freshman guard), Jaylen Forbes (6-4, 176, freshman guard), Raymond Hawkins (6-9, 240, freshman forward/center), and Jahvon Quinerly (6-1, 175, sophomore transfer guard).
In addition to awaiting the return of Lewis, the Tide is without signees James “Beetle” Bolden (6-0, 170, graduate transfer guard) and James Rojas (6-8, 215, junior forward), both completing academic work before reporting, Bolden on July 1, Rojas in August.
Oats revealed that Reese had been hampered in earlier work in the spring with “a minor knee deal. He’s 100 percent now.”
The coach said he had been surprised at how good Reese can be and how well he shoots the ball. He also reported that he expects his “bigs” to be able to shoot from outside, pointing to Smith as having put in a lot of work in that area. He also said that Jones had been working on his three-point shot (from the new extended line), improving from making 44 of 100 to 59 of 100.
“(Davis-Fleming) is a gym rat,” Oats said. “He’s in the gym all the time. I love gym rats.
“The culture has gotten a lot better on the guys where guys want to get in the gym on their own because they know they have the freedom and we’re encouraging them to shoot threes.”
Quinerly, a transfer from Villanova, has not yet been given an NCAA waiver in order to be eligible for play in the 2019-20 season.
Oats said the question regarding Quinerly “is going to come up a lot until we get an answer.”
He said that Alabama’s compliance department had not yet submitted the waiver request.
“It would be great to get him,” Oats said. “Hopefully we can get him this year. His mindset is great either way.”
Optimistic?
“Our compliance is pretty optimistic,” Oats said.
Observations from the practice make it clear why it would be good to have Quinerly. He is a shooter (he hit his first three threes in an opening drill) and ball-handler.
It was a very demanding practice, including random bursts of wind sprints by a handful of players while other drills were going on. Every shot in the practice was not a three-point shot, but there was an obvious emphasis on that. There also were physical periods of work to get to the rim. In the drills, Alabama ran several plays from the structure of the initial look.
Players who were noticeably lighter than last season were Alex Reese and Javian Davis-Fleming.
Both Shackelford and Forbes shot the ball well, and Shackelford in a polished ball-handler.
Smith, Hawkins, and Davis-Fleming all had some nice work around the basket.
Jones did a nice job of slashing to the basket, either dishing off or finishing his shots.
Among the spectators were former Alabama players Retin Obasohan, Erwin Dudley, Levi Randolph, Corban Collins, Lawson Schaffer, and Riley Norris.
Skill workouts, not actual practice.
