Bama Bball is so confusing

[BamaMoon]

We are about 2 more shooters away from really being good.

Because we don't have any outside threats except when Petty in "on" and when Reese hits a few we don't have a way to soften up a defense and extend them to the 3 point line. This hurts our ability to score lots of points very quickly outside the arch but it also stagnates our inside game because they can play a packed in zone or soft, helpside man to man.

I thought Petty would be a more consistent player, but basically when his shooting goes south, so does our offense.

 

[BamaMoon]

We have a young team, poor fundamentals and inconsistent performance. We're in year 3 of CAJ's tenure. How does the program improve from this point? I'm not sure I'm to the point of wanting to fire CAJ yet but what's the path for improvement? This is as much raw talent as we've had in a long time so now the reason we're losing is youth. Next year, when Sexton and possibly others leave, we'll be more experienced but less talented. I guess that's just the life of being an Alabama basketball supporter. Always waiting on next year..

Kinda talking out of both sides of your mouth IMO. We may be in year 3 of CAJ's tenure, but most of the key players on this team are freshmen, which are known for inconsistency and poor fundamentals.

How can we get better and what's the path forward? I'm pretty sure that even talking about firing Avery would be a huge mistake. He's recruiting at a very high level...better than we've seen in years (maybe ever). Path forward is letting him continue to build a reputation of getting "one and done" talent like Sexton, plus sprinkling 2 or 3 or 4 year guys who'll be really good like Jones, Petty and others.

 

[WylieTexasTider]

Who on earth is putting that idea out? No way all of them go pro.

Sexton is gone. Key came close to going last and Ingram thought about it briefly so I wouldn’t be surprised if they bailed. Hall not Petty should go but, we’ve seen dumber things.

If only Sexton goes we would be a team that has a legit shot to make some noise in the dance.

 

[BamaMike05]

Sexton is gone. Key came close to going last and Ingram thought about it briefly so I wouldn’t be surprised if they bailed. Hall not Petty should go but, we’ve seen dumber things.

If only Sexton goes we would be a team that has a legit shot to make some noise in the dance.

Key looked at going last year and was told to go back to school. He is not even close to the player that he was last year. He will be back. Ingram, not even close. The only one other than Sexton is maybe Hall because of his size, but I still think he is a 2nd rounder. He could also use another year of development, however, he could choose to develop in the G league.

I really think Sexton is the only one that leaves. Add Jared Butler, Diante Wood, and a skilled big in Javion Fleming. Next years lineup could be dangerous. With that said, I still think we make the tourney this year.


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[teamplayer]

Key looked at going last year and was told to go back to school. He is not even close to the player that he was last year. He will be back. Ingram, not even close. The only one other than Sexton is maybe Hall because of his size, but I still think he is a 2nd rounder. He could also use another year of development, however, he could choose to develop in the G league.

I really think Sexton is the only one that leaves. Add Jared Butler, Diante Wood, and a skilled big in Javion Fleming. Next years lineup could be dangerous. With that said, I still think we make the tourney this year.


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After that loss, I'll be shocked if we make it. We are now at the toughest part of our schedule and still have zero consistency. I hope you are right.

 

[WylieTexasTider]

After that loss, I'll be shocked if we make it. We are now at the toughest part of our schedule and still have zero consistency. I hope you are right.

Agree. We will struggle to be above .500 in conference. Except for Miss St I do not see another road win this year for this team. Not sure we have more than 2 more wins at Coleman either. Steal one at home or the road and we finish 9-9. If we finished 9-9 after a 5-2 start, not sure the committee would be too impressed unless we won a couple of games in the tourney.

SEC likely gets in 7 teams. AU, KY, UF, UT are locks. We are fighting with Arky, MIZ, Miss St for the last 3. All 3 have arguably easier schedules down the stretch than BAMA. MIZ is closest to our difficulty with UK 2X. However, none have UT, KY, UF 2X and AU.

 

[slkk1]

Simple answer. Too many youngsters with no senior leadership. They aren't mentally tough yet.

 

[TiderinAZ]

What on earth has happened to Key? He looks as if he is scared to shoot the ball. I don’t recognize him anymore. Is it the injury? Rejection by the nba? young stars around him?

 

[CrimsonForce]

Kinda talking out of both sides of your mouth IMO. We may be in year 3 of CAJ's tenure, but most of the key players on this team are freshmen, which are known for inconsistency and poor fundamentals.

How can we get better and what's the path forward? I'm pretty sure that even talking about firing Avery would be a huge mistake. He's recruiting at a very high level...better than we've seen in years (maybe ever). Path forward is letting him continue to build a reputation of getting "one and done" talent like Sexton, plus sprinkling 2 or 3 or 4 year guys who'll be really good like Jones, Petty and others.

I'd be good with this if the team was consistently playing sound basketball. There's so many simple things we fail to do - box out, score on 3 v 1 or 2 v1 fast breaks, make free throws, etc - that I'm not sure bringing in more talent will fix the issues. This is the most talented Alabama basketball team in recent history yet we're losing to UCF and Missouri at home and lose against the worse SEC team on the road. At some point these issue fall on the head coach. Does anybody really think we're a better coached team in year 3 vs year 1? It doesn't take an increase in talent to play sound fundamental basketball. That's a mindset and focus that's instilled by the coaching staff during practice and workouts. Again, not saying we should fire CAJ but just looking at it objectively I don't see a way ahead that looks like it will be any better than it is now..

 

[CrimsonForce]

For those who think we're better coached in year 3 vs year 1 please explain in what areas. These are SEC team rankings:

Scoring offense 11th
Rebounds 10th
Free throws 11th
Three pointers 12th
Assists 11th
Steals 3rd
Blocks 1st

I just don't see how someone can objectively say we're a better coached team. We have more talent, and give CAJ credit for that, but the play hasn't improved. I just don't want to see a repeat of what happened with Grant. I want CAJ and the program to be successful but until I see evidence of that I can't bury my head in the sand and just blame our poor play on youth, the officials, etc.

 

[RTR91]

For those who think we're better coached in year 3 vs year 1 please explain in what areas. These are SEC team rankings:

Scoring offense 11th
Rebounds 10th
Free throws 11th
Three pointers 12th
Assists 11th
Steals 3rd
Blocks 1st

I just don't see how someone can objectively say we're a better coached team. We have more talent, and give CAJ credit for that, but the play hasn't improved. I just don't want to see a repeat of what happened with Grant. I want CAJ and the program to be successful but until I see evidence of that I can't bury my head in the sand and just blame our poor play on youth, the officials, etc.

Maybe not just look at the rankings and look at the actual stats?

FG%:

2016 - 42.2%
2017 - 42.4%
2018 - 46.1%

3FG%:

2016 - 33.9%
2017 - 31.7%
2018 - 33.3%

FT%:

2016 - 64.3%
2017 - 65.3%
2018 - 68.1%

Rebounds:

2016 - 34.6
2017 - 39.2
2018 - 36.7

Assists:

2016 - 347
2017 - 390
2018 - 287

Blocks:

2016 - 176
2017 - 141
2018 - 136

Steals:

2016 - 192
2017 - 200
2018 - 155

PPG:

2016 - 66.5
2017 - 68.5
2018 - 73.8

Winning Percentage:

2016 - 55%
2017 - 58%
2018 - 64%

Top 25 Wins:

2016 - 4
2017 - 1
2018 - 3

Double digit scorers:

2016 - 2
2017 - 2
2018 - 4

SOS:

2016 - 28
2017 - 68
2018 - 13

 

[TideEngineer08]

Sexton is the only NBA draft pick on this team right now. No one else is leaving unless they just don't want to go to school anymore.

 

[BamaMike05]

For those who think we're better coached in year 3 vs year 1 please explain in what areas. These are SEC team rankings:

Scoring offense 11th
Rebounds 10th
Free throws 11th
Three pointers 12th
Assists 11th
Steals 3rd
Blocks 1st

I just don't see how someone can objectively say we're a better coached team. We have more talent, and give CAJ credit for that, but the play hasn't improved. I just don't want to see a repeat of what happened with Grant. I want CAJ and the program to be successful but until I see evidence of that I can't bury my head in the sand and just blame our poor play on youth, the officials, etc.

The SEC is a much better league now, so that is not a fair comparison. We will just have to agree to disagree.


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[BamaMoon]

I'd be good with this if the team was consistently playing sound basketball. There's so many simple things we fail to do - box out, score on 3 v 1 or 2 v1 fast breaks, make free throws, etc - that I'm not sure bringing in more talent will fix the issues. This is the most talented Alabama basketball team in recent history yet we're losing to UCF and Missouri at home and lose against the worse SEC team on the road. At some point these issue fall on the head coach. Does anybody really think we're a better coached team in year 3 vs year 1? It doesn't take an increase in talent to play sound fundamental basketball. That's a mindset and focus that's instilled by the coaching staff during practice and workouts. Again, not saying we should fire CAJ but just looking at it objectively I don't see a way ahead that looks like it will be any better than it is now..

For those who think we're better coached in year 3 vs year 1 please explain in what areas. These are SEC team rankings:

Scoring offense 11th
Rebounds 10th
Free throws 11th
Three pointers 12th
Assists 11th
Steals 3rd
Blocks 1st

I just don't see how someone can objectively say we're a better coached team. We have more talent, and give CAJ credit for that, but the play hasn't improved. I just don't want to see a repeat of what happened with Grant. I want CAJ and the program to be successful but until I see evidence of that I can't bury my head in the sand and just blame our poor play on youth, the officials, etc.

CAJ is in year 3 but this team is basically a team of freshman. What's so hard to see about that?

Those freshmen weren't around in years one and two.

Gotta look at the big picture here. Last thing we need to do is start all over.

 

[RTR91]

We don't have to look any further than across the state to see why patience is a good idea.

 

[Rama Jama]

I think some of this is youth and some is Coach Johnson needs to realize that you have to run a system that fits your team. He runs a pro system most of the time and substitutes based on a NBA mentality. It is all about matchups. I think he needs to adjust his style to the college game rather than try to run a NBA system. Pick and rolls work when you have guys to execute it, but we don't, at least not yet.
I also think he needs to be tougher on the kids. He needs to be their coach not their friend. Coach Johnson needs to call them out when they are loafing and not listening to him. A little bench time can work wonders. Are we better than we have been in years past, Absolutely. Are we where we want to be, absolutely not, but I do see progress. I think coach will learn and the players will learn as well. The games are at least fun to go to now. We gave Grant what 5 or 6 years to get it going and he was never even close to this level. The SEC is better as well than it was 4 years ago. If this team was playing the UGA's and Mizzou's of 4 years ago, I think we beat them hands down.

 

[beatthemtigers]

Men’s basketball tweeted a group picture and Jones was in a walking boot, anyone know anything about that?

Nevermind, apparently it is precautionary.

 

[CrimsonForce]

We don't have to look any further than across the state to see why patience is a good idea.

Big difference though - Pearl won big on the college level before AU. There’s precedent to let him build a program like he did before..

 

[BamaMike05]

Big difference though - Pearl won big on the college level before AU. There’s precedent to let him build a program like he did before..

We get it you don’t like CAJ. I don’t know who you think that we could get right now that could bring in anymore talent and energy to the program than what he has brought right now. IDK maybe we could go get Coach K (Blue font).

The reality is the program is being built. You can see progress. You’ve talked in many posts about year 1 to year 3. How about 3 top 10 RPI wins?! We didn’t have that in year 1. We have won 5 out of 7 games. I would say that means that we are getting better.

I’ll say it for the thousandth time.... Look at the games that we have lost. They are all vs teams that play at a slow pace and have physical bigs that keep us from being able to play to our strength which is taking it to the rim. When we aren’t knocking down shots it makes it even more difficult to get the ball to the rim. Add to the fact that we start two true freshman, two sophomores (one who was injured for half the year), and one Junior, and our 6th man is a true freshman; we are still figuring out how to play together, and how to handle success.

Look at the brilliance of the game plan CAJ had vs OU. He knows what he is doing. If you can’t see the flashes of improvement in our team than you don’t understand Basketball AT ALL.


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[RTR91]

Big difference though - Pearl won big on the college level before AU. There’s precedent to let him build a program like he did before..

That's absurd. Because Avery has only coached in the NBA, we shouldn't be patient?

Oh, and are you going to acknowledge the stats posted yesterday or just continue to go by rankings to help your thinking?


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