Crimson Red Sports

Well, Tide BB was a huge disappointment and a complete inconsistent up & down team. The last 10 games were brutal. Now huge change is in the air. First, read this current story.



https://www.wvua23.com/alabama-basketballs-2022-team-outlook-could-be-nate-oats-biggest-challenge/ (https://www.wvua23.com/alabama-basketballs-2022-team-outlook-could-be-nate-oats-biggest-challenge/)



 :popcorn2:

So, we lost Shackleford, Keon Ellis, and JD Davison to the NBA. Davison MIGHT get drafted but he is very raw with much development needed. He was basically a turnover machine but he always had a lot of energy, rebounded well, and was always moving. He needed at least one more year but he will probably go to the G League for development. Shackleford greatly underachieved and was inconsistent. Keon Ellis seemed to be the most overall consistent player on the team but still has a long ways to go. In other words,  these losses are not overly big, though I would have liked to have seen Davison with another year at Bama. Losing these guys is NOTHING like losing Herb Jones & Josh Primo last year. Both are starters in the NBA.


 ;)

Now the transfer portal. We have lost Juwan Gary, forwards Alex Tchikou, Juwan Gary, Keon Ambrose-Hylton, guard Jusaun Holt, as well as two walk-ons in Johnson and Jaden Quinerly. The only player I see as a real loss is Juwan Gary, a high energy, go get em kind of guy who would battle under the basket at 6'6". I believe this is going to help make room for much more talented players, especially the 5 signees in our #3 ranked recruiting class. Already we have signed one player from the portal, a 6'1" point guard who averaged 20 points a game at Ohio University of the MAC conference. This could be a very good addition. Forget his scoring, we need a point guard to run the offense and not turnover the ball. There are still a lot of talent in the portal that Oats might be able to sign, let's hope so. We need a big man, 6'9" to 6'11" to provide depth and play around the basket. Any other players we get from the portal would add gravy to the plate.



 :dog: :dog: :dog:

This is our recruits for the coming season.


https://alabama.rivals.com/commitments/basketball/2022 (https://alabama.rivals.com/commitments/basketball/2022)



The class is well balanced with size, shooters, and a point guard. I have high hopes for this class, but they still must be developed, guided, and given a good offensive game plan to execute.





 :clap: :dunno: :clap:

Marshall, what do you think about our two main assistant coaches? They've both been there for many years through several head coaches...are they getting the job done?

I know basketball staffs are so much smaller than football, so (it's a hard comparison) the head coach is more intimately involved in Xs and Os and practice drills, but we've been complaining about fundamentals for years (poor ball handling, free throw shooting, etc).  To me those type things fall on the assistant coaches heavily.

I agree with you HL. CNO fought the defense stuff all year and we lost games in the 2nd half a lot. RTR!

That's a great question & something I have wondered about. Antoine Pettway is the only long time assistant coach we have, that I know of. He is supposed to be an excellent recruiter and he was a point guard at Bama. You would think he knows something about ball handling and running the offense, but can he teach those things, I just don't know. I think we should remember that poor ball handling/turnovers have been a part of our game for several years. Does that point to Pettway, I just don't know but it is a disturbing thought and fact since he has been here for those same years. Coach Oats has to look at these things in a hard way and make changes if needed. Of course, this does not absolve the other assistant coaches or even Coach Oats. This coming season will be fascinating in several ways.



 :popcorn2: :popcorn2: :popcorn2:

I agree MD. I played BB and it was driven in us to defend first and then rest will come. If we didn't play defense ourselves was on the bench. RTR!

I like that philosophy.



 :clap:

Hey, MD, thanks for posting all these BB articles & comments.  So many guys coming & going I had lost track of it all.

CNO may need to make changes in the ass't coaches just to bring a different 'voice' into the mix.