Bama Basketball: The New Beginning

There was so much speculation from everyone in what to expect from Coach Avery and the team with all of his predictions and guess what, he produced what he had predicted. From the opening tip off until the final horn to end play, this team very different than team that Bama fans had ever seen play at the University of Alabama. I had an idea of what to expect after having seen them practice but you can trust me that the practice didn't show the intensity that they would come out with last night, offensively and defensively.

The first surprise for me was the attendance there last night. I don't know that there has ever been that big of a crowd at Coleman for the first game of the season. Sure it had been hyped up for the past two weeks with Tide Pride offering ticket specials for the game but if any of you know the Bama fan base, it can be very fickle at times and very unpredictable. I think the sellout came up just a little less than a hundred people short of a sellout. Not all of the ticket buyers showed up at the game but the crowd was massive in comparison to the years past.

What did we see last night? Personally I saw a group of hungry young athletes trying to make a statement that Coach Avery can and will give Alabama the chance of a winning and respected program that he promised when he signed on to take the job. It seemed that all of the players were trying to inject their skills to be the leader of this team which is a blessing. In the past few years it seemed that the players on the team were waiting on one of their teammates to step up and be the spark plug or leader that would take them to victories. Not so much last night though as all of the players seemed to inject their energy in a way to be that leader of the team.

I usually never pay that much attention to the stats of a game as each game seems to bring out a different team due to the opponent being played. Each opponent will bring a different challenge for the team defensively and offensively so each game will be different in a way. There is one part of the game though that Bama will have to improve on if they intend on being in that upper class of competition and that is free throw shooting. For most of the game they were shooting about 30% from the line but did improve down the stretch of the game to improve that stat and seal the victory. I'm sure this part of the game will get the much needed attention that is needed. As far as the other parts of their game, I think they looked green in some areas but game to game experience should help that situation.

I'm happy with what I saw, team and fan wise, last night and hopefully this game lit a fire under the team and the attendance and will only get better as the season progresses. Not saying last night's attendance wasn't good but what will the next games attendance be like. They both need each other to be successful so here's hoping the fans will respond as they did last night and support what I think is a bright future for the program.