Crimson Red Sports

 The Alabama men's basketball team will play its lone exhibition game of the season when it welcomes the Montevallo Falcons to Coleman Coliseum on Monday night at 7 p.m. CT.

http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/110914aac.html

Are you going J?

I'm anxious to see the men get started but I am also wondering about the status of the three injured players Obasohan, Tarrant, and Kessens, CAG is still saying they aren't healed.

Yes I will. :clap:

Excellent.  I can't wait to hear how they do.

Their regular season starts Friday night against Towson State, hopefully they will have a good crowd for it with the football crowd being in town. It would be great if there was a big crowd on hand to start their season.

There will definitely be 2 out of town guests there to watch it with you, so we're doing our part!  :popcorn2:

Bama wins 81-67. We did not look good IMO. Division II Montevallo played even with us on the boards. They are a good DII team but they should not be able to hang with a SEC team.

On the bright side we had three potential starters that did not play in Kessens, Tarrant and Obasohan.

Thanks for the update. The news is definitely not good. We should be able to wax a team like Montevalo, especially on the boards.


 :tinfoil:

Bama did win the game against a team that they should beat but I have to give Montevallo credit, they had a couple of players that were making shots from Greensboro Ave and McFarland Blvd. They were a decent team that should do well in their conference again this year.

Bama struggled a lot tonight but with the lineups they were using I thought they would. The young ones were playing hard but not smart but that will work itself out as they get more playing time. My biggest disappointment is Jimmie Taylor, he just doesn't have the skills to assert himself offensively or defensively. For the most he just gets pushed around and when he does try to assert himself he fouls.

Bama's outside shooting was much improved over last years  and their free throw shooting picked up, as it should, at the end of the game. Randolph, Hale, and Cooper picked up where they left off last year. I thought Coleman played hard and has a very good outside shot but he isn't very tall and I wonder how he will match up with the big guards in the SEC. He reminds me a lot of Pettway when he played at Bama, just smaller. Riley Norris played a little passive in the first half of the game but he picked up his pace in the last 10 minutes of the game and showed he can fit in with the team with more experience. I thought Dakota Slaughter played well, he's not flashy but he is physical and has a pretty good shot from the outside.

Right now the key to this team is getting the injured healed and get them in the lineup. To me, Kessens is the key player that Bama needs to step in and be a force. Again, this was an exhibition game and Bama played pretty sloppy with  lot of fouls in the first half but that should get corrected as the team plays more games. I was pleased to see the effort of the players, especially the new ones, but I think the team should and will look better Friday night. I'm worried about Obasohan though, he had an ice pack on his left ankle the whole game.

The big question is will this team be better than last year's team? There is no way that question can be answered after watching the game tonight, this game was all about playing everyone that was available and that is exactly what happened.

http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/111014aaa.html

This is the question I have been asking for the last 4 years, why can't we find guys like that. Teams like Mercer & Belmont have beaten us with 6' white boys who could shoot the 3 like crazy while we can't throw it in the ocean. A total mystery to me. Thanks for all of your information & observations. Please do this when you attend other games.


 :wave:

Thanks for the report, J.

I'm not too upset about this exhibition. We always start out with a very lackluster performance with these games. I just hope our 3 injured players heal and get up to speed quickly. They will need some time to build chemistry. Looking forward to seeing them play Friday night.

Montevallo is under sized compared to Division I teams. We should have been able to pound the ball inside and score at will. I expected Taylor to dominate under the basket. Taylor finished with 4 points and 8 rebounds. We only had 5 offensive rebounds to their 9. We only out rebounded them 37-33. I am looking forward to Kessens getting in the lineup. I think he will made a difference.

Randolph, Hale and Cooper looked good. They combined to score 54 of our points. I thought Coleman played well at the point for a true freshman. He is quick but very small. All the freshmen got to play. Norris had 6 pts and Mitchell had 4. Slaughter was 2-2 with both shots 3 pointers.

I think we will be a different team with Tarrant at the point and Kessens down low. I hope those guys are ready to play soon because the season starts Friday.

Last night we looked very similar to last year. Poor ball movement just passing around the perimeter and no inside game. We shot 25 three pointers. We can only hope we will be better when everyone is healthy. I am as optimistic as it gets but I am very concerned about this team. I hope I am wrong.

Well I can not go but I will be there in heart. I really think CAG has put together some great talent and now teach them to communicate and play together there is no reason not to see the NCAA at the end of the year. RTR!

We were 9/25 on 3 pointers. Your description of the ball movement is disturbing.


 :think:

The one thing that I didn't mention was that Montevallo played zone defense all night and Bama scored 81 points. This to me is a big improvement for the team because last year if Bama had to face a zone defense they were dead.

That is good news.

Here is another article that has the stats for the game.

http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/111014aaa.html

Aight the real deal is coming up and for Freshmen to be getting good playing time now is great. Our Srs can lead them they can grow and look out Kentucky and Florida. RTR!