Bama Basketball Roster and Immediate Future of Tide Hoops

Pretty decent roster. Is Lawson Schaeffer a walk on? Is somebody going to have to leave because of scholly limits?

PitMaster said:

... a "sleeper" guy that could be a Keith Askins type as a freshman, Mr. Herb Jones.

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Funny. I mentioned to my son that Jones reminds me of Keith Askins; hope he can be that good.

seebell said:

Pretty decent roster. Is Lawson Schaeffer a walk on? Is somebody going to have to leave because of scholly limits?

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Yeah, Lawson is a walk on.

Someone might not have to transfer to make the numbers work, but someone will have to come off scholarship.

Hope this is the year.


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We will have good depth for sure not to mention some quality players.

I think the numbers will work out. We have a few that might transfer. I have not heard anything about King, but he may graduate soon so he may be able to go somewhere as a graduate transfer if he chooses that route. Brandon Austin was hurt all year and I don't have any idea of his status.

I think we'll be a tourney team, but don't expect miracles overnight. We'll still be counting on freshman and sophomores to lead us next year. I know the freshman have worlds of talent, but basketball is so much about knowing the system and where each player should be on the floor both offensively and defensively. It will take time to develop chemistry and defensive switches. It will help a ton that we are playing in Canada this summer to adjust to one another.

BAMAVILLE said:

Didn't that was the case, thats pretty cool, forgive my ignorance but is that's just where the team is doing summer camps?

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Will be similar to the team traveling to Europe Grant's last year. They'll play games against Canadian teams. Hopefully, this will allow Avery time to get a clear picture of what the rotation should be. Took some time to figure that out this past season.

I like the idea of getting a better picture of the rotation. Seemed like CAJ went a long time this past season trying to figure this out and then had to deal with losing two players.

Don't know how much CAJ can learn from players wearing ice skates though.

With the potential for a higher number of capable players this season, will CAJ try to bump up the pace of the game or full court pressure?

This will be CAJ's first team that has numerous versatile athletes on the roster and really the first one that SHOULD make a legit Tourney run.

Last year, you had essentially the Retin show and while he was amazing for the team, no player can do it alone. This year was a little more balanced but they were missing that lead guy that Retin gave the team. 2017/2018 gives CAJ his first team that should have numerous scoring options and possibilities for versatile lineups.

The ideal offseason, for me, is:

1. Continued improvement from the Key and Ingram. The Sexton/Petty duo is going to get all the pub(and for good reason) but the development of the current young guns will determine if this is a tourney team or a massive letdown. With Sexton likely taking over some of the ballhandling duties, it would be nice to see Ingram hit a similar percentage of 3 pointers while upping his number of attempts. We need someone shooting almost 43% from downtown taking more attempts than he put up. Key just needs to continue to improve as he did all season. Both guys need to up that FT% by at least 10% points.

2. Between Giddens and Hall, somebody needs to anchor the middle. Alabama has some legit wing players on the team and coming in but they need an enforcer. Giddens immediately stands out with his size but he has to be better than he was at Ohio State. The good news is...as a freshman, everyone knew he was raw so his performance should not be concerning. The bad news is...he didn't play this year so we don't know if he has actually gotten better. At worst, the hope is that he gives us more size than Bola and more toughness and consistency than Taylor/Hale. Donta needs to continue to add weight and consistency. He CAN rebound and he CAN block shots..now he has to do those things with some consistency while not fouling.

3. Improved long distance shooting from Avery Jr., Armond and Riley Norris. We need these guys to be AT LEAST be in the 35-38% range. Between these 3, they should 361 3s...and made 111 for a percentage of almost 31%. The offense will not improve much without these percentages moving to that 35-38% range or higher.

4. Sexton and Petty...need to be the real deal. In an ideal world(and a realistic one as well), Sexton can produce a season similar to some of the top 2016 guys. Dennis Smith Jr.? 18pts/6 asts on 45%/36%. Malik Monk? 20pts on 45%/39%. De'Aaron Fox? 16pts/4asts/4rbs on 48% shooting. And Petty? Maybe a Rawle Alkins...11 pts on 46% shooting. Or maybe a Mustapha Heron(barf) - 15pts, 6 rbs on 44%/42%. Bottom line? To be truly successful, Sexton and Petty need to be at the 25-30ppg range combined.


The bottom line, for me, is this...as much as you hate to rely on freshman(unless you are Kentucky), Alabama NEEDS Sexton and Petty to be as advertised. If you can add those 2 to an improving Braxton Key and Dazon Ingram, then you can have a nicely spaced floor with 4 legit offensive weapons. That ALONE would be an improvement over the past several years but does not take into account potential improvements from Riley, Avery Jr. and Armond. If 2 of those 3 could become more consistent and Giddens/Hall can just be trash men, then the team should be in good tournament shape.

I really do agree with the idea (unless something unforseen happens) that next year should be when everything comes together. Avery's first year, Obasohan emerged and really put Alabama ahead of schedule in terms of where they should have been. His loss and the lack of anyone to fill his shoes (the Ferguson situation didn't help) kind of overshadowed improvement in other areas. So, Alabama showed only a modest improvement. This is the first time in a long time where it looks like Alabama has nowhere to go but up (under Grant each time things seemed like that they somehow fell apart). If no one else transfers, they'll be adding one of the top recruiting classes in the nation to an already solid team.