Alabama Basketball: With Braxton Key back, Avery has a player puzzle
By Ronald Evans
Alabama basketball got good news this week when Braxton Key announced his return. Avery Johnson’s recruiting bonanza adds a talent boost but allocating playing time will be a big challenge.
Braxton Key’s return brought a sigh of relief to Alabama basketball fans. Not only are Key’s talents and experience needed, Key should benefit from being in a complement of players who can score. Too often last season Key was needed to carry the team offensively. He is a talented player but so far his game does not fit being the “go-to” guy.
For all his skills, Key needs to improve his perimeter shooting, foul shooting and reduce his turnovers. Last season, Key shot 32 percent outside the arc and 63 percent at the line. He also committed 105 turnovers.
Looking back through Alabama basketball history, perhaps no previous roster has been so filled with so much talent. Even the best teams under C.M. Newton, Wimp and Gottfried could rarely go more than eight deep.
Adding the six new 2017 players to the returning group of Key, Dazon Ingram, Riley Norris, Dont’a Hall, Avery Johnson Jr., Lawson Schaffer and Armond Davis makes a 13-player roster. Such an abundance of depth and talent is a blessing, but it also presents a coaching challenge for Avery Johnson.
Collin Sexton has so many superlatives, running the offense through him is almost an imperative. While Sexton may not be a traditional point guard, he will assume most of the responsibility for ball distribution.
Alabama basketball may not designate anyone the “the” point guard next season. A more apt description is the Tide will play with guards, wings and bigs. The guards will be Sexton, Ingram, Avery Jr. and Schaffer.
The wings will be Key, Riley Norris, John Petty, Armond Davis and Herb Jones. Discussing the “bigs” is using a slight misnomer. Alabama basketball has tall “bigs” in Dont’a Hall, Daniel Giddens, Alex Reese and Galin Smith.
What Alabama basketball does not have is bulk with any of the four big men. Giddens probably has the biggest body at 235 pounds. Inside players at 6-9 and 6-10 generally need more than 235 pounds to battle inside. Several times last season, Hall was muscled out of plays due to lack of bulk.
Look for the 2017-18 Alabama basketball team to push the tempo and be far less dependent on half-court sets as recent seasons. Sexton, Petty and Jones are slashers who can take the ball to the hole with a slight opening.
The potential problem with such a talented team is not as much player minutes as it is touches and shots. Sexton is capable of leading the Tide in scoring. He is also capable of exploding into big scoring games. He will need to be as proficient in keeping his teammates involved.
Braxton Key and Collin Sexton probably expect to be NBA players after the coming season. For Alabama to achieve its newly bestowed potential, Avery has to mold these two and others into a cohesive unit.
It will not be easy for Avery. Alabama basketball fans will hope Johnson’s NBA experience will be a boost in shaping the chemistry of the 2017-18 Tide.
Next: Take an in-depth look at each of the six new players.
Alabama basketball has not played in a NCAA tournament game since March 2012. Even worse, that 2012 game was the Tide’s only NCAA bid in eleven seasons.