Alabama Basketball: NBA scouts flock to Legacy Arena for Tide vs. Texas
By Ronald Evans
Alabama basketball is not known as a ‘one-and-done’ school but plenty of NBA scouts will watch Collin Sexton and Texas’ Mo Bamba Friday night.
The ‘Alabama Road Show’ has game two Friday night at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham. On Tuesday night Avery Johnson took his Alabama basketball team to Huntsville to play Mercer. Mercer is better than most fans realize and the Bears have a solid chance of being an NCAA Tourney team.
The north Alabama crowd got to see the marvelous Collin Sexton and fellow freshman and local star John Petty take down the Bears 80-79. The Tide showed flashes of excellence but turned in an overall sloppy performance against Mercer.
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Friday night’s game features as many as 10 future NBA players, highlighted by freshmen Sexton and Mo Bamba, both who may be Top 10 picks. Bamba is not much taller than Donta Hall, only an inch but his long arms give him a 7-foot-9-inch wingspan. Bamba’s stat line is modest at 10.3 points and 9.7 rebounds. Where he excels is defense with 4.1 blocks-per-game and a dominating presence inside the paint.
The teams have their sights set on NCAA berths and both teams are 8-3 on the season. Friday’s game is pivotal for each team’s NCAA chances. Shaka Smart’s team is better than its record, with overtime losses to Duke and Gonzaga and another tight loss to Michigan.
Avery needs to find the right rotation
With Braxton Key back in the lineup, finding the right playing rotation of Tiders is a challenge for Avery Johnson. Ten players saw action against Mercer but in his first game back from injury, Key only played 20 minutes. Avery can continue to play 10 players as needed, though most coaches believe team, on-court chemistry is best served by an eight or nine man rotation.
The numbers of minutes, rather than the number of players is the biggest challenge. One of the keys to the remainder of the season will be how well Herb Jones, Riley Norris and Alex Reese can contribute in reduced minutes. Jones only saw eight minutes against Mercer and Riley 12 minutes. Reese was impressive in the Mercer game, with 10 points in 18 minutes.
Players are sometimes tempted to try and do too much in high profile games. In addition to Sexton, Donta Hall, Braxton Key, John Petty, and Herb Jones have legitimate NBA futures. Doubtless, others on the Alabama basketball roster also have NBA dreams. The game will be interesting to see how well those aspirations mesh into a team concept.
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Future Crimson Tide basketball opponent, Oklahoma’s Trae Young recently tied an NCAA record. Young made 22 assists against Northwestern State. If you don’t know who Young tied, don’t feel bad, some of the Tide players were also unaware. Young now shares the NCAA single-game assist record with Avery Johnson.