Alabama Basketball played their last scrimmage of the preseason against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons losing 88-80. The Alabama basketball team jumped out to an early lead leading at halftime by 13 points. The Crimson Tide however struggled in the second half getting outscored by 21 points in the last 20 minutes. One of Alabama Basketball’s key returners Mark Sears was not available for the game as he continues to deal with a groin injury. The game was not televised so it’s hard to tell exactly what went wrong but, with box scores, there is plenty to takeaway.
Alabama Basketball: Newcomers to lead the way.
If anything has stood out in the two scrimmages Alabama Basketball has played it’s that the newcomers will lead this team. Hofstra transfer Aaron Estrada led the way shooting 10-20 scoring 24 points with six rebounds and three assists. True Freshman Sam Walters who scored 29 points in a scrimmage against TCU continued his strong preseason scoring 13 points and hitting four three-pointers. Grant Nelson the highly touted transfer from North Dakota State scored 11 points shooting 4-11. Mouhamed Dioubate who made his Alabama debut today scored 10 points after missing the TCU scrimmage with an injury.
Expect some early growing pains as Alabama starts the season.
While this Alabama Basketball team is extremely talented there will be growing pains early on. There was plenty of turnover with this team losing three players to the NBA Draft, three coaches to head coaching jobs, and two players to the transfer portal. The team has only had two real opportunities to gel together in a game scenario with likely starting point guard Mark Sears missing both. The team returns only three prominent players from last season’s team Mark Sears, Nick Pringle, and Rylan Griffen. The team opens up its season on November 6th at home against Morehead State. The team will have plenty of time to gel before conference play as conference play does not open up until January 6th.
Note: Box Scores Via Charlie Potter Bama Online.