With a third of the season in the books, it’s time to take a look back at Alabama’s first 10 games of the season and hand out grades.
There are two non-conference games remaining for the Crimson Tide before SEC play begins, as they’ll take on Mercer and Texas this week.
How has the team fared on offense? How about defense? And what about the intangibles?
Let’s determine grades for each area.
Offense
Offensive struggles have plagued Alabama over the last several seasons.
Avery Johnson sought to end these struggles by recruiting elite offensive players that could put the ball in the bucket, and he found his guys in Collin Sexton and John Petty, among others.
They answered the call. Sexton and Petty have been the leading offensive options for Alabama and are first and second on the team in scoring, respectively.
However, it’s not just the freshmen that are curing the long-endured woes that Alabama has experienced in Johnson’s first two seasons in Tuscaloosa.
Donta Hall’s progression has been impressive as he is averaging 12.3 points per game. Hall has become a force and dunks everything in sight. His 75 percent field-goal percentage is good for fourth in all of college basketball.
He has developed more of a post game to add to his high-flying ability and has given the Tide the option to throw the ball on the block and let him go to work, something that was not much of an option a season ago.
Dazon Ingram is averaging 11.4 points per game and has shown the ability to have big scoring outputs. He willed Alabama to a win against Louisiana Tech in which he dropped 22 points. He is a skilled slasher but often times struggles to finish at the rim, with his free throw shooting a bit of a concern at 66 percent.
Overall, Alabama’s offense has significantly improved from a season ago. Ten games into this season, the Crimson Tide is averaging 79.3 points per game, compared to 68.5 per game last year.
This jump in scoring is thanks in part to both the offensive prowess added to the roster as well as an increase in pace.
Last season, according to KenPom.com, Alabama averaged only 65 possessions per game which finished 302nd in the country. This season, Alabama is 63rd in the nation with just over 72 possessions a game.
That’s a large jump and it is making the difference for the Crimson Tide on the offensive end. It helps to have one of the best transition players in all of college basketball in Sexton.
Of course, Alabama has still battled consistency issues. The freshmen often take ill-advised shots and are prone to unforced turnovers. These are growing pains that freshmen-laden teams have to endure.
Alabama has offensive firepower, but could become more consistent and take better care of the basketball.
Grade: B+
Defense
Defense has been the calling-card for Alabama basketball since Johnson’s arrival, with defense and rebounding fueling nearly every win.
Prior to the season, I thought this team had a chance to be even better in both of those areas this year. Alabama’s newcomers and even the returners had height and length that could cause problems for opposing offenses.
But while the defense has shown that it can be elite, Alabama’s rebounding has dipped.
In Alabama’s first 10 games, it has been outrebounded in six of them. It tied with BYU in rebounds as well.
Therefore, Alabama has only pulled more rebounds than its opponent in three games this season. That is an area of concern. The Crimson Tide will have to seriously improve its team rebounding before SEC play or it could be something that costs them a few games.
As for the overall defense, Johnson’s squad has been getting the job done for the most part.
Team defense has been strong for the Crimson Tide, but some of the newcomers have seen struggles on that end of the floor.
This was apparent against highly experienced teams such as UT-Arlington. While freshman Herbert Jones has shown to have a high defensive IQ and the physical tools to be an excellent on-ball defender, the other freshmen have shown flashes but have made mental mistakes which lead to lapses on defense.
Luckily, the presence of Hall as an elite rim-protector (which has drawn interest from NBA circles) has been a safety valve for the Alabama defense. He’s averaging 2.6 blocks per games with a block rate over 10 percent.
Alabama has the roster and tools to be one of the best defensive teams in the SEC.
The Crimson Tide will just need to shore up mental lapses and improve in rebounding as to not give opponents too many second chance opportunities.
Grade: B
Intangibles
Toughness
Alabama has showed a lot of resilience early this season. The team has shown that they do not get flustered if they fall behind in a game and will fight until the final whistle (even if there’s only three players on the court).
I was most impressed with how the team played at Arizona. The freshmen, in their first true road game in a very hostile environment against a preseason top five team, showed they weren’t afraid of the bright lights.
This is thanks in part to the big stages that some of them have played on prior to coming to Alabama, such as the Jordan Brand All-American Game and the McDonald’s All-American Game.
Team Chemistry
As expected, it has taken the team a few games to gel and learn how to play together. With so many new faces, the players need several games to feel comfortable on the court with their new teammates.
However, at Arizona, they looked like players that had been playing together for years. They played with chemistry and played hard for each other.
Now that Braxton Key will be returning to the lineup, it should allow Avery Johnson to put his rotations into stone. That should allow this team to really to start to gel together and create more chemistry.
Having Key back in the lineup will help the freshmen continue to get adjusted, and in turn, give Alabama the opportunity to build off a solid start to the season.
Grade: A-