Mitchell and Green lead the way...
A funny thing happened in Coleman Coliseum last night. For the first 12 minutes of the first half I thought the Tide was playing LSU in football. Alabama's defense was stifeling North Florida but their offense was horrible. Brick City. The Tide started two freshman and Trevor Lacey wasn't one of them. The home town crowd got to see the potential of Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper. Each is a superstar waiting to happen.
What did happen was Tony Mitchell. Mitchell led the Tide on a 13-2 run to open up a margin that the Floridians could never cut. Mitchell had a double - double with 17 points and 10 boards. All-American JaMychal Green led all Tide scorers with 18. A versatile and very athletic Levi Randolph pulled down 8 rebounds and scored 5 points. Randolph showed the ability to play both inside and out. His versatilty is going to be big with a much smaller Tide team this season. The Huntsville native played a good all around game, and didn't look like a freshman. Rodney Cooper, the 6-6 wing freshman is not afraid to shoot. Grant gave him the green light. Cooper had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Still recovering from summer knee surgery, Trevor Lacey, whom most thought to be the Tide's best recruit came off the bench with 6 points and surprising 5 rebounds. All in all a good start for the Tide three freshman guards. Throw in Nick Jacobs fierce battles under the boards, which included two blocked shots.
The development of Jacobs is key to Alabama's success. When Mousse Gueye tore his ACL it put an already short bench for big men even shorter. I spoke briefly with the big 7-2 center after the game. He says he will be able to return sometime in the SEC season. Mousee has three years to play with no redshirt. Carl Engstrom has improved but needs more time to bring his talent up to SEC speed. Look for limited minutes. Bama's Belgium recruit, Retin Obasohan did not play. He may red-shirt. Charles Hankerson has improved greatly but had a poor game. He will have some big minutes down the line. Ben Eblen actually took a shot. He was solid as always.
Bama held the Osprey's to an unbelievable 23% shooting from the floor. Alabama's four guard offense is even more swarming than last season. Cooper and Randolph look good on the double teams and anticipating passes. Bama shot a lukewarm 40% from the floor but was over 55% in the second half. The Tide also hit 15-17 free throws. Bama's small line-up controlled the boards 40-35 (75 rebounds is a lot of missed shots). The Crimson and White had a respectable 13 assists but committed 14 turnovers. Three of those were unforced.
Bama takes on Oakland Monday at 7:00PM. Oakland was an NCAA participant last seaso
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What did happen was Tony Mitchell. Mitchell led the Tide on a 13-2 run to open up a margin that the Floridians could never cut. Mitchell had a double - double with 17 points and 10 boards. All-American JaMychal Green led all Tide scorers with 18. A versatile and very athletic Levi Randolph pulled down 8 rebounds and scored 5 points. Randolph showed the ability to play both inside and out. His versatilty is going to be big with a much smaller Tide team this season. The Huntsville native played a good all around game, and didn't look like a freshman. Rodney Cooper, the 6-6 wing freshman is not afraid to shoot. Grant gave him the green light. Cooper had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Still recovering from summer knee surgery, Trevor Lacey, whom most thought to be the Tide's best recruit came off the bench with 6 points and surprising 5 rebounds. All in all a good start for the Tide three freshman guards. Throw in Nick Jacobs fierce battles under the boards, which included two blocked shots.
Bama held the Osprey's to an unbelievable 23% shooting from the floor. Alabama's four guard offense is even more swarming than last season. Cooper and Randolph look good on the double teams and anticipating passes. Bama shot a lukewarm 40% from the floor but was over 55% in the second half. The Tide also hit 15-17 free throws. Bama's small line-up controlled the boards 40-35 (75 rebounds is a lot of missed shots). The Crimson and White had a respectable 13 assists but committed 14 turnovers. Three of those were unforced.
Bama takes on Oakland Monday at 7:00PM. Oakland was an NCAA participant last seaso
Back to Tider Insider
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