Alabama: 5-0
Kenpom Rating: 11
Previous games:
11/7 win over #166 Longwood 75-54
Six scorers between 8 and 14 points
Four players with 10+ rebounds
Three players with 2+ blocks
11/11 win over #82 Liberty 95-59
Three players with 16+ points
Three players with 3+ assists
11/15 win over #218 South Alabama 65-55
Brandon Miller: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 threes made
11/18 win over #228 Jacksonville State 104-62
Three players with 18+ points
Four players with 3+ assists
Seven players with a made three pointer
11/24 win over #24 Michigan State 81-70
Brandon Miller: 24 points, 4 threes, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks
Michigan St’s Malik Hall DNP
OFFENSE: 15tn efficiency
#2 in the nation in offensive rebounding
They shoot a ton of threes (17th most proportionally)
23rd in offensive tempo
Good at getting to the line (46th in FTA/FGA ratio)
Give up a ton of turnovers (21.3% turnover ratio is 273rd lowest)
DEFENSE: 17th in efficiency
#1 in opponent 2p% (34.8%)
14th in block % (16.2%)
Don’t generate turnovers in other ways aside blocks (235th in steal %, 309th in non-steal/block TOs)
65th in defensive rebounding rate
Opponents aren’t able to shoot a lot of threes (71th lowest 3pa/fga, 32.9%)
Prevented opponents’ assists (42.6% A/FGM is 52nd lowest)
With only two NCAA tournament appearances in the previous thirteen seasons prior to his hiring, Nate Oats has been a slam dunk hire. Not only has the Tide made the tournament in the last two seasons, but they have become top destination for HS recruits and transfers ranking in the top-15 nationally in each of their recruiting hauls between the ‘20 and ‘23 classes.
At Alabama, Oats’ has integrated the same style of offense he was famous for at Buffalo: play fast and shoot a lot of threes.
Aside from freshman guard Jaden Bradley and sophomore big Charles Bediako, everyone else in the regular rotation let it fly from three, so expect three or four shooters on the floor at all times.
With the ability to gather the caliber of athletes Oats was unable to attract at Buffalo, Alabama isn’t just an offensive machine: according to evanmiya.com, all players aside from point guards Mark Sears and Jahvon Quinerly are plus-defenders, which makes me think this is yet another game where Tristen Newton can utilize his size, creativity and balance to attack Alabama’s PGs and take advantage of their defensive inefficiencies.
While Oregon’s bigs are more known for their offensive abilities, Alabama’s bigs are much better defensively, but lack overall heft:
credit to kenpom.com
Looking at Alabama’s most frequently used lineups, perhaps UConn should continue the good spacing it showed last game by utilizing Karaban at the 4, keeping him at the perimeter, and forcing Brandon Miller to away from the basket, which allows Sanogo/Clingan one-on-one opportunities to battle with the thinner Alabama bigs and kick-out when necessary.
It will be interesting to see how UConn defends Brandon Miller. 247 compares him to Paul Pierce, a versatile combo forward who can do a little bit of everything on offense. Can Karaban keep up with him? Or, will UConn go small with Jackson at the 4 to defend Miler.
No comments:
Post a Comment