re: 2017-18 Alabama Basketball Season Thread: 20-16 (10-11)

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I was all in on the Crean train when we hired Avery. Would much rather hire Crean/Matta than roll the dice on some random mid-major guy.

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Crean and Matta both would be great hires.


I thought that Avery may have figured out a successful identity last year by playing stout interior D and aggressive rebounding.

Everyone wants to have a fun, high flying offense to watch, but it is extremely hard to consistently win that way. It is much easier to win annually with a top level D though, just look at Bennet at UVA

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Gene is so right here.

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UVA is sitting in the middle of the toughest conference in America and doesn’t land much 5 star talent.

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I'd pump the brakes a little bit on this so people aren't confused, UVA has a ton of talent, just not elite 5* talent. For example, the "average" ranking of a UVA player is higher than Bama's because all their players are Top 40-75

Each year since 2013, UVA plays about 4-5 guys in their main rotation (~20+mpg) that were top 100 recruits. On average they have about 5-7 players on the roster that were top 100

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Bennett has them in The Dance every year and they can beat anyone on a given day because they play lockdown defense

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So once you get past the whole "Tony Bennett is arguably a top 2-3 CBB coach" part (why UVA is so good), you'll see though that the "Pack Line" defense that UVA runs is consistently successful every year, a few examples

-Sean Miller -> Xavier/Zona
-Chris Mack -> Xavier
-Archie Miller -> Dayton (likely Indiana once they learn system)

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keep scores in the 40-50 range most games

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This is the problem. Watching a UVA game is like watching paint dry. It's a contest to not lose the game, not to try and actually win.

Pack Line defenses don't typically steal the ball or have fast breaks and the best offense is a grind it out late shot clock game. Zona/UVA/Xavier are generally some of the slowest tempo teams nationally

that first half made me want to come back to the basketball thread

Anyone care we got a game going on? Lol

petty is so frustrating to watch

Interesting that Petty came off the bench

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It's a contest to not lose the game, not to try and actually win.

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Incorrect.

They give 40 minutes of hell defensively and look to take the best possible shot... Whether it takes 2 seconds off the shot clock or the full duration... It's just often times is going to be late in the shot clock when plays and lanes develops. They force teams who rely on fast break, athleticsm to half court-straight up basketball. Forcing the opponent into uncomfortable situations and making them play into your hands seems like someone is trying to win.

We are a lot better with Ingram being in the second group being the primary ball handler.

True

Hooray a win