re: Alabama Basketball 2026-27 roster tracker

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Now that the roster is set, anyone wanna take a stab at the lineup and minutes?

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What I think Starts Game 1:

Biz
Samuels
Amari
Bristow
Fielder

It truly is hard tho to narrow it down.

I’m a big fan of All our Freshman and Cloer. We have options. Like I didn’t include Jemison who I think is gonna be one of our better players. I like Garrison, when he would lock in and focus at UK he was pretty damn good. I could also see a world where Onyejiaka plays a 2023 Chuck defensive monster role for us.

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Now that the roster is set, anyone wanna take a stab at the lineup

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Allen
Biz
London
Fielder
Garrison

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Wade is a sleazy used car salesman who kinda relies on the out-athlete em method and then molds his team around what they do well. I certainly wouldn't say he has a distinct style like most really successful coaches

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Corn dog money is finite and they are going to 100% throw a shite ton of resources at football. Their state is poor with a shrinking population and they’ve had to pay some substantial buyouts so Will Wade isn’t going to get the NiL budget he’ll need to succeed at LSU because their fans don’t care about basketball more than football or baseball.

Starting Fielder at the 5 is a BAD idea. I think this team plays bigger 2-5. For starters, we need to be more rugged on defense to get to cutting down the last nets of the season and we're not getting there just by undersized 3s and 4s giving great effort. At a certain point, you gotta have the length and physicality to handle the very top teams. I'm sure we will play some high octane small-ball at times with Fielder or Bristow at 5.

Second, I think the feedback Allen got is going to lead to him playing a bit different role this year.

I think Philon got feedback in the 2025 draft combine that he needed to show the ability to create offense on his own and others because he's not big enough to be viable in the NBA as a complimentary player with a defensive focus like he was with Sears in the backcourt with him. So when he came back for 2025-26 in Tuscaloosa, he became a scorer and distributor and let his defense take a backseat.

I believe the feedback Allen got in the 2026 draft combine was that he's not an NBA small forward so he needs to demonstrate a 2 guard's skillset on offense and the ability to use his length to be a lock down defender on perimeter players.

This is actually great for us because we need to have more length and Allen at 2 guard goes a long way on that front.

I'd watch out for Richardson to get better as the season progresses. He's the son of an NBA player. He probably just needs to get accustomed to the level of play. I imagine he won't hit a wall like other guys because he's likely got a better idea of the grind and how to take care of himself than others. He may end up being a starter if he can shoot 30%+ from behind the arc because he's going to be one of the most athletic dudes on our team.

1: Holloway / Diaz
2: Allen / Samuels
3: Jemison / Richardson / Allen / Cloer
4: Fielder / Bristow / Jemison
5: Garrison / Davis-Fleming / Onyejiaka

Could have been just a freshman thing, but I'm not sure how I feel about Jemison at the 3. Can stretch the floor, but his ball-handling and decision-making off the dribble left a lot to be desired.

Also been a lot of smoke behind the staff being extremely high on Samuels coming in, and Richardson has apparently looked great in the preseason practices.

Having said all that, I think with this roster it's pretty hard to project much of the starting lineup. Allen and Holloway are the only two guys I'd project as for sure starters. I do however feel pretty sure that Fielder, Jemison, Garrison, Samuels (if healthy), Richardson and one of Davis-Fleming/Onyejiaka will probably all get significant minutes as well

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Samuels (if healthy)

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I have been a little removed from the updates this summer...Are we already reaching for our preseason injury quota?

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This one actually predates us. I think he's supposed to be fully recovered soon.

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Thanks for the update!

Field of 68 (soon to be Field of 76?) projected starting 5

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Jemison can hang defensively there in limited time and against more athletic/finesse bigs, but him and Fielder would give up 100+ against anyone with a good front court.

We may get some annoying losses in pre-conference play as we figure out the lineup. As always, they'll be ready in March.