re: Alabama Basketball Recruiting and Offseason Talk

You going to tell us what it said? Deleted tweets don't show up bruh

Well might as well take out the link though. Links to nothing

I'll say this, if Austin Wiley gets a legit NBA lotto projection, he better sign an agent that day. I selfishly hope he returns to AU and has a great year, but it is the wrong move for him

Sexton is in the same spot exceot he actually is projected there

I think Key is an inconsistent defender more than a bad defender. I also wonder if I’m the only one who thinks he’s at best 6’6.

He’s pretty good at getting to the basket. He’d be a lot better at if if he wasn’t a terrible shooter.

How about when we tried inbound versus Bamba!! It seemed like that was five or six turnovers in that game alone!!!

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I think Key is an inconsistent defender more than a bad defender.

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Exactly. There's times he's moving his feet and keeping quick 6' point guards in front of him . . . --

People talking about him just not being quick footed enough to be effective switching onto guards must not recall the one SEC broadcast --pretty sure it was against Waters from LSU -- where they replayed multiple attempts by Waters to drive him with announcers beating the horse to death saying it was Alabama's strength to have a 4 that could switch onto a player like Waters.



He's also a pretty damn good help defender in blocking shots, creating turnovers, taking charges. . . All related to quickness for his size on defense.



Just like you said:

Key's main issue seems to be much more concentration lapses than physical/skills -- "spacing out" on defense, throwing the ball to no one. . .

The only more physical/ability issues (since I think his not shooting at least 33% from 3 is more mental than poor mechanics) with Key are mainly:

1) he's not particularly strong on the blocks -- fighting for boards or defending a truer post player

2) he's not strong taking care of the ball driving through traffic ... has great first step to get to basket but often gets frustrated/reluctant because he gets so many balls stolen in the lane



I understand the frustration since it's fair to say a lot more was expected of Key this year.

However, fans really tend to forget how much players can improve in their junior/senior seasons. ...
Even Alabama fans after watching Randolf, Obasohan, Hall etc etc the past few years.

I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. He has mental lapses and it’s frustrating to see a player with so much potential barely scratch the surface of it. Ultimately it is the player’s responsibility but he was playing out of position at the 4. With our lack of movement I can understand how he loses concentration especially when last year he was the focal point of the offense.

Not saying anything about who’s right and who’s wrong but I’ve always attributed Braxton’s defense to being a cerebral player who pays attention to the scouting report. Had a coaching buddy tell me what kept Braxton from being a 5 star coming out of high school was his mediocre athleticism. Coaches were worried that he might have plateaued physically as a Jr. in high school.

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Not saying anything about who’s right and who’s wrong but I’ve always attributed Braxton’s defense to being a cerebral player who pays attention to the scouting report. Had a coaching buddy tell me what kept Braxton from being a 5 star coming out of high school was his mediocre athleticism. Coaches were worried that he might have plateaued physically as a Jr. in high school.

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Thanks for the good post.

Yeah, Key certainly doesn't have "explosive" athleticism and you're likely spot on about much of his "game quickness" is due to being a pretty smart player.

My late father was a HS coach and I must have heard him say "quickness is your mind" ten thousand times.


Key being a cerebral player is probably a big reason I seem a bit higher than some here on how much he could improve if he gets a bit more comfortable and doesn't "over think".

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I've always thought Key had slow reaction times, more than slow feet

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That may be a pretty fair assessment. Guess I'm just hoping he stays and another year of experience brings more of the effective, match-up problem Key and less throwing passes to the cheerleaders Key.

It was 110% a fake tweet. There were a few of those going around today and I know who made them

@BamaRoundball

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Syracuse transfer Matthew Moyer lists Alabama among the 8 schools he is considering. The 6'8" forward started 20 games this year, & will have 2 years of eligibility remaining after sitting out next season. Academics will heavily factor into his decision.

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