re: Tide Hoops | Please Anchor

Nate Oats on Alabama Basketball's Draft Hopefuls: 'The More This Team Wins, The Higher Their Stock Goes' (SI)

Crimson Tide guards J.D. Davison, Keon Ellis, Jahvon Quinerly and Jaden Shackelford all hope to pursue professional careers following the season.

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I would love to have JD back, but I still feel like he's going to wow people at the combine. If a team that picks 20-30 in the first round gives him a guarantee, will he be happy enough with that to declare? First guy from Lowndes County to make the NBA since Ben Wallace (I think) might be too much to pass up.

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He will definitely be a guy that we won't be sure he is coming back until the door shuts on the deadline to stay in.

If he goes, I assume we'll put the full court press on the best transfer PG available that fits the scheme (of which there will be a handful of, thankfully).

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I’m confident Oats will get a great PG from the portal if he does leave

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I don't think I trust the portal just yet. There is definitely talent there but I'd prefer having a known commodity that has been in the system.

If we do go the portal route, I think I prefer to go after guys like Notae from Arkansas who were balling at a smaller school vs a guy riding the bench at another big program. JQ worked out for us but I don't think you can count on getting a guy like that every time. But the Bama program should be really attractive to any PG with NBA dreams.

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2022-2023 Roster PG - JD Davison (SO) PG - Jaden Bradley (FR) SG - Jaden Shackelford (SR) SG - Nimari Burnett (SO) SG - Rylan Griffen (FR) SF - Darius Miles (JR) SF - Jusaun Holt (SO) SF - Brandon Miller (FR) PF - Juwan Gary (SR) PF - Noah Gurley (SR) PF - Noah Clowney (FR) PF - Nick Pringle (JR) C - Charles Bediako (SO)

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The problem with this is basically this entire roster will expect meaningful playing time lol with maybe the exception of Clowney and Pringle

I’d be shocked if JD comes back. He’s been projected as a 1st round pick most of the season, maybe all of it. I don’t really follow that stuff closely. He’s a bit of a project, but so was Primo. And I think JD’s ceiling is a little higher than Primo’s.

Thanks, amigo.

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The Extra Point: Putting Alabama Basketball's Success into Perspective

The Alabama basketball team is positioned to make the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years for the first time since 2006.


The inconsistencies and up-and-down nature of the Alabama basketball team have been well-chronicled this season.

While the Crimson Tide have secured big wins over top teams such as Gonzaga, Baylor, and Houston, they have also suffered some inexplicable losses to teams like Iona, Georgia and Missouri. The play at times has been maddening for fans and even head coach Nate Oats has voiced frustration with certain aspects of the team throughout the season.

However, when looking at the big picture, Alabama basketball has come a long way from where it was just a couple of years ago.

Alabama (18-10, 8-7) is currently ranked as the No. 24 team in the country by the AP poll and ESPN's Joe Lunardi has them projected as a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. If the Crimson Tide were to make that projection a reality, it would be the first time they have made the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons since 2006.

As mentioned earlier, Alabama has beaten three of the four Final Four teams from last season and currently sits at No. 23 in the NET Rankings with seven Quad 1 victories. The Crimson Tide close the regular season with two home games against South Carolina and Texas A&M and then a road date with the LSU Tigers who sit at No. 18 in the NET Rankings.

While Alabama basketball certainly has had some inconsistent play this season, Nate Oats has turned the program in the right direction and now will look to make a run in March.

No. 24 Alabama will host South Carolina on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum. The game will be televised on SEC Network.

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Imagine if

1. Shackleford comes back

2. Bediako and Davison come back and make the big jumps that are easily foreseeable

3. Miles and Holt work towards their sneaky high potentials on both ends of the floor

4. We get the Gurley we’ve had lately

5. Burnett adds a quality 3 and D player

6. The Big 3 freshmen are all contributors with at least one of them being a stud immediately



Will all of these happen? Probably not but none are unlikely. And if most are all do…we’ll be really flipping good

I don't think it's really fair to compare since they're different situations.

Primo was expected back and was going to have a bigger role this year and then make the jump but he exploded in the pre-draft process and he has a high floor since he's a 3+D guy with the potential to add above-average ballhandling and a more filled out frame, I think he's still younger than JD by a couple of months.

JD is a guy that was projected high to start the season and has declined stock-wise since his peak vs Gonzaga. If you read the reports on him, there are a lot of questions about his half-court play, shooting off the dribble, and if he brings any value off the ball. Him coming back and showing he can run the offense and shape his game up a bit would go a lot further than being at risk of leaving and playing in a lot of G-League games. I wouldn't blame him either way but he's one of the few guys that could come back and actually show the improvement needed for the NBA.