‘Perfect’ exhibition gives new-look Alabama plenty to fix

Alabama coach Nate Oats speaks with an official during a men's basketball exhibition game against Louisiana on Oct. 24, 2021 in Coleman Coliseum. (Alabama Athletics)

Almost seven months after Alabama’s SEC-championship season ended with an upset loss to UCLA, its men’s basketball team took the floor again in Coleman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.

Only two players who participated in that NCAA tournament game were active for the Tide’s exhibition against Louisiana, and it showed.

More in Alabama basketball:

Alabama suspends Jahvon Quinerly, Juwan Gary for exhibition

Rewinding Alabama’s exhibition win over Louisiana

JD Davison impresses, doesn’t win Tide Tipoff dunk contest

Alabama led for only 18 seconds of the first half before clawing its way in the second half to a 73-68 win in front of a crowd of 2,157.

“It was a perfect exhibition game, in my opinion,” coach Nate Oats said. “They’re a good team. There’s a reason we did the charity exhibition against a Division I [opponent] instead of a non-Division I, because I think they push you and stretch you. We got plenty of work to do in the next two weeks, plus.”

Guards Keon Ellis and Jaden Shackelford were the only two holdovers from Alabama’s last game in March, as Oats suspended guard Jahvon Quinerly and forward Juwan Gary for the exhibition because of an unspecified violation of team rules. With James Rojas sidelined with a knee injury and five players departed from last year’s squad, there were newcomers that needed breaking in Sunday.

“I think the biggest adjustment with our new guys was the physicality of the game, with the way Louisiana plays,” Oats said of the Ragin’ Cajuns, who were picked to finish second in the Sun Belt this season.

The new-look front court debuted Furman transfer Noah Gurley and 6-foot-11 freshman center Charles Bediako, while five-star freshman JD Davison joined Ellis and Shackelford in the back court. Sophomores Darius Miles and Keon Ambrose-Hylton as well as freshman Jusaun Holt came off the bench.

Ellis led Alabama with 21 points, shooting 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. The rest of the team went 1-of-20 from three-point range, including Gurley shooting 0-for-6.

“If he starts making some shots, it’s going to open up the rest of his offense,” Oats said of Gurley. “He’s just gonna have to get in the gym and work, and shoot some shots until he starts making some shots. ... He was 0-for-5 at the half and I thought all five of them were decent looks.”

Bediako started and struggled to both rebound and handle the ball in the early stages of the game. But Oats thought the center “grew up”, as he recovered in the second half to grab six of his seven total rebounds, and block three shots.

“Big Charles is a freshman, but I feel like once he got adjusted, he realized he better than them out there,” Gurley said of Bediako. “Everybody on the team believed in him. We tell him all the time, we want to see Angry Chuck. That’s when he’s most dominant. We see it in practice every day.”

Shackelford, the returning leading scorer, went 1-of-14 on field goals and 1-of-7 from deep.

“Really, probably his worst offensive performance we’ve seen in a long time around here,” Oats said. “But he led the team with seven rebounds. I don’t think he’s ever gonna shoot this poorly in a game again. That’s not him. So hopefully he got it out of the way in an exhibition game.”

Davison missed all three of his long-range shots but showed an ability to finish at the rim and draw fouls. That included scoring six points in the final 30 seconds, including four free throws.

“I was happy with the way he played,” Oats said. “I think it was really good for him, first game as a freshman, to walk in and play the way he played.”

Alabama made 27 of its 33 free throws, which would have been highs in both makes and attempts for last season, to help cover up 33 percent shooting from the field. Four of the free-throw misses came from Bediako.

“If we don’t make the free throws, we don’t win tonight,” Oats said. “It is a big deal. As poorly as we shot it from three, we needed to shoot it well from somewhere.”

The Tide grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, which would have tied last season’s high, but turned it over 22 times, which also would have been tied for the most last season.

Alabama will open its regular season Nov. 9 in Coleman Coliseum against Louisiana Tech, which was picked to finish second in Conference USA behind UAB.

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

X

Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information

If you opt out, we won’t sell or share your personal information to inform the ads you see. You may still see interest-based ads if your information is sold or shared by other companies or was sold or shared previously.