Scouting Report: Alabama Crimson Tide

If it feels like we just talked about the Alabama Crimson Tide it is because we did. Kentucky went down to Tuscaloosa just two weeks ago and won an unexpected rock fight 66-55. Now, the Wildcats will get their turn at hosting the Tide this afternoon at Rupp Arena. Alabama is riding a three-game winning streak since their loss to the ‘Cats. This is a very important bounce-back spot for Kentucky to secure another Quad 1 victory over a team that is getting hot at the right time.

Down at Coleman Coliseum two weeks ago, the Crimson Tide shot just 3-30 from beyond the arc, turned the ball over 15 times, and were held to their lowest scoring output of the Nate Oats era. Kentucky wasn’t particularly efficient either, shooting just 40%, but put five players in double-figures on the way to the road victory. It seems unlikely that we will see another low-scoring affair between these two high-powered offenses this time around, but we will find out soon enough. The ‘Cats have proven their ability to win basketball games in a variety of different ways.

We’ve got a full scouting report prepared to get you ready for today’s SEC matchup. We will begin with a full personnel deep-dive, then break down the offensive and defensive schemes, and finally provide the keys to the game. Let’s dive right in and get to know more about the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Alabama Crimson Tide Personnel

Starters

#13 Jahvon Quinerly: 6’1″ 175 lbs, Junior Guard

14.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.5 apg

Point Guard. Extremely aggressive off the dribble. Right hand driver. NO RIGHT HAND DRIVES!!! Give him a step on the perimeter and be ready to get over and cut off the right hand drive. Will reject ballscreens to drive it right. Loves the left to right crossover. Very willing and capable shooter, but shooting just 25% from 3 this season. Much more dangerous as a driver. Start by going under the ballscreens and handoffs. Need to tag on him both sides of the screen and be ready to contest if he shoots it behind. We will make him make a couple before adjusting. Stay between him and the basket. Switch if you need to. Pushes the ball hard in transition. Get the ball stopped. Excellent passer. Don’t over help when he drives. Take away the right hand drives and stay between him and the basket. No layups!

#5 Jaden Shackelford: 6’3″ 200 lbs, Junior Guard

17.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.5 apg

Lefty. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 35.9% on 217 attempts. Over 3 makes per game. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the 3-point attempts. Pick him up from 30 feet. Will shoot them from deep. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Always thinking about shooting. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and flares. Be VERY willing to switch ballscreens to take away the 3. He will run to set a lot of ballscreens but almost always slips. Switch if he ballscreens, but if there is no screen there is no switch. Stay with him. Make it hard for him to get a catch. Make him give it up when driving it left. 39 assists to 56 turnovers. Don’t help when he is driving it right. Much better going left. Your only job when guarding him is taking away 3’s. No 3’s!

#14 Keon Ellis: 6’6″ 175 lbs, Senior Guard

11.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.8 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 137 of 210 shots have been 3’s. Have to be there to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Be tight to him at all times to take away the 3. No help off him. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Chase off downscreens and handoffs. Switch if he ballscreens, but stay with him if he slips. Likes to use the shot fake on the perimeter. Will shot fake to drive it right. No right hand drives. We would rather him shot fake and drive it than take an open 3 though. Loves to cut along the baseline while the ball is driven. Don’t get back cut. Very good in transition. They will throw the ball ahead to him. Get back and protect the basket. Elite offensive rebounder. Will fly in the from the perimeter. Box out!!!

#0 Noah Gurley: 6’8″ 215 lbs, Graduate Student Forward

7.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.5 apg

Athletic 4/5 man. Capable shooter, but better as a right hand driver and around the basket. No right hand drives! You can closeout short to him on the perimeter. Be ready to close that space when he gets into a ballscreen or handoff. You have to be up there to be ready to switch and take away the 3 from the guard. Help off of him and then closeout short. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Be ready for him to slip ballscreens. Right hand, left shoulder around the basket. Don’t help up off of him at the rim. Excellent offensive rebounder. Be physical when the shot goes up. Box out!

#10 Charles Bediako: 7’0″ 225 lbs, Freshman Center

6.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.7 apg

Long, athletic 5-man. Post player. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. You can help off him when he is on the perimeter, but you need to get out to him when he has the ball so you are ready to guard the ballscreens and handoffs. Need to be willing to switch off him and you have to be out there to take away the 3 when you switch. Will slip ballscreens on the perimeter. If there is no screen there is no switch. Right hand, left shoulder inside. Be physical on his left shoulder. Mostly scores on dump off passes and offensive rebounds. Don’t help up off of him at the rim. Be physical when the shot goes up. Box out!

Bench

#3 JD Davison: 6’3″ 195 lbs, Freshman Guard

8.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.0 apg

Extremely explosive backup guard. Very aggressive right hand driver. NO RIGHT HAND DRIVES!!! He really wants to get downhill to his right. Need to stay between him and the basket. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Tag him on both sides of the screen and be ready to contest if he shoots behind it. Will reject the ballscreens to drive it right. No rejects! Closeout a step short to him on the perimeter to stay between him and the basket. Have to get the ball stopped when he is bringing it in transition. Shooting 60% from 2-point range because he gets to the rim so well. Make him score over you.You can stunt off of non-shooters, but he is a very good passer. Do not leave shooters to help on the drive. See how many 3’s you can make him shoot. Absolutely no layups for him.

#4 Juwan Gary: 6’6″ 218 lbs, Sophomore Forward

7.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.3 apg

Undersized 4-man. Non-shooter. Just 7-33 from 3. You can closeout short to him on the perimeter. Much better as a right hand driver. No right hand drives! Stay between him and the basket when he is on the perimeter. Really likes to cut along the baseline as the ball is driven. Don’t get back cut. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then closeout short. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Right hand, left shoulder around the basket. Really likes to slip ballscreens. Excellent offensive rebounder. Be physical. Box out!!! See how many 3’s you can get him to shoot.

#2 Darius Miles: 6’6″ 185 lbs, Sophomore Forward

6.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.7 apg

Lefty. Shooter! No 3’s! Need to be there to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s! Be tight to him at all times. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. No help off of him. Will drive it left once you take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. No left hand drives. Will slip ballscreens into a pop on the perimeter. Switch if he ballscreens, but if there is no screen there is no switch. Crashes the offensive glass from the perimeter. Box out!

#33 James Rojas: 6’8″ 220 lbs, Senior Forward

5.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.5 apg

Pick-and-pop 4/5 man. Willing shooter but just 5-19 from deep. Mostly wants to catch-and-shoot. Anytime he is involved in the offense is a win for us. Just throw a hand up to contest. We want him to shoot as many 3’s as he will get up. Right hand, left shoulder around the basket. Be physical with him inside. Make him score over you. Just contest and get him to shoot as much as he wants. Take the ball from him when he dribbles it.

#1 Jusaun Holt: 6’6″ 190 lbs, Freshman Guard

0.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 0.3 apg

Shooter! He just wants to take catch-and-shoot 3’s. 14 of 18 shots have been 3’s this season. Has been playing more recently. Not shooting a good percentage, but he is out there to catch and shoot. You can help off him until he makes one. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you if you aren’t going to stop the ball. Chase off downscreens and flares. Be there to give a hard contest.

Alabama Crimson Tide Offense

The formula for Coach Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide is pretty simple. Take a bunch of 3’s, get to the rim, and eliminate everything else. All of that is no secret at this point. However, despite shooting as many 3’s as anyone in the country per KenPom, the Crimson Tide have not connected on as many as years past. 

This season Alabama is making just 30.8% of their 3-point attempts which ranks 310th overall in college basketball. That percentage is dragged down by Jahvon Quinerly’s 25% shooting on high volume, but even when you remove his 36-144 mark, the Tide are just a tick over 32%. At this point in the season you are what the percentages say you are. The Alabama Crimson Tide are a team of shooters, not a team of makers. However, they are still dangerous because of the raw number of attempts they will put up. They play at one of the fastest paces in the country, shoot nearly 30 3’s per game, and are 40th nationally with nine made 3’s per game. This is still a team that can get hot in a hurry.

So much of what Alabama does is predicated on transition. They are going to take the first available open shot on every single possession. There are very few set plays, but they do a great job of putting their best players in a position to play to their strengths. To get a feel for it you just need to see it. Let’s go inside the film room.

5-Out Handoff Actions

Alabama always has some sort of action drawn up for the first possession of the game. This is what they went with to start things off in their last game against Mississippi State. From 5-out, they curl the little downscreen and have #13 Quinerly come off the handoff. #5 Shackelford is running off a double screen on the weak side. By going under the ballscreens and handoffs with #13 Quinerly you shouldn’t need to help as much and can stay with the roll man to take away the lob.

Here is another look at some handoff action from their 5-out. We are going under the ballscreens and handoffs with #3 Davison to stay between him and the basket. Get over and cut off the right hand drive. Also, he didn’t play against us the first time, but #2 Miles is a shooter. Do not help off him. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you.

Transition Offense

Protect the basket. Stop the ball. Matchup beginning with the next most dangerous guy. That is your transition defense checklist. When you are sprinting back to get the basket you have to run all the way to the charge arc before turning around. If you are above the charge arc you are too high to actually protect the rim. In this clip you can see the Mississippi State defender step out to guard #13 Quinerly on the perimeter instead of protecting the basket. That decision allowed a wide open dunk for #10 Bediako on the rim-run.

This clip against Arkansas shows what happens when you turn around too soon. The defender flipped his hips right around the three-point line and started back pedaling. You might as well go ahead and give the Alabama Crimson Tide two points if you are back pedaling in transition. #0 Gary is able to get behind the defensive player for a layup. Get ALL the way back!

5-Out Motion

Alabama likes to stay in 5-out to allow the most space for penetration. The main issue here is that Sahvir Wheeler doesn’t need to be jumping out 30-feet from the basket to take #13 Quinerly away. We are going UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs to stay between him and the basket. He gets downhill and attracts help due to Wheeler’s decision. Also, we shouldn’t be helping off #14 Ellis. He is one of just three “shooters” on their team. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you! Davion Mintz helps too much and is too slow closing out.

Alabama Crimson Tide Defense

After having one of the best defenses in college basketball last season, the Alabama Crimson Tide have struggled defensively this year. Just take a look at KenPom’s “Four Factors.” Alabama ranks 117th in effective field goal percentage defense, and then no better than 235th in turnover percentage, allowed offensive rebounding percentage, and opponent free throw rate. A lot of that is due to poor perimeter defense. Their guards gamble a lot and get out of position quickly. They just aren’t very interested in guarding you and allow a lot of open driving lanes.

Coach Oats will primarily stick with a man-to-man defense. The guards simply aren’t very bought in to guarding the basketball. We should have driving opportunities all night long. Attacking the rim off the dribble could work to get some of their guys in foul trouble as well. You can expect them to “ICE” some of the ballscreens, but again the guards aren’t very good at it. We just need to attack downhill and make the big man play you. They will stay with the ball handler for a long time almost trapping the ball which should open some things up as we move the ball after ballscreen actions. There will be a lot of opportunities to get good, open shots. We need to score 90 points on these guys.

Keys to the Game

• Take them away from 3! No 3’s for #5 Shackelford, #14 Ellis, or #2 Miles. Have to be tight to them at all times. Switch when you need to. Limit Shackelford to two 3’s or less. Along with that, get the other guys to shoot as many as possible. We WANT everyone besides those three to shoot as many as they are willing to take.
• Transition defense. Protect the basket, stop the ball, matchup beginning with the next most dangerous guy. Sprint back every time. Have to limit their easy transition baskets.
• Contain #13 Quinerly and #3 Davison off the dribble. As dangerous as Shackelford and those guys are from 3, these two are equally as dangerous driving it. No right hand drives! Stay between them and the basket.
• Gobble up the long rebounds! You can’t turn and run to the rim. Guards and wings have to get a body on their man and go get the ball. Win the 50/50 balls. Go and get it with two hands. 10 or fewer offensive rebounds.