Alabama’s Basketball Week could not have arrived at a better time. Not only was it exactly halfway through the southeast conference of the southeast conference of Crimson Tide, but he also brought a break before the last nine games of a glove, including seven games against classified opponents.
Alabama faces two tests against Arkansas and Texas during an extended road trip. The tide will face the razorbacks on Saturday and will remain on the road before its first dry match with the Longhorns.
The Arkansas experienced the start of 0-5 at the SEC, but struck victories in three of its last four games, including consecutive victories against Kentucky and Texas. First -year coach John Calipari At the Razorbacks by clicking at the right time and the tide will face an intense environment on Saturday inside Bud Walton Arena.
“This place is strong,” said oats. “I think Auburn is probably the strongest place in the league, but when they do it in Arkansas, they compete. We had very good games there – let’s go out on the right side and the bad side. So, it’s on the road, it would be great if we can have a good start, calm them early, but they have a good fans base. “”
Oat is well aware of what Calipari can evoke despite certain disappointing results for Arkansas so far. The OAT studied Calipari coaching methods when he was head coach of Memphis and oats were still secondary. The two have had their share of battles in the dry and oats knows that Calipari will be hungry from Arkansas to remove another upheaval and maintain its recent shape.
“He is one, if not the best recruiter in the history of university basketball, and he is one of the best motivations for university basketball,” said oats. “You can see how he prepared his team to leave, entering Rupp. I thought they were playing the most inspired game of the year. They are hard, they are physical, they play hard on the defense. He has always had good defensive teams. He has talented offensive teams. It seems much more than they share the ball much more now than they were a few weeks ago and it makes things more difficult. »»
Here is everything you need to know about the match on Saturday.
How to look
WHO: N ° 4 Alabama (19-3, 8-1 sec) against Arkansas (14-8, 3-6)
When: 7:30 p.m. CT, Saturday February 8
Or: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Watch: ESPN (Play-by-Play: Analyst 🙂
Listen: CRIMSON Tide Sports Network | Sirius / XM 134/201 (Play-by-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink)
The projected starters of the Alabama
Mark Sears: 6 feet 1 inch, 190 pounds, graduate
Statistics: 18.1 ppg, 3.1 RPG, 5.1 APG, 40.4% FG, 35.9% 3-PT
Chris Youngblood: 6 feet 4 inches, 177 pounds, first year student
Statistics: 9.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.0 APG, 43.6% FG, 37.0% 3-PT
Jarin Stevenson: 6 feet 11 inches, 215 pounds, second year student
Statistics: 4.9 ppg, 3.5 RPG, 0.9 APG, 36.6% FG, 24.2% 3-PT
Give nelson: 6 feet 11 inches, 230 pounds, graduate
Statistics: 12.8 ppg, 8.4 RPG, 1.6 APG, 54.0% FG, 26.6% 3-PT
Clifford Omoruyi: 6 feet 11 inches, 250 pounds, graduate
Statistics: 7.2 ppg, 6.4 RPG, 0.8 APG, 75.0% FG
Projected landfills from Arkansas
DJ Wagner: 6 feet 4 inches, 195 pounds, second year student
Statistics: 10.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.1 APG, 41.5% FG, 33.3% 3-PT
Johell Davis: 6 feet 4 inches, 210 pounds, graduate
Statistics: 10.1 ppg, 3.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 39.7% FG, 34.0% 3-PT
Karter Knox: 6 feet 6 inches, 220 pounds, first year student
Statistics: 7.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.9 APG, 40.0% FG, 30.8% 3-PT
Adou Thiero: 6 feet 8 inches, 220 pounds, junior
Statistics: 16.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.8 APG, 57.4% FG, 23.5% 3-PT
Zvonimir Ivisic: 7 feet 2 inches, 245 pounds, second year student
Statistics: 7.8 ppg, 4.1 RPG, 0.9 APG, 48.0% FG, 41.9% 3-PT
Be healthy
The OAT provided an update on the Alabama striker, Derrion Reid, before the match on Saturday. The five -star recruit continued to face a persistent injury in the lower body and will be against the Arkasnas and the match in the future.
Although not having Reid is certainly disappointing for the Alabama, the week of the team week has given other players a healthy chance to compensate for their absence. Mouhamed Diobuate The minutes were limited against Georgia due to an injury, while the first year guard Labanan Philon Business an injury to a persistent ankle since the LSU match.
“I thought he looked really good,” said oats about Philo’s game in practice this week. “We were obviously much harder in practice yesterday than today. I thought he looked great. I think that Dioubate, Labaron become healthier and then just at this stage of the year, approaching in mid -February, nobody will be totally – everyone will have a little something here or there …
“We went very light on Monday, Wednesday. So we left on Sunday, Light Monday, excluding Wednesday. There was really only one considerably difficult day in this four-day section there on Thursday. We went quite strong on Thursday, but it’s two days before a match. I think Labaron will seem to have much more pop. As I said, Dioubate seems to have much more pop. “”
In addition to a physical rebound for a few players, the week of leave also allowed Alabama to rest mentally before a prolonged road trip. This strategy seems to have borne fruit in oats in terms of his team’s place in a good place before the match on Saturday. Alabama’s revamped endurance will be critical before the tidal games which ranks like the most difficult calendar in the country according to the BPI of ESPN.
“I thought we had a very good practice, yesterday and today, after having and out of day, and we will need it,” said oats. “We have a difficult road trip of two games ahead of us. Arkansas plays much better than they were a few weeks ago. »»
Avoid the play of traps
Alabama has the opportunity to create even more momentum and further consolidate its status of one of the best road teams in the country if it can sail in front of the Razorbacks and Longhorns. The two games have opportunities for players to intensify what oats calls “maturity tests”.
“We have neglected teams here in the past,” said oats. “It’s not a mature thing to do. This is not what a team should do that has the leadership of veterans and I hope we do not do it. But there are a lot of opportunities for that. I mean, a week from Saturday, we get Auburn at home. If you focus on Auburn in a week and you did not focus on Arkansas, you will lose.
“If we are lucky to have a fairly decent game at Arkansas – again, if you focus on Auburn at home in a week and you do not focus on what you need to do in Texas, It will be a loss, “said oats …” Are we sufficiently mature to manage our business right now and not look to the future? I hope we are. I hope we have already learned a few lessons this year. »»
Oat is faced with a double challenge on Saturday. The first is to help Alabama players keep the game in front of them as the main objective. The tide failed to do so in home matches against then-no. 21 Ole Miss and LSU. The two games followed big victories on the road for Alabama and the tide was exhibited for overlooking his opponent.
Alabama looks excellent on the road in the dry play so far, but if it comes with the same mentality as against the rebels and tigers, the tide will be exposed by one side of the long and talented razors. Arkansas may seem to be a trap game given its current record, but has a team capable of challenging any team in the champion game Fland boogie to the injury.
In the absence of FLLAND, the transfer of the Atlantic to Florida, Johnll Davis, became occasionally, with an average of 17.2 points per game since Fland has fallen with a thumb injury. Davis divided the co-American honors of the conference of the year with the Alabama goalkeeper Chris Youngblood last season and share the rear area with the second DJ Wagner (10.6 ppg).
With the arkansas guard game, the Adou Thiero striker continues to be one of the surprise packages of the dry. The junior followed Calipari from Kentucky last season when he has an average of 7.2 points per game. The striker prospered in Fayetteville this season, leading the razorbacks in score (16.2 ppg) and rebounds (6.2 RPG).
Arkansas also deploys a lot of length in the paint. The Razorbacks are classified n ° 5 in the countryside of shots and have three players who on average more than one block per game. The 7 -foot striker 2 inches Zvonimir Ivišić opens the way with 1.8 blocks per game and has been in tears since entering the starting formation against Kentucky and Texas. The reserve forward Trevon Brazile (1.3 BPG) and Jonas Aidoo (1.2 BPG) will also track the large of the Alabama inside.
Calipari’s Razorbacks outfit will be a difficult test, especially in the paint for the tide. Before the first match of his road trip, oats are intrigued to see how his players will react after a week off and with the mental challenge to be where their feet are and stay focused on the game in front of them, especially Against an arkansas side that plays much better than starting the league game.
“It’s a good team,” said oats. “They have won three of the last four and I think we have to consider them as well as they looked like in the last four games because that’s what they currently have. This is what their rotation is. How much they are playing and this is how the ball moves now.
