Did not notice the poster until i finished this post and then had to look .. got a chuckle at that pointWe are a group of grown men with multi yrs of college experience.
We have size, we have makers, we have lockdown defenders and we have depth.
We have a new coach who is going to allow his players to shoot 40 threes a game and will play man/zone/press and actually run an offense too.
Whats not to like?
This is a minimum FF team.
Minimum.
Oats is only slightly more proven at Alabama than Pope is.Bama has a proven coach and system there, probably higher end talent with 2 guys who could be AA ‘s. Solid recruiting class and transfers who need to prove themselves but he’s done well in that regard. His transfers last year led them to a final four.
Oats has a system and don’t forget about his success before Bama as well. I think Pope will do fine, just that I’d have to put Bama in a different class than us until we are proven. The other potential AA to me is is Cliff Omoruyi. He has gotten better each year and will play on a top ranked team where he will get the spotlight now. I think he will be one of the best big men in college this year. Nelson probably makes a 2nd or 3rd All SEC team if he continues his tournament play.Oats is only slightly more proven at Alabama than Pope is.
Yes he went to the F4 last year, with a 12 loss team. It's not like Pope has not coached before (like the UNC and Duke new coaches just 3 years ago), or like Pope hasn't coached a P5 school (he was in the B12 for one year, and had his team ranked for much of the year). And he clearly has more talent than he had last year.
And after Sears, who is the other potential AA candidate at Alabama? Nelson LOL. Nelson got hot for a couple of NCAA-T games, but otherwise was pretty average all year. I would put Carr up against him! I think Williams and Omoruyi is a pretty good & even matchup too. I do like Stephenson for them though (a lot).
Sears is the classic over-achiever. Him vs the defensive-minded Butler would be a good matchup, but you have to give the advantage to Sears.
But I'll take Oweh and Robinson over Wrightsell & Youngblood, and it might not even be close.
Mallette and Stephenson off the bench will be good for them, but we have more players that will be good off the bench (3-5).
Are we better (on paper) than Bama? IDK, probably not. But I think it's reasonably close. And if they are projected top 5 team, there's no reason we shouldn't be projected top 10 or at least top 15-20 team.
You don't think Pope has a system, that nearly every coach has a system. Yes, Oats may be different than most. The same might be said about Pope's. It's not like Oats has crushed it at Bama. Yes, he's done well, but not crushed it. In 2019 he took a decent team and repeated the prior mediocre season (which got Avery Johnson fired) at 8-10 in SEC. He did then "crush it" in 20-21 only to then lose early in the S16. In 21-22 he fell back to mediocre at 9-9 in SEC. He "crushed it" again in 22-23, once again though losing early in the S16 despite having possibly the best player in the tournament. Then 23-24 was good, despite 12 losses, going 13-5 in SEC and getting hot at the right time and making the F4.Oats has a system and don’t forget about his success before Bama as well. I think Pope will do fine, just that I’d have to put Bama in a different class than us until we are proven. The other potential AA to me is is Cliff Omoruyi. He has gotten better each year and will play on a top ranked team where he will get the spotlight now. I think he will be one of the best big men in college this year. Nelson probably makes a 2nd or 3rd All SEC team if he continues his tournament play.
True, we have 0 "elite" players. But we have lots of "good" players.I think I will wait until we sign the try out winner for the 13th and final roster spot before I give my overall talent comparison, prediction.
The one poster who stated "we have a lot of ELITE college talent, just not elite NBA talent"????? We have ZERO players considered "ELITE" in college basketball. Robinson is / will be our best player, did he make any of the post season All conference or NCAA teams ? We have a bunch of solid rotational guys. NOT ONE of them (except Robinson), was considered the BEST player on their team.