Gameday Open Thread: Furman vs. Alabama

Nate Oats has done a tremendous job at changing the basketball culture at the university. The buzz around the program since his hiring has been similar to the Gottfried days. In between the end of Gottfried and the hiring of Oats was a pretty dark time for Tide Hoops. Trust me, we’re getting back to the old days. Grant turned the program into a disaster, Johnson fixed it somewhat but was what looked to be lost in translation from his first presser to actually implementing what he wanted to do. Oats has been true to his word saying he’s going to increase pace and make the overall product on the court more entertaining. The work Nate has done so far has been as good as he could do with the roster he has. There’s very few players that fit the mold of his offense and defense completely. Trust me when I say this, the time is coming. When Nate was hired, it was never about this year, even though a majority of the fans and students thought it would be. Next year has been the motto of Tide Hoops for years now. However, next year is really going to be something special. Watching JQ struggle having to sit out this year is going to make next year a blessing. The talent that’s on the bench due to injury and eligibility is going to make next year special. The upperclassmen we have that will be back next year is going to be special. You’re looking at JQ, JPJ, Reese, Herb, Gary, Rojas, Shack, Forbes, and Davis all next year. Not to mention Ambrose and possibly Primo coming down from Canada. I would expect at least 1 forward to transfer out, a 2nd is very possible. A name to watch out for would be Patrick Tape during the grad transfer process. Dude was a stud for 2 years in the Ivy League. The 6’10 230 forward would 100% increase the post presence for the Tide. Like the title says, Don’t Panic, next year is going to be amazing.

I've watched the past few games and I already knew that we would probably lose a few games during this stretch reason being there's no HERBERT JONES! There's guys talking basketball on Secrant and Twitter but I laugh at the fact that majority of all the post people tend to blame John Petty. I think he's been the best player on the floor for Alabama outside of the LSU game. Mason Jones went against John Petty and Petty absolutely shut him down in the second half then yesterday every time Alabama needed something big to happen there was John Petty! The dude is shutting down the opponents best player, he's rebounding, blocking shots, and scoring on limited touches. I'm confused on why the guy gets so much hate and negativity towards him! Him, Javian, Shack and Jaylen Forbes are playing winning basketball! They turn it over occasionally but they are doing the blue collar things. The people who are really the no show's for this team are Kira, Alex, and Galin simply put they got to play winning basketball! Herbert Jones covers a multitude of deficiencies for our defense by himself and that's why we are losing games and he's much better in half court offense then Kira! The season is not over and simply put we got work to do. We need to win a game or two and it's very possible then get Herb back and we still will have the SEC Tournament and I still think Alabama is a top four team and we can beat anybody! Herb is key though! Herb Jones and John Petty are the two best players on this team by a long shot! We need that Dynamic Duo back asap!

I know Memorial has been a house of horrors in recent memory(other than Riley Norris stopping the bleeding last year with the air guitar) but the Tide should handle business if it can bring the energy Wednesday. Vanderbilt looked abysmal Saturday without Aaron Nesmith, but Alabama still has to play focused and bring the energy. A road win-regardless of the opponent- would only help build the momentum and confidence.