Takeaways from Alabama Basketball's Pair of Preseason Scrimmages

Blake Byler's thoughts and takeaways from the Crimson Tide's exhibition games against TCU and Wake Forest.

Alabama basketball played a pair of exhibition games over the past few weeks as the 2023-24 season rapidly approaches, and the Crimson Tide went 0-2 in said games. 

But everyone take a deep breath, it's not panic time.

Alabama lost to TCU 85-81 in Birmingham on Sunday, October 22, and week later lost to Wake Forest on the road by a final score of 88-80. Neither games were broadcast on television, but box scores are available for both games. 

Obviously neither of these games count against Alabama's overall record for the season, but what can fans take away from them?

1. Don't focus on win/loss results in preseason scrimmages.

This is an important point. It's easy to see that Alabama went 0-2, and start to panic. But these scrimmages, closed or open, don't entirely represent what a true college basketball game would look like. 

Firstly, Alabama's leading returning scorer Mark Sears was held out from both games for injury precautions, as did redshirt freshman Davin Cosby. Alabama's opponents also had players missing from both contests, including Wake Forest being limited to only eight available players.

Many times in preseason scrimmages, substitution patterns are scripted. The coaches are using the games to put their players in real-game scenarios, and will use abnormal substitutions to experiment with lineups on the floor that may not be seen in a team's typical game. 

It's likely that Alabama used many unorthodox lineups throughout both scrimmages, considering the fact that Nate Oats has nine new players on this year's team to work with. It's going to take time to figure out what lineups work well together both offensively and defensively, and scrimmages are a perfect time to try new things and see what sticks. 

Because of how coaches want to use scrimmages to get different looks, the officials did not enforce rules out about fouling out of games in the Wake Forest game. Two Demon Deacons, as well as Alabama's Grant Nelson, all had five fouls in the game but were allowed to continue to play. 

Lastly, you shouldn't get overly caught up in the win/loss result of a scrimmage because, well, they literally don't count. Alabama's record is 0-0, not 0-2. 

In the TCU game, Alabama trailed at one point by 16, but fought back and got back into the game. In the Wake Forest game, Alabama led by 19 on the road, and blew the lead entirely. All of these are valuable experiences that Oats gets to coach the team up on, and none of them have to count against the schedule yet, which is why teams play these games in the first place. 

2. Sam Walters is going to be a major contributor. 

With so few returners (only three from last season), there are a lot of question marks about who will be filling the rotation this year, especially with a 4-man transfer class and a 5-man freshman class. 

After the past two scrimmages, there's no doubt that freshman Sam Walters will be playing a significant amount of minutes. 

The 6-foot-10 wing scored 42 total points across both games, leading the team with a 29-point explosion against TCU and following it up with a 13-point output against Wake Forest. 

He shot a combined 11-for-18 from beyond the arc in both games, accounting for all but one of Alabama's 3-point makes against TCU, and hardly dropping off against Wake Forest, making four shots from deep.

Walters looks like the best shooter on Alabama's team, and even as he shoots an inevitably lower clip than the 61 percent he shot in the preseason, his shooting and length will be utilized often as a weapon in Alabama's arsenal. 

3. Depth looks to be a strength.

Alabama has a lot of players that look like they can contribute at some level on this team.

Take the TCU game for example. Alabama was missing Sears and Cosby, and also didn't have forwards Mohamed Wague and Mouhamed Dioubate available. At the same time, guards Rylan Griffen and Latrell Wrightsell, both expected to be significant contributors, combined for just two points in the game.

Despite all of that, the Crimson Tide played TCU within four points, getting contributions from the likes of the aforementioned Walters, freshman Jarin Stevenson, and transfers Nelson and Aaron Estrada. 

Estrada led Alabama in total scoring across both games, scoring 43 points, one more than Walters. He had 19 against TCU, followed by 24 in Winston-Salem. 

Once Sears and Cosby are back, there is going to be a fight for minutes at every position. The roster is filled with players who have the potential to be high-level players, and it will be exciting to watch and see who rises above the rest to earn those minutes.

4. At first glance, defense may be a weakness. 

It's well-documented that Oats' best teams have been ones that are great on the defensive end. If this team wants to follow in the footsteps of 2021 and 2023, it certainly has some work to do. 

After leading by 13 at halftime against Wake Forest, Alabama gave up a 21-5 run to start the second half. That led to a 49-point half for the Demon Deacons, where the Crimson Tide was unable to string together consistent stops. 

The game wasn't televised, so I wasn't able to watch the game and see what the root causes were for the defensive lapses, but the box score indicated that Alabama struggled guarding the interior of the floor without fouling. Wake Forest guard Cameron Hildreth scored 16 of his 38 points from the free throw line. 

Alabama has the length to be able to put together a solid team defense. The physical tools are there, but it will be a matter of putting it all together on the floor.

The beauty of these exhibition games is that Oats, Ryan Pannone, and the rest of the staff now have ample amounts of film to break down and improvements to make before the Crimson Tide takes the court next week to start the season.

The past two games were learning experiences for Alabama. Just last October, the Crimson Tide suffered a 30-plus-point loss in a scrimmage to TCU, and went on to have a historic season. 

What matters now is what the team does with what it learned over the past few weeks.

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