Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Alabama
Wolfpack, Tide meet Thursday night.
Dec. 21, 2005
No. 18 NC STATE (8-1, 0-0) at ALABAMA (5-3, 0-0)
DATE:Thursday, December 22, 2005 @ Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, AL
TIME: Tip-off: 9:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network.
AIRTIME: 8:30 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: Fox Sports Net South
OPPONENT--Alabama beat Georgia State at home last Saturday 85-58 to break a two-game losing streak that knocked the Crimson Tide from the national polls. After starting the season ranked as high as No.14, Alabama suffered losses to some high-profile opponents. Memphis and Notre Dame both won in Tuscaloosa while Temple rolled the Tide in Philadelphia.
With three starters and three reserves returning off last season's 24-8 team that lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Alabama has a solid nucleus and could make a run at its second straight SEC Western Division title. However, the Tide is still trying to recover from the loss of its two top scorers from last season, Kennedy Winston and Earnest Shelton. Winston left school early and entered the 2005 NBA Draft, but was not selected and lost his college eligibility.
Without Winston, Alabama is still looking to find a consistent offensive presence on the wing. 6-5 sophomore Justin Jonus, the team's top 3-point shooter (.528), and 6-6 freshman Alonzo Gee have picked up some of the slack. Point guard, Ronald Steele plays 35 minutes a game, but he's more of a distributor than a scorer. Steele had 18 assists in a game against East Tennessee State last season and is very quick. Last season, he led the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Inside is where Alabama can do the most damage. The Tide has a big, skilled and athletic front line. Senior Chuck Davis is one of the top forwards in the SEC. He's scored 20 or more points in 3 of his last 4 games. Center Jermario Davidson, who was third-team All-SEC last season, leads the Tide in rebounding and blocked shots. Senior Jean Felix has not shot well this season, but had a season-high 19 points at Temple and is a threat to score from behind the arc.
Normally, Alabama does not turn the ball over much and the Tide is one of the better rebounding teams in the SEC (+5 rebound margin). Bama' is extremely good on the offensive glass (12.9) and gets back an impressive 43 percent of its missed shots.
Alabama is shooting 46 percent from the field, but has had only one shooting performance of 50 percent or better this season. So far, the Tide is shooting 37 percent from three-point range, but take away Jonus' numbers and Alabama's percentage from beyond the arc would fall to .316.
Defensively, the Tide is holding opponents to an average of 67 points and 41 percent shooting. However, Bama's perimeter defense has surrendered a hefty 38 percent shooting from beyond the arc. NC State is averaging nearly 9 three-point field goals a game, so the Tide will be challenged on the perimeter.
Coach Mark Gottfried's team goes about 9 players deep. An impressive newcomer off the bench is 265 pound freshman Richard Hendrix. The former McDonald's All-American was also Alabama's high school "Mr. Basketball" last season. Hendrix is a very good rebounder who also blocked five shots in a loss to Notre Dame.
NC State has a 2-3 record in its all-time series with Alabama. The last meeting was during the 1991-92 season.
A WIN--Would be the fourth straight for the Pack and its first on the road. State would improve to 9-1 overall and even its road record to 1-1. The Pack would even its all time record against Alabama to 3-3 and send the Tide to its third loss in the last four games.
A LOSS--Would break a three-game NC State winning streak, dropping the Pack to 8-2 overall and 0-2 on the road. Alabama would win its second straight game overall and improve to 4-2 all-time against NC State.
GETTING STOPS --The Pack is holding opponents to a very impressive 57.6 points a game while limiting the opposition to .346 shooting from the field and .272 from the three-point arc overall.
MISCUES --The Wolfpack had only 13 turnovers in beating Miami last Sunday after committing 55 turnovers in its 3 previous games. Last season, State averaged only 12.4 turnovers a contest.
MAY I HELP YOU? --NC State is averaging an assist on an impressive 70% of its field goals (155-of-222). In its win over UNC-Asheville on 12/14, the Wolfpack had 26 assists on 32 field goals (81%).
IMPROVED REBOUNDING--The Pack has tied or outrebounded its last three opponents and overall has a minus 0.7 rebounding margin. That is a significant improvement from earlier this season.
INJURIES--Wolfpack freshman forward, Brandon Costner, could miss his fourth consecutive game with a leg injury.
Wolfpack, Tide meet Thursday night.
Dec. 21, 2005
No. 18 NC STATE (8-1, 0-0) at ALABAMA (5-3, 0-0)
DATE:Thursday, December 22, 2005 @ Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, AL
TIME: Tip-off: 9:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network.
AIRTIME: 8:30 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: Fox Sports Net South
OPPONENT--Alabama beat Georgia State at home last Saturday 85-58 to break a two-game losing streak that knocked the Crimson Tide from the national polls. After starting the season ranked as high as No.14, Alabama suffered losses to some high-profile opponents. Memphis and Notre Dame both won in Tuscaloosa while Temple rolled the Tide in Philadelphia.
With three starters and three reserves returning off last season's 24-8 team that lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Alabama has a solid nucleus and could make a run at its second straight SEC Western Division title. However, the Tide is still trying to recover from the loss of its two top scorers from last season, Kennedy Winston and Earnest Shelton. Winston left school early and entered the 2005 NBA Draft, but was not selected and lost his college eligibility.
Without Winston, Alabama is still looking to find a consistent offensive presence on the wing. 6-5 sophomore Justin Jonus, the team's top 3-point shooter (.528), and 6-6 freshman Alonzo Gee have picked up some of the slack. Point guard, Ronald Steele plays 35 minutes a game, but he's more of a distributor than a scorer. Steele had 18 assists in a game against East Tennessee State last season and is very quick. Last season, he led the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Inside is where Alabama can do the most damage. The Tide has a big, skilled and athletic front line. Senior Chuck Davis is one of the top forwards in the SEC. He's scored 20 or more points in 3 of his last 4 games. Center Jermario Davidson, who was third-team All-SEC last season, leads the Tide in rebounding and blocked shots. Senior Jean Felix has not shot well this season, but had a season-high 19 points at Temple and is a threat to score from behind the arc.
Normally, Alabama does not turn the ball over much and the Tide is one of the better rebounding teams in the SEC (+5 rebound margin). Bama' is extremely good on the offensive glass (12.9) and gets back an impressive 43 percent of its missed shots.
Alabama is shooting 46 percent from the field, but has had only one shooting performance of 50 percent or better this season. So far, the Tide is shooting 37 percent from three-point range, but take away Jonus' numbers and Alabama's percentage from beyond the arc would fall to .316.
Defensively, the Tide is holding opponents to an average of 67 points and 41 percent shooting. However, Bama's perimeter defense has surrendered a hefty 38 percent shooting from beyond the arc. NC State is averaging nearly 9 three-point field goals a game, so the Tide will be challenged on the perimeter.
Coach Mark Gottfried's team goes about 9 players deep. An impressive newcomer off the bench is 265 pound freshman Richard Hendrix. The former McDonald's All-American was also Alabama's high school "Mr. Basketball" last season. Hendrix is a very good rebounder who also blocked five shots in a loss to Notre Dame.
NC State has a 2-3 record in its all-time series with Alabama. The last meeting was during the 1991-92 season.
A WIN--Would be the fourth straight for the Pack and its first on the road. State would improve to 9-1 overall and even its road record to 1-1. The Pack would even its all time record against Alabama to 3-3 and send the Tide to its third loss in the last four games.
A LOSS--Would break a three-game NC State winning streak, dropping the Pack to 8-2 overall and 0-2 on the road. Alabama would win its second straight game overall and improve to 4-2 all-time against NC State.
GETTING STOPS --The Pack is holding opponents to a very impressive 57.6 points a game while limiting the opposition to .346 shooting from the field and .272 from the three-point arc overall.
MISCUES --The Wolfpack had only 13 turnovers in beating Miami last Sunday after committing 55 turnovers in its 3 previous games. Last season, State averaged only 12.4 turnovers a contest.
MAY I HELP YOU? --NC State is averaging an assist on an impressive 70% of its field goals (155-of-222). In its win over UNC-Asheville on 12/14, the Wolfpack had 26 assists on 32 field goals (81%).
IMPROVED REBOUNDING--The Pack has tied or outrebounded its last three opponents and overall has a minus 0.7 rebounding margin. That is a significant improvement from earlier this season.
INJURIES--Wolfpack freshman forward, Brandon Costner, could miss his fourth consecutive game with a leg injury.
