You know, if I’m Parker, let’s allow a make wish opportunity here and slowly take off 1 player at a time without a replacement. 1st down 11v10 2nd 11v9 3rd 11v8 and 4th 11v7
The team worked on screens for much of practice. Nick Pringle looked like the best player. He was running shirtless at the beginning until Oats told him to put something on. Grant Nelson looked like he’s fitting in with the team and was cutting up between drills. He’s not Charles Bediako, but he’s good enough. Mohammed Wague, the transfer from West Virginia, knows how to move around screens. Ryan Pannone used him as an example multiple times because the kid moves with confidence. Oats got after freshman Sam Walters for not filling his lane properly and hustling during one drill. Walters knocked down some 3s in a drill that drew some applause, though. Mark Sears didn’t participate in practice and stood off to the side. Erwin Dudley is a GA now and was helping under the goal. Oh, and off topic, but some older guys around us were talking about how Auburn has already contacted Ty Simpson’s dad about the potential of him transferring.
Bain's as good as Saban made it seem with how he prioritized him. Could have had he and Downs without the Miami NIL securing that one. Almost got Hasz too iirc
dillonthefan said: Here's my thoughts and notes from the open practice. Two scrimmage teams Crimson: Wague, Stevenson, Walters, Estrada, Parker White: Nelson, Dioubate, Wrightsell, Griffen, Pringle First hour or so was warmups and some individual drills while second hour was mostly scrimmage. Crimson team was 5-2 in the scrimmages along with winning the final scrimmage which was the longest and most competitive played today. Forgot to note final score but it was something like 71-65. Oats and Pannone were the only coaches there as Claunch and Murphy were both out on the west coast recruiting according to Oats. Pannone was very involved and vocal; led all of the defensive drills and coached white team while Oats led offensive drills and coached crimson in the scrimmage. STANDOUTS: Jarin Stevenson: Silky smooth jumper, there is no way a 17 year old with that much length should be able to shoot the 3 like that. Kid has potential to be really special if he can become a presence with his length on defense as well. Mohamed Wague: Biggest surprise to me out of everyone I watched. Didn't know much about him going in besides similar build and role as Pringle. Absolutely thrives on defense where he is disruptive and physical, he was energetic and a vocal leader on that side of the ball. Didn't get to see a ton from him offensively but he seems like he will always be ready to catch a lob. Apparently he had only been able to practice for a week and still looked exceptional. As he gets adapted to the system he will be at the very least easily interchangeable with Pringle if not getting the edge over him for a few extra minutes. Aaron Estrada: Has a beautiful left hand lay up that we are likely going to see a ton of this season if this practice was any indication. Very nice 3 ball as well. His experience was obvious on defense and seemed to help lead in huddles. Looks like he is going to fit right in on this team. Sam Walters: After watching him practice I am no longer surprised he did what he did against TCU. Might have the smoothest looking shot on the team, very quick jumper as well. Several times where a defender would step off for a moment and he would spring right up and drain a 3. Not much to say defensively but he has the length to disrupt and block. Will be an explosive scorer if teams don't account for him. Kris Parker: Some have said he reminded them of a young Herb Jones and I could not help but feel the same way. Very intelligent defender who on more than one occasion knocked a ball away when caution was not taken. Had a decent looking 3 ball that he won't be afraid to take if you let him. He's a guy I would love to see stick around a couple years as he could become an absolute defensive anchor. Post Practice Q&A from Oats: (Please note I was very locked in listening during this segment and didn't take any notes so there will be no direct quotes only paraphrases) Fan joked about getting a stadium for him soon and asked him to stick around till we get it for him. Oats laughed and said that the stadium was more of a thing for the fans than for him and the team. He said "If you want to make me happy with some monetary donations, reach out to Yea Alabama and help out our NIL, that's what matters more to me and helps us keep winning". Said he had no plans of leaving any time soon as he enjoys it here and is hoping all of his children can come to college here. He did note that the one complaint he has about Coleman is the space from the crowd to the court and the large number of seats. Said his ideal stadium is one similar to Ole Miss or Auburn as it will always be loud regardless of opponent and fans can play a much larger role when they are basically screaming in the ear of the opposing team. Noted that Duke who are in the bluest of bloods, play in what equates to a fancy high school gym and are known for their home environment. Fan asked whether it was easier to get a team of freshmen or transfers to settle into the system which prompted a general discussion on recruiting and transfers from Oats. Said that the plan has been to shoot for some of the most talented guys we like the best and hopefully wind up with 2-3 of them. Said we have gotten into several battles with blue bloods and guys who are being recruited by their hometown schools and with those circumstances you are gonna win some and lose some. Says that in 2024 we still have several guys that he would love to have that we are still recruiting hard, and having a couple spots open for the spring and transfer portal is never too bad of a situation to be in the modern era of the transfer portal we are living in. Sorry for being long winded but I wanted to share as much as I could because it got me fired up. If you have any questions about specific players or anything I didn't mention I will be happy to answer the best I can.
Breakdown of Wake Forest who we have an exhibition against on Sunday. Nice to get experience against Sallis, he’s a talented kid who was a big time recruit before going to Gonzaga. Also they have a 7 footer so that’ll be good experience at the college level for Stevenson and Walters. Sounds like wague will play a good bit this season but idk if he will be playing Sunday. I wouldn’t mind giving him more time to heal up and giving Stevenson some more time to get ready for this level.
5 10 with molding clay thank you. And I was mainly referring to steen but I guess he was better than I remembered. I thought of him as an average OL player.
No way two SEC teams get in unless absolute chaos ensues. We need to see some undefeateds start dropping or we certainly could be left out.
I’ll be rooting against Georgia no matter what because fuck ‘em but i dont think it has barring one way or the other on our playoff chances.
What are people ITT smoking. If we win the SEC championship with 1 or 2 losses we're 100% in. Zero chance they don't put SEC champ in the playoff. Not happening.
Honestly, I don’t think a win over a Bowers-less Georgia does too much for a resume, no matter if they are undefeated or already have a loss or two.
We need two of these to lose. Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida State and Washington. Obviously, Michigan and Ohio State can’t remain undefeated and college football usually sorts itself out, but we don’t exactly control our own fate just yet.
Yeah it seems unlikely that this many teams finish undefeated but it’s already getting late in the year. I don’t think there’s any way we get over a 1 loss Texas either. We might get the benefit of the doubt over Oregon but idk. The polls don’t love us this year and they love Oregon. I think we are probably in control of our own destiny but it’s definitely not a certainty.
not a bad place to be considering we’re a little over a month removed from everyone deciding that this year we’re going 7-5 and saban retires
lol it takes like two seconds to look at the standings and see how it can happen. This isn’t 2015. They aren’t jumping us over an undefeated team because we play in the SEC.
There is NO WAY that ESPN - who controls the propaganda narrative for college football and quite literally just paid $3B for the rights to broadcast the SEC starting next year is going to allow that to happen to their asset. As long as there is a viable narrative a 1 loss SEC champ gets in FOR SURE (maybe not two i will concede).
There’s multiple frauds in the top 10. That will surely sort itself out between now and then. We take care of our business and we are in
We are all hoping for that viable scenario but there are plenty of scenarios where we are (rightfully) left out.
yeah It’s not going to happen, but shocked there are people in here who really think they’d take a 1 loss Bama over 4 undefeated conference champs (OSU/UM, UW, FSU, OU)? it will work itself out and there will be teams that drop games but in that scenario there is zero chance we get in. There is no plausible argument for us in that scenario and a few other scenarios. If we win out there’s a 90-95% chance we are in but it is possible we aren’t. this is dumb to argue about this early anyway