Alabama hosted the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Coleman Coliseum tonight and took care of business, blowing out the visitors by a score of 91-62.
In general, the Tide did what they were supposed to do
against an overmatched foe. The game was never in doubt past the first few minutes of action, and the offense put up plenty of points considering the fact that Latrell Wrightsell and Aden Holloway missed the game with injuries.
Labaron Philon was flat out dominant in the first half. With the thin backcourt situation he rarely came off the court and delivered to the tune of 15 points on 6-7 shooting, plus 7 assists. He did have a couple of turnovers and that is still an issue for this squad. You’d expect that to get better when the guards are healthy, but there didn’t seem to be much in the way of a secondary ballhandler on the floor tonight.
The good news is that the freshmen got to play extensively from early in the game. Amari Allen is a high energy guy with plenty of athleticism, and looks like someone who can make a difference as the season goes along. London Jemison and Davion Hannah both had some nice moments, but made some freshman mistakes as well. There is no denying the shooting ability of this team as seemingly everyone can knock down a three, but the offense looked a bit haggard at times with the young guys playing extended minutes. Both Hannah and Allen can fly though.
Defensively, Alabama’s length showed up again on the perimeter, contesting threes and getting in passing lanes to generally make life miserable for the Fighting Hawks. The interior defense still has room for improvement, but they were able to dominate the glass as you’d expect against North Dakota. Taylor Bol Bowen was rather quiet in this one after showing out in the two exhibition games. One would assume that he will have better nights.
Houston Mallette ran the point a bit when Philon did sit and wasn’t terrible, and Noah Williamson did some nice things. Nate Oats loves to run, and they did plenty of it all night long. At some point they will be forced into playing a half court game, and ball movement will need to be much cleaner when it happens. The shooting cooled off considerably after the half, finishing at under 30% from three on the night, but Oats will happily take the 82% from the stripe.
There will be much tougher assignments going forward, starting with St. John’s on Saturday, but this was a solid tune-up game for Nate Oats’ squad. Hopefully they are able to get Holloway and Wrightsell back soon.
Roll Tide.
