Blue Collar Breakdown: Alabama 96, Sam Houston State 74

Standing here on the court at Coleman Coliseum where Alabama just beat Sam Houston State 96-74. A lot of good to get into from this season opener starting with the athleticism that was displayed from the Crimson Tide. Saw it on both ends of the floor. First of all offensively saw the lobs left and right. These centers are going to be sick and tired of catching alley-oops by the end of the season with really how much Alabama likes to throw them. I was you know kind of just surprised by how many you you knew this team with that was athletic you knew you were going to see it in the games but actually seeing it firsthand is something different entirely and Caden Samuels to Jackson Richardson the connection at the very end final minutes of the game kind of put the cap on this day for Alabama and then defensively you saw the way that The athleticism of these players led to, you know, 17 steals, right? After the game, Sam Houston's coach basically talked about at least six of those plays wasn't anything they did wrong. It was purely Alabama creating havoc plays due to their physical advantages. So I really think that we are going to see this pay dividends on both ends of the floor. I think that the three freshman wings, right? Tarus Buie, Caden Samuels, Jackson Richardson, particularly Richardson, are going to be catalysts for this. But it is a team-wide thing, right? Brandon Garrison, 10 deflections in this game. It's a very, you know, active defensive team. I liked what I saw there for the Crimson Tide. What I did not like was what I saw on the glass. And Alabama gets out rebounded, 45-42, early in the season, first game. Rebounding is going to be under a microscope when you struggle so mightily there for the entirety of the last season. We are not going to take an eye off it until it improves, until it changes. And it certainly did not in this game. You can tell, like Sam Houston, they were surprised after the game when we spoke to their coach about, like, yeah, they were surprised they out-rebounded Alabama. They don't expect to do that against a power conference team, an SEC team that goes to the Sweet 16. That's just not. The kind of performance on the glass you're supposed to have, I think the physicality will improve. I think that, you know, you'll have better showings in the next couple games against these mid-majors. But this doesn't inspire much confidence about your ability to grab boards in a big-time SEC matchup. Against Houston in the Garden in December, so I don't have a lot of confidence there. We'll see if that changes. I thought there were other scattered notes. Anderson Diaz, first career game, you could see some of the rust. He's missed a lot of practice with his elbow injury. You could see the inexperience. Shouldn't be trying to score with 25 seconds left and the shot clock off. That's all stuff that'll change. The guy should be a senior in high school right now. All in all, fun day. I'm really glad Alabama basketball is back. I'm really excited to cover it for you guys this season.