Tag: Keon Ellis

2 Alabama MBB players selected in latest 2022 NBA mock draft

These two Alabama MBB stars are expected to be drafted to the league!

Alabama has seen a few players make it to the NBA in recent seasons, under both Avery Johnson and Nate Oats. Collin Sexton has found himself a nice career in the league, while Herb Jones, Kira Lewis and Josh Primo are making their young presences felt.

As Oats brings in top talent from across the nation, it will become commonplace for Crimson Tide stars to leave the program early. Whether it be a one-and-done, a player that finds success in his sophomore or junior season or even a transfer, it will happen more often.

The latest 2022 NBA mock draft done by ESPN exemplifies two of the aforementioned examples.

In the second round, pick No. 48 overall, ESPN projects the Sacramento Kings to select senior guard Keon Ellis, who transferred to Alabama from Florida Southwestern State College.

However, much closer to the start of the draft is a true freshman being selected out of Alabama.

At No. 13 overall, the Toronto Raptors are expected to take J.D. Davison off the board.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to cover Crimson Tide basketball, as well as projections for the 2022 NBA draft and how it impacts Alabama players.

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POST GAME REPORT: Alabama drops its third game of the season in 79-78 loss to Davidson

The Crimson Tide moves to 8-3 on the season.

If you’re an Alabama hoops fanatic, you’re not happy with the outcome of tonight’s game against Davidson in Birmingham.

In the end, it came down to a free throw that would’ve tied the game up at 79 with four seconds remaining in the game. Guard Jahvon Quinerly hit the first shot with ease. The second wouldn’t fall so easily.

Davidson would grab the board and eventually run out the clock when Alabama’s defenders failed to foul for nearly three seconds after the inbound.

And just like that, Alabama went from beating two of the nation’s top teams mere weeks ago to dropping two to opponents that it should’ve beaten.

It wasn’t a horrible night shooting for the Crimson Tide, with 44% of their shots from the field falling. Three-pointers continue to miss for Alabama. They shot at a 33% clip with 36 total attempts from behind the line.

The defense wasn’t great. The Tide allowed 53% shooting, including 50% from three.

Alabama hit six of eight free throws while Davidson didn’t miss on five attempts.

The Tide had a huge advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats 39-27, including 16 offensive boards.

Jaden Shackelford led all Alabama scorers with 20 points. He also added five rebounds to his stat line. Juwan Gary and Jahvon Quinerly tallied 15 and 13, respectively.

Luka Brajkovic led Davidson in scoring with 22 points. He also led the Wildcats in rebounding with seven.

Alabama needs to do some soul-searching as they prepare for the SEC conference opener on Dec. 29 against No. 19 Tennessee.

The Crimson Tide moves to 9-3 on the season while Davidson will go to 9-2.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!

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HALFTIME REPORT: Alabama down 6 against Davidson at the half

Alabama is being tested in the C.M. Newton Classic against Davidson in Birmingham.

Alabama is taking on Davidson in the C.M. Newton Classic in Birmingham, AL tonight, and it’s been anything but easy as the Crimson Tide are behind by six at the half.

Their opponent, Davidson, is 8-2 on the year and is in the midst of a seven-game winning streak.

Alabama is shooting 43% from the floor, including 36.8% from three. They’ve hit on all four of their free-throw attempts.

The Crimson Tide is led in scoring by Jaden Shackelford, who has 12 points. Tonight’s rebounding leader for Alabama so far is Juwan Gary with four boards.

Defensively, Alabama is allowing 51.7% shooting from the floor. Davidson is also shooting 57%% from beyond the arc and has hit all three of their free throws.

Hyunjung Lee leads Davidson in scoring with 12 points. He’s also recorded a couple of assists.

The Crimson Tide needs to find some consistency in their 3-pt shooting if they want to come out of this building tonight with a win.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Layne Gerbig on Twitter @LayneG_29.

 

 

 

POST GAME REPORT: Alabama fights off Jacksonville State in 65-59 win

Alabama gets the home win and improves to 9-2 on the season.

Alabama had to fight tooth and nail to come away with a win at home against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

Keon Ellis had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Crimson Tide’s 65-59 home win on Saturday night.

Alabama hit just eight 3-pointers on 30 attempts. The low score certainly wasn’t from a lack of trying.

At the free throw line the Tide hit just 68% on 16 attempts.

Darius Miles tallied 10 points and recorded a key block on a shot that would’ve put the Gamecocks within three.

The Crimson Tide took the lead on a Miles three halfway through the second half and maintained the lead throughout.

Alabama improves to 9-2 on the season while JSU will go to 5-6.

Alabama will take on Davidson in Birmingham as part of the C.M. Newton Classic on Tuesday.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Layne Gerbig on Twitter @LayneG_29.

 

2022 NBA Draft Big Board 1.0: Debut rankings of the top 101 prospects

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

One of the top pre-season prospects (Patrick Baldwin Jr.) is playing for a mid-major program that has just two wins so far this season. Other top prospects (AJ Griffin and Peyton Watson) are not getting much playing time for their high-major programs. Meanwhile, guard Jean Montero is playing in the inaugural Overtime Elite league. How do we compare his productivity to other prospects? I’m frankly not sure.

But nevertheless, my big board exists. Rather than going small, I decided to blow it up and do the opposite. Why did I go ahead and rank 101 prospects if this class has been so challenging to evaluate? There are two distinct reasons.

One is that I’m absolutely crazy and get a very fulfilling satisfaction with the completion of a mock draft and big board because it feels complete. It looks awesome seeing as many names as I can fit on one article, even if the science behind the rankings is a bit inconclusive.

The other reason is that as I make more big boards throughout the year, it’s interesting to track the progress (and regression) of certain prospects. I am inevitably wrong about most of these placements! But this article serves as a barometer for where I feel certain players are at in their development right now.

Note that several notable prospects (e.g. freshmen Max Christie, Matthew Cleveland, Nolan Hickman, Hunter Sallis, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jeremy Sochan, Kobe Bufkin) were excluded because I expect them to go back to school to improve their draft stock.

More likely than not, some of those players will declare for the 2022 NBA draft. When that happens, I obviously will not have them outside of my top 101.

Until then, as we prepare to turn the calendar into a new year, here are the debut rankings for 101 of my favorite prospects.

All stats are accurate as of Dec. 14 and are from Sports-Reference unless noted otherwise.

What went wrong in Alabama’s loss to Memphis on the road

Alabama went 2-1 against a tough stretch of competition, including No. 5 Gonzaga, No. 14 Houston and Memphis.

Alabama played its first true road game of the year this season as the Memphis Tigers played host.

The atmosphere was hostile for the Crimson Tide, who were looking for their third straight win against a quality opponent.

The Crimson Tide were never really able to get going after the second half started. The Tigers suffocated them on defense and beat them at their own game on the offensive side of the ball: speed.

Memphis’ strategy of trying to outpace one of the fastest offenses in the sport worked beautifully. The Tide couldn’t keep up.

Alabama shot just 46% from the floor, including just 30% from three.

One of the biggest issues Nate Oats’ squad had on the night was protecting the basketball. The Tide turned the ball over 20 times and allowed 29 points off of those turnovers.

Something that Alabama was looking to improve on from last week’s matchup against Houston was the work off the glass. The Cougars tallied far too many offensive rebounds and converted many of them into second-chance points. That issue wasn’t as prevalent on Tuesday night in Memphis. The Tigers managed 11 offensive rebounds to Alabama’s 14.

The Crimson Tide was led in scoring by Keon Ellis, who had 19 points and six rebounds. Tonight’s rebounding leader for Alabama was Jaden Shackelford, who came down with eight boards.

Freshman guard JD Davison ended the night with 10 assists and two points shy of his first career double-double.

Going 2-1 in the stretch of games that Alabama just went through is impressive. It shows the resiliency and top-tier work-ethic that this team maintains.

Next up for the Crimson Tide is a home game against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in Coleman Coliseum on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. CST.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Layne Gerbig on Twitter @LayneG_29.

HALFTIME REPORT: Alabama down on the road in Memphis; Tigers lead 37-32

Alabama is being tested in its first true road game.

Alabama is playing its first “true” road game of the year, although some would argue that the game in Seattle, WA was a true road game for the Crimson Tide as they took on and defeated No. 5 Gonzaga.

This time, they’re playing a good team on their campus. Memphis comes in at No. 39 in the KenPom rankings, and the building is alive tonight as Alabama tries to extend their record to 9-1 against a tough team on the road.

The Tigers are currently leading 37-32, handing the Crimson Tide its biggest deficit at halftime of the season.

Alabama is shooting 44.8% from the floor, including just 25% from three. Only three 3PT shots have fallen for the Tide on 12 attempts. They’ve done well at the foul line, while not doing a great job of getting there. They’ve hit on 3-of-5.

Alabama needs to do a much better job of taking care of the ball in the second half. They turned the ball over 11 times in the first half.

This time around, the Tide has cleaned up the boards a lot better, allowing just five offensive boards while collecting six themselves.

The Crimson Tide is led in scoring by both Darius Miles and Keon Ellis, who each have six points. Tonight’s rebounding leader for Alabama so far is Jahvon Quinerly, surprisingly, with five boards.

Freshman guard JD Davison has done a phenomenal job dishing the rock in this game, he’s recorded seven assists, and while he has just two points on the night so far, expect Oats to plan to secure him some opportunities in the second half.

Defensively, Alabama is allowing 50% shooting from the floor. The Tigers are shooting 35% from beyond the arc and 66.7% from the free-throw line. They’ve gotten to the charity stripe even more sparingly than the Crimson Tide, booking just three shots from the foul line.

Landers Nolley II leads Memphis in scoring with 11 points. He’s also recorded a couple of assists.

Expect the Crimson Tide to jump off quickly in the second half. Nate Oats is not shy in making adjustments.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!

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Aggregate NBA mock draft 2.0: Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith battle for No. 1

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, Basketball News and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion.

Since our last update, the players who have improved the most spots are Ismael Kamagate (Paris), Moussa Diabate (Michigan), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona), Hugo Besson (New Zealand), Efe Abogidi (Washington State),  Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State), Justin Lewis (Marquette), Max Christie (Michigan State), EJ Liddell (Ohio State), and Ochai Agbaji (Kansas).

The most notable prospects making their debut on our rankings are Trevor Keels (Duke), Bryce McGowens (Nebraska), MarJon Beauchamp (G League Ignite), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Christian Koloko (Arizona), Wendell Moore (Duke), Blake Wesley (Notre Dame),  Josh Minott (Memphis), Zach Edey (Purdue), and Johnny Davis (Wisconsin).

Some of the top prospects who did not make the cut this time included Hunter Sallis (Gonzaga), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (Tennesse), Kobe Bufkin (Michigan), Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State), Jahvon Quinerly (Albama), Adam Flagler (Baylor), Jaylin Williams (Auburn), Matthieu Gauzin (Le Mans), Isaiah Wong (Miami), Marcus Williams (Texas A&M), and Tyson Etienne (Wichita State).

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

Alabama MBB falls in latest AP Poll

Alabama drops a few spots after Thursday’s loss to Iona!

Alabama dropped their first game of the season on Thursday against the Iona Gaels, but they bounced back to win their next two contests at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, FL.

The latest AP Poll was updated on Monday to reflect the loss the Crimson Tide suffered against the Gaels in game one, and Tide fans may not like how it looks.

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Duke (51) 7-0 1,513 5
2 Purdue (9) 6-0 1,442 3
3 Gonzaga (1) 6-1 1,428 1
4 Baylor 7-0 1,324 6
5 UCLA 6-1 1,253 2
6 Villanova 4-2 1,147 7
7 Texas 4-1 1,115 8
8 Kansas 5-1 1,027 4
9 Kentucky 5-1 1,002 10
10 Arkansas 6-0 960 13
11 Arizona 6-0 851 17
12 BYU 6-0 791 18
13 Tennessee 4-1 730 15
14 Florida 6-0 681 23
15 Houston 5-1 631 12
16 Alabama 6-1 456 10
17 UConn 6-1 437 22
18 Memphis 5-1 435 9
19 Iowa State 6-0 403 NR
20 USC 6-0 380 24
21 Auburn 5-1 325 19
22 Michigan State 5-2 295 NR
23 Wisconsin 5-1 224 NR
24 Michigan 4-2 177 20
25 Seton Hall 5-1 151 21

Others receiving votes: Illinois 111, St. Bonaventure 106, LSU 93, Ohio State 75, Indiana 63, Colorado State 59, Xavier 46, Texas Tech 34, Marquette 23, North Carolina 9, Iowa 9, San Francisco 7, Loyola Chicago 3, Virginia Tech 3, Louisville 2, Wake Forest 2, Ohio 1, Iona 1. 

The Crimson Tide dropped six spots to No. 16 in the poll.

Alabama will take on the No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CST. That game will air on ESPN2.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Layne Gerbig on Twitter @LayneG_29.