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I think you leave when the opportunity is too good. All Alabama had to offer was money. It had to over pay bc they know they suck at basketball yet they fancy themselves as some good basketball school. I think Nate could’ve held out for an opportunity at a better basketball school in which the money was also right. He could’ve continued to build his own profile which would give him more of a runway at whatever school he went to.

The two players are Nickelberry and Gallion and is another reason to support these young men who care about more than just playing basketball. Go Bulls!!!!

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https://www.easttexasmatters.com/news/college-basketball-players-come-cheer-for-boy-at-basketball-game-after-meeting-grandma-on-plane/ I just came across this article and thought it was such an awesome thing for 2 of our boys to do. This is how you get a good following from the community, which in my opinion translates to a better team overall.

All I know is it was showing up on ESPN+ as an upcoming event so hopefully nothings changed

I see both points of view here. I'd consider zone more if we were considerably outmatched talent wise or if this one game meant more. I don't think this is a spot where we need to be changing our gameplan though. Our team has a bunch of good guards that can stay in front of people and we lack the length to maximize the benefits of a zone. If we need to change our whole defensive philosophy for a team that's grading out as a mid tier MAC team on the analytics sites then we're in for a long year lol. Anyway this game doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of our postseason hopes, it should be an opportunity for the team to grow in their identity. All that said it would be fun to see Whitesell sprinkle in the zone during ATOs if nothing else than to keep their inexperienced coach on his toes.

If Nate had waited a bit he might have gotten his dream job at Michigan. I would not even been mad if he left for Big Blue. But he couldn't wait for his big payday in Tuscaloosa. Sorry if I can't muster any sympathy.

They don’t care a lick about sports but love that money that comes in from it. And that university exposure we get from making the big dances. And how admissions has probably increased.

That "Piss"issippi player seems like a perfect fit with a coach like Fleck! All show and no flow!

Even early 1:1 pressure from a guard was effective at throwing off W&M's ability to set their offense.

They should also mix in full court press every so often. That has worked well for them

I watched the vanderbilt vs Tulsa game. Granted vanderbilt had a rough game I think this is a very winnable game for us. I expect Jordan to step up and have a good game. Mballa will also play big role, need him to stay in the game most importantly and not get in foul trouble. Nesmith will get his points, just got to limit him from having a huge game. I’d stick with man, that’s our bread and butter, maybe show a zone look once or twice during game just to confuse them but that’s it.

RMA, you are welcome to go, but there are only single tickets available as it is a double header with the men, and the game is very close to a sell out. Your dreams of turning it into a home game might be a little far-fetched. Your dreams of the UB women destroying the Bona women will probably come true.

The line has moved to -3.5 I tend to agree with @blue even if we can play zone... can we play it well? A weak zone gets you absolutely SMOKED. Do we try to implement it only to revert back to man when it's not working? How long do we stick with it? I say we play to our strengths and lock down with man-to-man and make adjustments via switching etc. as opposed to changing up our game for a singular opponent. This is a tough game on the road, a win would be a huge confidence builder for me (and hopefully the team lol).

What is all this zone talk? I've never seen us play anything but man D. Now some here are suggesting we become something we're not. Syracuse's Boeheim can have his zone, I love our man to man. Cultivate your better self and don't try and be a chameleon. There's not enough time in the day - guaranteed way to lose!

I might temper expectations on playing a zone. You don’t just wake up one morning and say we’re going to play a zone d today. For years we’ve been a man to man defensive team. Unless zone is something we practice (?) I wouldn’t expect zone at all. I can’t recall the last time I saw us play a zone. It’s not something you just whip out. Stick to what we do best man to man in your face defense. Plus zone weakens rebounding, which some have mentioned we tend to give up o boards.

Spot on post man. I'm doing my preview now and in regards to the aggressive perimeter defense and struggling against a zone you hit the nail on the head. This wasn't just Tulsa either, in 2 other games I watched they did the same thing, but they were able to win due to inferior competition

Let the 19-20 accolades begin.

After watching the Vanderbilt vs Tulsa game just now I came away with some key takeaways that we need to do to come away with a win. Vandy plays very aggressive perimeter defense on guards, often times double teaming them. This leads to an open player somewhere on the court so a big key will be dribble penetration and finding that open man. Tulsa got many of their points slashing straight to the rim, as well as driving and taking advantage of the help defense with drop off passes down low to their big man for an easy basket. If we can get to the rim like we have been recently, we should be able to get easy points to Mballa, as well as wide open 3’s on dribble drive kick outs. What we can’t do is hold the ball deep into the shot clock. Vanderbilt has too much length and will cause a bad shot/blocked shot if we find ourselves scrambling to get a shot off in time. So drive penetration and look for the open man or score at the rim if it’s there, and don’t hold the ball long. Defensively, Vanderbilt struggled when Tulsa switched to a 2-3 zone defense. The key with attacking any zone is to penetrate the middle of it around the foul line which leads to an open shot or easy assist when help defense comes to the ball. Vanderbilt didn’t even attempt to break the zone and instead opted for hero ball - dribbling into double teams/bad shots. The only drawback to having to play a 2-3 zone would be that since Vandy has good guards that can shoot very well from 3, it will have to be a high 2-3 to deny the perimeter which would then become prone to allowing wide open 3’s from the corners. Vanderbilt also rarely sets ball screens which should help us to better guard Nesmith at the perimeter. If we show a solid mix of tight man defense as well as zone defense, it should help to prevent Vandy from finding an offensive rhythm. Lastly, towards the end of the game Vanderbilt switched to a full court press which was really working well for them and gave Tulsa all kinds of issues. Their particular zone focuses on trapping the ball in the corners on the inbounds pass and then again in the corners once the ball crosses half court. So if we drive and look for the easy drop off pass or open man on the perimeter, keep them guessing on defense with some strong zone looks, and avoid the corners in their press we stand a really good chance of winning. They aren’t the most impressive SEC team but and SEC is still an SEC team with SEC talent. Looking forward to it, Go Bulls!

No I completely agree with that as well. From a business standpoint it would benefit them to have a dedicated recreation center built that they can load up with event promotions. Students that are willing to take the time to work out also are likely to have an interest in other things to do around campus like the various sporting events