Alabama Basketball Practice Notes
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* Progress report: How five Alabama stars looked at this point last season
Alabama basketball held its open practice Thursday as media members were able to watch players stretch and shoot around prior to team drills.
Here are a few notes from the media viewing period.
— John Petty is the most impressive player on the team in my opinion. He has the smoothest shot and looks like a natural scorer. During one part of the workout, I saw him rip off five consecutive 3s from the corner.
— Sometimes it looks like Collin Sexton tries too hard to be impressive. It was just a shootaround, but you can tell he was trying to put on a show at times and it didn't always work out. That being said, he looks really impressive as well. He's got a nice shot and moves really well with the ball.
— One thing Avery Johnson mentioned was more skill inside. Daniel Giddens brings a mid-range game Alabama hasn't had in recent years and looks like a player who can provide more offense down low. He was also decent from the free-throw line, which was a change from recent years.
— This was my first time getting to see Texas transfer Tevin Mack in person. We will have to wait a season to see him on the court, but he is definitely someone to watch moving forward, especially if the Crimson Tide loses a couple of players to the draft.
— Finally, I was impressed with the leadership Braxton Key and Donta Hall showed both during the media session and during practice. With all the talk about Alabama's freshmen, it will be important for them to demonstrate some veteran leadership at times this season. Both players look up to the task.