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The biggest player on Alabama's roster will have some big shoes to fill next season.
Alabama center Daniel Giddens, 6-foot-11, 248 pounds, put on roughly 20 pounds while sitting out last year after transferring from Ohio State. This season, the Crimson Tide is hoping that added muscle will be enough to make up for loss of Bola Olaniyan, who led the team with 6.4 rebounds per game despite averaging only 15.9 minutes on the court.
“Daniel’s gotten really big,” Alabama forward Riley Norris said during the team’s annual banquet in April. “When he came here, he was big, but he’s really filled out. I think he’s over 240, but he’s put on a lot of weight. He’s really strong. We need some inside post (presence) when we get to SEC play when it gets physical down low. We’re real excited to have him.”
There is a reason behind that excitement. Giddens joined the Tide as a heralded transfer after a promising freshman campaign for Ohio State during the 2015/16 season. Seeing action in 33 games, he averaged 3.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks over 18.2 minutes per game.
Participating in the SEC men’s basketball summer teleconference on Monday, Alabama head coach Avery Johnson gave an update on Giddens, stating the redshirt sophomore has come back stronger after a comprehensive redshirt program.
"He's expanded his game a little bit,” Johnson said. “Obviously, we need him to do a lot of what Bola did for us last year in terms of rebounding the basketball on both ends of the floor. We feel he'll be a better offensive player inside and be able to finish inside a little bit more.
“But also, get him to take his game out to 14-15 feet and playing off the bounce a little bit and maybe initiating some offense from around that free-throw area because he's a big guy that can pass the ball. We like his development. He's still a young guy. He went to college at 17, so he's still a young guy."
On top of the loss of Olaniyan, Alabama will also see the departure of center Jimmie Taylor who averaged 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds over 18.2 minutes per game last season. Taylor split time as a starter with Donta Hall, who returns for his junior year after averaging 6 points and 5.5 rebounds over 19.7 minutes per game last season.
Like Giddens, Hall is another player who will step into an increased role for the Tide next season. During his annual basketball camp last week, Johnson was encouraged with his progress, stating he has seen an improvement in his confidence on the offensive end.
“He started shooting this left-shoulder jump hook in the SEC Tournament,” Johnson said of Hall. “I’ve been trying to get him to shoot that jump hook for two years. He waited until the last couple of games in the season to show it. I think part of his deal is having confidence in his body.”
Last year, Johnson alluded to the possibility of using both Hall and Giddens on the floor in the future. However, given the talent and depth Alabama will have in its backcourt this season, the two might share a similar partnership to what Hall and Taylor had last year.
“Hopefully, (Giddens) will be able to fill in and play some with Donta,” Johnson said. “and also when Donta not in the game be able to hold on better for us.”
Johnson addresses foreign tour
Due to NCAA restrictions, Alabama has been limited to two hours a week on the court. That will soon change, as the Tide will be allowed 10 practices prior to its foreign tour to Canada in August. Alabama will depart on the eight-day trip on Aug. 4 and will make stops in Montreal and Ottawa before returning home to Tuscaloosa.
During the tour, Alabama will play a total of three games against three Canadian universities. The first game will be played on Aug. 7 in Montreal against McGill University at 7 p.m. Alabama will then play the first of two games in Ottawa when it takes on Carleton University on Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. The final game of the trip will be on Aug. 10, as the Tide takes on the University of Ottawa at 6:30 p.m.
“Those practices are going to be very important for us to try and look at different combinations,” Johnson said. “Do we want to play big, do we want to play small? Who’s the primary ball handler with a certain group? Do we want to have multiple ball handlers? We feel we’re going to have a lot of versatility and flexibility, and we want that to carry over into our games in Canada.
“Just being able to look at different lineups, different rotations, mixing up our defenses a little bit. We’ll be able to have three games worth of information and video that we can evaluate going into the fall.”
