Rejection Row

Hard to ask for a better start to the season than Friday’s 96-65 drubbing of Jackson State. Nearly everybody played, nearly everybody scored, the shooting was crisp and the outcome was never in doubt.

Of course, it always helps when your fourth-best scoring option goes on a mad binge before the first media timeout. Alonzo Gee opened the game with a nasty dunk, then started draining threes. He had 10 of Bama’s first 11 points before the Tigers had even worked up a sweat. He cooled off a little to finish with 16, mostly because foul trouble limited him to 18 minutes. At least he found time to add three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.

Granted, it’s hard to get a good read on the team against such poor competition (with the exception of scary-good Trey Johnson). JSU may be a favorite in the SWAC, but they looked like play-in game fodder on Friday. What I was mostly interested in was seeing how the new guys fared.

Impressive:

• Mykal Riley tied Jemareo Davidson for team scoring honors with 17 points. He’s already the sixth man, but I can see him moving into the starting lineup at 2-guard and letting Brandon Hollinger concentrate on backing up the point to give Ronald Steele some rest. Riley does need to step up on defense though.
• Demetrius Jemison did a lot of dirty work in the paint, picking up four rebounds to go with a steal and a block. He also went 3-for-6 from the field, including a couple of 15-foot turnaround jumpers. Coach Gottfried singled him out for praise postgame.

Questionable:

• Yamene Coleman had five points and three boards, but seemed overwhelmed and tentative at times. He didn’t use his size advantage and seemed a step slow. Not what you want to see out of the only true center behind Davidson. It didn’t help that he was brutal (3- at the line.
• Mikhail Torrance looked out of control when he was put in early. By the time he got back, the rout was on and he seemed to settle down a little. FInished with nine points, but he’s got a long was to go before he can be trusted in SEC play.

Game story

Box score