Alabama Basketball is Ready to Work
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As Charles Bediako and Darius Miles spoke to the media after the first basketball practice of the fall, both players immediately talked about the team has taken strides in overall leadership.
"Honestly just holding everybody accountable," Miles said. "Having more meetings as a team and discuss the things that's messing us up in practice or causing lapses from time to time."
Bediako also shared his teammate's sentiments, aiming to leave the negative factors from last season behind.
"We just had our first practice, so we just really want to lock in and fix the stuff we had trouble with last year," Bediako said.
The sophomore center was fifth in the SEC in blocks last season, and as the only returning player with at least 30 starts, he'll have high expectations as a defensive anchor and as a voice on the team.
"I now have a feel of what the pace is like on this level," Bediako said. "I just want to piggyback off that and continue to work extra hard in practice. This group is really athletic. Now it's really pushing me to get stronger on boxouts and move my feet more."
Bediako also had some advice for freshman Brandon Miller, who had a strong showing in Europe and is essentially following behind Bediako's footsteps as a freshman with high expectations.
"Don't worry when stuff's not going your way," Bediako said. "You just gotta learn how to play through adversity. Also get ready the pace of the game cause it is fast and physical"
Bediako isn't too worried, however. He believes Miller will be just fine.
For Miles, Oats mentioned the junior forward as one of the guys he expects to lead the team. Miles himself acknowledged the defensive lapses last season because of the lack of communication, but felt as though the trip to Europe really helped bring the team closer.
"We got to talk about things outside of basketball," Miles said. "We had great laughs and it helped us talk more. The chemistry-building off court helped us better communicate on the floor in Spain."
Miles also touched on his improvement as a shooter, explaining that he focused on shooting 3-pointers in transition and off the dribble after a screen. He also worked on backpedaling into the corner for catch-and-shoot opportunities, a move Ray Allen perfected in the NBA.
The Crimson Tide will practice two more times this week as they continued to prepare for the upcoming season. The first game of the 2022-23 season is just over a month away against Longwood in Coleman Coliseum.
