excerpts from a season preview:
...Andy Kennedy’s squad is off to the American, and though the Blazers remain patriotic in their league branding, they must do so with a brand-new core. UAB was fifth in the entire country in D1 experience, per KenPom, and six of the rotation’s top seven exhausted their eligibility.
Kennedy is never one to rest on his laurels, though. He has quickly built a big winner at his alma mater — only Houston, Gonzaga, Kansas and UCLA have won more than UAB’s 78 games in the past three campaigns, while Baylor, San Diego State and Arizona are tied with the Blazers.
He reloaded via the portal and a banner group of JUCO transfers, lending hope to UAB’s quest to continue its streak of success...
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...These Blazers will be led by an electrifying ballhawk in Eric Gaines, the lone returning player to start a game (he started 29). Gaines has had steal rates of 3.7%, 4.4% and 4.3% in his career — good enough to rank 58th and 22nd nationally the past two years, per KenPom. His length and instincts make him a nightmare in UAB’s pressure schemes.
Kennedy willingly mixes defenses to keep foes guessing. Last year, the Blazers played zone on 22.5% of possessions (24th-most nationally, per Synergy) and pressed on 12.9% of possessions (69th). The new group of Blazers will need to learn their coach’s schemes, but unsurprisingly, Kennedy added some valuable individual defenders to complement Gaines.
Yaxel Lendeborg and Chris Coleman bring plenty of size and activity from the JUCO ranks; both averaged more than a block per game. Lendeborg is more of a paint presence, while Coleman is a dynamite athlete who sprouted to 6-9 after graduating high school at 6-1. Neither is the true rim enforcer that Trey Jemison was, but they will deter drivers in their own way.
On the perimeter, Barry Dunning (Arkansas) and James White (Ole Miss) join from the SEC with tantalizing physical tools. Neither guy played enough at his prior stop to make much of an impact, but they could be needle-movers under Kennedy’s tutelage....
