Alabama men’s basketball held its first official practice of the season on Tuesday morning. Here are our observations from practice:

Juniors Galin Smith and Herbert Jones did not participate during the viewing period. Head coach Nate Oats said Smith rolled his ankle prior to the media viewing period and is day-to-day. Oats also said that Jones bruised his shoulder during a skills workout on Monday and was held out for precautionary reasons but is expected to be back tomorrow.

Oats mentioned that graduate transfer James “Beetle” Bolden will be cleared to play “in the next couple weeks” after undergoing shoulder surgery in the summer.

Regarding the decision for a hardship waiver for transfer Jahvon Quinerly, Oats said that everything has been submitted, but there is no update. The hardship waiver would allow Quinerly to play this season rather than sit out for a year.

During the five-on-five scrimmage portion of practice, it was evident that tempo is a major focus on offense as Oats constantly told the team to run in transition after every defensive rebound. Also, Oats emphasized spacing and trying to find the extra pass in transition, including stopping practice to tell players to find a higher percentage shot elsewhere on the floor rather than a contested layup.

Two players that impressed during the media viewing period were redshirt freshman Javian Davis and freshman Jaden Shackelford. Davis, who did not play last season, showed his offensive skill set in the post with quality footwork. After practice, junior John Petty Jr. said that fans “are going to see something special” from Davis this upcoming season.

Shackelford played shooting guard alongside Quinerly at point guard, but had offensive sets run for him, which allowed him to showcase his ability to finish at the rim and also his three-point shooting ability. Oats complimented Shackelford’s effort multiple times throughout practice.