Highlights from Alabama Basketball’s European Tour

The Alabama men's basketball team recently returned home from a European Tour that took them to through three countries - Netherlands, Belgium, and France - in 10 days. During that stretch, the team played five games, finishing with a 3-2 record against solid competition that included professional players.

The trip proved valuable for a Crimson Tide team that will break in some new faces during the upcoming season. Traveling together and getting some experience on the floor as a unit will benefit this team when practice begins in a couple of months. But they also got to see some parts of the world that they never would have otherwise, while guard Retin Obasohan was able to return to his hometown in Belgium.

"I think it's been a great growing experience for our team," head coach Anthony Grant said. "We're figuring each other out, learning more about each other. To start the trip, we had 10 days of practice against ourselves, which was good, but it's not the same as playing against outside competition.

"For me as a coach, it gives me the chance to learn our team a little bit more in terms of what our strengths are and the things that we need to get better at."

A short highlight video was posted on YouTube with some slow-mo video from Alabama's trip. While there's not a whole lot to take away from the highlights, here are a couple quick observations based on what little there is to work with.

• Jimmy Taylor and Shannon Hale were both in the starting lineup for one of the games. That's likely used to get them more experience and playing time versus where they are at this point in their careers.
• Nick Jacobs has battled conditioning issues through his career, but he appears to be in pretty good shape in this video.
• Jimmy Taylor might have to work on his offensive game, but he clearly brings a lot of length and disruption around the basket. He went up high to get that one rebound.

Watch the video below and tell us what you took away from the highlights.