Expectations for Alabama basketball under first-year college head coach Avery Johnson weren't high entering this season. In the media's preseason SEC poll, the Crimson Tide was picked second-to-last in the conference, just better than Missouri. However, Johnson's team has thrived in his true honeymoon year, with Alabama 16-10 (7-7) in the SEC headed into tonight's game vs. Kentucky (6 p.m. CST, ESPN).

Football is king at Alabama, but the next month or two figure to be all about basketball in Tuscaloosa, as the Tide is on the NCAA Tournament bubble and in April figure to put the finishing touches on a 2016 recruiting class that ranks No. 12 in the country per the 247Sports Basketball Recruiting Composite Team Rankings.

I've broken down a few of the reasons why it's only going to get better.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS:

We're going to get a little technical here, but bear with us, because the key motive of Bama's offense is to get its point guard space to operate and its wing shooters clean looks. Johnson uses a lot of screening action in the middle of the floor, especially in the high-post area but also including an occasional cross screen in the post. The high post screening primarily features a screen off the ball (back or flare screen) into ball-screen action for the point guard.

The wings primarily space out to appropriate slots and spot up for a kick out.

Alabama's team doesn't have a collectively strong shooting percentage from downtown (33.3 percent) but only 26 teams have a higher ratio of three-point shots to field goal attempts and the Tide ranks No. 60 (of 337 teams) in terms of the percentage of their points that come from three-point shots, according to data from KenPom.com. Starting at the 2 and the 3 are Arthur Edwards and Riley Norris, who are hitting 38.7 and 40 percent of their perimeter shots, respectively.

The Tide will also use isolation action to clear a side and post up a mismatch on the left block. Starting center Jimmie Taylor — all 6-foot-10 of him — is converting 62.9 percent of his two-point looks, good for No. 62 in the nation.

Pace of the game has been slow for the Tide as they are only ranked No. 310 nationally in tempo, scoring 67.6 points per game. Speeding up the offense should occur in the future with an influx of talent.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Alabama's stellar defense, which ranks No. 29 nationally in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom, and the Tide is great at limiting opponents to tough looks and blocking shots.

PERSONNEL ANALYSIS:

The aforementioned 6-foot-1 point guard Retin Obasohan, from Belgium, leads the Tide in minutes played at 32.7 minutes and 16.9 points per game. The point guard is the focal point of the offense, and Justin Coleman, who's currently playing a ton of minutes anyway, will be counted on to step into Oasohan’s shoes next season.

But I would also look for the offense to modify and become more focused on junior Shannon Hale next year. The 6-foot-8 power forward is the second leading scorer at 11.2 points per game.

Also freshman Dazon Ingram, who suffered a season ending broken foot in December, is a highly talented player with a high level diverse skill set at 6-foot-5. He showed the most promise of the freshman during his short stint early in the season. Ingram was the No. 237 player in last season's recruiting class acording to the 247Sports Composite.

Norris and Taylor also return next year.

RECRUITING ANALYSIS:

Johnson caused a stir in August when he secured a commitment from top 15 prospect Terrance Ferguson over Kansas, Florida, Baylor and others. It was certainly a statement commitment which help entrench Alabama into the national recruiting scene. Cause for pause, however, is that Ferguson did not sign a Letter of Intent in November. The stated reason was that he couldn’t organize his whole family to be there for the occasion, and Ferguson maintains that he is still committed to Alabama. Pundits, though, are not so certain that Ferguson will end up at Alabama as rumblings of him ending up at Baylor or Kansas have not quieted.

Led by Ferguson, the Alabama 2016 recruiting class is ranked No. 12 nationally and No. 3 in the SEC. Alabama hasn’t had a recruiting class ranked this high since the 2011 class, which was ranked No. 8 nationally.

Top 10 junior college prospect Ar’Mond Davis, a 6-6 wing, is known for his athleticism and shooting ability in a similar fashion as Ferguson.

Four-star Braxton Key rounds out the class with his multifaceted and versatile game.

Look for wing shooting/scoring to be on the uptick next year for Alabama. Perhaps the pieces are also in this class to increase the defensive tempo next season.

FINAL ANALYSIS:

Avery Johnson and the new Alabama coaching staff hasn’t definitively proved anything at this point, but the status of the program is in a positive position with evidence of progression.

Beyond finishing the season strongly, Alabama also needs to secure Ferguson as a recruit to carry momentum into next year. Losing Ferguson’s ability as a shooter and defender would certainly sting, but losing a signature statement recruit would sting even more on the recruiting front as far as image and perception go.

With a loaded 2017 class in the state of Alabama, Johnson has an opportunity to progressively build Alabama into a top SEC program and potential Final Four contender.

So far, he is ahead of schedule in this pursuit.