Throwing a few extra takeaways out there after re-watching today:
— Mark Sears does need to do more off-ball work. Alabama's offense was clicking the best Saturday when he and Labaron Philon were out there together and Philon was running point and Sears could get open from off-ball screens or other actions and attack or shoot off of catches. Sears is a really underrated screener. Since he brings so much attention he can cause confusion for defenders by setting screens and making things crowded. That lets him get a step on guys when he's being guarded so tightly and helps free up others when he's not operating with the ball. Intersted to see how his off-ball role evolves the rest of the way.
— Similar note — there were again far too many instances where Sears was left alone to isolate and no one moved around or ran any actions around him. Whenever there was some off-ball movement, he created a better look for himself even if the ball didn't leave his hands — best example is the second 3 he hit shortly after the 10-0 run. Other times it's Sears on the left wing with everyone else spaced around the perimeter just watching him try to take his defender left. It's obvious what's about to happen and no decent defender is going to let him get off a good shot there.
— If there's a future lineup decision to be made and who knows if it will be, I think it's re-introducing Philon to the starting five along with Sears and Chris Youngblood. Philon really impressed me against Auburn with his decision-making and I thought that was the best guard combo Saturday.
— The first four minutes aside, I thought Clifford Omoruyi was excellent. He and Grant Nelson made it a point to crash the offensive glass and it showed. Obviously all the missed layups for everyone can't happen again, but I thought they both took pride in winning the rebounding battle.
— Derrion Reid played really well in his minutes. To be that willing to drive like that as a true freshman, fresh off an injury and against a long and physical team like that is impressive and shows he's confident in his own game. Alabama will need him back at full speed quickly.
Those were just a few thoughts I had as I watched it back. This team is still really impressive, really talented and it is far from panic time. Looking forward to seeing how Oats tinkers because there are definitely some adjustments he can make, but I mainly want to see the mental attitude and leadership from the team to try and quickly put this loss in the review and not let it snowball for the rest of this gauntlet stretch.
Wrote a little more about each player after the Auburn and Texas games today (GIFs included):
alabama.rivals.com
— Mark Sears does need to do more off-ball work. Alabama's offense was clicking the best Saturday when he and Labaron Philon were out there together and Philon was running point and Sears could get open from off-ball screens or other actions and attack or shoot off of catches. Sears is a really underrated screener. Since he brings so much attention he can cause confusion for defenders by setting screens and making things crowded. That lets him get a step on guys when he's being guarded so tightly and helps free up others when he's not operating with the ball. Intersted to see how his off-ball role evolves the rest of the way.
— Similar note — there were again far too many instances where Sears was left alone to isolate and no one moved around or ran any actions around him. Whenever there was some off-ball movement, he created a better look for himself even if the ball didn't leave his hands — best example is the second 3 he hit shortly after the 10-0 run. Other times it's Sears on the left wing with everyone else spaced around the perimeter just watching him try to take his defender left. It's obvious what's about to happen and no decent defender is going to let him get off a good shot there.
— If there's a future lineup decision to be made and who knows if it will be, I think it's re-introducing Philon to the starting five along with Sears and Chris Youngblood. Philon really impressed me against Auburn with his decision-making and I thought that was the best guard combo Saturday.
— The first four minutes aside, I thought Clifford Omoruyi was excellent. He and Grant Nelson made it a point to crash the offensive glass and it showed. Obviously all the missed layups for everyone can't happen again, but I thought they both took pride in winning the rebounding battle.
— Derrion Reid played really well in his minutes. To be that willing to drive like that as a true freshman, fresh off an injury and against a long and physical team like that is impressive and shows he's confident in his own game. Alabama will need him back at full speed quickly.
Those were just a few thoughts I had as I watched it back. This team is still really impressive, really talented and it is far from panic time. Looking forward to seeing how Oats tinkers because there are definitely some adjustments he can make, but I mainly want to see the mental attitude and leadership from the team to try and quickly put this loss in the review and not let it snowball for the rest of this gauntlet stretch.
Wrote a little more about each player after the Auburn and Texas games today (GIFs included):
Ranking Alabama’s roster after 1-1 mark against Texas, Auburn
Roster power rankings after Alabama's win over Texas and loss to No. 1 Auburn.
