The road back to the Final Four has begun for Alabama men’s basketball, as the team has gone 3-1 in its first four games. Here are four takeaways from the Crimson Tide’s performance so far.
Labaron Philon is the real deal
The freshman point guard out of Mobile, Alabama, was a great score for the Crimson Tide this past offseason. He originally signed with Kansas but opted out of his national letter of intent and committed to head coach Nate Oats and his staff in April.
He is tied for second in points per game with with Grant Nelson and Latrell Wrightsell Jr, each with 12.0. Philon also leads the team in assists with 4.3 per game and steals with 1.3 per game. He has been efficient from the field, shooting 54.8% from the field and 36.4% from 3-point range.
He had an especially great game against Purdue despite the 87-78 loss, leading the Crimson Tide in scoring with 17 points and shooting an efficient 7/10 from the field while making three of his four 3-point attempts. He also dished out five assists and grabbed a team-high four offensive rebounds.
“Labaron has been really good,” Oats said. “Probably better than what we thought he was going to be.”
Clifford Omoruyi has brought a big presence in the paint
The 6-foot-11 center from Nigeria came into the team after transferring from Rutgers this offseason, filling a big team need at the center position.
Omoruyi has shown his dominance in the paint on both ends of the court. He leads the team in rebounds with 7.8 per game and blocks with 2.5. He also shoots a very efficient 77.8% from the field, with most of his shots coming from inside.
Shooting needs to be better from 3
In an Oats offensive system that lives and dies by the 3-point shot, the team needs to shoot better than 30.3%.
A big part of last season’s Final Four run was the success from 3-point range, as the team shot the second most 3-pointers in the nation and made 37.3% of them. The player at the forefront of the 3-point regression this season has been forward Jarin Stevenson, who has missed each of his first 13 attempts.
The loss to Purdue highlighted the struggles from downtown, as the team shot only 9/29 from 3 and only made two of its last 11. This allowed the Boilermakers to rally in the second half and take control of the game. Oats said afterward that the struggles from 3 may be due to poor shot creation.
“We’ve got to do a better job finding better shots for our shooters,” he said.
The execution closing out games needs to improve
The struggles closing out games have been a common theme so far this season. Alabama was up by as much as 16 in the 88-79 win against Arkansas State but allowed the Red Wolves to tie up the game with 7 minutes left. The team was up by 21 points in the second half in a 72-64 win against McNeese but then allowed an 18-3 run to keep the Cowboys in the game.
The struggles to pull away from opponents came to a head against Purdue. The Crimson Tide had built a 65-59 lead with 11 minutes left in the game but allowed a 13-0 run to give the Boilermakers a lead they would never relinquish.
“We’ve got to do a little bit better job closing games, too, like with some effort,” Oats said. “ I thought they closed the game better than we did after we got up 6.”
