Alabama men’s basketball’s offense has been on a tear so far, averaging 93.9 PPG. This has been largely due to the depth and consistency of the Crimson Tide guards.
The impressive guard play has been led by returning guards Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway, who have both made major leaps in their second year with Alabama basketball.
Philon averages 21.3 PPG and 5.1 APG on an efficient 53.7% field goal percentage. His counterpart in the back court, Holloway, has been averaging 18.7 PPG while shooting 46.7% from the 3-point line.
Holloway stepped up big in Alabama’s SEC opening win versus Kentucky by scoring 26 points and knocking down six 3-pointers.
“We’re just going to keep working on him to be the best two-way guard in the country, that’s my challenge to him,” head coach Nate Oats said of Holloway. “He’s got to play both sides of the ball for us to win at the level we’re trying to win at.”
Philon seems to be stepping up to the challenge by picking up guard Braden Smith full court for the majority of Alabama’s early nonconference loss to Purdue while also averaging 1.5 steals per game thus far.
While Philon and Holloway have been the leaders of the backcourt, other guards like Jalil Bethea, Latrell Wrightsell and Houston Mallette have made their own contributions.
Bethea was a top-10 recruit in the class of 2024 and transferred to Alabama after his freshman year at Miami. In only his second game coming off injury, Bethea exploded for 21 points in 22 minutes in Alabama’s win over UTSA.
“All the hard work I put in over the time that I’ve been out came together today,” Bethea said. “I was very comfortable and calm, and I’m fully healthy.”
Being 6-foot-5 and having a great vertical jump, Bethea could be crucial for Alabama countering the rebound problems they have faced.
Time will tell if Bethea will begin to get an increased role in the lineup and produce more moving forward into the latter part of the season.
Wrightsell has also been a huge boost for Alabama in some of the team’s biggest games. In Wrightsell’s first game back against St. John’s, he scored 17 points in a win. Wrightsell then scored 21 points and made three 3-pointers against No. 1 Arizona in the team’s loss.
Staying healthy for Wrightsell has been his biggest problem so far, as he has already missed five games this year after missing the majority of last year with an Achilles injury.
Meanwhile, Mallette has scored in double figures in seven contests so far, both starting and coming off the bench. With injuries playing a massive role in Alabama’s season, he has been forced to adapt to a variety of different roles.
“I think Houston can lead because he’s the hardest-playing guy on the floor all the time,” Oats said. “He’s the ultimate teammate. He gets fired up whenever his teammates do well. Houston’s all about the right stuff, in my opinion. He’s a winner.”
