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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Avery Johnson admits there are two or three players on his team he’d be comfortable giving the final shot to at the end of games. Although, as Alabama basketball prepares for Saturday’s game against Texas A&M, the head coach isn’t about to show his hand.
Friday he scoffed at the idea of revealing those names to the public.
“You have my cellphone? Just give him (Texas A&M head coach) Billy Kennedy’s number, so when we’re in that situation we would have already discussed it,” Johnson said with a grin. “We have a couple of guys. I don’t want to give out any scouting reports, but we have a couple of guys that we like to run some plays for at the end of games.”
The question Alabama faces isn’t who its go-to guy is but rather if it has one at all. Johnson believes the answer to that question is yes.
“I have two or three guys that we feel that way about,” Johnson said. “They’ve proven that they have made shots for us, and maybe one or two guys haven’t shot as well, but they proved that maybe in the past they can make a shot for us. We need that diversity in our offense.”
It’s understandable why Johnson would want to remain tight-lipped about his team’s last-minute scheming. However, the fact that there isn’t an obvious answer to the question is a stark contrast from last season when Collin Sexton ran the show late.
It’s fitting that this topic came up when it did. The last time Alabama and Texas A&M squared off, Sexton’s buzzer-beating floater gave the Crimson Tide a 71-70 victory in the SEC Tournament — a win that proved crucial to Alabama reaching the NCAA Tournament. During that play, Sexton caught the inbound pass and drove the length of the court before releasing his game-winning shot as the final horn blared.
He was never going to pass it. Everyone on the court knew that. It didn’t matter.
While no one is expecting Alabama to have an instant replacement for Sexton, a lottery pick in last year’s NBA Draft, it’s anyone’s guess who Johnson would entrust in that position if he faced the same situation Saturday.
Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. leads the team with 14.4 points per game. However, Johnson seems reluctant to heap much praise on the 17-year-old. Alabama has made Lewis available to the media once — a neutral-site game in Huntsville, Ala., that didn’t feature a full flock of reporters. When asked about the freshman phenom, Johnson has reiterated Lewis' young age while deflecting questions with statements such as, “He loves the cafeteria,” and “He’s just concerned about his final exams."
Not exactly the star treatment.
Alabama also features key returnees such as sophomores John Petty Jr. and Herbert Jones. However, Petty is in the midst of a sophomore slump that has seen him average 10.6 points per game while shooting 38.8 percent from the floor. Jones, who was tabbed as a potential first-round pick in the preseason, has also had an underwhelming year, averaging 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds.
There’s a good chance Tevin Mack is one of the players in Johnson’s trusted trio. The Texas transfer is the closest thing the Crimson Tide has to a veteran star at the moment. After beginning the season on the bench, the 6-foot-6 wing player has started Alabama’s past seven games at the forward position and appears to be settling in nicely to his heightened role.
Mack is averaging 9.6 points per game but has scored in double figures in five of his seven starts. Alabama is 7-0 in games when Mack plays 20 or more minutes and 3-4 when he doesn’t. However, Johnson pointed out that there are still holes in the redshirt junior’s game that need to be fixed before he can reach his full potential.
“I think not only Tevin but as the rest of our guys improve defensively the minutes will be there,” Johnson said. “It’s great if you can score 15 points, but if the guy you’re guarding — I know it’s team defense, but it’s still individual responsibility — if he’s getting 25 consistently then we’ve got to figure out a way to lower that. I think Tevin is a guy who’s taken more pride at working on the defensive end.
“At the same time, if you are a shot-maker or a scorer, you know we want you to score the basketball. We like him on the floor. He’s getting better and better. His body’s getting stronger. He’s worked awfully hard in our redshirt program. He got off to a slow start this year when he wasn’t starting, but now that he’s starting we need his production. But it’s on both sides of the floor.”
So where does that leave Alabama? The Crimson Tide could certainly be in worse shape. Through 14 games, Alabama boasts a solid 10-4 record with wins over Arizona and No. 13 Kentucky. That's a resume Texas A&M (6-7) would swap for in an instant.
That brings up the question, does Alabama even need a go-to scorer?
“I don’t think it’s always stepping up and making shots,” Johnson said. “I think we need our leaders to lead because the best teams have some generals. It’s not just coming from the coach. Whether it’s in the locker room or on the court because the game’s moving so fast, you need guys out there quarterbacking the offense, quarterbacking the defense. That’s where I think the toughness meets our talent and experience when we have great leadership.”
Whoever those leaders and shot-makers are, Alabama will need them to step up as it faces a crucial conference game against Texas A&M. Saturday’s game is set to tip off at 2:30 p.m. CT inside of Coleman Coliseum. It will be the Crimson Tide’s final home game before a two-game road stand against Missouri and No. 3 Tennessee.
