Film study: What Pepperdine transfer Houston Mallette brings to Alabama

Though No. 4 seed Alabama's focus is on the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Crimson Tide is already active in the transfer portal, as it snagged Pepperdine transfer guard Houston Mallette on Tuesday.

To this point, the 6-foot-5 guard is one of the top players to enter the transfer portal. Mallette, a rising senior, averaged 14.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on 41.5% shooting from beyond the arc while starting in all 31 games.

Let’s dive into the film room for an early look at what Alabama is getting in the electric tough shot-making guard.

There’s nothing more important in basketball than a bucket, and that’s what you’re getting with Mallette on a nightly basis.

This season, Mallette shot a mind-boggling 57.1% on pull-up 3s and 42.7% on pull-up 2s while attempting 3.6 pull-up jumpers per game (1.2 on 3s and 2.4 on 2s) per Synergy Sports.

As seen in this compilation, he uses shot fakes and silky smooth step-backs to set up his pull-up jumper. The 20-year-old guard has impressive bend and flexibility and a knack for shooting through contests.

Though Mallette is an effective shooter, his scoring ability is somewhat limited. He’s not an above-the-rim finisher (0 dunks) and struggles to finish through contact at the rim due to his thin frame.

Mallette converts only 46.3% of his shots at the rim in the half-court, ranking him in the 11th percentile.

For Alabama fans, there’s a clear stylistic comparison between Mallette and former All-SEC guard John Petty Jr. — at least regarding their scoring approach.

There are not many skills more valuable for head coach Nate Oats’ dribble-drive offense than off-ball movement.

Mallette made 36.7% of his catch-and-shoot 3s on 3.9 attempts per game, a 5.2% improvement from his sophomore season. He took this leap while also maintaining his difficult shot profile. For reference, 53% of his catch-and-shoot 3s were contested in 2023-24, a slight decrease from 55.4% in 2022-23.

Mallette is a good athlete with excellent speed and angles in off-ball screening actions. He can work out of floppy sets (a double screen under the basket for a shooter), hammer screens (a weakside flare screen for a shooter to cut from the wing to the corner), zipper screens (also referred to as a down screen) and shake action (an off-ball movement during a pick-and-roll action in which the corner 3-point shooter lifts from the ball-handler on the wing).

Something to keep an eye on: Mallette has real landing issues on his jumper. He tends to flare his legs out and falls more than you’d like. This type of landing style can lead to lower-body injuries becoming more common.

On the other end, Mallette is a serviceable defender within a team structure. Though he doesn’t defend primary ball-handlers or post-eye-popping steal and block numbers, there’s value in an engaged off-ball defender with good screen navigation chops and rotations.

Mallette will join three Rivals top 50 recruits in Derrion Reid, Aiden Sherrell, and Naas Cunningham as the Crimson Tide’s additions to the 2024-25 roster.