Welcome back to Five-out Friday where Hunter Cruse breaks down five topics surrounding Alabama basketball. Today we’ll take a look at No. 6 Alabama as it enters postseason play.

Alabama concluded its historic regular-season with an 89-79 victory over Georgia on Saturday. Despite the ending result, the Tide committed more than 20 turnovers for the second time this season. Those offensive woes allowed the Bulldogs to stretch its lead to as many as 14 points in the first half.

Here’s a look at one of those instances in the game’s opening minutes. This offensive set was designed for Georgia to run a two-man action between P.J. Horne (No. 24) and Toumani Camara (No. 10) at the top of the key. Even with his poor positioning, Camara decides to force a drive, allowing James Rojas to create a turnover. Juwan Gary then fails to take advantage of the 2-on-1 fast break by making a pass into the hands of a Bulldog defender. It’s not shown in the video, but Georgia’s P.J. Horne proceeds to hit an uncontested 3 in transition.

After locking up a bye in the SEC tournament, Alabama (21-6, 16-2 in the SEC) will look to limit these mistakes today as it takes on No. 9 seed Mississippi State at 11 a.m. CT.

On Tuesday, the SEC announced its season-ending award winners which included the all-conference teams. Those players are at the forefront of a team’s success, while the complementary pieces receive minimal spotlight. The often coined “role players” generally fall into four archetypes: 3-and-D wings, rim running bigs, backup point guards, and specialists.

Let’s recognize some of the SEC’s overlooked contributors for a hypothetical All-SEC Role Player Team. To qualify, a player must be outside the top three on his team in field-goal attempts and usage-rate (time impacting the offense).

Alabama is the only school to have multiple players on our cast of supplementary players which serves as a testament to its balanced offensive attack.

Ellis is one of the most overlooked players on the Tide’s roster. Through his first season in Tuscaloosa, the junior college transfer has averaged 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds despite averaging just 16.4 minutes per game. He’s just one of six SEC with a true shooting percentage (a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws) of above 60 percent. He’s also just the fifth guard from Alabama over the past decade to conquer this feat.

Ellis played a big part in helping Alabama put away Georgia last weekend, hitting a clutch 3 in the game’s final minute after the Bulldogs trimmed the Tide’s lead to 3 points. Examining the possession, Alabama first puts the ball in the hands of Jahvon Quinerly who had 18 points in the second half. The point guard then penetrated the lane causing the Bulldogs to bring help-side defense. From there, he was able to hit Ellis in stride for the 3.

Ellis can fit seamlessly into any team’s system with his ability to defend multiple positions and space the floor on offense. During Alabama’s game against Florida in January, he finished with a season-high 16 points on just six field-goal attempts. Ellis has excelled in his off-ball role on the back of his proficient jumper in catch-and-shoot situations.

Bruner has provided an even bigger impact for the Tide. During his Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday, Alabama head coach Nate Oats called Bruner his top target this offseason, stating that the former Yale graduate transfer has even exceeded expectations since arriving on campus.

“He shoots it well. He handles it well. He passes it well,” Oats said. “His skill level is high. But then when he got here, he’s got a presence about him. I think he’s really helped our seniors who were already here — Herb, Petty Reese — he really helped those guys along in a leadership role. … I think his skill level, his IQ, his leadership — he’s a really high-character young man.”

Bruner’s arguably the most complete big-man to play at Alabama in some time with his ability to impact the game in a multitude of ways. Despite undergoing surgeries on both of his knees earlier this season, he’s still averaged 7.0 points and 4.7 rebounds on 45 percent shooting in his lone season for the Tide.

Let’s refer to this possession from Alabama’s loss to Arkansas last month. Bruner receives the ball from behind the 3-point line and attacks the basket without hesitation to exploit a matchup against 7-foot-3 Connor Vanover (No. 23). Once he reaches the paint, Bruner takes a short hop to create separation between himself and the three defenders which opens up a Joshua Primo for a layup. This illustrates Bruner’s ability to dissect defenses seconds ahead of his opponent.

This week, Alabama forward Herbert Jones became the third player to win the SEC’s player of the year and defensive player of the awards in the same season, joining Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2011-12) and Tyler Ulis (2015-16). Jones has continued to improve his offensive game over his four seasons at Alabama which has led him to become a viable outside shooter. He’s connected on more 3s in 27 games this year (20) than he did over his previous 96 games with the Tide (15). He’s also seen a remarkable rise in his accuracy from deep, shooting a team-high 45.5 percent from 3, up from 7.1 percent last season.

Jones has always been able to turn defense into offense. However, he’s improved that skill since playing under Nate Oats. In the example above, Jones intercepts the entry pass allowing Alabama to run in transition. He accelerates past the mid-court line to get himself in position for a rim attempt on his dominant side. Jones was able to get from the opposite free-throw line to the basket in roughly four seconds. That type of tempo will cause most defenses to struggle.

It’s been almost two years since Alabama fired Avery Johnson and turned to Nate Oats as its next head coach. A culture change was needed to bring a program from mediocrity to stardom once again. To begin, Oats needed to re-recruit the Tide’s three early signees — Jaden Shackelford, Jaylen Forbes, and Juwan Gary. He was also able to land former five-star Jahvon Quinerly and West Virginia’s Beetle Bolden via the transfer portal. Where do these players stand just two seasons later? Let’s reflect on Alabama’s program-changing offseason.

Let’s begin with the most accomplished player of this class, sophomore Jaden Shackelford. He’s scored more points than anyone in the SEC over the past two seasons, which led to him earning second-team All-SEC honors this season. The playmaking guard is also a talented finisher with a knack for scoring through contact.

Forbes spent his first year at Alabama before transferring to Tulane where he’s averaged 16.5 points on 12 attempts per game. Forbes was named to the All-AAC third team earlier this week as he’s continued to flourish under Ron Hunter.

Bolden is now playing overseas for KK Lovcen in Montenegro after averaging 8.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in his lone season at Alabama.

After redshirting in 2019-20, Quinerly has been one of the most efficient scorers in the conference, averaging 12.3 points on 47.1 shooting. We went into more detail on his impact in last week’s Five-out Friday.

Gary and Rojas missed the entirety of the 2019-20 season after undergoing knee surgeries. Since returning, they have both provided rotational minutes on a needs basis.

In addition, Raymond Hawkins, a 6-foot-9 forward, transferred to Long Beach State last offseason after appearing in only six games for the Tide.