MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. — Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats has a good problem on his hands.
The Crimson Tide reloaded with one of the deepest rosters in the country after its Final Four run last season. The Tide added depth at guard, brought in one of the best centers in the country in Clifford Omoruyi and a freshman class that includes a pair of four and five-star recruits.
Oats’ problem doesn’t involve a lack of personnel, but an excess of starting-caliber players who will all compete for minutes this season. Alabama obviously can’t play all of its players at once, and heading into the 2024-25 season, Oats understands that his players will sometimes have to sacrifice playing extended minutes in favor of team success.
“There's going to have to be some sacrifices made to win championships,” Oats said during his press conference at SEC Media Days. “The depth, the potential for us to be a very deep team is there. We've got talent. In order to build the depth, you have to get guys some playing time. There's some guys that last year were big parts of what we're doing that are going to have to take fewer minutes this year in order to build our depth.”
Alabama’s returning veterans have already started to grasp that they might spend less time on the floor in games this season than they did last year. The Tide’s top returning guards Mark Sears and Latrell Wrightsell Jr., are joined this season by Auburn transfer Aden Holloway and four-star freshman Labaron Philon. Both players have drawn praise and Oats said he could see the newcomers closing games this season.
While competition for minutes can sometimes lead to decreased team chemistry, Alabama’s returners have embraced being pushed by its newcomers. Rather than folding against the intrasquad competition, Wrightsell and Sears see a deeper guard rotation as a challenge to raise their games to a new level.
“They push me and Mark every day,” Wrightsell said of Philon and Holloway. “They have great ability to shoot, to defend, to guard and they love the game. So we’re in there playing [one-on-one] us four guards every day and it’s just been fun.”
Alabama has used its dedication to analytics to track which players are taking advantage of their time on the court. Alabama’s guards, for example, have four-minute increments to make an impact. If a player isn’t playing hard and taking enough advantage during their four minutes on the floor, their time will decrease in the rotation.
“We have a lot of statistical guys that show our production with the minutes we play,” Wrightsell said. “So if those aren’t really productive he’ll lower the minutes. But I think it has to play out. We know that we have a lot of talented guys. It’s just, does it fit for our system and is it really helping win games?”
Oats stressed that the key for his players isn’t how many minutes they’re getting or how many points they’re scoring, but how efficient they’re making Alabama on both ends. If a player isn’t scoring but can put together multiple stops on defense and grab rebounds during a short stint on the floor, that player will likely stay in the game longer in their next appearance.
The other concept guiding the Crimson Tide in balancing its minutes is a term that helped guide Alabama during its Final Four journey.
“I kind of go back to a word we stole from softball last year,” Oats said. “Coach [Patrick] Murphy came and spoke to the team. Their deal is Mudita. We actually got it on our rings. But Mudita is vicarious joy through someone else's success. Can I be as happy when my teammate scores 20 as when I score 20? Can I be as happy when he gets X number of minutes as when I do?”
Should Alabama players need a reminder of Mudita, and what making the most of their minutes looks like, they can lean on an example from one of their teammates last season.
Crimson Tide forward Mouhamed Dioubate was a role player off the bench during his freshman season, averaging just under three points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per game. Despite seeing limited playing time during his first season, Dioubate didn’t waiver and had his biggest moment of the campaign during the NCAA Tournament. Dioubate scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds in the final six minutes against Grand Canyon to help power Alabama to a 72-61 win in the second round.
“Without that we probably don’t go to the Final Four and we just use that as a perfect (example) of you gotta be ready when your time is called,” Sears said. “You may not know when your time is called. But when it is you gotta be ready and step up to the challenge.”
As Alabama looks to find its best lineups, Oats should have plenty of options and the potential to change its minutes distribution based on Alabama’s opponents. Balancing that distribution while maintaining team chemistry will be crucial to Alabama’s success in one of the most anticipated seasons in program history.
That balance requires buy-in from its entire roster in order for players to maximize their time on the floor, no matter their role in a particular game. Players like Dioubate embracing being a role player and taking advantage of their time on the floor as he did last season will be a difference maker for the Tide as it goes through its gauntlet nonconference schedule to prepare for SEC play.
“We're going to obviously keep coaching it, teaching it, talking about it, but there's going to be plenty of games where a lot of the roster is not playing as many minutes as they want,” Oats said. “Just hopefully our character takes over and whatever is best for the team and let's make sure we're locked into doing what's best for this team.”
