TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama basketball’s high-scoring attack has long been compared to the Golden State Warriors’ five-out offense. Like the Warriors, the Crimson Tide can light it up from beyond the arc. Saturday, the Tide might have found its own Draymond Green.
Following No. 24 Alabama’s 99-67 victory over Mississippi State, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats compared freshman forward Mo Dioubate to Green, a four-time NBA all-star and the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year.
That’s high praise, but Saturday night it seemed warranted.
Dioubate scored a season-high 14 points and nine rebounds while shooting 6 of 10 from the floor. The Queens, New York native also chipped in a pair of blocks and a steal while earning the team’s Hard Hat Award.
“He’s now just getting comfortable with how we want him to play,” Oats said. “We kind of had to figure out how we wanted him to play. He’s tough enough, he can be like a small-ball five. I mean Draymond Green played small-ball five for the Warriors. They won a few championships with him doing it.”
Now Alabama’s trying to do the same with Dioubate.
It took a while for the freshman to get his feet under him at Alabama as he underwent knee surgery after joining the team over the summer. Saturday, Oats said Dioubate didn’t start getting into live action on the court until right before the season. Even then, the Tide wasn’t sure how to use him.
After serving in a limited role earlier in the season, the 6-foot-7 215-pound forward has seen more action lately as Alabama has inserted him at the four while moving Grant Nelson (6-foot-11, 230 pounds) to the five. Nelson’s ability to shoot has opened up doors for Dioubate to drive to the hoop. That’s paid off the past three games as the freshman has averaged 9.67 points while shooting 13 of 17 (76.5%) from the floor.
“We actually showed him a lot of Draymond clips," Oats said. "Draymond’s an OK shooter. Mo Dioubate can make a 3, but he’s much better handling it, getting to the rim, getting his teammates open. We’ve had to kind of teach him how to play in our five-out offense without being a great shooter.”
Dioubate still has a way to go if he’s going to match the type of production Green provided the Warriors during their four NBA titles. However, it’s easy to see where Oats is going with the comparison.
Like Green (6-foot-6, 230 pounds) Dioubate can serve as a small-ball center at times. He also shares the defensive stalwart’s scrappiness and toughness on the court.
“He’s always been a tough guy,” Oats said. “From the minute he stepped into practice, live stuff. Nobody wants to guard him because he’s going to come downhill. You’re going to take a shoulder through your chin. He plays with some force and some physicality and he rebounds hard. We needed a little of that, so when he was able to get comfortable enough we could put him in more, I thought it made us tougher.”
Dioubate’s physicality was put on display several times Saturday. Perhaps his best highlight came when secured a rebound before driving the ball the length of the court for a contested layup.
“Just being a dog,” Dioubate said of his approach on the court. “Just trying to get it every possession I can. I know if I do that it’s going to create more opportunities for me on offense. I just try my best to play hard the whole game and do the little things that matter.”
Dioubate’s presence down low also came in handy during a blue-collar sequence that saw him and fellow freshman forward Jarinson Stevenson secure offensive rebounds to allow Rylan Griffen to knock down a 3 after the guard missed on two previous attempts from deep.
"I got goosebumps," Oats said of the sequence. "Jarin has come a long ways too, with how tough he's played. He's always had some toughness to him, but he's doing it on a consistent basis now instead of picking and choosing when he's going to play tough."
Stevenson also had a big night, matching his season-high with 14 points while shooting 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. He also led the team with a +29 point differential over 22 minutes on the court. With senior center Nick Pringle still facing an indefinite suspension, the 6-foot-11, 210-pound forward might also be stepping into a bigger role moving forward.
"That allows us to play a little bit bigger," Oats said of Stevenson’s success. "We kind of put the four guards in for offense, but if you got a 6-10 guy [in Stevenson] at the four, shooting 4-of-6 from three, you can play bigger, rebound better, have some size on defense, and play him a lot more next to Grant at the five. I thought, shoot, [Stevenson] could even play some five. He's getting tougher in there, can guard him. If you got him making threes like he is and traditional fives are having to guard him on the offensive end, he can help us a lot.
“He's grown up a lot. He's playing really hard. He's come a long way. He's starting to really show what we thought he could be for us."
Stevenson has yet to draw an NBA comparison from his head coach. However, he and Dioubate should hear their names called a lot more as they continue to carve out roles in Alabama's rotation.
