TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama trotted out a slightly different starting five for the first time since the start of conference play in the Crimson Tide’s 80-73 win over LSU. Coach Nate Oats swapped guard Labaron Philon for Chris Youngblood, who scored or assisted the Tide’s first nine points against LSU.
The goal in that move was to ease Philon into the game after he tweaked his ankle and provide a spark after the freshman struggled in Alabama’s win over Vanderbilt. Philon looked better against the Tigers, finishing with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. He was able to get into a rhythm against LSU’s reserves, which is a strategy Oats has employed throughout his coaching career.
After making his first tweak to the starting five against conference opposition, Oats may do the same for Alabama’s matchup against No. 14 Mississippi State on Wednesday. Oats said he hasn’t yet determined which players will start the game and is hoping to have 10 available scholarship players if freshman forward Derrion Reid is able to return from injury after missing the last four games.
“Any combination of five of them we put on the floor, I think are pretty good,” Oats told reporters Tuesday. “When you go with the guys we’ve been starting before, you bring in CY, [Aden] Holloway, [Mouhamed Dioubate] off the bench, Reid if he was able to stay healthy all year and get the reps these guys have gotten, you’ve got eight or nine guys that could easily start, put up starter minutes and starter points. It’s hard to match our depth, and we’ve needed it at various times this year.”
Alabama’s depth allows Oats to also make halftime lineup adjustments and sit players who are not performing well. Oats demonstrated that against LSU, leaving starting guard Mark Sears and center Clifford Omoruyi out of Alabama’s lineup when the team came out for the second half against the Tigers. Sears didn’t appear for the rest of the game, while Omoruyi bounced back after allowing Tigers forward Corey Chest to grab 15 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
“I’ve been a little disgusted with — whether it be our start to the game — that hasn’t been as big of an issue — occasionally it has – as much our start to the second half,” Oats said. “That’s what’s been most disappointing to me. So, whoever starts – I made it very clear to the guys over the last few weeks, and that was part of the reasoning going into the second half against LSU — the guys who start the game are not guaranteed to start the second half moving forward. Just don’t plan on it being that way. We’re gonna start the guys that give us the best chance, the best start to the second half."
Oats said both Sears and Omouryi have responded well in practice ahead of Alabama’s matchup against No. 14 Mississippi State. That’s a good sign as Alabama looks for a third top-15 win away from home in SEC play and the Tide needs the most from all of its available players to do so.
While the response from the team has been strong this week, Oats could yet again change up his rotation in both halves against the Bulldogs if his side is underperforming expectations. Alabama's depth gives Oats the ability to tinker with lineups freely and also push his players to perform knowing there is a player capable of starting ready to go behind them.
“If you’re supposed to beat a team by 15-20, to be tied at the half, we didn’t perform the way we were supposed to in the first half,” Oats said. “So we’re gonna make a change. Then you go through, you look at some plus-minuses, some leverage numbers, who practiced well the day before. You look at lots of different data in a quick amount of time, you make a decision, and you hope that you sparked some guys and get them to play hard.”
Alabama will face off against Mississippi State at 8 p.m. CT Wednesday inside Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
