Alabama needed more from its guards in SEC Tournament loss to Florida

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Alabama’s guards, especially its starters, had a rough go against Florida.

Mark Sears finished the SEC Tournament semifinal matchup with nine points and didn’t make a field goal in the second half. Labaron Philon only made one field goal in the entire game.

Chris Youngblood led the Crimson Tide in scoring with 14 points, but he was the only Alabama guard to score in double figures. Conversely, Florida’s trio of starting guards – Walter Clayton Jr. (22 points), Will Richard (16) and Alijah Martin (16) – combined to score 54 points.

Florida’s starting backcourt out-scored Alabama’s, 54-26, in the Gators’ 104-82 win. Despite a wide scoring discrepancy, Nate Oats was more disappointed with the guards’ defense.

“It was more when you get locked into what you have to do to win a game and you’re really talented on offense, the offense takes care of itself a lot,” Oats said. “I go back to what we said we were going to be – were we the hardest-playing, toughest team on the floor? 

“Was our backcourt the hardest playing, toughest backcourt on the floor? If we were locked into the defensive end and we’re playing off stops more, I think the offense comes a lot easier.”

Alabama’s guards were better in the quarterfinal win against Kentucky, combining for 40 points on Friday night. The total climbed to 53 when Aden Holloway’s 13 points were included. But the Tide’s stars of Night 1 in Nashville struggled in Round 2 against the stingy Gators.

Philon, in particular, was off after tying his season-high of 21 points against the Wildcats. He was 1-of-9 from the field and only contributed three points in his 29 minutes of game action.

“I don’t know if it’s just (being a) freshman, but we need him to be better because we’re going to rely on him to win games in the NCAA Tournament,” Oats said. “They’ve got a tough backcourt. They’re very good defensively, too. They got some of the best defensive guards in the country, as well. So they obviously did a good job with us.

“But I think we got to buy into just being tough on the defensive end and letting the offense take care of itself.”

Guard play is paramount in the NCAA Tournament, and UA needs more from its backcourt.

Sears, Philon and Holloway combined for 11 of Alabama’s 14 assists, but they also turned it over seven times. Oats wants to see better decisions, both with the ball and at the rim.

“I thought Mark was great moving the ball in the first half,” Oats said. “I thought he got in. We didn’t particularly hit all the shots, but I thought he made a lot of really good reads in the first half. For whatever reason, we just as a group, the ball wasn’t moving like it needed to in the second half.

“Again, you go back to, were we getting stops? Are you playing off stops? Are you taking the ball out of the net all the time? When you’re locked into the defensive end, I think the offense kind of takes care of itself a lot of times.”

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $11.99! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!