re: Bama 3s

I don't really care how many three's they hit, the reality is Bama can't play in the paint and too much of their offense is predicated on hitting three's. Unfortunately Oates' philosophy doesn't allow to get better in the paint so that will never change. I don't think they have a shot at winning it all with just a three point shooting game. There are too many teams that can play the paint, slow the pace of the game down and make Bama play their game.

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Dive into the two bama/state games and you find some interesting stats. Bama shot practically the same percentage from three in both games (48.4% and 48.8%). MSU just allowed them to shoot a lot more in the second game (14 more). State didn't defend the three any better in the first game, which was won by bama 88-84.

To be elite bama has to play with pace and create more possessions. IMO, that doesn't necessarily mean that opponents have to slow the pace of the game against bama, they just have to play efficient offense and be able to defend the perimeter. The AU/Bama game boiled down to that. The pace and style was closer to what bama wanted than what AU would have ideally preferred, but AU was efficient and defended well. There just aren't many teams that can put that combination on the floor, and even fewer who can do it for 40 minutes.

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Agree, and I think it pushed Oats to finally decide they had to hand the ballhandling reigns to Philon and accept some of the inexperienced mistakes he is going to make. His length and ability to beat guys off the dribble opens up the entire offense and allows Mark to play on the wing - which both removes him from dribble drives initiating action (a disaster against good defenses) but puts him on the wing where he is fantastic.

It's also a big help defensively because Philon is long and active and disrupts initial action in a way Mark can't (and Mark is a much better chaser and wing guarder).

The test will be against Tennessee and Auburn, teams with length and athleticism that Philon is going to have to limit turnovers against when he gets into traffic. If he can then we might have something, if not we're going to have to just pick the lesser of two evils (I think it's still Philon unless it's just a disaster turnover wise).

Bama gets their heavy share of layup attempts and putbacks.

Its the 3 ball that determines how their day is going to go though.

Especially if their defense is lackadaisical. They will try to depend on the 3 to get back in it quick.