Last week was huge for the Alabama basketball team, bouncing back from an embarrassing loss to Florida and getting big wins over both Texas A&M at home and Auburn on the road. Both wins took a lot of effort, but we saw great things from this team when it mattered most.
Aden Holloway seems to have emerged as a leader of this team and does not shy away from wanting the ball in his hands at the biggest moments of games. We saw this in both games last week, and the rest of the team seems to feed off his energy. When Holloway is on, we seem to get the best from Labaron Philon, and that is what this team needs.
After beating the Aggies and Tigers, it is imperative that this team is able to keep the momentum going against easier opponents, at least on paper. This team has to show they can consistently win games against the teams they should, or what they accomplished last week seems partially wasted. Going to Oxford to take on Chris Beard's squad is never easy if you do not come prepared and focused, so hopefully, Nate Oats has his team's full focus going into Wednesday's game. There may be a little distraction from Charles Bediako losing his fight against the NCAA, but one would hope that should have no negative impact for this team.
We will need that much more from Aiden Sherrell and super freshman Amari Allen. Also, any positive moments from Noah Williamson would be appreciated, but not going to hang my hat on that option. After Ole Miss, the Tide returns home to face a South Carolina team that has dropped five straight SEC games. It may be a little trickier with the Gamecocks having a week off before Saturday night's game, but a loss for Alabama is not an option at this point. Yes, maybe winning the SEC is not likely, but the most important part of a week like this is tournament seeding as we enter mid-February.