Alabama basketball's starting lineup has had a propensity for slow starts. It happened against Vanderbilt on Tuesday, with the Commodores breaking out to a 7-2 lead. But, Alabama went on a 20-4 run from there and never really looked back en route to a 103-87 win in Coleman Coliseum.
When things go awry, Nate Oats turns to his bench. Its his bench that typically turns out to be the difference most nights as most teams don't have the quality depth that Alabama can employ. And that's even with a season-ending injury to Latrell Wrightsell, another potential season-ending issue for Houston Mallette, and 5-star freshman Derrion Reid missing the last couple of games.
The Crimson Tide ran a nine-man rotation against Vanderbilt, and its four bench guys - Aden Holloway, Mo Dioubate, Chris Youngblood, and Aiden Sherrell led Alabama in plus-minus.
Dioubate led the way at +26, Holloway followed closely behind at +21. Youngblood was +17 and Sherrell was +12.
Alabama's starting five had two guys in the negative - Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi combined to be -10. Jarin Stevenson and Labaron Philon barely swung toward the positive at +2 and +4 respectively. Mark Sears finished at +8 to lead the starters, off the strength of his performance down the stretch to finish the 'Dores off.
Dioubate and Holloway led Alabama in scoring with 22 points each. It was a career-high in points for Dioubate, and he added 10 rebounds for a double-double. He added two blocks and a steal and, unsurprisingly, won the Hard Hat award for a second straight game.
Holloway has been lights out from three in SEC play, connecting on 13-of-23 (56.5%) attempts from downtown. He was 4-of-6 on Tuesday. He has his confidence back and looks like the player he was hyped to be as a recruit.
Youngblood is rounding into form off the bench. He scored eight points and was just 2-of-6 from three, but the process looks good. His first two threes were both down and out. He's a proven shooter and has to keep getting shots up.
Sherrell went scoreless in 13 minutes, but he grabbed five rebounds, dished two assists, and added a steal. He looked lost early in the season, but Sherrell is giving Alabama quality minutes now. His defense has improved drastically. He's keeping his feet and letting his size do the work.
I still wouldn't be surprised to see a shakeup to the starting lineup coming, but things are working for Oats and company right now as is. The Tide's bench has continued to overwhelm opponents, and nowhere was that more obvious than on Tuesday night against Vanderbilt.