Alabama basketball needs a cure for a concerning trend of slow starts. The Crimson Tide started slow in both of its SEC losses, most recently finding themselves in a 9-0 hole to open Saturday afternoon's highly anticipated matchup with Auburn in Tuscaloosa.
Nate Oats has been started a big front line with three forwards flanked by two guards. Jarin Stevenson has been starting at the three with Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi in the frontcourt. Recently, the backcourt has been Mark Sears and Chris Youngblood.
Freshman guard Labaron Philon has started 17 games for the Crimson Tide this season but has recently been coming off of the bench following a minor injury. If Alabama makes a chance to its starting lineup, it sounds like it will be inserting Philon back into the starting five.
Nate Oats said "there's been talk of" putting Labaron Philon back in the starting lineup.
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) February 18, 2025
The question will be whether Philon's insertion back into the starting lineup will be in place of Youngblood or Stevenson. If it's Youngblood, then Alabama loses some shooting, but does gain some ball-handling ability. That will take some creating off of Mark Sears' plate and potentially lead to him getting more catch-and-shoot opportunities from three.
Of course, that will mean the only shooting threat is Sears with Philon, Stevenson, and Nelson all being inconsistent from three.
If Philon starts in place of Stevenson, Alabama keeps two shooters on the floor and adds some needed ball-handling and a player who can initiate offense and get to the rim. Alabama loses a bit of defensive length in that scenario, but they can't continue having to play from behind due to poor starts.
Oats also talked about Alabama's poor starts to second halves. Trailing Auburn by nine at halftime, most expected the Crimson Tide to come out firing to start to the second half to get back into the game. Instead, Auburn quickly stretched the lead to 14.
Alabama has also struggled maintaining big leads. They've tended to slack off defensively to open the second half of games, especially when they've held a big lead at half. In 11 of the Crimson Tide's 12 SEC games, they've given up 40+ points in the second half. That includes giving up 52 to Auburn on Saturday.
"Our starts to the second half haven't necessarily fixed themselves," said Oats. "Maybe we do need to change our starters for the second half even if we don't for the first half."
Ensuring good energy and effort to open the half sounds like Mo Dioubate's music to me. Letting Mo D open the second half on the floor could provide a boost with his 100 MPH play style. It'll be hard for the other four players on the floor not to match that energy.