Labaron Philon could have remained in the NBA Draft last year, and he would've gotten picked somewhere late in the first round or early second. One of the main reasons he returned to Alabama was that he knew Nate Oats would push him to become even better.
Oats' comments about Philon in the aftermath of Alabama's 95-85 loss to Gonzaga on Monday night are exactly what Philon was talking about. The star sophomore guard scored a career-high 29 points and almost single-handedly kept the Crimson Tide in the game despite a major mismatch in the frontcourt.
And yet, Oats was critical of Philon's performance after the game. While he correctly mentioned that Alabama needed to get Philon more help, he also said they needed to get more out of the sophomore.
"We need more out of him with taking care of the ball," Oats said. "We've got to get more than zero rebounds out of him when we're stressing our guards gotta rebound. He's very talented. He can score it. He's got to do a little bit more to help us win games, though."
Philon scored 29 points and dished out seven assists, but he also turned the ball over six times and didn't grab a rebound. His scoring was outstanding and efficient. He reached that point mark on just 18 shot attempts. But he's the point guard and the engine of this offense, and it was stuck in the mud for large stretches, particularly down the stretch.
Alabama struggled from three-point range, only going 9-of-29 from deep, but 29 attempts is also not nearly as many as it would have preferred to take. Gonzaga did a really good job of guarding against it, however, and Alabama didn't get its shooters good looks for most of the night.
That's not all on Philon, but this is his team. He's the star. So when things go poorly, even when his individual numbers look good, he'll have to accept the criticism. And he does. It's exactly the reason he wanted to be back in Tuscaloosa for this season.
Labaron Philon is playing like the National Player of the Year... and can get better
Perhaps the scariest point for opponents is that not only is Philon playing as well as any guard in the country through five games, he can also continue to play better.
He is averaging an impressive 22 points and six assists per game while hitting 55% from the field and over 40% so far from three-point range, but he's also averaging about a full rebound less per game (in more minutes) than he did a year ago. He's also only shooting 60% from the free-throw line, which is significantly down from the 77% he shot from the charity stripe as a freshman.
With his ability to get to the paint at will, Philon is going to get fouled a lot at the basket. That means he's going to shoot a lot of free throws. He's going to have to connect on a much higher percentage moving forward.
Philon has taken a gigantic leap from his freshman season already. He looks every bit like the player Alabama fans thought he could be this year. And there's still significant room for growth as the season comes along.
Oats is going to squeeze out every ounce of basketball ability Philon has, and by the time March rolls around, there may not be a better player in the entire country.