Nate Oats stumbled into a terrifying formula at the perfect time for the Tide

In the regular season, the foursome of Labaron Philon Jr., Latrell Wrightsell, Aiden Sherrell, and London Jemison played 32 total minutes together without Aden Holloway on the floor. Yet, over those 53 possessions, they were one of Nate Oats’s most efficient lineups, posting a net rating of +43.5. 

In the NCAA Tournament, with Aden Holloway suspended from the team, that group has played 22 minutes, most of them with Amari Allen as the three. Over that stretch, the lineup has posted a +42.1 net rating (per CBBanalytics.com). 

Just about every lineup Oats has thrown together in March Madness has clicked, so it may be unfair to hone in on just one, but the new starting five that Oats has stumbled into in March Madness has proven to be a terrifying formula and might just be the identity he wanted this season after all. 

Alabama’s new identity is the one Nate Oats was after all along

Yes, if you’re a consistent reader, I am the person who, heading into the tournament, wrote that Holloway was too good a player for his absence to be a blessing in disguise. And the numbers bore that out over the season; most of Alabama’s best lineups were with him on the floor. The thing is, Alabama’s new identity has been unlocked not by specifically losing Holloway, but by losing another small guard who Oats needs to carve out 30 minutes a game for. 

With Holloway gone, Oats has been able to slide Latrell Wrightsell Jr. from the three to the two, where he’s been unleashed as a disruptive point of attack defender rather than being forced to deal with more lengthy wings to protect Philon and Holloway. That also moves Allen from playing as an undersized stretch four to his natural position at small forward. With those two simple tweaks, suddenly, everything has clicked with back-to-back dominant wins to reach the program’s fourth-straight Sweet 16. 

It helps that the Tide shot the lights out over the weekend in Tampa, hitting nearly 40 percent of their 39 three-point attempts per game. However, with Oats’s new two-big lineups featuring two of Sherrell, Jemison, and Taylor Bol Bowen in the front court, along with a dash of Noah Williamson, Alabama hasn’t had to rely on three-point variance quite as much, and that makes the Tide much steadier. 

NIL and the Transfer Portal are the main culprits in the death of Cinderella, but play style trends are another intriguing suspect to investigate. The best teams in college basketball this season are also the biggest, and that’s not a coincidence. Todd Golden’s Florida team, which won it all last season, was one of many to prioritize rim dominance on both ends of the floor, maximizing offensive rebounds, easy baskets inside, and rim protection. That philosophy raises the floor of the team from game to game and takes much of the juice out of three-point variance’s ability to swing a game in favor of an upset-minded mid-major. 

That seemed to be the way Oats was trending last offseason before Philon decided to withdraw his name from the NBA draft and return. That left the Tide lacking positional size. Now, without Holloway, they have it back. 

While shooting was still the reason Alabama ran away with its second-round win over Texas Tech, the extra possessions it now gains from offensive rebounds and its opponent’s 42 percent two-point field goal percentage make it so the Tide can still win in a shooting drought. That’s what Nate Oats needs; it was what he wanted last offseason, and it’s what he’s finally stumbled into at the perfect time.