Unsurprisingly, the return of Aden Holloway led to the most efficient offensive night of the young season for Alabama. The Crimson Tide racked up 109 points in a 41-point win over Oakland on Monday night in Tuscaloosa, shooting 63% from the field and knocking down 24 three-pointers on a 52% clip.
The ball was humming all around for Alabama on offense, consistently putting the Golden Grizzlies' defense in conflict. That led to Alabama tying a program-record 30 assists on 39 made baskets, a fact that brought significant praise from long-time Oakland head coach Greg Kampe.
"They passed the ball as good as they could pass the ball," Kampe said, via Bama Online's Blake Byler. "They are as unselfish as you could possibly be.
..."This team was different than the teams I've played before. ... [In scouting, I thought] oh my God, there's no weakness."
All 11 of Alabama's rotational players played between 14 and 22 minutes. They all played unselfish basketball, with no player taking more than eight shot attempts. Amari Allen led the team with six assists, but eight players had two or more, and 11 players logged an assist in the box score.
Alabama's offense looked terrifying with the return of Aden Holloway
Oats credited Holloway's return for the ball moving the way he did. Even if he's not scoring a bunch, he's such a threat from distance that he requires a ton of attention. His sheer gravity opens up the court for everybody else.
"He comes in, I thought, maybe a little jittery at the beginning, maybe, or maybe just missed shots," Oats said of Holloway's return. "But I think he’s been great at getting the ball moving, so it was great to have him in early and help with the ball movement.
This system is a load to deal with when you have the kind of ball movement Alabama had on Monday night. Nobody was selfish. Good shots were passed up for great shots. Over and over again. Oakland did everything it could to put Alabama's offense in conflict with the 1-3-1 zone, but the Crimson Tide's ball movement punished it every time.
Alabama consistently got open looks in the corner, and London Jemison made them pay with a 6-of-6 night from distance and tied a career-high with 20 points.
It's early, and the biggest tests are to come for this Crimson Tide team. But this team has a connectiveness that can be difficult to find. That will be tested once Oats has to trim down the rotation. He won't be able to play everyone similar minutes every night when the games are closer. You aren't playing Allen and Holloway only half the game.
So the test will be whether that unselfishness remains when opportunities are fewer. When you're only getting 8-10 minutes, are you still willing to move the ball and not hunt for your own chances?
Three games in, early returns have been great. Oakland's head coach was effusive in his praise, and Oats' borrowed term from Patrick Murphy continues to pay dividends for how he approaches preaching unselfishness to his team.
"I think the guys really like playing with each other," Oats said. "The Mudita is great. And we’ve been really trying to work on just getting the ball moving, not having it stick. I thought it was pretty good tonight.”
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