Full-Court Press: Takeaways from Alabama Basketball vs Arkansas

Blake Byler's thoughts and takeaways from Alabama's comeback victory.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 2 Alabama basketball needed a win on Saturday to stay in front of the SEC regular season title race, and it got one with a huge comeback win over a very talented Arkansas team. 

Here are some of my thoughts on the Crimson Tide's 86-83 win:

1. We can put "live by the 3, die by the 3" to rest.

Even if you're just a casual fan of college basketball, if you've heard of Nate Oats and how he likes to run his teams, you've probably heard one thing: he likes his teams to shoot lots of threes.

Alabama has become an incredibly high volume shooting team over the past four years that Oats has been in Tuscaloosa. This has caused some misconceptions about Alabama's offensive philosophy to flourish, such as the thought that Alabama lives and dies by the 3-point shot.

This season has proved quite the opposite, but perhaps no game emphasized it more than Saturday.

For the game, Alabama shot just 14 percent from beyond the arc. Three makes in 22 attempts.

If Alabama lived and died by the three, the Crimson Tide would have no doubt suffered a loss, and possibly one by a large margin with those shooting numbers. Instead, Alabama relied on its many other ways it can use to win a basketball game. 

Oats' players realized that it wasn't their day from outside, so they resulted to being aggressive and working the ball into the paint for layups and dunks, as well as trips to the free throw line.

For the game, Alabama scored 52 points in the paint and 25 at the free throw line.

Yes, Alabama is of course a dangerous 3-point shooting team, and when its threes are falling its going to be hard for anyone to get a win over this team. But, even if the shots don't want to fall that day, the Crimson Tide has the capability to beat you with defense and inside scoring, truly showing how multi-faceted this team is.

2. Jahvon Quinerly had his best game of the year.

Jahvon Quinerly has come under the fire of criticism from Alabama fans all year long, whether it be his slow start after coming back from his ACL injury or his inconsistencies from time to time with turnovers. 

But on Saturday, Quinerly proved how valuable he is to this team as a point guard and a veteran.

Despite being a former SEC Tournament MVP and a preseason All-SEC selection, Quinerly has been comfortable taking a lesser role as a sixth man, and hasn't played the minutes he's used to as a longtime veteran. 

This never affected Quinerly's attitude toward the team, and his number was called against Arkansas to give Alabama a spark. The first half was rough for Jaden Bradley, so Oats plugged in Quinerly and the Alabama offense began to flow much better.

In the second half, Quinerly racked up all seven of his assists, many of which being precisely placed lobs or sharp pocket passes to cutting big men in pick-and-roll sets. 

In addition to the passing, he scored 16 points and looked much like his explosive self before his knee injury. He got downhill with ease and showed his craftiness with his finishing around the rim. 

When he drove left, he would go under the basket and use the rim as a shield so he could finish with the right hand. He went back to using his high finger roll that gets the ball over the outstretched fingertips of shot blockers.

Quinerly also showed more on-court emotion than I've seen from him all season. If he can build off this game and be a true spark plug for Alabama off the bench, it gives the Crimson Tide a another option in March that only raises the ceiling of this team.

3. Brandon Miller's finishing has been much improved.

At the beginning of the season, the biggest knock on Brandon Miller's game was his ability to finish at the rim inside. He lacked true explosiveness and was adjusting to the physical nature of the college game, so he relied much more on his outside shooting.

Miller is still an incredible shooter and may be the best shooter in the country, but the last few weeks have shown how he has adapted to the game and become an excellent finisher off the bounce.

To get downhill, Miller has begin utilizing shot fakes and his wide handle to get defenders out of position. Once he gets towards the rim he has shown excellent touch with both hands, as seen on his game-winning layup against South Carolina.

Additionally, his touch on floaters has improved, and he showed against Arkansas his ability to hang in the air and adjust the angle of his shot to avoid having it blocked, and sometimes even draw a foul.

He already shoots 42 percent from three, but his developed inside game makes him even more of a scoring threat than he already is, as shown by his recent outings of 41 and 24 points.

4. A few more things...

• Mississippi State gave Texas A&M its third loss in SEC play on Saturday, meaning Alabama has clinched at least a share of the 2023 SEC regular season title. If Alabama beats Auburn on Wednesday, it will win the title outright. 

• Dom Welch gave excellent minutes for Alabama on his senior day, scoring seven points and making one of Alabama's only threes. If he continues to elevate his play it gives the Crimson Tide even more depth to work with when a player may be having a bad game. 

• Arkansas is an extremely talented team that's starting to play its best basketball, boasting NBA talent all over the floor. Alabama coming back and beating a team that talented is impressive, and gave Alabama a good test of a game with postseason feel against a very good team.

See also:

No. 2 Alabama Doesn’t Always Need the 3-Point Shot to Succeed

No. 2 Alabama Stays Perfect at Home with Strong Second Half over Arkansas

Jahvon Quinerly's 'Swagger' Coming at Right Time for Alabama Basketball