Takeaways from Alabama Basketball's Win Over Mercer

Blake Byler's thoughts and takeaways from the Crimson Tide's fourth straight victory to open the season.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 22 Alabama has looked dominant through the first two weeks of the season, moving to 4-0 with a 98-67 win over Mercer on Friday night.

Here are a few of my thoughts and takeaways from the game as the easy opening to the schedule concludes. 

1. Scoring output stays high despite low number of 3-point attempts. 

Nate Oats teams are typically known for the sheer number of 3-pointers the team usually takes. Through this year, though, that hasn't been the case. 

Oats prefers for his teams to take roughly 30 threes a game, but this year's team has yet to hit that mark. Despite the lack of volume, Alabama has been wildly efficient from beyond the arc with its plethora of shooters, shooting above 50 percent from three entering the game and shooting 42 percent tonight. 

The ironic part is that Alabama's scoring output has been other-worldly even without Oats' desired amount of threes taken, and during tonight's game, it was thanks to finishing at the rim. 

After Tuesday night's game against South Alabama, Nate Oats harped on the Crimson Tide's difficulty finishing around the rim, and how Alabama missed nearly half of its point-blank attempts in the game.

Tonight, however, the majority of the team's points were scored at the rim, and were done so in a very efficient manner. Alabama made 19 of its 30 attempts on layups, coming out to 63 percent. A lot of those misses came on the back end of the game as well, with Alabama making its first seven attempts at the rim to begin the game.

"I feel like you have to pick one," Rylan Griffen said. "It's hard to keep Mark, Aaron and Latrell out of the paint, so either you're going to help, and leave a bunch of people wide open for three, or you're going to give layups. These past four games, they've chosen the layup route. We'd probably like to get up more threes but they're not really helping off anybody right now."

Griffen hit the nail on the head. It's pick-your-poison with this Alabama offense. They have consistent rim finishers that can score nearly at will around the basket, and if you take it away, a plethora of shooters on the perimeter for a kickout.

Obviously, we've yet to see it against a great defense, but this offense already has the makings of one of the nation's best.

2. Mark Sears leads the charge again. 

Grant Nelson and Aaron Estrada once again had below-their-average games, and once again it was Sears who rose to the occasion and led the team. 

Sears led all scorers in the game with 24, and did so on an extremely efficient 8-of-12 shooting. He also led the team in assists, with six, and added five rebounds with only one turnover. 

In all facets, Sears looks to have leveled up his play from a season ago, even after earning second team All-SEC honors last year. He's the engine that makes the team go, and with that he's also the vocal leader in the locker room. 

"It's just hard to guard Mark Sears, man," Griffen said. "I guard him in practice. He's going to get to the paint, get fouled, make the layup, or make the right read."

Making the right read is where Sears has improved the most, according to his coach.

"When Mark drives, he's making the layup, getting fouled, or making the correct spray out now about 95 percent of the time," Oats said. "He's grown a lot in his decision-making."

With a team as talented offensively as Alabama's, having an old, veteran lead guard like Sears is invaluable, and he will only continue to prove that as the season continues. 

3. Pringle continues his improved play.

Nick Pringle had a much-improved game on Tuesday after Oats' challenge to him, and he once again played a stellar game against Mercer. 

The senior big man posted 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, many of which were athletically impressive lob finishes that rocked the Coleman Coliseum rims. He also put up two blocks, a season-high for him, and once again looked engaged on the defensive end. 

Oats summed up his recent play excellently after the game:

"I think he realized he needed to be better for us on defense," Oats said. "He's been better in pick-and-roll coverages, better at helping his teammates out when they get beat, better blocking shots, better rebounding it. He's been finishing at the rim. [...] I'm pleased with where he's at after this week."

I touched on it after the South Alabama game, but there are about half-a-dozen all-conference and even All-American-level bigs on Alabama's schedule over the next month. Pringle has done a great job taking his game up a notch, but it needs to stay there as the Crimson Tide's schedule heats up and they start facing some major challenges. 

Mark Sears Expanding His Game with Aggressiveness in the Paint