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Last Saturday, Alabama basketball head coach Nate Oats made the questionable decision to bench star guard Mark Sears in the second half of a tight battle against LSU. Oats stated that no one is bigger than the team after the controversial decision, and then Sears returned to the lineup on Wednesday night against Mississippi State. He played 35 minutes, and finished with 17 points as the Crimson Tide escaped Starkville with an 88-84 win.
Nate Oats certainly sent a message with his decision to bench Mark Sears, and it seemed to work out as he got a great performance from his star against Mississippi State.
“I thought Sears had a really good bounce-back game,” Oats said, according to an article from On3. “I mean, he played hard. We chart up those blue-collar points. Dioubate ended up winning it with seven O boards, but Sears was like right there a point behind him. So man, I thought he made a bunch of tough plays. He ends up with six rebounds, three O boards. We got him on the O boards. He’s 17, nine and six. I thought he was really good overall game.”
Not everything was perfect for Sears in this one, but one thing that Oats really wanted to see was effort. He got his wish there.
“Obviously, the turnovers, he tried to put it in there in some tight places too much,” Oats added. “I think two of those were jump balls that they had the possession on. So obviously, we don’t want him turning the ball over seven times, but I thought his effort, which is really what we’ve been trying to get him to really, was great. I mean, three O boards. I don’t know if that’s a high for him. I thought six rebounds total to go 17, nine and six, if he could have got a few more rebounds and another assist, he’s pushing triple-double, which is not easy to do for a guy his size.”
The Alabama basketball team was on the road against the No. 14 team in the country. That is not an easy game to win, and if it weren't for some huge buckets from Sears in crucial moments, the Crimson Tide probably leave Starkville with a loss.
“So I thought he made some big shots late in the shot clock, kind of bailed us out,” Oats continued. “The one lean-in three at the top of the key, the one over there on the left baseline, I mean, we needed every last point we could get tonight, and some of the shots he hit when probably nobody else on the team would be able to generate a bucket that late in the clock like he was able to do was big. So I was super happy with Mark’s effort and performance tonight.”
Mark Sears seemed to receive the message that his head coach was sending when he benched him against LSU. That was a nice performance on the road, and Alabama probably doesn't win that one without him.
With the victory, Alabama is now 18-3 overall and 7-1 in SEC play. They are in second place in the conference behind rival Auburn, who is perfect in SEC play.
