Alabama basketball enters NCAA Tournament needing Mark Sears to step up | Goodbread
One out for the season, one out for the moment and one out of sync.
That's not what Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats would've hoped for, entering the 2025 NCAA Tournament, from the three fifth-year seniors he returned from his Final Four team last year. But as the Crimson Tide begins preparing to face Robert Morris in first-round action in Cleveland this Friday, that's the hand the coach been dealt.
Sharp-shooting guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. hasn't played since Thanksgiving, so while he's been missed all season, Alabama has at least gotten plenty used to his absence. But issues with Oats' other two returning seniors, Grant Nelson and Mark Sears, are much more immediate concerns.
Nelson injured his left knee in the first half of Alabama's 104-82 loss to Florida in the SEC Tournament semifinal on Saturday, rendering his availability for Alabama's game against the Colonials unclear for now. Oats is holding out hope that the Crimson Tide forward will be healthy enough to play the first-round game. This is the same player who torched North Carolina for 24 points and 12 rebounds in the NCAA tourney a year go, so the value of his presence can't be overstated.
Meanwhile, Sears' shot from 3-point range hasn't been falling. The dynamic scorer from Muscle Shoals has made just 2 of 16 3-pointers in his last three games, and 4 of 26 in his last four. He can still do plenty of offensive damage by penetrating the lane for layups and floaters, not to mention his passing skills have been on a new level this season.
But when Sears' 3-pointer isn't falling, it tends to have a negative domino effect on the rest of the offense. Defenses collapse inside more easily, and the burden of being the primary scorer doesn't readily fall to one particular player other than Sears. Oats said the preseason SEC Player of the Year will be in the gym plenty over the next few days trying to dial in his stroke.
But for the coach, Sears must also dial in other parts of his game.
"When you're as skilled as he is, and you just lose yourself in the game, playing the right way on the defensive end, giving really good effort (defensively), and playing the right way at the offensive end, the shooting will take care of itself," Oats said. "It's an opportunity for Mark to prove how he impacts the game on more than just shooting. How much can you impact the game? Can we win when you're not shooting particularly well?"
Alabama is certainly a different team, and a dangerous one where the tournament is concerned, when Sears and Nelson are both playing well. Sears stretches defenses with his shooting range, and a stretched defense gives Nelson the space he needs to operate inside.
Fortunately for Alabama, Oats has a deep bench to which he can turn. But there isn't another Sears anywhere on it. And when Nelson is on top of his game, as he was last weekend in ringing up 23 points and eight rebounds at Auburn, he can be indispensable, too.
The most dangerous NCAA Tournament teams are the ones that reach peak performance with great timing, and at the moment, Alabama can't count itself among them.
Then again, things didn't look good for Alabama after last year's SEC Tournament, either.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball enters March Madness looking for answers on seniors
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