This is an opinion column.

_____________________

Alabama fans are beginning to evolve and mature. Some are so invested in this basketball season that they can’t help but throw stuff on the court and in the direction of their own players. This week’s mailbag is lobbing some hot takes at Alabama’s best player, Mark Sears.

Lew in Meridian, Miss., writes …

I strongly disagree with your take on Coach [Nate] Oats jumping on Mark Sears. A team leader finds a way to get his entire team involved in the game, not just dribble for 30 seconds, then fire a shot up 10 feet behind the 3-point line!

When Bama tied the game late in the second half after two 3s by Sears, the rest of their offense was Sears dribbling out in front trying to find a spot to launch a shot or driving towards the basket with a shot that either gets blocked … or he fumbled it out of bounds.

Alabama does not pass the ball. It’s much faster than dribbling. Also the bounce pass works pretty good, especially when it’s fairly short. Whatever happened to driving inside and instead of going up for a shot, firing it to the corners or an open man out front where a 3 could be attempted.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Alabama and Coach Oats, but Sears is not a leader. I knew after he hit those two late 3s, he’d spend the rest of the game trying to make another 3.

Peanut in Alex City, Ala., writes …

Nate Oats is factually correct in my opinion about Sears’ play. I would offer that a little less public airing of those facts from Oats might be prudent, though.

Sears often bogs down the offensive tempo with his herky-jerky, bob-and-weave hesitation ISO dribbling, which a high percentage of the time results in a turnover, a bad shot or blocked layup attempt. I’ve seen plenty of small guards — and Aden Holloway isn’t too bad at it — who can consistently take it to the rim and who have the hops and the understanding of the physics application needed (body positioning, arm angle, ball trajectory, ideal location to apply ball to glass) to keep most tall guys in the paint from getting their fingertips on the ball.

As a matter of fact, in a lot of games I’ve watched this year, I’ve seen small guys do it against Alabama’s Grant Nelson, Clifford Omoruyi and Jarin Stevenson.

Sears is great when his 3-ball is hitting. But his value as a true point guard is not in setting the offense for sure.

ANSWER: The mailbag returned from vacation to find Alabama fans complaining about Mark Sears as if he were the second coming of Collin Sexton.

Like Sexton a few years ago, Sears is an excellent college guard. There’s a big difference between Sears and Sexton, though. Sexton’s usage rate on offense held back the evolution of Alabama’s basketball team. Sears is a proven winner, the point guard for one of the best teams in the country and has already taken Alabama to the Final Four.

Usage rate is an advanced stat that estimates the percentage of team plays used by a player while on the court. I like to call it the ball-hog stat. Sears’ usage rate is pretty consistent with last season. In the 2023-24 season, Sears’ usage rate was 25.9 percent. This season, Sears is on the ball 25.8 percent of the time he’s on the court. The difference between last year and this year is that Sears is taking more 3-point attempts as a senior and his efficiency is down. (And for those wondering, Sexton’s usage rate was over 30 percent.)

Alabama only had eight assists against Auburn, and that was a season low, but Sears is actually dishing out a higher percentage of assists to teammates this season than compared to Alabama’s historic campaign in 2023-24. Sears can’t do it all, though. The difference in the Tide this season is that Aden Holloway still has work to do before we can compare him to Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen is starting for Kansas and Latrell Wrightsell is out for the season with an injury.

Oats is asking Sears to do a lot, and probably more than anyone should expect. He’s not going to grow three inches and add a couple steps to his lateral quickness before the NCAA Tournament.

But Oats questioned Sears’ character after the loss against Auburn, and that wasn’t exactly fair. Maybe Oats just should have replaced Griffen and Estrada with better perimeter defenders. Sears is who he is, an All-American level point guard with some limitations defensively.

Alabama freshman Labaron Philon is going to be a great player, but he’s slowly coming back from his ankle injury. Losing Wrightsell to an injury was a major blow for Oats. Philon’s defense will be critical for Alabama for the rest of the season. If he doesn’t improve, and take pressure off of Sears, then Alabama’s ceiling might be limited.

Just look at Auburn’s roster. The bulk of the backcourt production is coming from players Miles Kelly, Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford, but starting guard Chris Moore is the workhorse who everyone praises for his defense. He only played nine minutes against Alabama, but Auburn outscored the Tide by 17 points with Moore on the court. Pretty good for a player who went 0 of 3 from the field.

It’s time to lay off Sears. He’s a proven winner. Auburn doesn’t have a true point guard in its rotation, but no one’s questioning the Tigers’ ability to “set the offense.”

Alabama plays at Missouri on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. After that, the Tide finishes the season with games against Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Florida and then Auburn. It’s a brutal stretch, but Alabama will probably need to go 4-2 to have a shot at the SEC’s regular-season title.

Don’t count Sears and the Tide out just yet. In college basketball, a quality loss does more for a team than a cheap win.

BE HEARD

Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”