The useful number from Alabama's first exhibition is 14. That is how many minutes coach Nate Oats said Qayden Samuels played point guard while Amari Allen was off the floor against Furman. Samuels is a natural scorer, Oats said, yet he handled that stretch with two turnovers across 26 total minutes. The school's game report gives Alabama a first public answer about who can organize possessions when Allen sits.
ESPN reported that Aden Holloway's five-game suspension covers three exhibitions and the first two regular-season games. He sat out the 111-93 exhibition win over Furman. Alabama meets Ole Miss at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham on October 15, then Auburn in another Birmingham exhibition on October 22.
What the Furman minutes showed
Allen had 19 points and six assists in the Furman game, according to Alabama's team statistics. Samuels scored 17. Oats singled out Samuels' point-guard work during Allen's bench minutes, even while acknowledging that the role was unfamiliar to him. That is more informative than the final margin for this particular roster question. Alabama made 16 three-pointers and scored 111, but the team still needs a dependable way to start its offense when Allen rests and Holloway is unavailable.
Oats said Alabama's defense has a long way to go after Furman scored 93. He specifically mentioned giving up offensive rebounds and threes. The next exhibition can tell Alabama whether its guard combinations help finish possessions as well as produce shots. An impressive passing stretch will mean less if the same group struggles to secure a stop.
Our earlier look at Alabama's three exhibitions asked how Oats might use the spacing between Furman, Ole Miss and Auburn. Furman has now supplied a narrower problem to carry into the second date. Watch when Allen sits, who brings the ball up, and whether Samuels remains on the floor to initiate the next possession. That would show whether the first game's point-guard minutes were a workable option or simply one evening's solution.
Holloway's return will change the choices again. Before then, the Ole Miss game can show whether Oats trusts Samuels to run another stretch without Allen, especially if Alabama needs a defensive stop on the next trip down the floor.
