Nate Oats Calls For Labaron Philon to Step Up on Defensive End

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama basketball's 2025-26 season stands at a crossroads after being dominated on the road by the Florida Gators on Sunday to fall to .500 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide were beaten handily, turning the basketball over 18 times and struggling to slow the Gators down defensively.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats called for the program to look in the mirror after the loss, as the season's schedule doesn't let up with the SEC leading Texas A&M Aggies coming to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. Leadership starts at the top with Oats, but trickles down to the Crimson Tide's best players, beginning with sophomore guard Labaron Philon.

"[Labaron] Philon's scoring well," Oats said on Tuesday. "He makes a statement that he came back to win a championship and try to lead. I think we've got to get better effort out of him on defense if I'm honest with you. He was an elite, one of the best perimeter defenders in the country last year. I thought that was one of his strong suits, how hard he played, how he flew around. With the offensive load, he's taken a major step backwards on the defensive end this year.

"In order to be a leader, I think you've got to play both sides of the ball. As far as the leadership goes, we're searching right now. Who's going to be that guy to make sure this team gives us the effort we need every night out? We didn't get that effort on Sunday. The best teams I've ever coached were always player-led teams. We're trying to demand effort. I've got to do a better job empowering the right guys to lead. I've got to do a better job finding the right guys to put on the floor. We've got to get somebody to make sure that we play as hard as we can possibly play on every possession. Not let the score dictate our effort. Not let turnovers, bad shots, missed shots, whatever it is on offense affect our effort on defense because we've given up too many big runs the wrong way this year, and to me that goes along with your leadership. We've got guys who want to do it. It's not like we have any bad kids on this team. They're all good kids, but they've got to take some ownership of their effort on the floor and their team's effort as well."

Philon's averaging 21.1 points per game with four assists, and 3.3 rebounds in eight SEC contests. He has nine steals in those eight conference matchup, but is playing significantly more minutes than he did last season where he tallied 22 steals in 18 SEC regular season games.

The Crimson Tide faces a unique challenge on Wednesday as the Aggies look to press defensively the entire game, putting pressure on the Alabama guards to protect the basketball. Can Philon improve from his five turnover performance on Sunday against the Gators and lead the lead the team defensively in order to take down the conference leaders and get the program back above .500 in SEC play?