Hollinger maturing into starter for Crimson Tide
Alabama coach Mark Gottfried doesn't think it's up to him to answer the most prevalent question about his team.
At this point, Brandon Hollinger, Rico Pickett and Mikhail Torrance will determine who will ultimately be the Crimson Tide's primary point guard this season.
"We need that position to become settled at some point and they will settle it, our players. It won't be me," Gottfried said. "There will be a point where the cream will rise to the top. I think that is something that needs to happen for us."
Each of the three has taken a stab thus far at replacing redshirting star Ronald Steele, with Pickett starting before giving way to Torrance.
Now Hollinger has stepped into the driver's seat. He started Wednesday night's 76-63 defeat at Texas A&M, a role he's expected to carry for Alabama (3-2) into tonight's 6 o'clock visit from Southeastern Louisiana (5-1).
"I think (Gottfried) feels like I should be a better person for that position until those guys develop," said Hollinger, a junior who hails from LeFlore High School.
Hollinger has jumped in front recently due to his experience and the "comfort he brings to the team," Gottfried said.
"I already know what play to run and how to get it there," Hollinger said, "but with the younger guards, they're probably thinking, 'How am I going to do this?' because they're not experienced. When I first got here, I was like that until Ronald Steele taught me."
Gottfried likes to rely on two point guards in a game, but the choices have shifted seemingly each time. True freshman Pickett started his first college game, but wound up playing 19 minutes to Torrance's 23. The following game, Pickett was the odd man out, with Mary Montgomery product Torrance, a sophomore, beginning a three-game run as a starter that ended against the ninth-ranked Aggies.
While Hollinger started and played 23 minutes, Pickett came full circle after a one-game suspension, receiving 21 minutes, his most to this point.
"Somebody needs to emerge," Gottfried said. "Now I don't think that means one player plays and the other player or two be non-factors. I don't think that's going to be the case, but I do think your team needs some continuity there."
See more
at www.al.com
