Here’s a little secret — all stats are “made-up stats.” I missed the verse in Exodus where basketball Moses came down from Mount Sinai with a third tablet that listed usable basketball stats.

At one point someone came up with offensive efficiency and pace of play. I’m pretty sure those metrics have made it out to the folks in Opelika, but God bless Ken Pomeroy’s mentions if they haven’t.

For the few who aren’t up to speed on Alabama’s metric for scoring hustle plays, here’s a guide to blue-collar points.

Deflections, steals, blocks, rebounds and loose balls all count for one point. Offensive rebounds are worth 1.5 points, while a floor dive is worth two points. Drawn charges are the most valuable play, generating a whopping four points. The player with the most such points at the end of every game earns the team’s Hard Hat Award.

There’s no arguing that blue-collar points have been a successful metric for Alabama. The numbers — regardless of whether you feel they are made up — don’t lie.

It’s no coincidence that Alabama’s two lowest blue-collar totals — vs. Ole Miss (72.5) and at Purdue (76.0) — accounted for two of the team’s three losses this season. Similarly, it isn’t surprising that the Tide’s gritty top-10 win over Houston came on a night when it tallied a season-high 136.5 blue-collar points.

Alabama’s stars are certainly sipping the blue-collar Kool-Aid. Just ask Grant Nelson, who leads the team with 355 this season. The graduate forward finished with 19.5 blue-collar points during Alabama’s 90-69 victory over Georgia on Saturday. Much to Nelson’s chagrin, that was 0.5 points off of Dioubate, who earned his fourth Hard Hat Award in five games.

“I just try to go out there and work as hard as I can,” said Nelson, who also tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks against Georgia. “I try to win the blue-collar hard hat every time, but it’s tough when Mo D goes in there, and I don’t even know what he does to get 20 every night. Mainly work hard, that’s my focus.”

That’s music to Oats’ ears, as the head coach would much rather his players vie to top the charts in blue-collar points rather than scoring or shooting averages.

“I like the competition between them,” Oats said. “Grant and Mo D are kind of the two that I guess they’ve won it the most this year. … Hopefully, all of our guys can kind of learn from it, keep competing to get blue-collar points, if you will but make tough plays and get stops.”

Alabama is back and rolling in the blue-collar department. Since its dud performance against Ole Miss, the Tide entered its game against Georgia averaging 97.5 blue-collar points per game over its previous four outings.

That surge comes at the right time, as Alabama has back-to-back trips to Arkansas and Texas up next on the schedule. While the Tide will be favored in both of those matchups, a blue-collar effort is a prerequisite for any SEC road game this season.

If Alabama can hustle its way to wins in those games, it better pack its hard hats for its return trip to Coleman Coliseum where it will host Auburn in what figures to be a top-five matchup for supremacy in the SEC standings on Feb. 15.

If Tigers fans still haven’t figured out blue-collar points by then, the Tide will be eager to provide a lesson.

It’s hard to find a blue drink that matches Alabama’s hard-working ethos. Fortunately, our Jack Knowlton isn’t too far removed from his college days at Missouri and remembers downing a few of these during his wilder days.

As Jack remembers it, the Blue Bomb involves a shot of vodka and a shot of Blue Curaçao topped off with Red Bull. Like Dioubate off the bench, it’ll provide a shot of energy to any night out. Also like Dioubate, it’ll hit you pretty hard — so handle in moderation.