Tuscaloosa, AL ♦ Tide Men's Basketball practice ran long Thursday ♦
The original email stated Alabama men’s basketball players and Nate Oats would meet with reporters at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
A follow-up pushed the post-practice briefing back to 2 p.m., and players Charles Bediako and Jaden Bradley arrived at 2:32 p.m. “We got after it a little bit today,” Oats would later say before apologizing for the tardiness. With No. 15 Gonzaga next up Saturday in Birmingham and the Crimson Tide getting Wednesday off following an eventful win over Memphis, there was a lot on the plate for a Thursday practice that went a little longer than expected. There was an extended film session from the 91-88 win over the Tigers and, as Oats said, “there was a lot to clean up.” Turnovers, transition defense and the fact Memphis scored 11 points in the final 47 seconds weren’t sitting well with Oats. The fact a power program like Gonzaga was coming to the BJCC for the noon CT tip on CBS made for some extra instruction. “It was supposed to be a little bit shorter of a practice,” Oats said. “But when things don’t get done in time you want to get it done because it’s not quite right, you have to go a little longer.” The end-of-game situational drills weren’t going as planned, and since this visit from Gonzaga figures to come down to the end, Oats wasn’t settling for the first effort. Still, Alabama enters with a No. 4 ranking and a 9-1 record with close wins over then-No. 1 Houston (71-65) and Memphis in the last two outings. Gonzaga (8-3) arrives having played one of the strongest schedules in the nation and all three losses came to teams among the top 11 in this week’s AP poll. The Bulldogs are 2-3 in the five games against Quad 1 teams in the NET compared to Alabama which is 2-1 in its three such games. That doesn’t mean Oats is anywhere near satisfied entering a game against a Gonzaga program Alabama beat 91-82 last December in Seattle. He has his reasons. Alabama is No. 303 with turnovers on 21.5% of its offensive possessions, according to KenPom. Against Memphis, that share was 24.1% and the Tigers scored 17 points off those giveaways. That contributed to the 18 points scored in transition for Memphis, a number that doesn’t sit well with Oats. “If that transition D doesn’t get better from Memphis,” Oats said, “we’re not going to be able to beat Gonzaga.” The Birmingham game with Gonzaga is the second-to-last non-conference game for Alabama before SEC play begins Dec. 28 at Mississippi State. A Dec. 20 visit from Jackson State (coached by former Alabama star Mo Williams) will be the last tune-up before the eight-day layoff and the trip to Starkville to face an MSU team currently 10-0. |
Friday, December 16, 2022
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment