Alabama Basketball Players Seek Improvement

Alabama basketball's defense was better against South Alabama than a few days earlier vs. Indiana State. Head Coach Nate Oats said as much. But Oats wants more, and his players know it. Here's what two Tide student athletes said about that this week:

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Junior guard Latrell Wrightsell

"i love the home environment here. This is the right step to make the next step move on to what I want to do.

"He's [Nate Oats] still on us [about better defense]. We're still working on our defense. We're trying to be top three in the country defensively.

“We made a lot of mistakes that we didn’t see from that game. They didn’t make us pay for it, but we’re still working on our defense and he’s still on us about it. We still have to be better."

Redshirt Freshman Davin Cosby Jr.

"It's been a great transition coming here in January. It's a great chance to pick up the culture and bring it here this year."

On defense and getting called out in the media by Nate Oats

"I thank him for calling me out. I took it personally. I made sure my defense was great game.

"Our goal is to be a top three team nationally on offense and defense. The only team that ever did that ended up winning a national championship [That team would be Connecticut, last season].

"We want to make history."

No. 22 Alabama hosts Mercer Friday night at 7 p.m. That game can be heard on 95.3 The Bear and its app.

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