Oats: “The thing I love about this team is the comradery”
Tuscaloosa, Ala - On The Game with Ryan Fowler, Alabama Basketball head coach Nate Oats mentioned his favorite thing about his current roster.
"The biggest thing I love about this team is the comradery, the cohesiveness; I think they're an unbelievably great group of guys that really do care about each other. I think that pulls you through a lot of stuff."
"You can go back to our last game against Mississippi State," Oats added, "We didn't play particularly well. We shot 55% from the free throw line, we couldn't guard Josh Hubbard to save our life, we gave up too many offensive boards, and we still came together and closed it out. Guys that didn't play that much in the second half I put them in late to get big stops. You know, Mark Sears is about the team enough, we take him out late so we can get a stop to put length everywhere and switch. I mean, [Mohamed] Dioubate blows up that play, forces a turnover. I = think the group is really connected."
"I've been really proud of the just way they've connected, grown together, love each other, just embrace the way we want to be.
Oats praised his team earlier in the year, specifically fifth-year guard Mark Sears, for their willingness to be team-first.
Following Alabama's win over Illinois, where Mark Sears was held scoreless and didn't play in the last 11:27 of the contest,
"I'll be honest with you, it's similar to what Herb Jones has done before. We've had some really good players here that have just kind of been unselfish enough and want to win bad enough to just say, 'Hey, let the guys go. They're playing really well. Leave them in." Oats said in November, "So that's what I did. I tried to put him back in the middle of that 11 minutes, but he said leave these guys. They were playing pretty well. He was right, so we left them in, and they went on a run and won it."
However, Oats emphasized his team's need to elevate their game in certain areas, specifically at the charity stripe and on defense:
"Our defense isn't where we want it to be, we know that. We're currently around in the mid-40s if you look at Kenpom's efficiency numbers. We've been top-3 in the country two years we've been here, that's the goal."
"Our shooting isn't quite where we want it to be, particularly at the free throw line. The three-point shooting, as many threes as we take, we got to be better."
The Crimson Tide enjoyed one of their best three-point shooting nights Wednesday evening in The Hump against Mississippi State, shooting at a 48.4% clip led by Chris Youngblood, who found nylon seven times on ten attempts. Alabama needs to keep that rhythm against Georgia Saturday afternoon and through the rest of league play as they seek another conference title.
For more Alabama Baseball, Basketball, and Football content from Simon Besnoy, follow him on Twitter at @SimonBesnoy and stay tuned to Tide1009.com for daily news.
Alabama Basketball Claws to Victory Over Mississippi State
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
Alabama's Bench Leads Tide to Important Win Over Vanderbilt
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
More From Tide 100.9







