Alabama Basketball: Nate Oats’ team flexes muscle as season nears

Optimism abounds as Nate Oats and his Alabama basketball team begin the last week of preparation before regular season play begins.

After two preseason wins over Jacksonville State and Georgia Tech, Alabama basketball is dashing toward a season-opener against Penn in Tuscaloosa.  The Alabama Crimson Tide currently has only 10, healthy, scholarship players on its roster. The initial request for an immediate transfer waiver for Jahvon Quinerly was denied by the NCAA. An appeal is under review by the NCAA and Nate Oats has expressed confidence the appeal will be successful.

The first Tide preseason game was a closed scrimmage against Jacksonville State. Alabama basketball fans will remember last season’s preseason when Jax State handily defeated the Crimson Tide. The outcome was different this year with the Tide getting a reported 90-81 win. Top players for the Tide were Kira Lewis, John Petty, Herbert Jones and Javian Davis.

The more recent exhibition game was open to the public. The Crimson Tide beat Georgia Tech 93-65 in Coleman Coliseum. The Yellow Jackets are on probation by the NCAA and cannot compete in post-season play in the 2019-2020 season. Georgia Tech has not had a winning season since 2016-17 and has not made the NCAA Tournament field since 2010.

Even with Tech being down, a 28-point win over an ACC school is encouraging for Alabama basketball fans starved for a Tide roundball revival. The Tide led by only eight points at halftime but a three-point barrage early in the second half put the game out of reach. The Crimson Tide made 17-of-37 treys.

The Tide’s freshman guard, Jaden Shackelford was the leading scorer with 21 points off the bench. Shackelford was 6-of-10 from long range. Take a look at some of the Tide’s sharp-shooting in the tweet below.

One exciting facet of Shackelford’s game is his ability to shoot off the dribble. He appears to have as much rhythm stroking a three on the move as he does in catch and shoot.

Kira Lewis had 20 points while John Petty added 15 points. The Crimson Tide also dominated the backboards with a 44-31 advantage.

Nate Oats was pleased with the win but looks for more from the Tide.

"we’ve got tons of improvements to make over the next couple of months… Hopefully the sloppiness and the turnovers we clean up, but the pace — again, everybody’s telling me how great it was, and it was better than when we got here — it’s going to get a lot faster than it even was out there"

Up next for the Crimson Tide is the season opener against Penn on Nov. 5. Penn is the preseason No. 2 rated team in the Ivy League. Last season Penn was 19-12 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Kansas.

Alabama basketball fans are going to love the pace and style of Nate Oats’ Tide basketball. Expectations of a return to the NCAA Tournament are warranted.