Alabama Basketball: Tide moves up NET ranking after losing Jones and Bruner

Alabama Basketball: Nate Oats’ team just keeps winning and improving its resume. It will be harder without Jordan Bruner and Herbert Jones.

Alabama basketball fans are excited. They are also worried. In Tuesday night’s 20-point win over Kentucky in Rupp Arena, two Tide starters went down. On Wednesday Jordan Bruner had surgery for a torn meniscus. The Alabama Basketball program confirmed the surgery and defined his status as “out indefinitely.” Details on the severity of the tear were not released. Knee experts define recovery from a meniscus tear as one to three months. Alabama basketball insiders claim the coaching staff is confident Bruner will play again this season.

In the same game, Herbert Jones took an awkward fall and injured a finger. The injury has been described as a dislocation, rather than a break, though nothing has been officially released. Jones might only miss a game or two. Even if he is able to come back by the LSU game, his offensive skills could be diminished.

Jones played only eight minutes against the Wildcats. He was missed but John Petty Jr., Jaden Shackelford and Josh Primo took up the slack. Not having Jahvon Quinerly in Lexington made adjustments after Herbert’s exit tougher. Second-half traps by the Wildcats were somewhat effective, creating a couple of turnovers and changing the Tide’s rhythm.

UPDATED: Herbert is reportedly categorized as ‘day-to-day’ for his return.

What Nate Oats will do without Bruner is a greater challenge. None of the other ‘bigs’ have Bruner’s shooting consistency, passing or ball-handling abilities. Bruner has shot 32.4 percent outside the arc. Alex Reese and James Rojas have both shot 25 percent. Both have played, tough, aggressive defense, but overall Reese has been the more productive. Nate Oats has another option in 6-feet-8, Keon Ambrose-Hylton. The freshman forward has played in seven games but logged only 27 minutes. Ambrose-Hylton has arguably the most offensive skills of the trio. He is long but on the lean side of being able to mix it up around the basket. His shooting skill fits the Oats offense, but he will be needed to rebound as well.

With two tough games ahead in Arkansas and LSU, the Crimson Tide has risen in the NCAA NET Ranking to No. 24. Arkansas with a 10-2 record is No. 21 and LSU, at 8-2 is No. 22. If the Razorbacks are not the best team the Crimson Tide has played since the Tennessee game, then LSU is.

While Herbert recovers, a split in the two games would be great. Even if the Crimson Tide drops both games, the NET Ranking will not suffer much. After the trip to Baton Rouge, the Tide plays three of the following four games in Tuscaloosa against Mississippi State, Kentucky and LSU. The single road game in that run is against Oklahoma in Norman.