No one can ever accuse Alabama Basketball coach Nate Oats of being soft. His intensity in games is fierce. Somewhat counter to that Oats has said he prefers players correcting their mistakes in the run of play. Early Saturday night in Tuscaloosa was different. In less than 90 seconds of game action, Oats subbed three players out of the game. One was Aden Holloway who did not start but came into the game at 18:57. Holloway was subbed out 30 seconds later.
After the game, Nate Oats said he had told his players what to expect. As reported by Tony Tsoukalas, Oats defined there would be "zero tolerance for turnovers, scouting mistakes and lack of effort." The result was Oats subbed eight guys in the first six minutes against Kentucky. It worked, and Oats promised, "That's the way it's going to be moving forward."
Oats also called out one of the Crimson Tide's hardest workers, Mo Dioubate. Dioubate played only three minutes in the second half. Oats said Dioubate needs to be more locked into the scouting report so that he can play more.
Mark Sears was locked in against the Wildcats. Oats used Labaron Philon to trigger the offense more and it benefitted Sears. As reported by Blake Byler Oats told Sears he needed to trust Philon more, like he did Aaron Estrada last season, "You're gonna score more points on fewer shots." Sears scored 30 points against Kentucky on just 17 shots. Philon made too many turnovers (five) and produced only three assists and seven points in 25 minutes of play. But, he also had two rebounds and two steals and the Crimson Tide offense provides a different wrinkle with Philon on the ball and Sears playing off-ball.
Another big plus for the Crimson Tide was 15 rebounds and 11 points from Cliff Omoruyi. Nate Oats called it Big Cliff's best game of the season.
Better Alabama Basketball Defense
Alabama's defensive performance was a step up from the past two games. It was not good for the game's first 10 minutes, but after the Cats pushed out a first half lead to 12 points, the Tide's team defense improved significantly.
Too much can be made from one game. Still, Nate Oats, pulling player strings early, and the Sears-Philon combo looked like what Alabama needs to take down tougher foes.
Thanks to Kevin Scarbinsky for providing some Alabama Basketball history. Saturday was just the fourth time Alabama has swept Kentucky home and away in a season. It happened once under C.M. Newton; once under Wimp Sanderson; and two times now under Nate Oats.