Nate Oats' primary goal this past offseason was improving the Alabama frontcourt. Whether or not he did was a matter of opinion. Critics panned the loss of Aiden Sherrell in the frontcourt and questioned the addition of Kentucky's Brandon Garrison.
Two games in, Alabama's frontcourt looks demonstrably better than it did a year ago. Not because any single player is better than Sherrell, though that could even be debated, in all honesty, but because of the fact that the Crimson Tide has four legitimate options that are versatile enough to play the four and five spots. Sherrell was the only true five on the team a year ago.
Oats can play any combination of the four together. And against Arkansas State, they keyed the Tide's effort. On a night where Alabama didn't shoot the ball well, particularly in the first 15 minutes, it was the offensive rebounding that saved them. A lot of that came from the frontcourt (and Amari Allen), helping the Crimson Tide earn a 101-86 win.
Between Brandon Garrison, Drew Fielder, Jamarion Davis-Fleming, and Keitenn Bristow, 31 rebounds were grabbed. The quartet finished with the following stat line:
76 minutes
45 points
31 rebounds
That's a per-player average of 11.3 points and 7.8 rebounds. For reference, Sherrell is currently averaging 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in two games at Indiana.
Oats fundamentally changed the frontcourt, moving from a slower, plodding player like Sherrell, who couldn't switch and had to ineffectively play drop coverage, to guys like Garrison and Davis-Fleming who can switch and defend any position.
Alabama's frontcourt has been exactly what Nate Oats hoped for so far
Fielder said after the win over Sam Houston that the rebounding wasn't up to Alabama's standard, and he implored the veteran transfers to rebound better. He was talking about himself, Garrison, and Davis-Fleming.
Everyone listened.
Alabama grabbed 20 offensive rebounds in the first half alone. They finished +12 on the glass. That was critical considering the Tide shot just 36% from the floor and 30% from three.
Drew Fielder led the bigs in scoring with 16 points. Brandon Garrison put up a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, earning significant praise from Oats after the game as he captured his second hard hat in two games for leading the Tide in blue-collar points.
"Super happy again with Brandon’s effort," Oats said. "I mean, played half the game, played 19 minutes, 22 blue-collar points. I thought he was really good. He had a double, 14 and 10. I thought he imposed his will on their interior a little bit."
That's the effort Alabama needs from Garrison on a nightly basis. His lack of consistency drove Kentucky fans crazy. So far, so good for the Crimson Tide.
Davis-Fleming and Bristow were excellent off the bench, logging similar minutes to the starters.
They tied for the team lead with five offensive rebounds each, combining for 15 points and 16 rebounds. Bristow led the team with three blocks, continuing to show a knack for protecting the rim.
Alabama will tangle with better frontcourts soon enough. The schedule gets significantly more difficult after the first five games, starting with the trip to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival.
The proof of Alabama's perceived improvement on the interior will come later on. But the early returns are extremely positive.
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