Nate Oats is coaching this Alabama basketball team hard. He's been unafraid to call out his team, and he's gone to extremes to send a message about playing to a standard.
Oats benched star guard Mark Sears for the second half of Alabama's 80-73 win over LSU on Saturday in a move that sent shockwaves across the country. Oats was visibly disappointed in his team's effort in the first half against the Tigers which saw the game tied at 40 apiece.
Oats sent a message by changing the starting group for the second half, sending both Sears and center Cliff Omoruyi to the bench in favor of Aden Holloway and Mo Dioubate. Omoruyi ultimately rotated in, Sears did not.
Alabama is one of the most talented teams in the country and is capable of cutting down the nets in April and winning the whole thing. But they have not consistently played to the standard they are capable of playing. Effort consistently lacks, particularly against opponents the team feels are beneath them. Big leads have led to lapses that allowed opponents to crawl back into games they had no business being in.
Oats doesn't believe Alabama has put together a full 40 minutes all season long. It speaks to the talent of the roster that Alabama is still 17-3 and 6-1 in the SEC despite that. But the Tide's goals go far beyond merely being a good team; they want to win the SEC Championship and get back to the Final Four, this time finishing with a National Championship.
Oats has praised the team for the last two practices on Monday and Tuesday as they get ready for a road trip to Starkville to play Mississippi State on Wednesday night. It'll be the ultimate test of maturity for this Alabama team.
“I thought the last two practices were the best two practices back-to-back going into a game we’ve had all year,” Oats said. “I think we’ve been on these guys about practice habits, leadership, accountability. I think they’re starting to get it. I’ve said we’ve had a great group of guys all year, but we also need to practice hard.”
We'll find out a lot about this Alabama team on Wednesday night against Mississippi State in a game KenPom views as a toss-up. It's a game Alabama really needs to win to keep its hopes of winning an SEC Championship.
Alabama's final 11 games of the regular season are as tough as it gets, with 10 of those 11 being Quad 1 foes. Alabama still plays Auburn twice, at Tennessee, and Florida at home. Not to mention road trips to Fayetteville, Austin, and Columbia (the Missouri version).
Auburn remains undefeated in conference play and has a more favorable schedule than the Crimson Tide. Falling two games behind the Tigers will be tough to overcome.
Oats thinks his team is starting to get it. He believes it's clicking to them what they need to do to be a serious contender. The way they perform against Mississippi State on Wednesday night will tell the tale.