Nate Oats happy with Alabama's effort in dominant first half

Questions were asked of Alabama after getting blown out against Oklahoma on Saturday. Shots were not falling, the defense was lackluster, and at times, effort did not seem high. Nate Oats could not be seeing a different result on Tuesday if he wanted to, with a dominant first half coming against Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.

Oats said his team is playing “much harder” against Vanderbilt than they did in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Ten guys have been put in the ball game and contributed in some fashion. Leading 43-15, you would think a football game broke out at Bryant Denny Stadium.

“I thought they played much harder than they did on Saturday,” Oats said. “That’s what we were looking for. All 10 guys that have been in the rotation have given us enough.”

The loss against Oklahoma has been compared to the similar one suffered during the 2020-2021 season. Alabama traveled to Norman, surprisingly dropped a game but then went on a tear against SEC opponents. A regular season and tournament title made its way back to Tuscaloosa.

Hoping to do the same this year, things are off to a great start. It’s only been 20 minutes of basketball but positive signs are coming out of Coleman Coliseum.

Nate Oats provides a place for Alabama to improve

Oats would not be a normal college basketball coach if he did not find an area to improve on. He highlighted rebounding, saying Vanderbilt’s physicality down the block is giving them an edge. An improvement will be sought after by the head coach.

“We just got to clean up the rebounding,” Oats said. “Vanderbilt is a tough, physical team and rebounding better than we are right now. That’s the one area we got to clean up.”

Oats is right, Vanderbilt is rebounding better than Alabama heading into the break. It’s quite possibly the only major stat they lead in at the moment. The Commodores have 21 rebounds (11 offensive), with the Crimson Tide a board behind at 20.