Nate Oats reveals how non-conference schedule prepared Alabama for SEC play

Alabama has learned a lot about themselves already through their non-conference schedule.

Following their first conference win by a 28 over Oklahoma, Nate Oats noted what the Crimson Tide had already figured out about their team prior to the turn of the calendar. That includes a focus on their defensive play considering aspects of their offense aren’t where they thought it’d be to this point.

“You know what, we’re capable of being a great defensive team,” said Oats. “We got to be better when the score is our way and we’ve got to be more consistent.”

The aspect that Oats noted was their three-point shooting at 31.6% while still making 10.3 triples a game. He did add that some of that lower clip has to do with the absence of Latrell Wrightsell (42.2%) and the start from deep off of injury from Chris Youngblood (24.1%).

“We’re not as good a shooting team as we had hoped but some of that’s injuries,” Oats said. “Obviously, Wrightsell was our most efficient shooter. He’s out for the year. Youngblood is still coming off the injury. He just hasn’t really got in the flow.”

However, where the Crimson Tide have had a positive is on the offensive glass and at the charity stripe. They’re grabbing 14.9 offensive boards a game with Mouhamed Dioubate and Grant Nelson leading with over two apiece per outing. They’re also taking and making some of the most free throws in the country with 19 makes on 26.9 takes at the foul line.

“We’re having to find other ways to do it. But I think Dioubate is playing a bigger role, because he gets to the O-boards really well. Grant Nelson getting the O-boards,” Oats said. “I think, you know, our offensive rebounding and our ability to get to the free-throw line has been big for this team.”

‘Bama is 12-2 overall and is the No. 5 team in the country in the latest AP Poll after their 107-79 blowout in a top-dozen matchup in their conference opener against OU. With that, the Tide have the top offense in the country at 91.1 ppg. with a fairly efficient defense despite allowing 77.4 points.

Still, even with wins over Illinois, Houston, North Carolina, and Creighton, this was the most impressive outing of the season so far for Alabama. It’ll hopefully now only get better as this team mixed with returners, transfers, and freshmen play more with one another from now through March.

“I still think there’s a lot of chemistry that has to be figured out because some of these guys haven’t played that well together. I shouldn’t say that well. They haven’t played that much together,” said Oats. “We’re still figuring some of our chemistry stuff out.”