Nate Oats shares key to Alabama avoiding slow starts

Alabama coach Nate Oats was frustrated with the way his team started Saturday’s game against Texas A&M. Although the Crimson Tide eventually found their footing and even took a lead late in the second half, the slow start came back to haunt them as they suffered their second SEC loss all season, 67-61.

Alabama scored just three points within the first four minutes and trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half before going into halftime down 32-22. Speaking postgame, Oats explained the coaching staff has to do a better job with their pregame preparation to avoid similar starts heading into the postseason.

“We’ve got a tough, resilient group that, even when they get down, can still get it back together,” he said. “I don’t think we’re aggressive enough on offense. We turned the ball over too much early. If we had the exact answer, I’d try to fix it. But we’re gonna talk about it and see if we can.

“The coaching staff has got to do a better job of getting our guys ready to play out of the gate, too. Sometimes they settle in and start to play better throughout the game. We’ve got to figure out a way to get them more prepared.”

Despite the slow start, Alabama took a 54-51 lead after a 3-pointer from Jahvon Quinerly with 4:46 remaining. It was the first time all game the Crimson Tide led. However, it lasted only 30 seconds as A&M responded with a 3-pointer of its own immediately after and soon retook the advantage.

The Crimson Tide shot an abysmal 6-of-29 (20.7%) from the field in the first half before turning things around in the second to finish 22-of-65 (33.8%) overall. They also committed 18 turnovers across the entire game.

“We’ve been struggling on both sides of the ball,” Oats said. “Offensively, it’s been a major problem. I think the last two games we’ve had two and three points after the first media timeout, which is not how we want to be playing. We’ve got to do a better job of prepping them with how to attack what they’re gonna do defensively to start the game.”

With the loss, Alabama ends its regular season 26-5 (16-2 SEC). The Crimson Tide still won the regular season conference championship and will likely be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, to avoid an early exit, they’ll need to work on both starting and finishing strong.

Alabama has a double-bye to start SEC Tournament play and will face the winner between Mississippi State and Florida on Friday.