Nate Oats shares what Gonzaga loss teaches Alabama

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats is putting his team to the test immediately this season. Some coaches stay away from tough non-conference schedules, not not Oats. This Crimson Tide team just got through with a stretch where four of their six games came against teams that were ranked in the top three of the AP Poll at some point this season. The most recent being a high-scoring loss at a neutral court in Birmingham to Gonzaga, 100-90.

Despite the loss, there were plenty of lessons learned by Oats and the Tide. For his program, playing all these top programs so early in the year only helps, even if they drop a couple games. After the game, Oats remained steadfast in his desire to play the best of the best early in the year.

Nate Oats on why Alabama scheduled Gonzaga

“Yeah, I mean what we wanted guys on these teams is to play the best in the country. So we can figure out where we wind up with film, figure out where we got to get better, you know. We got plenty of stuff we got exposed on today to work on now we know we got to get better at this. You know, hopefully we get this ship right in games moving forward.”

Gonzaga has been a major player for roughly a decade now. They were the back-to-back No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and are always a threat in March. So facing this team again in a few months is a very real possibility for an Alabama team eying a deep run. Even if they don’t face Gonzaga again, plenty of other top teams offer similar challenges as the Zags. Playing such a well-coached and talented group will only sharpen the Crimson Tide as they progress through the year, according to Nate Oats.

“If you play maybe Gonzaga later and you’ve played them once and get a chance to play him again, or you play somebody that does some similar stuff and can learn and get better. But we’ve got a lot of young guys playing. And I think putting them in some big games like this gives them a lot of experience early on in both games. These guys are freshmen. You know, we’re in the middle of December and look at how many big games they’ve already played in their careers. Freshmen, you know, that goes a long way as they start performing much better by the time you get to SEC play.”

Plenty of big game opportunities still to come, as Alabama gets started with conference play in a loaded SEC here shortly. Games like Gonzaga will help them be better-prepared.