Eric Musselman shares what makes Alabama good on road

There isn’t a team in the country with a better road resume than the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nate Oats’ squad is 3-0 in true road games this year, having toppled South Alabama, Houston and Mississippi State in their home arenas so far this year — and the latter two were ranked at the time, with the Tide knocking off Houston when they were No. 1. That’s probably the most impressive college basketball win in the country to date.

Arkansas is next in line to get a look at ‘Bama in their home arena. All respect to Mississippi State, Houston and South Alabama, but the atmosphere in Fayetteville is on a completely different planet. The Hogs have just one home loss since the start of the 2021 calendar year. Winning there is a rare achievement since Eric Musselman took over. But he’s not taking the challenge lightly. He respects what the Tide have done on the road this season and knows the Razorbacks will have their hands full, because this roster is loaded.

So here was Muss assessing the Alabama lineup and why they’re so tough no matter where you play them, starting with superstar rookie Brandon Miller:

“Well, it starts with having a lottery pick in Brandon Miller. At his size, you know, he’s playing the three spot. At 6-foot-9, he can shoot over people. You know, he’ll handle the ball in pick-and-roll, he’ll be a screen setter in pick and roll, he’ll be a ghost screener in pick and roll. I mentioned his ability to follow his own misses, which is a unique characteristic. You know, you’ve got to locate him early because he’s got deep deep range.”

Musselman continued, praising another freshman forward for his early contributions while crediting the experienced backcourt for their playmaking and scoring ability.

“And then [Noah] Clowney’s a really good player too as a young player that’s playing really well. Then you add in [Mark] Sears is a player that’s got experience and and plays really well as a scorer because he can make threes. You look at a guy like Jahvon Quinerly who’s now coming off the bench for them, and he’s been a starter for a lot of his career. Now he’s coming off the bench and providing a spark for them off the bench.”

Of course, the story with Nate Oats is always his three-point-loving offensive scheme. Eric Musselman knows the arc needs to be a focus, but also pointed out that the Tide have several capable attackers this year as well.

“They’ll shoot a lot of threes, but they also are really good at getting to the basket, really good dribble-drive team, and there’s a reason they’re ranked fourth in the in the country. Because they’re really, really good and they had a really difficult non-conference schedule. They did an awesome job of winning those games that they scheduled and they’re a really confident team.”

Let’s not mince words: Alabama is a legitimately great basketball team. With the roster situation for Arkansas, even at home, a win over the Tide would be mighty impressive. A crown jewel for an NCAA Tournament resume for sure.

Going to be a tall task to get it done, though. But it should make for an electric night in Bud Walton.