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Alabama trying to build confidence amid recent free-throw slump

1918632_10206777287683070_1367905321192383146_nby:Charlie Potter•about 9 hours•

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Alabama forward Mo Dioubate
Alabama forward Mo Dioubate (Courtesy of UA Athletics)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s basketball team defeated South Carolina, 88-68, on the road on Wednesday night. It was the Crimson Tide’s fourth straight win of 20-plus points.

But one area was less than satisfactory, according to Alabama head coach Nate Oats.

“It would have been better if we would have made some free throws tonight,” Oats said after the game. “That was a disaster for us.”

The Crimson Tide shot 50 percent (10-20) at the charity stripe in the win over the Gamecocks. Alabama was actually more accurate from the rest of the floor, shooting 55 percent (35-64).

In 15 games this season, the Tide is 69.7 percent (276-396) at the line, which ranks 15th in the SEC. Alabama has shot the second-most free throws this year, trailing only Missouri’s 433, but is tied with South Carolina for the worst percentage at the season’s midway point.

Only five Alabama players are shooting 70 percent or better at the free-throw line this season, with Chris Youngblood (100%, 6-6) and Mark Sears (81.3%, 87-107) leading the squad.

Oats pointed out that there is a mental side to free throws, which he himself experienced.

“I played and one of my years, I had that a little bit,” Oats said on Friday. “I think I was 90 percent-plus halfway through my freshman year, and then you miss a few and miss one that cost your team a game or whatnot and, all of a sudden, you start overthinking it. So there’s a mental side to free throws that you got to build confidence.”

What’s the best way to build confidence? Get in the gym and shoot a lot of free throws, which is exactly what Alabama (13-2, 2-0 SEC) has done since its last game against South Carolina.

“You see 1,000 go through the net, you’re gonna have confidence, step up, like, ‘I make these. That’s what I do,’” Oats said. “It’s the one thing in basketball that there’s no variables at all, ever, outside of the ones that you yourself put in your head. There’s no defense. It’s the same distance, same everything.

“We’ve been in the gym. We worked. We didn’t do anything live yesterday, but we did shoot a lot of free throws, walked through some of their stuff. Guys have been in the gym on their own, shooting them.”

Oats knows the shooting slump at the line needs to end, especially as Alabama enters a tough, three-game stretch against three ranked teams, starting with a trip to No. 10 Texas A&M.

“It’s something if we don’t fix, it’s going to cost us a game because … I think KenPom’s got us losing this game by one,” Oats said. “It would stink to lose a game by one and go 10-of-20 at the line like we did the last game.”

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