Healthy Grant Nelson bringing improved play to Alabama's frontcourt

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama forward Grant Nelson was one of the Crimson Tide’s most important players a season ago when it went to the Final Four, and he’s been even better since returning for his fifth year this season.

Nelson averaged 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds a season ago, while shooting 49 percent from the field and 27 percent from beyond the arc. He has improved on every single one of those numbers this season through the first 14 games of the year, and head coach Nate Oats attributes much of his improvement to him finally being fully healthy.

“He was not healthy all last year,” Oats said. “He’s had a few little nicks here and there, he had the hip-groin deal that he was out all summer with that we got taken care of after the year. He’s been healthy all year so he’s been more explosive.”

Nelson’s averages are up across the board, currently sitting at 13.1 points per game, a team-leading 8.8 rebounds per game, and 56 percent shooting from the floor. His rebounding numbers are the fourth-best in the SEC through the first two months of the season.

“I think he’s been a lot more aggressive on the glass. I think he’s just being more assertive. He’s getting to the rim,” Oats said. “He’s been shooting the three a little bit better here the last week or two. If we can get him to keep his foot on the line he’s have three more threes the last two games, but he has been shooting it better. We’re trying to post him a little more because he can pass out of it. He was turning it over a month or so ago, he’s done a better job of that, not turning it over when we post him.”

Nelson’s 3-point shooting numbers are up, though just slightly He’s at 28.6 percent from deep on the season, but he’s been excellent the last two games, making 4-of-8 attempts from three. He’s also made three deep twos where his foot was on the line in those games, as Oats mentioned. If you added those to the total, he’d be shooting 33 percent from three on the season, a much more respectable number and a huge improvement from a year ago.

Because of the addition of Cliff Omoruyi, Nelson has gotten to spend the bulk of this year playing the four, rather than having to play out of position at the five like he had to for the majority of last season.

“He’s playing more of the four, so he’s got more mismatches going against fours than when he was at the five as much as he was last year,” Oats said.

At 6-foot-11 with the mobility and athleticism Nelson has, he’s a mismatch nightmare for opposing teams who typically field a four-man that’s close to 6-foot-7 or 6-foot-8 in height. The height advantage plus the added explosiveness has made Nelson a monster on the glass, posting four double-doubles this season and five games of double-figure rebounds.

With his upped aggression attacking the rim and steadily improving jumper, he’s been one of Alabama’s most consistent and unheralded players throughout the start of this season.

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