Nate Oats after Ole Miss loss: 'You've got to earn the right to play well'

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – On “Blue-Collar Night” of all nights, Ole Miss out-scored Alabama in the blue-collar points, which the staff charts each game, in the 74-64 loss to the Rebels.

Things like deflections, steals, blocks, rebounds and loose balls count for one point. Offensive rebounds are worth 1.5 points. Floor dives are two and charges are worth four points. Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said Alabama finished with 72.5. Ole Miss had 89.5.

“I told our guys in the locker room after the game, we have to deserve to win, and we didn’t deserve to win this game,” Oats said. “Ole Miss came in and they deserved to win the game. You have to deserve it with your preparation going into the game. Then you gotta deserve with your effort once you’re in the game. 

“The team that deserved to win tonight won the game tonight.”

Deserve was a verb Oats used multiple times during his postgame press conference with local reporters. He was not pleased with his team’s effort against Ole Miss, particularly in regards to a season-high 21 turnovers and a lack of offensive rebounds – Alabama had four.

The Crimson Tide was down to nine scholarship players due to injuries, and all but one player made at least one field goal. Freshman guard Labaron Philon finished with one point and three turnovers on 0-8 shooting. A popular pick in early NBA mock drafts, the Alabama rookie has struggled the last three games, with Tuesday’s loss being most evident.

“I think some of that stuff’s an effort thing,” Oats said. “Sometimes when guys are struggling, you play hard, you make some blue-collar plays – he didn’t have many tonight – you make some effort plays, you play aggressive, you get downhill, you get yourself going a little bit. I thought his blue-collar plays, his effort plays have been higher in the past. 

Oats continued, “And I also, like I told the whole team, you’ve got to earn the right to play well. Are you spending enough time in the gym working on your game outside of practice, or are we having to beg you to get in the gym? 

“It’s like some of these guys got to get in the gym and work on their game. We’re not going to practice them for three hours a day at this point of the season. We’ve kept practices short, hour and 15. We went on an hour and 20 yesterday. We didn’t practice Sunday at all. So how much are they getting in the gym, working on their own? You’ve got to deserve to play well. 

“I’m not sure right now everybody on our team deserves to play well.”

Three times named the SEC Freshman of the Week, Philon had impressed to begin his true freshman season, but he’s been in a bit of a slump the last few outings. His teammates have faith that the Mobile, Alabama native will be back to his old self sooner than later.

“Every single person on this team is aware that Labaron is like that, has been since the first day he stepped on campus to practice,” said Alabama guard Aden Holloway. 

“All our players are very good, so we just tell them to keep going to the gym, keep attacking, keep trying to get to it. We believe in him 1,000 percent.”

Holloway was one of the few bright spots in the 10-point loss to the rebels. The Auburn transfer led Alabama with 15 points off the bench and shot 5-of-6 from the field in a season-high 29 minutes played. It marked the sixth straight game that Holloway has scored in double figures. But his play wasn’t enough to lift the Tide to a victory against Ole Miss.

“I thought Holloway showed pretty well,” Oats said. “I think he’s the one guy that shot it pretty well tonight. We didn’t score it very well at all, but he ended up in double figures, leading us in scoring with 15. I thought defensively, he was a little bit better than he’d been, too, which was evidenced by he played almost 30 minutes. He got more minutes than normal. 

“But nobody was good enough for us to win this game, including the head coach, and we got to be better moving forward. We got a tough one on the road against Kentucky.”

Alabama will next travel to Lexington, Kentucky on Saturday, January 18, for a top-10 matchup with the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats. The game is set to tip at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.

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