Nate Oats deploys new 'zero tolerance' substitution policy against Kentucky

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head coach Nate Oats had an extremely quick trigger when it came to substitutions during Saturday night’s game against No. 17 Kentucky. Oats sent his first substitution to the scorer’s table just over one minute into the game, sending Aden Holloway in for Labaron Philon after he blew a defensive assignment.

It was a sign of things to come, as Oats sent eight different substitutions in the first six minutes of the game. These subs came frequently as Alabama got off to another slow start, trailing Kentucky 20-9 in the opening minutes of the game.

After the game, an eventual 96-83 win, Oats explained that he’s moving to a ‘zero tolerance’ policy with his substitutions in an effort to shore up both the team’s defense and turnover issues.

“It wasn’t so much an effort thing, but I basically said there’s going to be zero tolerance for effort, scouting report screw-ups. That’s a bigger thing,” Oats said. “We put the scouting report in, it needs to be followed and you need to be locked in and focused on the right thing. And then just dumb turnovers. We’ve gotta stop turning the ball over.”

Starts to games have been a major issue for the Crimson Tide the last few weeks. Before beating Kentucky last night, the team had lost back-to-back games to No. 1 Auburn and No. 15 Missouri. In those two games, Alabama started the game down 9-0 and 12-0, respectively. Though this game’s start was again subpar, Oats didn’t want until a media timeout to start making substitutions, as he normally does.

It seems that’s here to stay.

“So I don’t know that it worked, but that’s the way it’s gonna be moving forward,” Oats said. “I’m tired of the guys not being locked into a scouting report. If you create our effort levels 1-10, it’s not like we’ve got anybody given four, five, six, but there’s like levels to this thing. And we can’t be given an eight or nine. We need a 10. So we’ve just got to challenge the guys. And I thought they responded well and kind of settled in there after we got down 12. And it was a little bit better after that.”

Following the flurry of subs to open the game, the Crimson Tide defense tightened up in a major way. Alabama allowed 20 points in the first 5:15, and only allowed 20 more points for the remaining 14:45 of the first half, going from facing a 12-point deficit at one point in the half to leading by six at the break.

The game as a whole was a major defensive improvement over the previous two games, where it allowed 94 to Auburn and 110 to Missouri. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a step in the right direction.

“We’ve got defensive versatility. I’ve just got to do a better job,” Oats said. “This is on me, our defense. I haven’t held them accountable enough on the defensive end. That’s why you saw eight subs in the first six minutes. So we’re going to do a better job holding them accountable on that end of the floor.”

Instead of being frustrated by the short leash they’ve now been given, Alabama’s players have embraced Oats’ new philosophy.

“Just take it on the chin, accept that you made a mistake, and keep your head high,” Holloway said, who scored 19 points off the bench in the win. “Keep your attitude positive. Just be ready for when he puts you back in, to make up for what you just did wrong.”

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