Nate Oats details how Alabama has responded to first loss of season
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s basketball team lost its first game of the season on Friday at Purdue. West Lafayette is a tough place to play, so there’s no reason for the Crimson Tide to hang its head, but it has no time to with another tough game on the horizon.
No. 7 Alabama (3-1) will face No. 25 Illinois (3-0) on Wednesday, No. 20, in Birmingham in the 2024 CM Newton Classic. It’s the second of six straight ranked teams on the Tide schedule.
“The good thing is we get another crack at a really good opponent,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. “The bad thing is if we don’t play well, we’re gonna take another loss.”
Oats gave Alabama’s players Saturday off after the Friday loss to the Boilermakers. The team returned to the practice court on Sunday, but UA trainer Clarke Holter and strength coach Henry Barrera advised a lighter practice, “to make sure we’re peaking on Wednesday.”
Monday was the hardest practice for the Tide as it looks to bounce back after its first defeat.
“We’ve had a couple decent days of practice,” Oats said. “I don’t wanna say we needed a wake-up call because I think we’ve been pretty good all fall, but sometimes a loss maybe resets some things.”
Top 10
- 1Hot
Skipping SEC title game
Lane Kiffin says coaches prefer sitting out
- 2
Deion Sanders
Prime calls out On3
- 3
Five-star portal'ing
Alabama LB announces plan to transfer
- 4
Vols fans 'to go ballistic'
Dan Mullen predicts CFP meltdown
- 5Trending
Biff Poggi
Fired Charlotte coach shows up to practice
Oats went on to single out several players who impressed him during this week’s practices.
“I thought (Latrell) Wrightsell really stepped up,” Oats said. “Chris Youngblood, even though he’s not playing, you can just tell he’s antsy to be out there and he’s talking. I think Houston Mallette, even though he’s redshirting, has really tried to make sure our guys are ready to go.”
The Alabama head coach went on to say Jarin Stevenson and Aden Holloway also stood out in the preparation for Illinois. Stevenson has been in a slump to start his sophomore season, going 0-for-13 from the 3-point line in the Tide’s first four games. The coaching staff has analyzed that and the 6-foot-11 forward seemed to benefit from the tweak in practice.
“Jarin Stevenson had a great day on Monday,” Oats said. “We looked at his shots. I know he’s struggling to shoot it a little bit, but most of the shots he’s missing have come off terrible passes. We made the point to our guards, we’ve gotta help him out. He’s a really good shooter.
“I thought the guys did a pretty good job finding him where they needed to in practice on Monday, and he was making shots.”
Wednesday’s Alabama-Illinois matchup will tip off at 8 p.m. CT and air on the SEC Network.
Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!
Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $11.99! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!
