Nate Oats seeking maturity from Alabama as heavy favorite over LSU
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama has won two games in a row since losing a home game to Ole Miss last Tuesday, but the sting of that loss is still fresh in the mind of Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats. As Alabama prepares to face SEC bottom-dweller LSU at home tomorrow night, Oats is looking to see a level of maturity from his team that wasn’t present against the Rebels last week.
“We’ve done the deal where we overlooked a team a little bit,” Oats said. “Ole Miss, I have no idea why we overlooked them, they were undefeated at the time we played them. But I believe we did. So we’re gonna have to see how mature we are to see what kind of effort we bring for the entire 40 minutes tomorrow. That’s what I’m most curious to see.”
LSU comes into the game with a 12-6 overall record and 1-4 in SEC play, with the Tigers’ lone win coming against Arkansas. Despite the lackluster conference record, LSU does a number of things well that have given Alabama trouble in other games this season, and Oats knows if his team doesn’t take the game seriously it could spell trouble.
“Here’s the deal. LSU’s only won one game in conference, but they’ve got talent,” Oats said. “Cam Carter, if you look at SEC-only games, he’s fourth in the league in scoring, they’ve got other guys who are certainly capable of scoring. They’ve got some young freshmen that are getting better as the year goes on.
Top 10
- 1New
Carnell Tate
Decision made amid tampering allegations
- 2
Ryan Day's wife
Recounts hate following Michigan loss
- 3Hot
Jeremiah Smith
Ohio State WR addresses tampering report
- 4
Travis Hunter
Forced to hire personal security
- 5
Johni Broome
Latest injury update on Auburn star
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“They’ve outrebounded teams frequently enough. We’ve had some issues with rebounding at times this year. They’ve gotten to the free throw line, I think they’re 10-0 when they’ve shot more free throws than their opponents. We’ve got to be able to guard without fouling, we’ve had an issue with that. Some stuff we’ve had issues with, they do well. Our transition D has to be better, and our turnovers, we’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the ball and getting quality shots up.”
Oats was complimentary of Alabama’s offense of late, as the Tide has scored over 100 points in the past two outings, but he continued to express his concern about the defense after giving up 56 second half points to Vanderbilt.
“I’m very curious to see whether we’ve got enough leadership to play 40 minutes on the defensive end tomorrow night,” Oats said. “I hope that our guys are taking these guys seriously. Obviously we’re going to be the better team going in. But that doesn’t really matter. How many times do you watch college basketball and this team is supposed to win, they’ve got more wins, their record’s better. If you don’t come ready to play, none of that matters.”
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!
