Alabama's Nate Oats reveals 3 no-nos as keys to zero-tolerance policy
Yesterday at 12:23 PM
Alabama basketball has become one of the top programs in the country under Nate Oats, and the Crimson Tide backed that up again on Saturday with a very impressive 96-83 win against Kentucky. Alabama recovered from a slow start to take a lead at halftime and run away with the win behind an explosive performance after the break.
Oats usually has a high-flying, fast-paced attack at Alabama, but being able to score and shoot it from the outside isn’t the only thing that is going to earn you playing time in Tuscaloosa. Oats has three nonnegotiables that will immediately get you benched if you do them, according to Nick Kelly of AL.com.
If any Alabama players give low effort, turn the ball over or ignore the scouting report, expect to see them sitting next to Oats quickly. Immediately after the game started on Saturday, freshman Labaron Philon was subbed out of the game. Just after that, Aden Holloway was sent to the bench right after checking in for Philon.
“That's the way it's going to be moving forward,” Oats said, per Kelly. “I'm tired of the guys not being locked into the scouting report. If you grade our effort levels 1-10, it's not like we've got anybody giving four, five, six, but there's levels to this thing. We can't be giving an eight or nine. We need a 10. We've just got to the challenge the guys.”
Discipline like that is what has gotten Alabama basketball out of the shadow of the football program and into the national spotlight. The Crimson Tide have become one of the top programs in the country in recent years, and this kind of coaching from Oats is the type of thing that got them to the Final Four last season and has them in position to be a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Alabama has mostly survived a gauntlet of an SEC schedule this season, and it should be better off in March after coming out the other side of such a difficult slate.
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