From his seat on the team bus on Interstate-65, Alabama coach Nate Oats spent about 10 minutes Sunday night discussing the next step in the Crimson Tide’s dream ride.
Heading north from Nashville to Indianapolis for the NCAA tournament, Oats had a few updates following the SEC tournament championship with early thoughts on the first-round opponent waiting in Indiana.
The No. 2 seed Crimson Tide (24-6) will face Iona on Saturday in the first round of the most anticipated Alabama trip to the tournament in a generation. Tipoff was set for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be played in legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University.
From a health standpoint, the main question surrounds freshman Josh Primo and his sprained MCL. Oats said Primo “dropped the crutches today” and hopes he’ll be on the floor Saturday.
“And if not this weekend, I would hope if we get to the second weekend, he can play by then for sure,” Oats said.
Keon Ellis was also “just a little banged up” exiting the win over LSU and will get some extra rest with some time off before the Saturday game.
With Iona, Oats will face Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino in his first season with the MAAC champions. The former Louisville and Kentucky coach had his first head job two years after Oats was born and cemented his place in NCAA history leading Providence to the 1987 Final Four (with a Sweet 16 win over Alabama in tow).
Oats said he doesn’t know Pitino personally but texts with his son Richard Pitino, the Minnesota coach.
“I remember having his coaching tapes back when I was in high school when I knew I wanted to coach,” said Oats who graduated from Maranatha Academy the same year Pitino led Kentucky to the 1993 Final Four. “I have a lot of respect for what he’s done.”
Like Pitino, Oats coaches with an emotional edge and that was clear Sunday afternoon in Nashville. He released some of that emotion after the Crimson Tide survived three buzzer-beaters for an 80-79 win over LSU. He appeared to shout something at the Tiger bench after the buzzer.
“Yeah, I was fired up for our guys,” Oats said Sunday night. “It is a pretty heated rivalry. I think you could see Herb (Jones) was pretty fired up at the end there too. Herb deserved to win that game. It was a really emotional and it got a little heated before the game. I wasn’t out there but it got a little heated. I was fired up for my guys. I’m not quite sure what I said but I was fired up for our guys. I wasn’t trying to disrespect LSU or anything.”
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
"oat" - Google News
March 15, 2021 at 08:21AM
https://ift.tt/3bK457t
Nate Oats updates Alabama injuries, talks Pitino and postgame emotion` - AL.com
"oat" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2VUZxDm
https://ift.tt/3aVzfVV
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Nate Oats updates Alabama injuries, talks Pitino and postgame emotion` - AL.com"
Post a Comment