When it comes to Alabama’s ongoing men’s basketball season, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
The Tide did not meet preseason expectations in the SEC, where it was picked to finish second, or for the NCAA tournament, where its No. 6 seed fell short of early-season projections of a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
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But about an hour after Alabama learned Sunday evening it would face the winner of a No. 11 seed play-in game between Rutgers and Notre Dame, third-year coach Nate Oats offered some perspective about the school’s first back-to-back NCAA tournament berths since 2005 and 2006.
“I think guys got to be reminded of that. I think people around here need to be reminded, too,” Oats said, acknowledging there were “really high expectations” after Alabama won the SEC last season and beat Gonzaga and Houston in back-to-back games this past December.
“But let’s not forget that we’re at a place that’s changing the culture of men’s basketball,” he continued. “It’s been 16 years since they went to back-to-back NCAA tournaments. It’s been 30 years since they went to back-to-back tournaments with a six seed or higher in both NCAA tournaments.
“This group of guys that was here last year and this year -- you look at Keon Ellis, [Jahvon] Quinerly, [Jaden] Shackelford, [James] Rojas, Juwan Gary, Darius Miles -- these guys that played last year that are now heavy in the rotation this year are doing things for Alabama basketball that haven’t been done in 30 years.
“So let’s pump up their confidence. Let’s let them know the sky is not falling. We’ve had an unbelievable year. We got a chance to make a great run to cap the year off really well. That’s what we’re trying to do. I think the guys’ minds are in the right spot.”
Alabama (19-13) lost its final two regular-season games to finish 9-9 in conference play, then was bounced in its first game of the SEC tournament last week by lower-seeded Vanderbilt. Oats emphasized the Commodores were competitive in their next game against Kentucky, a 77-70 tournament quarterfinal loss.
“It’s not like we lost to a bad team,” Oats said of Vanderbilt, which is 17-16.
Oats said starting guards Quinerly and Shackelford were “both ready to play” in the SEC tournament but “just had some unfortunate things happen,” particularly rare foul trouble that limited their minutes in the second half.
“We were in a good spot,” said Oats, who believed Alabama would have won if it had been better at finishing at the rim, making its free throws and taking care of the ball.
Alabama had 18 turnovers, shot 58.8 percent on free throws and made only half of its layups in addition to shooting only 23 percent on its threes. But Oats, who has chided his team’s defensive effort at various points during the season, said the effort was sufficient Thursday night to win.
“If we can take of the ball, make layups, make free throws -- things you’ve been doing since you started playing basketball back in elementary school, if you we do those three things at a high level, our offense will settle down and be alright,” he said. “We don’t need major changes from these guys. Let’s just lock in, do what we’re capable of doing. But let’s simplify it a little bit, let’s take care of the ball, let’s make our layups, make our free-throws.”
Oats, who said Alabama has “gone as its guards go” the whole season, has used last year’s UCLA team as an example to his current group. The Bruins lost four in a row entering the NCAA tournament before winning its play-in game as a No. 11 seed and later upsetting Alabama on its way to the Final Four.
But Oats also plans on pointing to UCLA last season as a reason for his players to respect what Rutgers or Notre Dame could bring Friday in Viejas Arena on the San Diego State campus.
“Rutgers has some quality wins. They beat Purdue, beat Iowa -- they just won the Big Ten tournament -- Illinois, Wisconsin,” Oats said. “Notre Dame, they beat Kentucky, who is one of the best teams in our league, one of the best teams in the country.
“Both these teams are more than capable of beating good teams. We’ve shown we’re more than capable of beating good teams. Whoever we end up meeting, it will be a little different style. Notre Dame obviously plays a little more open, takes a lot of threes, a little more offensive-minded. Rutgers, a lot more defensive-minded, tough, hard-nosed. They’re going to make it difficult to score on.”
Having two potential opponents will complicate early-week prep for Oats and his assistants, but Oats noted that some of Alabama’s best wins have come against non-conference foes that have less familiarity with its players. Rutgers and Notre Dame will meet Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio, with the winner flying to California ahead of Friday’s meeting with Alabama.
Beyond the potential for a more fatigued opponent, Oats said Alabama’s foe is unlikely to have practiced full speed because of its midweek game. Oats’ final team at Buffalo was also a No. 6 seed in 2019 that faced No. 11 seed Arizona State after a play-in win over St. John’s. Oats said he could tell the Sun Devils were tired that game, and Buffalo advanced to play No. 3 seed Texas Tech in the second round. The Bulls lost and Alabama hired Oats three days later.
Now, Oats’ third Alabama team is a No. 6 seed that could again meet No. 3 seed Texas Tech in the second round, if the Red Raiders avoid an upset to No. 14 seed Montana State.
Alabama, of course, needs to avoid its own disappointment -- something Oats is trying to combat with optimism amid what he calls a “new start” to the season.
“I think what we’re trying to do is build up their confidence with stuff they’re good at,” Oats said. “[We] let them know they’re capable of it. Paint a picture of what the possibilities are.
“We’ve proven we can play with and beat pretty much anybody in the country. If we get our minds right -- and I think we had a good [Sunday] practice, we were good -- get a reset, tell our guys it’s a new season, I think we’ll be alright.”
Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.
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