TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— In last week’s loss to Auburn, Alabama fell behind 9-0 to start the game and lost by nine points. Wednesday at Missouri, the Tigers jumped out to a 12-0 lead, and even after clawing back in the second half, the Crimson Tide went on to lose by 12 points.
Slow starts to games and halves haven’t just been an issue in the losses, but all season. Because of Alabama’s depth, skill and scoring ability, it can often overcome slow starts, but working back from an early deficit can be challenging against top-25 teams like Auburn, Missouri or this Saturday’s opponent No. 17 Kentucky.
Alabama’s trip back from Missouri was delayed a day because of weather issues, but even before the travel delays, Nate Oats and the coaching staff had already decided to give the players Thursday off from practice. Oats wants to make sure that physial fatigue won’t be a factor in potentially starting slow on Saturday evening against the Wildcats.
Oats said Friday’s practice was the lightest all year and maybe that he’s had in the last few years at Alabama with the goal in mind to get the guys recharged mentally and physically.
“Making sure that we didn’t overdo it in practice, either yesterday or today,” Oats said Friday. “Making sure that they get with Clarke [Holter, athletic trainer] to get their bodies right, not going to overdo it on the game day practice tomorrow with a light walk through.”
A lot of the responsibility for wins and losses in college basketball falls on the shoulders of the head coach. But Oats can only do so much. He can plan, prep, motivate, create a scouting report and encourage, but at some point the players have to actually play the game and implement the messages and coaching from Oats.
“It’s going to be up to them to make sure they’re mentally ready to go,” he said.
Alabama is no longer in control of its own destiny in the SEC regular season race, but the team still has a lot to play for like holding on to a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament and a double-bye in the SEC Tournament.
The Crimson Tide plays multiple freshmen and sophomores, but the starting lineup is dominated by veteran, fifth-year players: Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson and Clifford Omoruyi. Kentucky has a high-powered offense, like Alabama’s, that is capable of scoring in spurts and coming out of the gate on a big run. That’s something the Tide wants to avoid this Saturday.
“We’ve got to have better starts,” Oats said. “And the one common denominator has been those four fifth-year guys in the starting lineup. And they’re all great kids that that want to perform well, and they’re down on themselves. So it’s not like they need me to pile on. So it’s not like they need me to pile on they need to make sure that they’re fresh and ready to go and shot out of the cannon tomorrow, and I’m hoping that’s what we see tomorrow.”
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