re: Alabama Basketball Megathread | 26-7 (16-2)

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lol. They got so mad over that.

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In August 2020, ESPN.com obtained a document from NCAA enforcement asserting that Wade "arranged for, offered and/or provided impermissible payments, including cash payments, to at least 11 men's basketball prospective student-athletes, their family members, individuals associated with the prospects and/or nonscholastic coaches in exchange for the prospects' enrollment at LSU."

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Nate Oats: Alabama basketball players value 'winning time' more than minutes vs UCLA

Nate Oats understands that basketball players want to play, especially under the bright lights of the NCAA Tournament. He also understands that in late March, the most important statistic on the postgame box score is the final score, not “minutes played.”

”The Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship (in 2015),” Oats said. “Harrison Barnes had started all year long. Then in the finals, Andre Iguodala was starting at the end (as a better defensive match for Cleveland’s LeBron James). That made Iguodala the MVP and Harrison Barnes a great teammate.”

Oats, who was speaking on a Thursday Zoom call, said that the Crimson Tide may use a different playing rotation against UCLA in Sunday’s Sweet 16 matchup (6:15 p.m. CT, TBS) than it did in its second-round win against Maryland.

“It’s winning time,” Oats said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are locked into winning right now, trying to do whatever they can to help us win.”

UCLA, which has advanced out of the NCAA First Four into the Sweet 16 with three straight wins, uses a more traditional point guard/post offense than Maryland, which had bigger guards but less offensive prowess in the paint. That meant that Crimson Tide reserves James Rojas and Jordan Bruner, who have played prominent roles this season, played sparingly.

”Rojas played two minutes, Bruner played two minutes,” Oats said. “Bruner and I talked about it before the game. He has a high basketball IQ. He said, ‘Coach, I understand.’

”So you want to get those guys some more minutes. But with the way (Juwan) Gary is playing at the four-spot and the five, he’s got to play. (Alex) Reese is playing great. He’s 5-for-7 from the (3-point line) in Indianapolis, so you want him out there shooting.”

UCLA coach Mick Cronin would be more than happy to turn the game into a throwback, grind-it-out style and match inside muscle with Alabama instead of having its post players try to guard on the perimeter all night.

"Mick is 1-0 against me,” Oats said, recalling a 73-67 loss in 2018 when Oats was coaching Buffalo and Cronin was at Cincinnati. “It was a tight game. His teams are tough, hard-nosed. We're one of the fastest teams in the country, they're one of the slowest. He's a really good coach, they've won a lot of games anywhere he's been.

"We've got to be tough, rebound the ball, play a great defensive game. We won't speed them up to our pace, we'll have to defend late in the shot clock. We're going to have to be disciplined and guard for 30 seconds. We've got to get that first rebound.”

Alabama is a six-point favorite to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history.

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Is the SEC West(as we define it) the deepest division in Bball going forward in the NCAA?

4 different teams made the SWEET 16 in the last 2 tournaments, with one final four and more possibly

All four seem to have coaches that will keep them constantly there for the future.


Discuss?

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Does an Elite 8 appearance move this team past the '87 team?

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We will lose

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