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

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I disagree with this opening statement so much...

The majority of our basketball fans know a shite ton about basketball. Now, I can see that changing as we continue to win and the band wagon overflows, but the fans we have now are some of the most dedicated and knowledgeable in the SEC.

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Injury report

Alabama is still a bit banged up heading into the second half of SEC play. Last week four Tide players missed time at practice as Jordan Bruner (knee), Herbert Jones (hip/back), Alex Reese (knee) and James Rojas (medical condition) were all dealing with nagging injuries or illnesses. While Bruner was the only member of the quartet to miss Saturday’s game against Oklahoma, it’s clear Alabama isn’t at full strength at the moment.

“It would help if we got a little healthier, but we’ve got to go with what we got right now,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during his Tuesday Zoom call with reporters. “Ro’s still not back to anywhere close to 100 percent, neither is Herb. We don’t have Bruner. … It’s February. February, nobody’s 100 percent healthy. You’ve got to play through that stuff. You’ve got to figure out ways to win.”

During a radio appearance Monday night, Oats said Bruner will be out 2-3 more weeks after injuring his knee against Kentucky on Jan. 12. Tuesday, the head coach said that Jones hasn’t practiced with the team since its game on Saturday but expects the forward to be available for Wednesday’s game against LSU.

“That’s the plan,” Oats said. “He doesn’t like to sit too many games out. Talking to the trainers, doctors, therapists and everything, it’s not setting him back any further by him playing. The only thing would be if he got hit in that one spot again which he hasn’t the last couple of games. … I anticipate he’ll go. He probably won’t be 100 percent again, but he’ll still be a lot better than most of the guys out there.”

During Tuesday’s media session with the players, Reese and Jaden Shackelford both spoke highly of Jones’ perseverance through pain, stating that he serves as an inspiration to the rest of the team. Reese also opened up on his own injury status and how it has affected his play in recent games.

“It’s really just a little spot on my knee that flares up when I get hit on it or fall on it," he said. "Other than that, I don’t got too much going on. When I do fall and get a bang, it hurts pretty bad. But I’ll be all right. It’s nothing too major.”

Alabama won’t be the only team dealing with injury problems heading into Wednesday’s matchup. LSU forward Darius Days is set to miss the next couple of weeks after suffering a knee injury over the weekend against Texas Tech.

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Notes and quotes

— Despite its loss to Oklahoma, Alabama remained in the top 10 of the national rankings, checking in at No. 10 in the Associated Press Top-25 and No. 7 in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll. The last time the Crimson Tide was ranked inside the AP Top-10 in the month of February came in 2002. Alabama went on to claim the SEC regular-season title that year.

— Alabama struggled from close range against Oklahoma, shooting just 10 of 22 at the rim. It was a particularly rough day for Shackelford, who missed six layups, including three in the game’s final three minutes. Following the game, the sophomore guard texted Oats stating he felt bad about the performance.

“There were a lot of things that went into that game that contributed to our loss, but personally I missed a few layups at the rim which kind of bothered me that whole night,” Shackelford said Tuesday. “I just had to calm myself down and just take it as a learning lesson. I talked to Coach, took the loss to myself and told him I’d be better next game. I’ve got to be better for us. Me and the guys are going to ride together and get right.”

— Alabama made an SEC-record 23 shots from beyond the arc during its trip to Baton Rouge last month. In that game, the Tide shot a scorching 53.5 percent (23 of 43) from 3. Since then, Alabama has made 30 of 82 (36.6 percent) of its shots from deep over its following three games. The Tide ranks third in the SEC averaging 36 percent from 3.

— Reese is coming off a season-high performance against Oklahoma where he scored 15 points and secured five rebounds while shooting 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) from the floor. The senior has started Alabama’s last five games following Bruner’s injury. Tuesday, he talked about stepping up through his own pain in recent outings.

“Really it’s just a matter of it being my last year,” Reese said. “I’ve got to get through whatever it is that I’ve got going on. That’s really how I’ve always been. I try to fight through the things that aren’t going to keep me out for too long."

— After scoring 22 points against LSU last month, Alabama point guard Jahvon Quinerly has been in a bit of a slump. The redshirt sophomore has combined for just 9 points on 2 of 13 shooting over his last three games. Tuesday, Oats spoke about the point guard’s string of poor performances, stating he’s had a productive week during practice.

“I think [teams] are defending us as a whole — Jahvon being a big part of it — a little different,” Oats said. “I thought I saw in particularly maybe the Kentucky game where they weren’t trying to help off shooters, trying to make him go in and finish on some size. I think there’s some truth to that.

“I also think he’s harder on himself than anybody. He wants to be perfect. I’ve had those discussions with him. You’re not going to have a perfect game, let’s just play hard through the whole thing and make something else happen.”

— LSU freshman Cameron Thomas enters Wednesday’s matchup leading the SEC in scoring at 22.3 points per game. The former five-star recruit is one of four Tigers averaging double figures in scoring, joining Trendon Watford (17.3 ppg), Javonte Smart (15.5 ppg) and Darius Days (12.1 ppg). That quartet averages 67.2 of LSU’s 82.9 points per game, roughly 81 percent of the Tigers’ totals.

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It's been 19 years since Alabama found itself in the top 10 of the polls in February. The Tide won the SEC regular-season title that season, as it will this season. This group is three games clear of a four-way tie for second in that league. The next game is a home contest Tuesday night vs. LSU, which is smarting after blowing a lead late against Texas Tech. Bama beat LSU by 30 less than three weeks ago, when it set an SEC record by making 23 3-pointers.

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@AlabamaMBB Alex Reese:

"This being my last year, I'm trying to play through whatever it is that I have going on. That's how I've always been. Nothing too serious."

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@AlabamaMBB Alex Reese:

"We have to emphasize playing faster. We've slowed down our tempo the last few games, we have to pick that back up."

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@AlabamaMBB Jaden Shackelford:

"Pick our tempo back up, we have to get better rebounding the basketball. That's big against LSU, they're a good rebounding team."

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@AlabamaMBB Alex Reese:

"You know how important Herb is for us defensively and taking the ball on offense and running it for us. Seeing Herb battle through that, it's inspiring and makes me go harder because none of my injuries have been that significant."

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@AlabamaMBB head coach Nate Oats:

"Coming off a loss, we haven't had to deal with this in quite some time. Hopefully our guys lock in. Rojas is still not back to 100%, neither is Herb, don't have Bruner. LSU is banged up too. It's February, no one is 100% healthy."

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@AlabamaMBB head coach Nate Oats:

"It'll be a fun game, it'll be a heated game. LSU will come ready to play after what we did to them at their place."

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@AlabamaMBB head coach Nate Oats:

"On our winning streak, we got teams to play at our pace. Last 3 games, teams slowed us down. LSU isn't built to play slow. They may try to slow it down a little bit, but it won't get as slow as it did vs OU."

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