re: Tide Hoops | 31-6 (16-2)

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Nate Oats now tells me that Alabama's Dominick Welch (lower body) is doubtful for today's game against Michigan State.

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Alabama has dropped all three of its non-conference tournament openers under Oats. During the head coach’s first year in 2019, the Crimson Tide opened play in the Battle 4 Atlantis with a 76-67 defeat to then-No. 6 North Carolina. The following year, it fell 82-64 to open the Maui Invitational. Last season, Alabama opened the ESPN Events Invitational with a 72-68 loss to Iona.

Fortunately for Alabama, it’s generally been able to rebound from those losses. The Crimson Tide went 1-1 following its opening loss in the 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis but followed up opening defeats with back-to-back wins in both the 2020 Maui Invitational and last year’s ESPN Events Invitational. Still, those opening losses prevented the Tide from moving on in the winner’s bracket, ultimately depriving it of possible resume-boosting wins against top teams.

This week, Oats said he gave his team Saturday and Sunday off before returning to the court Monday and Tuesday in preparation for Thursday’s tournament opener against Michigan State.

“We want to make sure we’re fresh, but we also want to make sure we’re prepared,” Oats said. “I think the staff does a good job of preparing them. We got to make sure they’re mentally ready to go for this first round.”

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