Nate Oats linked Alabama basketball to Nick Saban’s top football teams, including the Crimson Tide.
Now hold on and pump the brakes. We recognize that Oats and Alabama have yet to win a national championship on the court. But it’s difficult not to see Saban’s effect on Oats’ program after Saturday’s victory.
After slipping up earlier this week, Alabama went on the road and defeated No. 8 Kentucky 102-97.
“It’d be nice if we had taken care of business Tuesday, but we didn’t,” Oats remarked after the game. “And you know what? Sometimes a loss is necessary to acquire valuable lessons. I’ve attempted to study Coach Saban and football, and you should look at most of his championship teams. They sustained an early loss, which helped them focus and lock in. And I believe that losing to Ole Miss helped us refocus.
“This team was completely different from the one that faced Ole Miss. So, if we learned the lessons we needed to in that loss on Tuesday and don’t forget them for the rest of the year, it could have been the finest thing that happened to us. We simply need to make sure this isn’t a one-game deal. We need to keep doing what we’ve been doing since Tuesday night.”
Can Alabama use the setback to Ole Miss as motivation for the remainder of the season? With the way Oats’ team played on Saturday, it’s entirely feasible.
The Crimson Tide will face rated opponents Mississippi State and Georgia on January 29th and February 1st, respectively. The upcoming game against No. 1 Auburn on February 15th has been noted on the calendar.
Given how loaded the SEC is, Oats’ Crimson Tide team may require a little Saban magic before the postseason.
“Couldn’t be more proud of a group of guys after the poor showing on Tuesday,” Oats joked. “They kind of recovered and played like we did here today. This was a very good team that we beat. They’re a powerful offensive team. We gave up too many threes there late, but up until we were up by eight or nine at the end of the game, I thought we’d done a very nice job outside of the one stretch in which we gave up the five in the first half.”
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