šŸ€ Nate Oats Press Conference - Indiana State, plus Early Signing Period

Credit to Indiana State's coach - he knows how to draw up plays. His guys cut to the basket with emphasis. But some of their points are really a result of laziness from our guys defensively. Why I really wish Nimari Burnett didn't transfer.
 
Well on the brightside, this team has potential to be incredible offensively. Back to back 100+ games. Defense has a LOONNNNGG way to go. But I think Wague showed he has earned more PT and can be a good rim protector. Guards need to watch tape on getting better footwork and positioning. Some of those blow bys were unacceptable.
 

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24/24 Alabama men's basketball team defeated Indiana State 102-80 Friday night in Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide had four players score double figures, including three players record 20 points or more led by Aaron Estrada's game-high 27 points.

The Crimson Tide dominated the glass, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds, giving the Tide an 18-3 advantage in second chance points. With his game high 27-points, Aaron Estrada has now surpassed 1,500 career points in his collegiate career after shooting 56 percent (9-16) from the floor, 75 percent (6-8) from beyond-the-arc and a perfect 3-3 from the free throw line against Indiana State.



To go along with Estrada's 27, Mark Sears (24) and Grant Nelson (20) also put up double figures, with Nelson collecting a team-high eight rebounds.

The Sycamores were led by Ryan Conwell, posting a double-double, scoring 16 points and collecting 10 rebounds.

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments​

"That was a quality win. Indiana State is a really good, very well-coached team. We knew it was going to be that way when we scheduled them. They were even better than I thought they were going to be when we scheduled them so for our guys to come out and start out down 9-0 I thought our guys did a pretty good job bouncing back and staying locked in and figuring out a way to help get Aaron (Estrada) going. We had three guys score over 20, which I thought was pretty impressive. Our defense was not good again and we've got to do a way better job on defense. We had our rotation shrink a little bit from the last game, just with how tight the game was. We knew this team was going be a lot better and honestly, they didn't even have their best, as Robbie Avila was out with an injury. We just have to continue to get better on defense. We've got South Alabama coming in and they play a much different style than Indiana State, but they play really hard. Richie Riley has done a great job down there and we're just going to keep preaching defense."
 
Just got home from the game. Agree, defense has a ways to go. Don’t care who the opponent was, having 3 guys with 20+ was nice on the other end.
I think it's good to remember to that even the 2020 team struggled defensively. It led to losses to Stanford, Clemson, and Western Kentucky. Guys just have to get acclimated to the system and understand the importance of each possession. We strung together a good 3-4 minutes of stops last night and it helped Alabama put the game out of reach. So when they understand that, I think the team will reach their potential
 
Just got home from the game. Agree, defense has a ways to go. Don’t care who the opponent was, having 3 guys with 20+ was nice on the other end.
In the pre-season, just before Bama tipped their first game, there was an article published about rule changes. I want to say the comments in the article were from someone in the Big 12, a guy that's on one of the rules committees.

The article was focused on what's going to be called a block versus a charge this season. It was his opinion that over 95% of the calls that were charges last season would be called blocks this season.

In the few games I've seen this season I can see the difference in the game. Nelson driving is an example; you don't see defenders setting up between him and the basket.

On that same end: We'd see a guy like Herb take the charge. That play today? A foul. I'm looking at the effect of the rule change, how Bama has played defense, and see a learning curve.

We've heard "on ball pressure." That's effort and mindset in my opinion. I don't expect this season's defense to be as good as last year, or the year before. But good lord on what it looks like we're about to see on the other end of the floor.
 
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