Alabama Basketball: What we’ve learned about Nate Oats so far

Nate Oats is almost halfway through his first season as the head coach of Alabama basketball. What have we learned so far?

Nate Oats came into a relatively strong program with Alabama basketball, but fans knew it was going to take some time to get this team to the top of the SEC. However, not many people expected a record near .500 with conference play right around the corner. In this time of ups and downs, what have we learned about Nate Oats?

He wasn’t lying about tempo

Alabama fans are used to an Avery Johnson era with shots in seven seconds or less, but they never played at that tempo on a consistent basis. That is the very case with this new team. With Kira Lewis controlling the ball and shooters spacing the floor, all this team does is run.

Oats can scheme an offense

Along with tempo, Nate Oats promised a revitalized offense that focused on outside shooting. It has shown in who he plays. If you can shoot a three, you’re going to get time in the game. It’s a small sample size, but Alabama is currently averaging 82 points a game, a number the Tide only reached five times in total last season. It’s clear that this is an improvement on the offensive side of the ball.

There’s work to be done on defense

When Alabama focuses on offense, it feels like it’s almost a necessity. They have to score at such a high rate to keep up with their mistakes on defense. It’s been enough to win some of their games, but it’s this simple: Alabama has to improve drastically on defense if they want to be competitive in the SEC and NCAA tournaments.

This is going to take some time

Nate Oats needs some time to get his own recruits in the system. It takes a specific type of player to work Nate Oats’ offense. You have to have speed, range, and a motor. Most of Alabama’s players don’t have all of these tools. The Tide have more recruiting power than Buffalo did, so we’ll see if Oats can recruit some top players.

This season hasn’t been the best so far, but we sure have learned a ton from the Tide. We’ll continue to learn more once SEC play starts, but this is a good start on what a Nate Oats era will look like in Tuscaloosa.