Well, it is officially basketball season in Tuscaloosa, AL! Time to flush that Rose Bowl loss down the drain and focus on Tide Hoops! Not everyone can be a football school like Indiana, some of us have more of an affinity for the roundball. We contend for Final Fours on the hardwood around here!
What a world. It does make you really appreciate Nate Oats – aka the Nick Saban of Alabama basketball. After a strong 10-3 nonconference showing against another brutal out-of-conference slate, the 14th-ranked
Tide are – yet again – well positioned to be contenders both in the SEC and nationally when the Big Dance comes around in March. That’s not to say this team is without its flaws – defense and rebounding still really need work – but the firepower that this team has on the offensive end will make them a nightmare for most everyone on the schedule.
It helps that the SEC has regressed significantly from last season’s historic showing. That being said, Kenpom still has the SEC at #1, just ahead of the Big Ten and Big 12. The depth is still there, as the SEC has 13 teams in the top 57. There just aren’t any juggernauts at the top of the conference this season (except maybe Vandy?). So, the conference crown is absolutely there for the taking for Alabama, which would be the Tide’s third regular season SEC title under Oats.
All of it starts Saturday in Tuscaloosa against the Kentucky Wildcats – a real heavyweight fight to tip-off conference play!
How to Watch
What: Kentucky (9-4) vs #14 Alabama (10-3)
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, AL
When: 11:00 am CT
TV: ESPN
Line: Tide -5.5
It’s been a weird start to the season for the Kentucky Wildcats. Second year head coach Mark Pope exceeded expectations in his first season with a cobbled-together roster, as the ‘Cats ended up as a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament and made it through to the second weekend for the first time since 2019. He then followed that up by assembling arguably the best portal class in the country, landing Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen, sharpshooter Kam Williams from Tulane, Alabama’s own Mo Dioubate, and former five-star big man Jayden Quaintance from Arizona State. There was a ton of hype around this Kentucky team this offseason, especially with do-it-all guard Otega Oweh back for Pope’s second year.
That hasn’t really materialized, though. At least not until more recently. Kentucky lost to Louisville, North Carolina, Michigan State, and Gonzaga in non-conference play – the latter two being blowout losses. A team that was designed to play like Alabama with tempo and three-point shooting hasn’t been very good at either – the Wildcats are 163rd in pace and 177th in 3P%. It’s hard to be effective when you aren’t very good at the things that define your coach’s identity and philosophy.
However, things have gotten progressively better in recent weeks. Kentucky did end non-conference play with wins over Indiana (football schools, am I right?) and St John’s – the latter of which was Jayden Quaintance’s season debut. And that is significant. A lot of the hype for Kentucky this year was based on having Quaintance in the middle of the floor bringing a physicality that the ‘Cats lacked last season. The 6’10, 250-pound big man has great touch with the ball – capable of putting it on the floor and scoring from just about anywhere inside 15-feet – and NBA scouts are drooling over his potential as a modern-day center.
Quaintance is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered at Arizona State last season. As he gets healthier and can play more minutes, this Kentucky team is going to get better and better. Alabama is catching them at the right time. He just opens things up so much offensively while also helping bring athleticism and strength to the defensive end of the court.
Three Keys to Victory
- Rebounding. I mean, this is obvious, right? Even without Quaintance, Kentucky has been good in this area this year – 75th in OREB% and 33rd in DREB%. Meanwhile, Alabama ranks 114th and 297th, respectively. That has to improve. The offensive rebounding is the real head scratcher to me. We’ve seen Tide Hoops teams under Nate Oats struggle to close out possessions with defensive rebounds, but Alabama usually makes up for it by being really good on the offensive glass themselves. That has not been the case thus far. We could really use someone like Mo Dioubate this year…
- Push the Pace. Part of the reason Kentucky has been really good on the boards this season is because they have a lot of size (when Quaintance isn’t in the game, they have 6’11 junior Brandon Garrison and/or 7’0 freshman Malachi Moreno), and they use that to their advantage in halfcourt defense as well. So, Alabama needs to avoid having to execute against that length as much as possible. Get down the floor and beat the ‘Cats back on defense.
- Disrupt/Fluster Otega Oweh. Defensively, Alabama really needs to frustrate Otega Oweh. Although freshman Jasper Johnson is more of the true point guard, Oweh initiates the offense more than anyone. Johnson only plays ~16 MPG. And Oweh isn’t really a point guard. He’s playing out of position when he becomes the primary ballhandler. Aberdeen, Williams, and Collin Chandler are the only other guards in the regular rotation, and they are more 3 & D type of players. Oweh had to take on the outsized primary ballhandler role last year too, and when the ‘Cats came to Tuscaloosa, Oweh ended up with as many turnovers as he did points and fouled out. Alabama rolled 96-83. In the SEC Tournament last season, Oweh went 1/6 from the floor and turned it over five times as the Tide crushed the ‘Cats 99-70. If Oweh isn’t successfully initiating the offense, Kentucky can get really ugly on that end of the court. Hopefully, Labaron Philon will be able to go Saturday after sitting out the Yale game with a “minor thigh/groin” injury. If not, expect to see Oats run Latrell Wrightsell or Amari Allen at Oweh.
It’s hoops season in Tuscaloosa, folks. Alabama has a really good shot at winning its third SEC regular season title under Nate Oats, but there are some obvious improvements that need to be made in order for that to happen. Unfortunately, the Tide doesn’t get to ease into the SEC schedule with Kentucky and a trip to haunted Memorial Gymnasium against the athletics powerhouse that is NIL-era Vanderbilt first up. Hopefully, Labaron Philon is ready to go tomorrow (he should be), the Tide comes out hot at home, and Quaintance’s All-SEC caliber season starts next week.
Roll Tide! And get your butts to Coleman tomorrow!
