Back to Basics: Nate Oats' Three Points of Emphasis for Alabama in NCAA Tournament

I once had a high school anatomy teacher whose favorite phrase was "repetition is the engine of learning." And if that's true, there is certainly something Alabama basketball head coach Nate Oats, a former high school teacher himself, wants his team to be learning this week.

Whether it was the immediate aftermath of the selection show Sunday evening, his weekly radio appearance on Hey Coach! Monday night, or his final media availability in Tuscaloosa Tuesday afternoon, Oats kept bring up the same three things over and over again.

The Crimson Tide now knows who its opponent will be in the Round of 64 after Notre Dame beat Rutgers in Dayton 89-87 in double overtime Wednesday night, but regardless of the opponent, the three main things he wants his Alabama team to focus on: taking care of the ball, making layups and making free throws.

"We’re trying to simplify stuff," Oats said to open Tuesday's media availability immediately following practice. "We feel like if we take care of the ball, make our layups, make our free throws, we’ll be alright on offense. On defense, we’ve got to be locked in.”

It's how he opened his press conference Tuesday and concluded it on Sunday.

In total he said the phrase take care of the ball nine times on Sunday. Why is that such a big point of emphasis for Oats? Alabama is averaging 18.6 turnovers per game over its last five games and 14.6 per game on the season.

He brought up some variation of "make our free throws" seven different times on Sunday. Overall, Alabama was one of the better free throw shooting teams in the SEC this season, but in the loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament, the Crimson Tide shot just 59 percent at 20-34 from the line.

Seven different times, Oats said something about making layups or finishing at the rim. Alabama missed several key shots, including some wide open layups, right around the rim in the Vanderbilt loss.

At this point in the season, there's not much a coaching staff can change about a basketball team, but Oats wants to remind his guys of what they are capable of and then work on the basics heading back into the NCAA tournament.

"We kind of are who we are right now if we can just clean up a few little things," Oats said. "I told them kind of running the stats from practice today [Sunday], we had some live stuff, if we'd have finished at the rim in the game like we did at practice, if we made free throws in the game like we did at practice, if we took care of the ball. If we took care of any of the three of those things, we'd have won the game.

"We try to show them where they're doing good, pump them up. Show them that they've done well on the stuff they're struggling with now in the past, they've done really well with it. We've had plenty of games where guys just shot the ball well, finished well, so just let them know they're capable of it. Paint a picture of what the possibilities are.”

With Oats bringing these three factors up multiple times publicly, one can only imagine how many times his team has heard them over the lats few days. Senior guard Keon Ellis reflected his coach's sentiments.

With Alabama not knowing who it would play Friday until the conclusion of Wednesday night's game between Rutgers and Notre Dame, it gave the team more time to focus on itself in Tuscaloosa before leaving for San Diego.

"We’ve factored in a couple segments of both teams, but mostly it’s been just about us getting better as a team— focusing on us making layups, making free throws and not fouling and the turnovers," Ellis said. "Really that’s all we’ve been working on the pasts days because we can’t really obviously go too in-depth of the options we’re going to play, so really just have to focus on ourselves.”

Oats has experience coaching against the play-in team. His sixth-seeded Buffalo squad played 11-seed Arizona State after the Sun Devils won their play-in game. While he said there are obvious challenges in prepping for two teams, the opponent is also at a disadvantage because of their quick turnaround between games.

This year's Alabama team also has experience going out and playing on the West Coast. The biggest win of the season came over the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, Gonzaga, back on Dec. 4 in Seattle.

"We took that long flight, and I think we all said in our minds, ‘we’re not taking this flight for nothing, coming back with the L,'" Ellis said about the trip to Seattle. "I think even just the fact that it’s win or go home time now, so if you don’t bring it, you’re going there, and it will be a quick flight back. We’re really just trying to go in with that mindset that it’s win or go home.”

The trip to California will be a little bit of a homecoming for junior guard Jaden Shackelford. If Alabama is able to win its two games in San Diego, the team would stay out in California another week for the Sweet 16/Elite Eight games in San Francisco. However, the Crimson Tide is not focused on those things— at least Nate Oats isn't.

He wants to see better intensity and less fouling on defense, and well, you know the three things he wants to see on offense at this point.

"We talked to our guys today in practice about really just trying to make things simple," Oats said. "I think if we can take care of the ball, finish at the rim, take care of the ball, make layups and make free throws— things you've been doing since you started playing basketball back in elementary school. I think if we do those three things at a high level, our offense will settle down and be alright. I thought we played hard enough to beat Vanderbilt on the defensive end. Our offense didn't help us out much with the turnovers we had. And then obviously the fouling was a major problem on defense too, but I thought our effort was really good.

"We need to get that same effort on Friday in the NCAA Tournament. We've just got to be a little smarter, play without fouling, take care of the ball, make layups and make our free throws.”

No. 6 Alabama takes on No. 11 Notre Dame at Viejas Arena in San Diego Friday at 3:15 p.m.