Jaden Shackelford Hopes to Give Alabama Basketball Momentum Heading into SEC Play
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After Saturday’s loss to Western Kentucky in Coleman Coliseum, Alabama basketball is trying to finish its non-conference schedule strong against East Tennessee State on Tuesday night.
In order to do so, sophomore guard Jaden Shackelford will need to come to play.
After shooting just two-for-nine in field goals and raking in four rebounds, Shackelford is currently underperforming for the Crimson Tide so far this season.
According to the guard himself, Alabama basketball needs to continue making shots if it wants to overcome close games.
“Of course as shooters and with having shooters, you keeping shooting the ball,” Shackelford said. “It’s just a miss, forget about it. We’re going to keep shooting the ball and when shots aren’t falling, each and every one of us gotta find a way to help the team win. Do the intangibles, make blue-collar plays so we gotta find a way to help the team win if shots aren’t falling in. Once we do that on a consistent basis we’ll be perfectly fine. The shots will fall. We’re in the gym, so we’ll be alright.”
Through the first seven games of the 2020 season, Shackelford has accounted for 25 field goals and 10 assists. Of those 25 field goals, 11 were for three points. Shackelford is also 25-of-34 from the free-throw line. While those numbers aren’t necessarily terrible, they aren’t quite what Alabama expected to see from Shackelford out of the gate after finishing last season strong.
Alabama coach Nate Oats said that he believes that Shackelford is currently experiencing a sophomore slump.
"I think Shackelford scored the ball at a really high level for a freshman," Oats said. "He's in a little bit of a slump — that whole sophomore slump thing is real. I think sometimes teams aren't prepared for him as freshmen, now everybody's preparing for him. Maybe he's pressing the issue a little bit. That's a real thing and he's experiencing it a little bit here."
Last season, Shackelford totaled 26 field goals through his first seven games. Of those 26, 14 were three-pointers. Shackelford was also 11-of-17 from the free-throw line. Contrast that to the end of the season, where he managed to score 46 baskets, where 24 were from beyond the arc.
According to Oats, while Shackelford might be in a slump he is still a much better all-around player than he was last year.
"I will say this: I think he's a better player now than he was last year," Oats said. "Much better. I think he's a much better defender, I think he's a better playmaker, I think he can play in pick-and-roll more, I think he can drive the ball better. There's a lot of things that he does way better than he did as a freshman, he's just not making shots right now and once he starts making shots I think everybody will see that he's a much improved player from last year."
Shackelford has improved in passing the ball and making better decisions when taking shots. However, those have not necessarily translated well on stat sheets.
Heading into East Tennessee State on Tuesday night (6:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network+), Shackelford believes that the key to fixing himself and the Alabama offense starts in the locker room.
“I feel like it starts within us in the locker room,” Shackelford said. “We come back off of a loss and we take it to their chin. We go in there, we find ways to get better and I feel like we need to come out with a statement win going into SEC play so a game where we put it all together is coming and I feel like once we do that we’ll be fine going into SEC and we’ll be ready to go.”
