Nate Oats Explains What 'Tough, Physical' Jaden Bradley is Best At

The Arizona point guard will be playing against his former team for the second time in his career on Saturday.

Mar 12, 2023; Nashville, TN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats talks with Alabama Crimson Tide guard Jaden Bradley (0) during the second half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The year before Alabama made its first men's basketball Final Four, the program reached the top ranking in the country with a team that earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, won the SEC regular season and tournament titles and reached the Sweet 16.

One of the multiple talented freshmen on that team was current Arizona point guard Jaden Bradley, now a senior averaging 14.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. He has eight rebounds in the team's two most recent games. The No. 1 Wildcats (8-0) will take on the No. 12 Crimson Tide (7-2) at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

"He was really good when he was here. We were No. 1 in the country, and he started a bulk of the year as our point guard. I mean, you think of some of our big wins that year, he's a big part of them," Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said Friday. "All about the winning stuff. Tough, physical, can get downhill."

Tommy Lloyd's squad plays a very different style than Alabama's. For example, Crimson Tide point guard Labaron Philon has 47 shot attempts from beyond the arc so far this season. Bradley has taken 12. The Arizona senior's overall shooting percentage is higher than that of Philon by two points and some change. The Wildcats have been scoring a lot of points (103, 98 and 97 in their last three matchups), but the players will drive the basketball into the paint.

"He didn't take very many [three-pointers] for us," Oats said of Bradley, who went 2-for-3 from long range against Auburn last Saturday. "That was the one thing. I tried to encourage him to shoot way more. We wanted him to shoot a lot more threes, and he's not a bad shooter, he's just... accustomed to and so adept at and really good at getting the ball downhill. Because he's such a physical driver. That's what he's good at. That's still what he's best at."

Bradley played in the December 2023 game between Arizona and Alabama in Phoenix, going 2-of-4 from the field and scoring four points. The Wildcats triumphed 87-74. At the time, the then-sophomore Bradley was nine months removed from his final game in a Crimson Tide uniform.

"He was a great teammate and a good leader," Oats said. "He played really hard and was about the right stuff here. He wasn't, maybe, as vocal being a freshman. From the comments I've heard, he's got a way bigger leadership role there, which goes along with being a lot older."