Why Nate Oats Criticized Two Veteran Alabama Basketball Players

Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears and forward Grant Nelson, who each led Alabama to its first-ever Final Four appearance last season, currently lead the team in turnovers by a wide margin.

Alabama forward Grant Nelson (4) and Alabama guard Mark Sears (1) celebrate against Texas at Moody Center in Austin, TX on Tuesday, Feb 11, 2025. / Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— "There's got to be some in-the-moment consequence for dumb turnovers, which we just don't tolerate. "When we do have a longer time to practice because we didn't practice the day before [maybe we have to] mix a little bit more of that stuff in."

Oats said the quote above before the LSU game and turnovers are still very much a problem for his team.

Alabama has been known for its extremely fast-paced offense all season. But sometimes going too quickly results in making mistakes, even for the No. 2 team in the country. The Crimson Tide's -3.00 turnover margin is the worst in the conference, as runner-up Mississippi State is at -2.08––a massive difference.

“We need Mark Sears and Grant Nelson to stop turning the ball over,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during Friday's press conference. “That’s what needs to happen. We have two fifth-year seniors that have played over 100 basketball games that know how to take care of the ball and who have not taken care of the ball and we needed them to.”

“If you look at the turnover rates between those two guys, they’re just way too high,” Oats said. “We’ve got to quit trying to make home-run plays. We’ve got to quit over-driving gaps that aren’t there. We’ve got to get the ball out of our hands earlier. We’ve got to make the appropriate reads, whether it’s pick-and-roll or drive reads. Elbow catch reads with Grant. If those two guys can significantly reduce their turnovers, the team turnover rate will go down and it will look a lot more like what we need it to look like.”

Oats' team has committed at least 10 turnovers in all but five games this season and Tuesday night's win over Texas added to the list as Alabama gave the ball away 17 times compared to the Longhorns' nine. The Longhorns certainly took advantage of the Tide's mistakes as it scored a whopping 26 points off turnovers.

The duo that led Alabama to its first-ever Final Four appearance currently leads the Crimson Tide in turnovers, both of which are averaging more than two per game. Alabama guard Labaron Philon is third with 1.6.

These numbers are a bit different from No. 1 Auburn, Alabama's next opponent at home, as the Tigers are fifth in the SEC in turnover margin with a 2.88. Auburn also causes some problems for opposing offenses in the paint as its 6.8 blocks per game is the best in the nation.

It's clear that the turnover battle will truly make a difference on Saturday.

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