Here's some quotes from Nate Oats, Mark Sears, Jarin Stevenson and Nick Pringle before Thursday night's matchup against North Carolina:
Oats
Oats: "Good practice. Locked in. North Carolina is one of the best teams in the country, number one seed deservedly and we're going to have our hands full. Our defensive is going to have to be a lot better than it's been most of the year."
On Latrell Wrightsell:
Oats said Wrightsell is being treated on a day-to-day basis, and is unsure if he will be able to play tomorrow night
Oats: "I think our guys are locked in and ready to go."
Oats: "[Dioubate] has been tough, phsyical, his attitude has been great. He's easy to pair with Grant at the five...his toughness, physicality, and his willingness to win has earned him more minutes."
Oats said even if Wrightsell can play, but not as much, minutes will be available for Dioubate
Oats on his move to Alabama:
"We've come to love Alabama. I think we've gotten the program turned around. I think we've been able to do what Greg hired us to do...we still haven't gotten to a Final Four, so to me, that's the next step."
Oats: "Super glad they gave me a new contract and keep me around. In this business, sometimes they don't want to keep you around."
Oats on playing veteran team:
"We had three returning players from last year. I think those three guys have good experience, Mark, Rylan and Nick."
"Jarin is from Chapel Hill so that's a meaningful game for him."
"Estrada has been that do-it-all guard. Grant has been good for us, so has Wrightsell."
Oats: "Alabama has made it to one Elite 8 ever, and that's the farthest they've ever gone. So if we can win one more game we can equal that, and then give ourselves a shot to try to make the first Final Four."
Oats on what he told his bigs:
"It's great that we've played some of the best bigs in the country...we got to be able to guard the big without fouling and keep guys in the game."
Oats on finding assistant coaches:
"To have zero assistants and then realize that you have to replace all of them, we just had to get going."
"We only had three returning players, and no returning assistant coaches."
Oats on defensive intensity:
"I told them we don't have to forget about offense when we play great defense. We can put both together."
Oats: "We're not going to be able to hold North Carolina to 60 points, it's not who we are, it's not who they are. We're going to have to get an offense that's clicking like the number one offense in the country."
Players
Pringle on Bacot matchup:
"I feel like our coaching staff put in a lot of work and time to get us prepared for moments like this."
On 4OT game against UNC last season:
Sears: "After the first two overtimes, it was like man, when is this thing going to end. It was definitely a fun matchup."
Pringle: "It was definitely one of the longest games I've been apart of. I didn't necessarily play that much but you know, I had a role where I had to bring energy."
Sears on his mom:
"My mom is very energetic. She has a lot of passion for the game, you know. It's a blessing for her to be able to see the outcome of her being so supportive for me throughout the years.
Pringle on Wrightsell potentially being out:
"I think we will have a great game plan, we know we have a lot of great players and have great coaches than can make adjustments and make it happen."
Pringle: "Coach always preaches the importance of these games, every moment matters, every second matters. The best thing we can do is lock in and have better communication, and be the best we can possibly be as players and coaches."
Mark Sears said last year's upset by San Diego State helped give him the determination to work harder and make an offensive leap, along with his teammates helping him
Keys to winning the game:
Sears: "Defensive rebounding."
Jarin: "Getting back to our offense."
Pringle: "Picking up where we left off last game defensively...allow defense to translate to offense."
alabama.rivals.com
