Alabama basketball was a long way from the previously promised sunny shores of Maui. Monday night, the Crimson Tide’s shooting performance fittingly resembled the freezing temperatures outside Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
Alabama got off to a slow start in its first game of the relocated Maui Invitational, falling to Stanford 82-64.
Despite revamping its roster with shooters this offseason, the Tide struggled to put the ball in the net against the Cardinal, shooting 36 percent from the floor and 24 percent (7 of 29) from beyond the arc. Monday night’s cold shooting comes after Alabama shot just 22.6 percent (7 of 31) during its season-opening win over Jacksonville State last week.
"I was hoping we'd shoot a lot better in this game," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said following the loss. "I think sometimes our shot selecting hasn't been great to be honest with you though. I think we've got some guys forcing some contested ones up, trying to make something happen instead of playing how we need to play."
Alabama started flat and was never able to play up to Oats’ patented up-tempo offense. Following the game, the head coach expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s practices leading into the game, questioning whether or not his players were overly content with last week’s win.
“I think you play as you practice,” Oats said. “We tried to warn them at the practices that it wasn’t where it needed to be. Shoot, we don’t have any practices before the next game. They’re just going to have to decide how bad they want to start winning games or not in the next 22 hours here.”
Alabama hung with Stanford for the majority of the first half before its shooting woes magnified. The Tide went on a dismal run of 2 of 14 shooting from the floor and failed to score in the final 4:37 of the half, allowing the Cardinal to go on a 9-0 run and take a 41-29 lead into the break.
Alabama appeared to be showing signs of life early in the second half as Jordan Bruner and John Petty Jr. hit back-to-back 3s. However, after cutting the lead to seven on a layup from Jahvon Quinerly, the Tide went on another extended scoring drought, leading to a 10-0 Stanford run to put the game well out of reach.
Petty, who led Alabama shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc last season, was just 1 of 4 from deep on the night, finishing with 7 points and six rebounds. Through two games, the normally hot-handed senior is just 3 of 12 from distance.
Quinerly was Alabama’s brightest note, finishing with a team-high 14 points on 6 of 14 shooting. Jaden Shackelford also finished in double figures with 10 points but shot just 3 of 13.
While Alabama struggled to find its shooting rhythm, Stanford rallied behind five-star freshman Ziaire Williams. The projected lottery pick in next year’s NBA draft finished with 19 points and eight rebounds on 8 of 15 shooting, including 3 of 5 from deep. Bryce Wills chipped in 15 points and six rebounds while Daejon Davis and Oscar da Silva both had 13 points apiece. Stanford finished the night 52 percent from the floor and 53 percent from beyond the arc.
While the shooting differential between the teams stood out on the box score, what frustrated Oats the most was Alabama’s lack of effort on the boards as the Tide was outrebounded 47-31.
“I think it was an effort thing,” Oats said. “We had zero offensive rebounds up until maybe the last minute of the first half, which is absurd. Petty had one offensive rebound in the first half, and the rest of the team combined for zero… It’s a problem. We’ve got to get much better effort on the offensive boards. We’ve got to get better effort on the defensive glass. To get outrebounded by 16, I think that’s one of your big effort stats.
“We’ve got to give better effort, that’s the bottom line. If we don’t give better effort tomorrow night, we’re not going to win tomorrow night. So they’re going to have to decide how bad they want to start winning and how much it means to them.”
Next up
Following Monday night’s defeat, Alabama (1-1) will move to the losers bracket where it will face UNLV (0-2) at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Rebels were blown out by No. 14 North Carolina, 78-51, in their first game of the tournament.
UNLV is led by junior guard Bryce Hamilton. Last year, the former Rivals100 member earned First-Team All-Mountain West honors, averaging 16 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 45.3 percent from the floor.
Alabama got off to a slow start in its first game of the relocated Maui Invitational, falling to Stanford 82-64.
Despite revamping its roster with shooters this offseason, the Tide struggled to put the ball in the net against the Cardinal, shooting 36 percent from the floor and 24 percent (7 of 29) from beyond the arc. Monday night’s cold shooting comes after Alabama shot just 22.6 percent (7 of 31) during its season-opening win over Jacksonville State last week.
"I was hoping we'd shoot a lot better in this game," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said following the loss. "I think sometimes our shot selecting hasn't been great to be honest with you though. I think we've got some guys forcing some contested ones up, trying to make something happen instead of playing how we need to play."
Alabama started flat and was never able to play up to Oats’ patented up-tempo offense. Following the game, the head coach expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s practices leading into the game, questioning whether or not his players were overly content with last week’s win.
“I think you play as you practice,” Oats said. “We tried to warn them at the practices that it wasn’t where it needed to be. Shoot, we don’t have any practices before the next game. They’re just going to have to decide how bad they want to start winning games or not in the next 22 hours here.”
Alabama hung with Stanford for the majority of the first half before its shooting woes magnified. The Tide went on a dismal run of 2 of 14 shooting from the floor and failed to score in the final 4:37 of the half, allowing the Cardinal to go on a 9-0 run and take a 41-29 lead into the break.
Alabama appeared to be showing signs of life early in the second half as Jordan Bruner and John Petty Jr. hit back-to-back 3s. However, after cutting the lead to seven on a layup from Jahvon Quinerly, the Tide went on another extended scoring drought, leading to a 10-0 Stanford run to put the game well out of reach.
Petty, who led Alabama shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc last season, was just 1 of 4 from deep on the night, finishing with 7 points and six rebounds. Through two games, the normally hot-handed senior is just 3 of 12 from distance.
Quinerly was Alabama’s brightest note, finishing with a team-high 14 points on 6 of 14 shooting. Jaden Shackelford also finished in double figures with 10 points but shot just 3 of 13.
While Alabama struggled to find its shooting rhythm, Stanford rallied behind five-star freshman Ziaire Williams. The projected lottery pick in next year’s NBA draft finished with 19 points and eight rebounds on 8 of 15 shooting, including 3 of 5 from deep. Bryce Wills chipped in 15 points and six rebounds while Daejon Davis and Oscar da Silva both had 13 points apiece. Stanford finished the night 52 percent from the floor and 53 percent from beyond the arc.
While the shooting differential between the teams stood out on the box score, what frustrated Oats the most was Alabama’s lack of effort on the boards as the Tide was outrebounded 47-31.
“I think it was an effort thing,” Oats said. “We had zero offensive rebounds up until maybe the last minute of the first half, which is absurd. Petty had one offensive rebound in the first half, and the rest of the team combined for zero… It’s a problem. We’ve got to get much better effort on the offensive boards. We’ve got to get better effort on the defensive glass. To get outrebounded by 16, I think that’s one of your big effort stats.
“We’ve got to give better effort, that’s the bottom line. If we don’t give better effort tomorrow night, we’re not going to win tomorrow night. So they’re going to have to decide how bad they want to start winning and how much it means to them.”
Next up
Following Monday night’s defeat, Alabama (1-1) will move to the losers bracket where it will face UNLV (0-2) at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Rebels were blown out by No. 14 North Carolina, 78-51, in their first game of the tournament.
UNLV is led by junior guard Bryce Hamilton. Last year, the former Rivals100 member earned First-Team All-Mountain West honors, averaging 16 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 45.3 percent from the floor.
