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Benny's Breakdown: Oats talks about 'disappointing' win against Miss State

James Benedetto

All American
Staff
Jul 30, 2022
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Opening Statement...

"The SEC is a tough league. (Mississippi State) had only one game in the SEC and we saw how tough it was. I gotta give credit to Mississippi State. They came in ready to play and they had a great plan. They improved more than we improved from the first time we played them. We didn't do a great job getting our guys ready to go. We didn’t do a good job attacking. We didn't start the game like we needed to but I give our guys a lot of credit. In the second half, they found a way to win in a tight game. We haven't had very many tight games, so it's not the worst. We had to figure out how to win a close game especially when you're down. I told her guys two years ago when we won the SEC championship, in the tournament semifinal we were down 15 to Tennessee you’ve got to win games when things aren't going your way. We shot 18% from three and couldn’t buy a bucket and still figured out how to be a pretty good team. I meant on the record doesn't say they're good, but I still think they're a good team. I think they're gonna upset some people. They play really hard. I mean shoot they had us down 10, I think they had us down 11 at one point. They are a quality team, but at this point, we’ll take the win.”

Benny’s Breakdown: Alabama’s ninth-consecutive win was anything but pretty and yet somehow the team found a way to come out on top. With the team trailing by 10 at the half, hopes of the Crimson Tide being able to keep its perfect conference record intact were fading. However, a 17-11 scoring run over the last seven minutes of the game sealed the win for Alabama as it swept the season series against Mississippi State. While Oats and the rest of the Crimson Tide would have preferred another double-digit conference victory, learning how to win close games where at times it seems that nothing can go right, is huge for a team that has goals to go far in March.

On Jahvon Quinerly and Nick Pringle’s performances…

“(Quinerly) was huge. He can shoot so they really couldn't sag on him as much. They tried to switch and I think he's got some explosiveness to get to the paint and make things happen. He hit the one 3-pointer, he hit some drives going in and he made his free throws for the most part. I think he missed the one layup, was 5-of-6 at the line, had one assist and only one turnover. He led us in scoring tonight. We needed some scoring help. They did a great job on Miller and Sears. We needed someone to step up and score the ball and (Quinerly) has been able to score pretty well for us in the past. We needed him tonight. We needed everybody tonight. I thought (Nick) Pringle played well. Maybe he should have gotten a few more minutes, but scored seven points in eight minutes and went 3-for-3 at the line as a guy who has struggled in the past. He’s worked hard to correct his free throws and we needed every one of them tonight. A couple of guys that maybe hadn't played bigger roles but you needed them to. I thought Noah Gurley gave us big minutes late in the game and “close the game for us. Something about this team is we're deeper, we’ve got some depth, we can use it when we need to and we had some guys step up tonight.”

Benny’s Breakdown: Oats have raved over his team’s depth this season and it was on full display against Mississippi State. Alabama tallied 32 bench points compared to just 14 for the Bulldogs which arguably became the turning point in the game. Quinerly led the team in scoring for the first time this season and showed off what made him a fan favorite prior to his ACL injury — dazzling handles, clutch shooting and facilitating the offense. As for Pringle, he provided the spark Alabama needed to begin its resurgence in the game. With Charles Bediako picking up his third foul of the half, Oats turned to the 6-foot-9 junior who made his presence felt by scoring five points in 39 seconds. After Wednesday’s win, Oats can continue applauding his team’s depth which will be relied on more and more as the season wears on.”

On the team’s defensive intensity…

“Our energy got better. I mean we played harder. We got some steals and made some deflections. They’re a team that needs to score off of turnovers in Mississippi State. They had nine off of turnovers, we had 22. I think a lot of those came in the second half. I think it was a deal where our guys realize we’re down seven and I think we get down to 10 again in the second half like this isn't an easy game. We had to pick our energy up. Now it's disappointing that we had to pick it up. It should just be there from the beginning, but we picked it up and figured out a way to win. If you're going to win an SEC Championship, you've got to win some games where you don't play your best. We figured out a way to get a win and our defense in the second half is really what did it.”

Benny’s Breakdown: For a team that hangs its hard hat on being a tough defensive team and a high-flying offensive juggernaut, Alabama failed on both accounts, but more so on defense. Mississippi State couldn’t do wrong when it had the ball, shooting 56.7% from the floor in the first half. Oats stressed the importance of slowing down Tolu Smith during his Tuesday press conference, but less than 24 hours later the Mississippi State center recorded 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in nine minutes of playing time. Smith probably would have scored more had he not picked up two quick fouls which forced him to come out of the game. Alabama was able to shore up its defensive miscues in the second half as Mississippi State went 9-for-26 from the field and more importantly, held Smith to just five points.

On how the team is handling being the No. 2 ranked team in the country…

“Based on tonight it didn't look good. It’s the worst game we’ve played in a while so I personally thought we'd been handling it pretty well coming up tonight. We've also had a lot on our plates the last week and a half. I thought we did well at Vandy, we did pretty good Missouri, maybe some of that's catching up I don't know. But I don't think this is a group that's going to let too much of that get to their head. To me, listening to them talk, talking to them one-on-one, I think they all understand there's plenty of room to get better and we’ve got to get better. I don't know what the deal was tonight. Based on tonight's play, it looks like we're not handling it well, but I honestly don't think that's the case within the group. I think we'll bounce back. Hopefully, we can learn off of a win. A mature group can come in after a win and learn just as much as they can after a loss. We didn't play as well as we need to. Hopefully, we learn the lessons we need to after a win and get a little bit better on Saturday.”

Benny’s Breakdown: It’s odd to think that 11 days ago, news broke of Darius Miles’ arrest and being charged with capital murder. Since that day, Alabama has played in three games and its first one at home since the incident. While the team is 3-0 and continues to rise up the rankings, losing a teammate is unimaginable. Alabama continues to show resiliency, but even with a tough performance on Wednesday, Oats stressed the need for more consistency from his group going forward. The schedule isn’t going to be any easier as the team looks ahead to its last 11 games as road trips to Auburn and Tennessee will be key in Alabama securing another SEC regular season title.
 
I think the team was flat and Mstate was lights out offensively and defensively.

The Darius situation is tougher on these guys than people realize. Darius’s teammates loved him.

This team has players on the bench that are plug and play when others aren’t working.

Q stepped up when Jayden struggled a bit.

Sears won’t stay in his slump.

And what about Dom?!! Finally found his shot.

Pringle has earned more minutes.

Bediako is still our guy but teams have learned to clog the middle when he is in an defensively they pull him away from the basket.

An ugly win is a win.. gotta give credit to the bulldogs for their effort too

Did they look like a 1-7 SEC team? N-O-P-E
 
Opening Statement...

"The SEC is a tough league. (Mississippi State) had only one game in the SEC and we saw how tough it was. I gotta give credit to Mississippi State. They came in ready to play and they had a great plan. They improved more than we improved from the first time we played them. We didn't do a great job getting our guys ready to go. We didn’t do a good job attacking. We didn't start the game like we needed to but I give our guys a lot of credit. In the second half, they found a way to win in a tight game. We haven't had very many tight games, so it's not the worst. We had to figure out how to win a close game especially when you're down. I told her guys two years ago when we won the SEC championship, in the tournament semifinal we were down 15 to Tennessee you’ve got to win games when things aren't going your way. We shot 18% from three and couldn’t buy a bucket and still figured out how to be a pretty good team. I meant on the record doesn't say they're good, but I still think they're a good team. I think they're gonna upset some people. They play really hard. I mean shoot they had us down 10, I think they had us down 11 at one point. They are a quality team, but at this point, we’ll take the win.”

Benny’s Breakdown: Alabama’s ninth-consecutive win was anything but pretty and yet somehow the team found a way to come out on top. With the team trailing by 10 at the half, hopes of the Crimson Tide being able to keep its perfect conference record intact were fading. However, a 17-11 scoring run over the last seven minutes of the game sealed the win for Alabama as it swept the season series against Mississippi State. While Oats and the rest of the Crimson Tide would have preferred another double-digit conference victory, learning how to win close games where at times it seems that nothing can go right, is huge for a team that has goals to go far in March.

On Jahvon Quinerly and Nick Pringle’s performances…

“(Quinerly) was huge. He can shoot so they really couldn't sag on him as much. They tried to switch and I think he's got some explosiveness to get to the paint and make things happen. He hit the one 3-pointer, he hit some drives going in and he made his free throws for the most part. I think he missed the one layup, was 5-of-6 at the line, had one assist and only one turnover. He led us in scoring tonight. We needed some scoring help. They did a great job on Miller and Sears. We needed someone to step up and score the ball and (Quinerly) has been able to score pretty well for us in the past. We needed him tonight. We needed everybody tonight. I thought (Nick) Pringle played well. Maybe he should have gotten a few more minutes, but scored seven points in eight minutes and went 3-for-3 at the line as a guy who has struggled in the past. He’s worked hard to correct his free throws and we needed every one of them tonight. A couple of guys that maybe hadn't played bigger roles but you needed them to. I thought Noah Gurley gave us big minutes late in the game and “close the game for us. Something about this team is we're deeper, we’ve got some depth, we can use it when we need to and we had some guys step up tonight.”

Benny’s Breakdown: Oats have raved over his team’s depth this season and it was on full display against Mississippi State. Alabama tallied 32 bench points compared to just 14 for the Bulldogs which arguably became the turning point in the game. Quinerly led the team in scoring for the first time this season and showed off what made him a fan favorite prior to his ACL injury — dazzling handles, clutch shooting and facilitating the offense. As for Pringle, he provided the spark Alabama needed to begin its resurgence in the game. With Charles Bediako picking up his third foul of the half, Oats turned to the 6-foot-9 junior who made his presence felt by scoring five points in 39 seconds. After Wednesday’s win, Oats can continue applauding his team’s depth which will be relied on more and more as the season wears on.”

On the team’s defensive intensity…

“Our energy got better. I mean we played harder. We got some steals and made some deflections. They’re a team that needs to score off of turnovers in Mississippi State. They had nine off of turnovers, we had 22. I think a lot of those came in the second half. I think it was a deal where our guys realize we’re down seven and I think we get down to 10 again in the second half like this isn't an easy game. We had to pick our energy up. Now it's disappointing that we had to pick it up. It should just be there from the beginning, but we picked it up and figured out a way to win. If you're going to win an SEC Championship, you've got to win some games where you don't play your best. We figured out a way to get a win and our defense in the second half is really what did it.”

Benny’s Breakdown: For a team that hangs its hard hat on being a tough defensive team and a high-flying offensive juggernaut, Alabama failed on both accounts, but more so on defense. Mississippi State couldn’t do wrong when it had the ball, shooting 56.7% from the floor in the first half. Oats stressed the importance of slowing down Tolu Smith during his Tuesday press conference, but less than 24 hours later the Mississippi State center recorded 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in nine minutes of playing time. Smith probably would have scored more had he not picked up two quick fouls which forced him to come out of the game. Alabama was able to shore up its defensive miscues in the second half as Mississippi State went 9-for-26 from the field and more importantly, held Smith to just five points.

On how the team is handling being the No. 2 ranked team in the country…

“Based on tonight it didn't look good. It’s the worst game we’ve played in a while so I personally thought we'd been handling it pretty well coming up tonight. We've also had a lot on our plates the last week and a half. I thought we did well at Vandy, we did pretty good Missouri, maybe some of that's catching up I don't know. But I don't think this is a group that's going to let too much of that get to their head. To me, listening to them talk, talking to them one-on-one, I think they all understand there's plenty of room to get better and we’ve got to get better. I don't know what the deal was tonight. Based on tonight's play, it looks like we're not handling it well, but I honestly don't think that's the case within the group. I think we'll bounce back. Hopefully, we can learn off of a win. A mature group can come in after a win and learn just as much as they can after a loss. We didn't play as well as we need to. Hopefully, we learn the lessons we need to after a win and get a little bit better on Saturday.”

Benny’s Breakdown: It’s odd to think that 11 days ago, news broke of Darius Miles’ arrest and being charged with capital murder. Since that day, Alabama has played in three games and its first one at home since the incident. While the team is 3-0 and continues to rise up the rankings, losing a teammate is unimaginable. Alabama continues to show resiliency, but even with a tough performance on Wednesday, Oats stressed the need for more consistency from his group going forward. The schedule isn’t going to be any easier as the team looks ahead to its last 11 games as road trips to Auburn and Tennessee will be key in Alabama securing another SEC regular season title.
Great read. Thanks for posting.
 
I think the team was flat and Mstate was lights out offensively and defensively.

The Darius situation is tougher on these guys than people realize. Darius’s teammates loved him.

This team has players on the bench that are plug and play when others aren’t working.

Q stepped up when Jayden struggled a bit.

Sears won’t stay in his slump.

And what about Dom?!! Finally found his shot.

Pringle has earned more minutes.

Bediako is still our guy but teams have learned to clog the middle when he is in an defensively they pull him away from the basket.

An ugly win is a win.. gotta give credit to the bulldogs for their effort too

Did they look like a 1-7 SEC team? N-O-P-E
Bediako plays too soft most of the time. He doesn't take the ball up with force and is easily stripped of the ball. Keep the ball high and clear you some space. Get mean, get a couple of technicals for knocking guys out.
 
BEDIAKO IS WAY TO SOFT, HE IS NOT GOING TO SHOOT OVER THAN AT THE RIM. T
LAST NIGHT WAS BAD. NO BALL MOVEMENT, STAND AROUND WAITING ON Q , DRIBLING . OUR INBOUND PLAYS ON THE SIDE LINE PITIFULL, OATS HAS NO CLUE TO DESIGN , WE STRUGGLE TO GET THE BALL INBOUNS WITH PRESSURE ...WITH THE TALENT WE HAVE MILLER, WE NEED MORE PLAYS TO GET HIM OPEN, HE IS THE BEST SHOOTER WE HAVE EVER HAD AT BAMA.
 
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I think the team was flat and Mstate was lights out offensively and defensively.

The Darius situation is tougher on these guys than people realize. Darius’s teammates loved him.

This team has players on the bench that are plug and play when others aren’t working.

Q stepped up when Jayden struggled a bit.

Sears won’t stay in his slump.

And what about Dom?!! Finally found his shot.

Pringle has earned more minutes.

Bediako is still our guy but teams have learned to clog the middle when he is in an defensively they pull him away from the basket.

An ugly win is a win.. gotta give credit to the bulldogs for their effort too

Did they look like a 1-7 SEC team? N-O-P-E
Dom going 2/3 from 3 may be the biggest thing that happened in the long run
 
Bediako has played well in spurts. He played excellent against KY. Probably was challenged because Oscar got the pub. Oats and his teammates need to get in his face before every game. Oklahoma has a good big. Bediako needs to develop more one dominant back to the basket post move. Baby hook would do it. If not start Pringle and get him to wake the f#%k up.
 
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