TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nate Oats doesn’t want to be labeled as fake. The first-year head coach is known for his straight-shooting personality and has demonstrated that with both his players and the media since taking over Alabama last March.

The other thing Oats is synonymous with is a blue-collar brand of basketball, something that until recently he appeared to instill in the Crimson Tide. However, after being outrebounded by double digits in back to back games, the head coach is left questioning his team’s identity.

Following Alabama’s 90-76 road defeat to No. 22 LSU, Oats set out to answer those questions by challenging his team’s toughness while calling for his players to live up to their proclaimed hard-hat persona.

“I was really upset with our effort at LSU,” Oats said. “It’s not who we’ve tried to be. I told our guys all this blue-collar stuff and hard-hat, it’s all fake if this is the effort we’re going to get. And I don’t really want to be associated with a fake team. We either got to bring it every night, or that ain’t who we are.”

Alabama was outrebounded 49-31 in its loss to LSU on Wednesday. That came after a dismal performance on the boards against Kansas State in which the Crimson Tide was outrebounded 45-33, including a 22-3 disadvantage on the offensive glass.

Alabama ranks No. 2 in the SEC, averaging 41.0 rebounds per game. However, that stat has more to do with the Crimson Tide’s pace of play as Alabama ranks No. 150 in the nation with a 1.3 rebounding margin.

“It’s disastrous,” Oats said. “I told our guys it speaks to toughness. You’ve got your own resume individually as a player. Whether you’re trying to play in the NBA, whether you’re trying to go overseas. It’s what they speak of you as a person sometimes.

“There are a few things you don’t want to be labeled as. One is lazy, like that’s a label that’s hard to shake. Soft is another label that’s hard to shake selfish is another one that’s hard to shake. If you’re outrebounded by 20 two games in a row… if you’re tough, that doesn’t happen. So unless we want to be labeled soft, like we better get this thing fixed.”

Oats’ discontent with his team’s effort was demonstrated before Wednesday’s loss as he did not include junior guard John Petty in the starting lineup against LSU in an attempt to make a statement on the team’s leadership. The move backfired to an extent as Petty scored a season-low 4 points on 1 of 7 shooting against the Tigers.

However, the message might have served a long-term purpose as Petty approached Oats following the game, assuring his head coach of an improved effort moving forward.

“Petty’s been great. I love John,” Oats said. “He’s been the leader we need him to be. Part of being a leader is handling criticism well. I think that sometimes some guys on this team are too sensitive. He was great. He owned it.

“He basically told me it will never happen again. The effort in the game against LSU, he told me, ‘I’m not going to let it happen again.’ I think John’s ready to go again. I think we’ll see a really good John Petty tomorrow.”

That approach seems to have trickled down to the rest of Alabama’s roster as Oats noted an improved work rate over the Crimson Tide’s past two practices. Alabama did not take part in live drills Thursday, but did have a brief live session Friday as it prepared for its game against Arkansas on Saturday. Oats said the emphasis on toughness had less to do with drills and more about his team’s mental fortitude.

“I thought it was one of the best practices we’ve had in a long time,” he said following Friday’s workout. "I’m anticipating that carries over to the game tomorrow, and I think we’ll come out and play with a lot more energy and a lot more toughness.”

One player signaled out by Oats was guard Jaylen Forbes, who scored a season-high seven points against LSU. Oats credited the freshman’s attitude, stating “he’s a kid you want to reward when you get a chance to reward him with minutes.”

“He’s a tough kid,” Oats said. “Some of the toughness that maybe we’ve been lacking he does bring. So he’s maybe not as athletic some other guys, but I think he can make up with that with some toughness. And I think he’s been progressing as a freshman, he’s going to get some more minutes tomorrow.”

Added Forbes: “Toughness is really just a mental thing. It’s just heart, really.”

As Oats alluded to, Alabama will likely utilize Forbes’ toughness against an Arkansas team that typically relies on a guard-heavy lineup. The Razorbacks feature guard Mason Jones, who is averaging an SEC-best 19.2 points per game. However, Arkansas is one of the nation's worst teams on the boards, tying for the bottom in the SEC in rebounds per game (33.0) and ranking No. 334 of 350 Division I schools with a -5.3 rebounding margin.

“We’ve just got to be tough, be tougher than what we’ve been,” Forbes said. “Just come out fight as a whole and then we’ll get the handle (of it).”

Alabama (12-8, 4-3 in the SEC) will host Arkansas (15-5, 3-4) on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on SEC Network.

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