Nate Oats discusses lineup changes, preparation for Auburn
Almost an hour after Alabama basketball’s victory over Vanderbilt last month, one Crimson Tide player made his way back to the court inside Coleman Coliseum. Working with an Alabama assistant, freshman guard Joshua Primo went over his drives to the lane before moving to the perimeter to sharpen his 3-point shot. After several minutes, he was stopped by head coach Nate Oats, who provided a few words of encouragement before leaving him to complete his workout.
“I just told him he’s got to worry about the stuff he can control,” Oats said after Alabama’s loss to Arkansas last week. “I think some of those young guys get caught up in shot attempts, points. … The stuff you can really control is your effort, your defensive intensity, your rebounding. Typically when you get lost in the game, just playing hard, doing all that, then offense starts to flow.”
Primo, who has started 16 of Alabama’s 25 games this season, currently finds himself in a rough patch as he nears the end of his first season with the program. The past three games have seen him average 4.67 points and 2.3 rebounds while struggling at times on the defensive end.
Those recent woes saw Primo dropped from Alabama’s starting five over the weekend as JUCO transfer Keon Ellis took his place during the Tide’s 64-49 victory at Mississippi State. However, during a Monday Zoom call with reporters, Oats explained the decision, stating the freshman guard is still a big part of the Tide’s plans moving forward.
“It was more [about] can we get Primo going again,” Oats said. “We need him playing better. If we bring him in, can he go against a bench guy and get a little more aggressive? Can he guard a bench player? It didn’t work out like I planned it. I didn’t give him as many minutes as I wanted.
“We need Josh Primo playing really well for us. He had been playing really well when we had been winning games and playing well.”
Primo played a season-low eight minutes against Mississippi State, recording 2 points and a pair of rebounds while making the only shot he attempted. Meanwhile, Ellis recorded 2 points on 0-for-3 shooting while pulling down four rebounds over 21 minutes.
Oats said the staff is still discussing the starting lineup for Tuesday’s game against Auburn. Primo had a season-high 22 points while pulling in five rebounds during the Tide’s 94-90 road win against the Tigers earlier this season. Regardless of whether the freshman starts Tuesday night, Alabama hopes he can return to that form sooner rather than later.
“He’s a great kid, he works hard, he’s in the gym all the time,” Oats said last week. “He’s way too good, he puts in way too much work not to be great.”
Oats likes Quinerly in reserve role
While Alabama is still mulling over its starting five against Auburn, Oats said Monday that he has no plans of moving Jahvon Quinerly from his role off the bench. The former McDonald’s All-American has scored in double digits in each of his last seven games, including a game-high 19 points against Mississippi State the last time out. However, Oats believes the redshirt sophomore has developed a nice rhythm off the bench and doesn’t want to change a good thing.
“I think he’s playing really well in his role,” Oats said. “I think he comes in with a ton of energy. He brings a pace to the game. He’s been playing great. There are games he doesn’t start, and he’s still in the top two or three in minutes. I think we got a lot of guys on this team who don’t really care who starts. They like to contribute any way they can.”
Quinerly began the season as Alabama’s starting point guard but has come off the bench in each of the Tide’s last 17 games. In January, he said he had embraced the role, stating “I never really cared about starting.”
Regardless of his reserve role, Quinerly has been one of Alabama’s biggest weapons this year. Appearing in 22 games, he is second on the team in assists (2.9 per game) and 3-point percentage (45.2) while ranking third in scoring (12.1 points per game).
"I always preach to him, I don't think anybody in the country can stay in front of him," forward Herbert Jones said following the game against Mississippi State. "I feel like he believed that tonight, and he created a lot of offense for us. He's playing with a ton of confidence. I feel like he's real hard to guard."
Alabama expects Cooper to start
Earlier Monday, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl put freshman point guard Sharife Cooper's availability into question for Tuesday’s game against Alabama. Cooper, who leads the Tigers averaging 20.2 points and 8.1 assists, has missed the last two games with an ankle injury and did not practice with the team on Sunday. That led to Pearl describing him as “doubtful” during an interview with WJOX.
Oats isn’t buying it, stating his team is fully preparing to face Cooper on Tuesday night.
“Doubtful doesn’t mean he’s not playing,” Oats said with a smirk. “I've used doubtful before and maybe the kid ended up playing. We are planning on him playing. It's a rivalry game. I'm sure they are putting all their chips in the middle on the table on this one. So I'm planning on the kid playing.
"If he doesn’t play, we’ll figure it out, but our whole scouting report all day today was planning on him playing.”
Alabama was caught off guard during its previous game against Auburn this season as Cooper was declared eligible by the NCAA the morning of the matchup. Oats and his team attempted to prepare for the five-star freshman on the fly but ultimately allowed him to record 26 points and nine assists on his college debut.
No. 8 Alabama (19-6, 14-2 in the SEC) will host Auburn (12-13, 6-10) at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday in its final home game of the season.