TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When asked to describe his ideal point guard, Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats rattled off a list of desirable traits. First off, he wants a player who can pass, dribble and shoot. Next, it’d be nice to have a versatile athlete who could also play as a shooting guard when the team goes into smaller personnel. Speed is also essential to Oats’ high-paced transition offense.

The first-year coach believes he has all of that in Kira Lewis Jr., but now he’s trying to push the sophomore point guard for a little more.

“Kira’s pretty good,” Oats said. “Now if you add some toughness on the defensive end to all pass, dribble and shoot, that’s ideal to have.”

Lewis earned SEC All-Freshman honors last season, leading Alabama with 13.5 points, 2.9 assists and 31.6 minutes per game. He was also the team’s leader in free-throw percentage (78.3), double-figure scoring games (24) and 20-point games (5).

However, the most encouraging statistic for Oats might have come in last week’s exhibition game against Georgia Tech. Lewis led the team with eight assists and finished with 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting. But it was his seven rebounds which stood out on the final box score.

Lewis averaged just 2.6 rebounds as a freshman with a season-high of five which he reached three times in 34 games. The 6-foot-3, 167-pound sophomore is determined to see those numbers rise this season.

“One of my goals this year is to get more rebounds because I feel like if a guard gets more rebounds the offense flows better into pushing the ball,” Lewis said after last week’s game. “So I’m just prying in there, getting rebounds cause the bigs have to box out a bigger player, and it’s my job to come up with the rebounds.”

All of Oats’ four starting guards at Buffalo last season all averaged 3.2 rebounds per game or more, including 6-foot-3, 194-pound C.J. Massinburg who finished second on the team averaging 6.5 boards.

“We had some pretty tough point guards at Buffalo on the defensive end,” Oats said. “Kira’s as skilled as any kid I’ve coached offensively. I’m just trying to get him to be better defensively. He’s coming. He’s working at it. He’s young. He just turned 18, so he’s still a young kid.”

Lewis’ defensive improvement could be key to Alabama’s success this season due to the Crimson Tide’s lack of depth in the frontcourt. Alabama has already seen forwards James Rojas (6-foot-8) and Juwan Gary (6-foot-5) suffer season-ending injuries this offseason. The two setbacks have left the Crimson Tide with just five scholarship players over 6-foot-5.

Oats, who routinely used four-guard sets at Buffalo, said he plans to continue doing so this season at Alabama. Following last week’s exhibition game, the head coach explained how going small can be beneficial as it is oftentimes easier. Of course, that success is predicated on having scrappy guards willing to use their athleticism to beat taller opponents to the ball.

“In college, it’s a lot easier to take away two bigs than it is to guard one the other end.” Oats said after last week’s game. “Because if they want to play with two bigs, one of them is going to have to guard one of our guards.

“You end up with a lot of 3s being taken on both sides. We’re going to pack it in. We’re going to make them shoot. And those 3s, those long rebounds that the guards are just a little bit more athletic, they chase them down.”

The goal is not only to generate more rebounds but also to set up quick-strike attacks on the other end. When speedy players such as Lewis come away with long rebounds, it allows Alabama to reset its offense on the fly. This was essential in the Crimson Tide’s 93-65 victory over Georgia Tech as Alabama held a 14-5 advantage in fast-break points.

“You just preach it. You talk about it all the time,” Oats said. “We think we’re a tough team, blue-collared. I mean, we play fast. I don’t want any of this showtime stuff that goes with playing fast. We want to be blue-collar and tough and hard-nosed. Rebounding comes with that.”

Oats is so focused on the gritty parts of the game that he hands out a “Hard Hat award” to the player with the most “blue-collar” points in a game. The points are calculated on hustle plays as well as players’ plus-minus statistics.

While Herbert Jones earned the hard hat in Alabama’s victory over Georgia Tech, he’s noticed an increased overall effort from Lewis this season.

“Coach kind of emphasizes to focus on everything but scoring, and the scoring will come,” Jones said. “So I think he took heed to that and really bought in.”

Lewis will have his chance to get his hands on the hard hat Tuesday as Alabama opens its regular season against Penn at 7 p.m. CT inside of Coleman Coliseum. The game will be televised by SEC Network.

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