Alabama Basketball Has a Lot of Depth Again, But Defense is the Emphasis

Nate Oats said his deep rotation is a good problem to have, but minutes will be based off of performance and effort on the defensive end.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama Crimson Tide rang in the new basketball season with a 105-73 win over Morehead State on Monday night.

Last season, the Crimson Tide played a deep rotation of nine or 10 on its way to an SEC championship double and the No. 1 overall seed. In Monday's season-opener, Alabama (1-0) played 11 guys for double-digit minutes, showing it has depth yet again.

South Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson led the team with 25 minutes, finishing the game with 24 points and seven rebounds. Guards Mark Sears and Aaron Estrada were next up with 24 and 23 minutes, respectively.

Obviously, a 32-point victory over a mid-major opponent in November doesn't tell you too much about what the rotation will look like down the line, but the Crimson Tide will have decisions to make at some point.

And that doesn't include guard Kris Parker, who missed Monday night's game with an injury.

"I don't know how it's gonna get shrunk ... the guys that end up playing fewer minutes moving forward are gonna be really good players, head coach Nate Oats said. "If we have an injury, I think we'll be able to withstand injuries better. Two years ago, we weren't nearly as deep. [...] Injuries are a part of the game. [I think] if we have one, some guys will be able to step up."

Similar to what he said early last season, Oats explained that minutes will be allotted based on performance and effort on the defensive end.

"We've got to get a lot better on defense, I'm just going to be honest with you," Oats said. "We weren't where we need to be. We were third in the country two out of the last three years. [...] I don't want to be disrespectful — Morehead is a very good mid-major team. I coached at Buffalo for four years — this is a team you have to respect, they're gonna win a lot of games. We played a deep rotation, I gave everybody a chance. Some of these guys, if they don't figure out how to guard, they're not going to be playing when we play some high-major teams."

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