Nate Oats Assesses Grant Nelson's Defensive Improvements, Offensive Slump

The senior forward's interior defense was essential in slowing down Mississippi State on Saturday night.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It looked like the same old story for Alabama basketball on Saturday night against Mississippi State.

Both of the Crimson Tide's usual 5-men, Nick Pringle and Mohamed Wague, were in early foul trouble, and the team on the other bench featured its own dominant big man. This time, it was 2023 first team All-SEC performer Tolu Smith.

But as the game went on, the story changed. Without the services of Pringle and Wague available, head coach Nate Oats turned to Grant Nelson, a 6-foot-11 big that typically starts at the '4,' and slide him down to the '5'. Nelson proceeded to play one of the best defensive games of his career, holding Smith to 5-for-15 shooting from the floor, blocking three shots and grabbing nine rebounds.

"I think defensively, he's gotten good at guarding the post, meaning we can play him at the '5' here a bit more," Oats said during his Monday press conference. "He's a good defensive player, he doesn't foul as much as some of our other post players on the interior. I thought he fought Tolu really tough, so he's certainly not soft."

Oats was asked during his press conference about the prospect of playing Nelson at the '5' more often, and what would need to happen from the rest of the team to allow that.

"There's times where it makes sense," Oats said. "When Pringle's in foul trouble, Wague's foot's been bothering him so we're going to have to play him at some more '5'. When Pringle and Wague are playing well it's nice to have some size at the '4'. [...] It's timely that Mo Dioubate is starting to play well. He gets boards, he creates stuff, he brings some toughness. So, you need Mo, or Jarin [Stevenson], Sam [Walters], those guys to get a little bit better on defense."

While the defense from Nelson has been much improved, his offense has taken a step back. He still averaged 12.6 points per game on the season, but hasn't scored double-figures yet in SEC play. 

"Offensively, we have to get him attacking the rim like he was earlier in the year. It's been our big point of emphasis with him," Oats said. "We don't want him turning down open shots, but there's times he could drive when he's settling for threes. We need him to drive, we need him to do a better job screening for his teammates to open them up, kind of using his passing ability, getting into some dribble handoffs and stuff. He was good today in practice with some of the stuff we've been making a point of emphasis on."

Takeaways From Alabama Basketball's Win Over Mississippi State