Alabama head coach Nate Oats does not appear to be a fan of Arkansas’ shot selection outside of what star guard Khalif Battle brings to the table.
During a preview of Saturday’s matchup with the Razorbacks, Oats was asked about containing Battle, who has been on a historic scoring tear of late.
“[Battle] is playing as well as anyone in the country,” Oats said. “We have to keep him off the foul line as much as possible and keep him out of the lane.
“When you look at shot geography, he’s their guy who shoots the most efficient shots. A lot of their other guys shoot tough mid-range.
“If you look at percentage of shots coming from the free throw line, the rim and threes, he’s far and away their guy that shoots [at] the free throw line, the rim and three.
“We’ve got to take his three away, and we’ve got to force him to shoot contested long-twos like the rest of his teammates take.”
Oats is known for his high-octane offensive style that features an exclusive diet of threes and layups with no room for anything in between.
The Crimson Tide rank No. 1 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency at KenPom and trail only North Florida with 11.3 made threes on 30.5 attempts per game from long distance.
Conversely, Eric Musselman has defended the mid-range shot in the past and has made it a point of identifying and exploiting matchups with his best offensive creators.
Tramon Mark and Davonte Davis stand out as a pair of current Razorbacks who have thrived with the mid-range pull-up, and Battle has proven to be one of the best isolation players in the SEC.
“Arkansas has traditionally been really good at putting their best players in isolation situations and situations where they can go 1-on-1 with their matchups.
“So, we have to try to keep the matchups the way we like them, and then we have to give help off some other guys on the floor we can help off of.”
Arkansas and Alabama are set for an 11 a.m. (CT) tip on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Hmmm… Didn’t expect Nate Oats to come off like an NBA 2K Pro-am coach, but then again… Maybe I did?