Alabama Basketball's Homecoming Game - A Tale of Struggle and Growth
Grant Nelson's Perspective
Former North Dakota State player Grant Nelson returned to his home state and was blunt about the team's performance. "We played awful, pretty much the whole game," he said. "We came in thinking it would be an easy win but these guys were fighting hard. They're a great team and they played with a lot of heart." Nelson scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, showing his individual skill but also highlighting the team's collective issues.He emphasized the importance of taking opponents seriously, especially on their home court. "We didn't take these guys seriously enough in the beginning. We've got to learn from this and be more focused in the future."
The Defense Dilemma
Alabama coach Nate Oats was particularly frustrated with the team's defense. North Dakota scored 52 points in the second half, averaging 1.486 points per possession. "They wanted this game and they were ready for it," Oats said. "Our matchup on (Treysen) Eaglestaff wasn't great to start and we never really found the right rhythm."Eaglestaff's performance was a standout, scoring 40 points and making him the first mid-major player to do so against a top 10 team since 2012. His 15 of 30 shooting and 8 of 18 from deep kept the Fighting Hawks in the game until the end. "Can't sleep on those North Dakota boys," Nelson said. "They can really hoop and we underestimated them."
Turnover Troubles
Alabama's 13 first-half turnovers proved to be a significant problem early in the game. "We need to clean up our turnovers," Nelson said. "It gave them easy transition points and put us in a hole. We fixed it in the second half but then we stopped playing good defense."The team realized the importance of being more disciplined and focused on both ends of the court. "We've got a lot to learn and we'll be watching video to see how we can improve," Nelson added.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.