Should Nate Oats Sit Herb Jones on Saturday?
Alabama narrowly escaped South Carolina Tuesday tonight with a 81-78 victory. John Petty Jr. provided a game-high 20 points and 8 rebounds. However, one of the biggest questions moving forward is should Nate Oats consider sitting Herb Jones?
Jones struggled shooting the ball going 1-7 from the field with three points and fouled out of last night's contest. He did provide seven assists and two blocks on the defensive end.
Jones battled through a hand injury last season and is dealing with a back injury among other minor injuries this year. Still, the senior is averaging 11.4 PPG, 5.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game this season.
The Crimson Tide headed into last night's game having dropped two of their last three contests to Oklahoma and Missouri after an impressive 10-game winning streak. As the Tide enter their easiest stretch of the season, Nate Oats could use this as the perfect time to rest his star forward.
Jones has been held out of practice over the last several weeks and he was held out of live action in practice on Sunday and Monday.
Bama faces Georgia on Saturday, who ranks 7th in the conference this week. Next week they matchup with Texas A&M, who ranks 13th in the conference and Vanderbilt who is currently in last place. The Tide still hold a 3.5-game lead in the SEC with six games remaining.
Saturday's matchup with Georgia tips off at 2:30 CST at the Coleman Coliseum and can be seen on the SEC Network.
These games can also be heard on 95.3 The Bear.
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