Antoine Pettway Previews Alabama’s Trip to the SEC Tournament [Audio]

The Alabama Crimson Tide tips off their first SEC Tournament game tomorrow afternoon from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Alabama assistant coach and former point guard from 2001-2004 Antione Pettway offered his insights on the team’s trip to Nashville during Wednesday’s edition of Inside the Locker Room.

To start off the conversation, Pettway discussed how the youth on the team is affecting their overall swagger.

“This is a young group that we have. We’re led by two freshman right now in Braxton Key and Dazon Ingram, two first year guys that a lot’s put on their shoulders, then you go on down and Donta Hall is a sophomore. I think, sometimes, that it’s just a byproduct of having a young team. I tell them all the time that you gotta to take some knocks, and then your sophomore and junior year, you’re giving out the knocks.” Pettway said.

As the Crimson Tide comes into the SEC Tournament at or near the bottom of the league in scoring and field goal percentage, Pettway touched on the coaching staff’s belief when it comes to taking quality shots and their pet peeve relative to the team’s tendency to turn down open shots.

“That’s one of our pet peeves. We definitely always want to be the aggressor. When guys turn down good shots, normally what happens is you get a worse shot than what you just turned down. We kind of want to just give guys freedom and give them confidence. We work with them every day so we see them make these shots. We know they can make them. We never want to turn down a good shot.” Pettway stated.

Later in the interview, the Alabama assistant coach detailed Alabama’s preparation in Nashville, the scouting report on Mississippi State and LSU and a look ahead to what the 2017-2018 freshman class can bring to the program.

The Crimson Tide faces Mississippi State Thursday at 2:30 PM.

Catch Inside the Locker Room every weekday from 7-9 AM on Tide 102.9/100.9 FM and the radioPup app.