Rojas is the spark the Tide need

Last Wednesday night, Nate Oates crew came out slow, and it looked as if they were headed headlong toward extending their recent losing streak. That is, until James Rojas got his first minutes of the night as he is coming back from a torn ACL.

Rojas gave the Tide limited minutes, but the stat sheet can’t reflect his true impact. Of Rojas’ performance, Coach Nate Oates said of Rojas’ first minutes of the season in a loss to Mississippi State:

I told our guys there's levels to how hard you play, and I think when [Rojas] came in I think he exposed the fact that this is how hard we should have been playing. Some of you guys that think you were playing hard — we talk about max effort, it's supposed to be as much as you can give — no, you weren't giving as much as you can give because he just came in and showed how hard we have to play to win games in this league. And it exposed some other guys and I think he went really hard in practice these two days.

Rojas’ focus and hustle continued against LSU and Missouri in limited minutes. Though still limited as he comes back from his second ACL surgery in 3 years (Rojas missed the entire 2019 season with a torn Right ACL), he is a vital point of the rotation for how he spurs the rest of the squad on to pick up their intensity.

After the team’s win against LSU, Coach Oates told reporters that this team would achieve to its potential when the coaches didn’t have to coach effort in game situations. It seems that getting James Rojas back and into the rotation is a significant step toward that goal.

Have you been impressed by Rojas’ play thus far? What are the keys you see to Alabama making a run to close the season and get into the NCAA Tourney? Drop a comment here or on Twitter