Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats has instituted a zero-tolerance policy that leaves zero room for interpretation.

Want to play? There are three things you must do. Want to get subbed out? Then don’t do any of them.

He made clear what not to do. Don’t …

1. Give low effort
2. Ignore the scouting report
3. Turn the ball over

If you do any of those things, get ready to get subbed out. Prepare for a spot on the bench. That policy was in full effect Saturday at Coleman Coliseum, and No. 4 Alabama went on to defeat No. 17 Kentucky 96-83 at Coleman Coliseum.

It prevented a three-game losing streak after the Crimson Tide had lost to Auburn and Missouri in the past week. Alabama (22-5, 11-3 SEC) struggled in both games to start well, so Oats put his zero-tolerance subbing policy into effect immediately to try to spark his team early against Kentucky (18-9, 7-7).

About one minute into the game, Oats subbed out Labaron Philon for Aden Holloway. About 90 seconds into the game, Oats subbed out Holloway and Grant Nelson for Philon and Jarin Stevenson.

Tone set. Message sent.

“That’s the way it’s going to be moving forward,” Oats said. “I’m tired of the guys not being locked into the scouting report. If you grade our effort levels 1-10, it’s not like we’ve got anybody giving four, five, six, but there’s levels to this thing. We can’t be giving an eight or nine. We need a 10. We’ve just got to the challenge the guys.”

This policy didn’t lead to Alabama preventing the opposing team from taking an early lead (Kentucky went up 20-9), but the Crimson Tide rebounded and took over to win. Plus, the policy has made clear what Oats will be prioritizing down the stretch and that he will not tolerate anything else.

“He’s just holding you accountable,” Mark Sears said, “and you’ve just got to accept it and be coachable and understand what he’s doing.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.