Can Alabama Get Defensive Issues Fixed? That Depends on Mentality Moving Forward
A few weeks ago, after wins against Gonzaga and Houston, there was talk of this Alabama men’s basketball team being among the elite.
That talk, just like the Crimson Tide’s defensive intensity, has disappeared. Alabama has only a few days to figure out how to get back on track before SEC play starts. If it can’t get it together, there won’t be another SEC championship trophy to hoist in March like last year.
In its latest loss Tuesday in Birmingham, 79-78 against Davidson in the C.M. Newton Classic, the Crimson Tide had no answer for the Wildcats. Every furious rally that got Alabama back in the game was met with a Davidson scoring run to push the Crimson Tide further back in a hole.
“In the second half we just couldn’t get any stops,” Oats said. “We let one mistake turn into two, three and four, and let them go on some offensive runs. When they score, we have to get stops the next time down. We don’t have it in us right now. We have to find it.”
So where did it go? This is a team built on defense. Players are awarded blue-collar points and one player earns the Blue-Collar Award after every game. The UA students, aka ‘Crimson Chaos,’ have taken Nate Oats’ blue-collar mentality to heart, sporting construction hard hats at games.
That mentality was on full display in last season’s run to the SEC title, and it’s what pushed the Crimson Tide through to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. It’s been hard to find that same swagger and defensive-minded attitude this season.
“Our defense (efficiency ranking) went from 114 to third last year; that’s why we won,” Oats said. “We can’t win like we did last year without guys buying into being great individual defenders, great team defenders.”
Davidson had something to do with Alabama’s inability on defense. The Wildcats entered the C.M. Newton Classic as a high-percentage 3-point shooting team (42%). Davidson is also a team that moves the ball around the court to work for a good shot and spread the defense and leave the middle exposed. That’s what the Wildcats did Tuesday to Crimson Tide forward Charles Bediako.
“Charles is usually one of our better defensive efficiency guys. Tonight, he was our worst,” Oats said. “He was always away from the rim and couldn’t protect the rim.”
Can the defensive issues be fixed? And soon?
“I think they are,” Oats said. “I think some of the guys are letting their offensive struggles dictate their effort on defense. We showed we can get stops when we went on some runs. We have the personnel that if we get the mind set corrected, we can be a good defensive team. That mind set is not there right now.
“We talked about it in the preseason. This team said they want to be top five in the country in defensive efficiency. After this game we aren’t even going to be top 50.”
Alabama is No. 52.
