Full-Court Press: Takeaways from Alabama Basketball at Texas A&M
The regular season has come to a close for Alabama basketball, and the Crimson Tide completed one of the best seasons in program history with a 26-5 overall record and 16-2 record in SEC play, winning the SEC regular season title.
It didn't end the way Alabama fans would've liked though, with No. 24 Texas A&M defeating Alabama in the regular season finale in College Station by a final score of 67-61.
Here are some of my thoughts on the game, and where Alabama is headed with the SEC Tournament on the horizon:
1. Another slow start, another comeback.
Alabama has started terribly slow for the past four games, with the Crimson Tide having faced a double digit deficit in the past three.
In all of these games, Alabama's offensive rhythm has been entirely out of sync for extended stretches. The ball has stuck in the hands of ball handlers, and there has been tons of settling for covered looks instead of attacking the rim with urgency and creating looks that way.
Despite this, Alabama has made comebacks in all of these games, winning three of them and leading with five minutes to go against Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide's will and resolve have been incredible to watch, as the team never quits or gives up even when it digs itself into massive holes.
Alabama is good enough to come back in these games, but as tournament play approaches the goal is to not be in situations where you have to overcome large deficits.
The lack of offensive rhythm has also led to a large sum of missed 3-point looks, with the Crimson Tide having made just 25 of its last 116 attempts from downtown. Even when the looks are open, they haven't fallen as of late.
We know Alabama can overcome some poor shooting games, but when it's coupled with turnovers and a refusal to attack the rim, it creates deficits that will eventually be insurmountable against better teams.
This leads my to my next point, a question about how to stop these slow starts...
2. Is it time for a starting lineup change?
It's a valid question, especially considering the only starting lineup change that Nate Oats has made all season was inserting Jaden Bradley in for Nimari Burnett when he went down with a wrist injury in December.
My proposed new member of the starting lineup? Jahvon Quinerly.
Quinerly has been excellent of late and that has been covered extensively in this series. He was once again very solid against Texas A&M, scoring 12 points and dishing three assists.
Perhaps most importantly, the offense flows when Quinerly is in the game. He's playing with so much confidence, and attacks the rim stronger than anyone else on the team right now. When he gets there, he either takes it up for a quick layup or has the ability to find open shooters when the defense collapses.
Oats has noticed that Quinerly is a spark for the offense too, having started him to begin the second half in each of the last three games — all while trailing by significant amounts.
The bottom line is, Alabama needs a jolt to start games to avoid having to deal with yet another comeback. Quinerly not only opens up the offense with the way he's playing, but brings a fire to the lineup that has been unmatched by nearly everyone not named Brandon Miller in recent weeks.
Will it happen? We'll see. Oats has shown he doesn't like to change his lineups this season. He didn't even make a change after the 24-point drubbing from Oklahoma a few months ago.
But still, the question is worth asking.
3. This could be another wake-up game.
Remember what happened the last two times Alabama lost a game?
It followed up a loss to Oklahoma with a 57-point win over Vanderbilt, and a loss to Tennessee with a 49-point win over Georgia.
This might be exactly what Alabama needed to snap out of its slump. This Alabama team has shown that it doesn't always get urgency of needed improvement by winning close games, but by losing altogether.
Now, Alabama gets a six-day break until it plays again on Friday afternoon, and will have plenty of time for not only rest, but refocus with the postseason already here.
Sometimes, there's a silver lining in losses being taken to ensure that messages from the coaching staff get across. If Alabama was going to need a loss to refocus as a group, especially after all that's gone on the past few weeks, it's good that it came in the last game of the regular season rather than during a single elimination tournament.
Now, of course, it's always possible that Alabama doesn't answer this loss well. But after everything we've seen from them this season, they've earned the benefit of the doubt.
4. A few more things...
- Turnovers have been a common theme in losses for Alabama this season. The Crimson Tide had 18 against the Aggies. If you don't turn Alabama over a good number of times, you probably won't have a good chance to win.
- Alabama's bench struggled mightily outside of Quinerly, with only five combined points from Burnett, Griffen, Welch and Pringle. Those players have to make their shots and take advantage of their minutes to prevent Alabama from having to over-rely on Miller.
See also:
Shooting Woes Continue for Alabama Basketball as it Falls at Texas A&M, 67-61
