Why This Alabama Basketball Team Can Go Down, But Is Never Out
Throughout the entire season, Alabama has been able to erase deficits and win games. It happened again tonight, to send them to the Final Four.
LOS ANGELES — Alabama looked to be in serious trouble early on against Clemson.
The Tigers had doubled the Crimson Tide up, holding a 26-13 lead halfway through the first half in the Elite Eight, and with the program's first-ever trip to the Final Four hanging in the balance, things started to feel bleak for the Alabama faithful that had traveled out to L.A. in hopes of witnessing history.
But Alabama wasn't phased.
Like it has time and time again this season, Alabama erased that double-digit deficit. Rylan Griffen, who was back in the locker room nursing an injury when Clemson hit the three extend the lead to 13, knew everything was going to be okay.
“We good. We knew that," Griffen said. "We’ve come back before, we’ve seen it before.”
Alabama has seen it plenty of times, even as recently as two nights ago, when 1-seed North Carolina had a 10-point lead on the Crimson Tide early in the game. But it didn't matter then, and it didn't matter this time, either. Alabama dug in defensively, got some shots to drop, and closed the half on a 22-6 run to enter halftime with a 3-point lead.
“We’ve got a lot of scoring," Griffen said. "Jarin Stevenson stepped up big today. The other day is was Grant Nelson. The other game it was Mo Dioubate. We’ve just got a bunch of dudes who can score the ball, get buckets, make the right plays. We’ve got a bunch of other threats on the floor so you can’t focus on one person.”
Even outside of the NCAA Tournament, Alabama has erased double-digit deficits almost as many times as you can count on one hand. The Crimson Tide trailed by 15 on the road against Georgia, by 10 at home against Florida, by 14 on the road against Ole Miss, and by 15 at home against Arkansas. All of those games ended in wins.
“It’s not even about the score," forward Nick Pringle said. "We know we’re a team that can go on runs. Ultimately, just forget the score and just play, play our heart out. I feel like we did that. We sat down on defense, we answered a lot when they hit shots. It’s just awesome, man.”
But this wasn't always the case. Early on in the season, Alabama lost a lot of games as the inverse was true, Alabama was the one with leads that it couldn't hold on to. At one point, Alabama sat with a 6-5 record with four losses in games it blew second-half leads in. Multiple Crimson Tide players feel like those games gave them lessons that improved them as a team.
“We played a really hard schedule in the non-conference," guard Latrell Wrightsell said. "We lost some games by different possessions. We know the difference in flipping possessions, and that’s all coach has been asking for all year. We flip one or two possessions, and they go our favor, and we’re here where we’re at right now.”
To get to the bottom of what really changed and clicked with this team over the course of the year, the team points to a meeting where Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy talked to the team about 'Mudita,' which means having genuine joy for one another's successes.
“it’s our coaching staff, and our whole Mudita thing that we got going on," guard Aaron Estrada said. "When we go down in adversity, we come together now. We don’t really bump heads anymore like we used to this season. Everybody’s just like ‘I got you, next play.’ Positive reinforcement. That’s what it really is, man.”
This team fights, and this team plays for each other. And that is why this team will always be remembered in Alabama basketball history. The first team to ever make the Final Four.
