No. 4 Alabama Ready to Hit the Reset Button After 24-Point Loss
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After being nearly flawless for over two months, the Alabama Crimson Tide has struggled to be the same team the last two weeks.
For one, the bad streak started after the arrest of former player Darius Miles. The day of the incident, the Crimson Tide defeated LSU by 40 points.
Since then, Alabama (18-3, 8-0 SEC) has put together four uncharacteristic performances — luckily for the Crimson Tide, three of them were wins.
Alabama wasn’t able to keep the winning streak going on Saturday as it was blasted by the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman.
Winning while playing poorly may not create change. But losing by 24 points to a bubble team will.
The loss to the Sooners was the largest margin of defeat during head coach Nate Oats’ tenure in Tuscaloosa — where he started in 2019.
“We've been trending in the wrong direction for a couple of weeks now,” Oats said. “Oklahoma was locked in and ready to go. They needed to get a signature win — they went out and got one. […] You can't get away with doing this. We needed a wake-up call.”
Now ranked fourth in the country, it’s time for the Crimson Tide to hit the reset button and get back to playing like one of the nation’s elite teams.
“I think right now, we’re just going back to the basics,” guard Brandon Miller said. “Losing happens — now it's just how we respond to losing. […] Working hard the next day in practice is the biggest thing. […] I feel like we're gonna come out with a lot of energy [tomorrow night].”
Oats said he’s interested and optimistic to see how the team chemistry will be moving forward.
“It's hard to tell how tight-knit the group is when things are going well,” Oats said. “What does your chemistry look like when you lose by 24?”
Alabama is just two days removed from its worst performance of the season. Now, it’s gearing up to finish out conference play.
“Good thing about basketball is you get to play right away,” Oats said. “After Saturday's performance — looking forward to playing right away. […] We didn't play like we know we're capable of playing. There's no reason to panic. It's basketball — there's 31 games.”
The potential positive? Alabama lost in Norman in 2020-21 on its way to SEC regular season and tournament championships.
“In our team meeting yesterday, [Jahvon] Quinerly brought that up,” Oats said. “It's not just gonna happen. That team in 2021 made it happen. Things don't change unless you make them change.”
The Crimson Tide will take on the Vanderbilt Commodores for the second time this season on Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum. Alabama won 78-66 in Nashville, Tenn. on Jan. 17.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
“It's got to be max effort on every play,” Oats said. “We've got to get our edge back on both sides of the ball.”
See Also:
How To Watch: No. 2 Alabama Basketball vs. Vanderbilt
Alabama Men's Basketball Falls To No. 4 in AP Top 25
Alabama Basketball "Back to Ground Zero" After Embarrassing Loss to Oklahoma
