No. 4 Alabama had an ugly showing against Ole Miss, but responded strongly with wins over Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the Crimson Tide’s past three games.
The good
The bounceback in Lexington. After a home loss against Ole Miss that was the Crimson Tide’s first hiccup in SEC play, the team needed a strong response against No. 8 Kentucky on the road.
Alabama did just that, defeating the Wildcats 102-97. The leaders of the Crimson Tide stepped up, as fifth-year seniors Grant Nelson and Mark Sears combined for 49 points after only accounting for 20 against the Rebels.
The Crimson Tide as a whole played much better basketball, turning the ball over only 10 times after an eye-raising 21 against Ole Miss. There was also no second half letdown this time around, as the team scored 55 points in the period compared to a lowly 28 against the Rebels.
“I think that loss against Ole Miss got us refocused,” head coach Nate Oats said after beating Kentucky. “This was a completely different team than the one that played Ole Miss.”
Aden Holloway and Mouhamed Dioubate’s bench production. The duo would be talented enough to start on a number of teams, but they have been playing off the bench due to the depth this season’s Alabama team has.
Holloway has been a consistent spark plug scoring off the bench. He was one of the lone bright spots against Ole Miss, having a team-high 15 points on an efficient 5/6 shooting. He then followed it up a week later with a strong showing against the Commodores, tying a team-high in points with 22 on 8/11 shooting from the field.
Dioubate continues to be a player that brings an enforcer presence off the bench, resulting in five hard-hat wins. Perhaps his best performance of the season came against Kentucky, as he tied Holloway’s team high with 22 points and had a team-high 10 rebounds, while also adding two blocks and a steal. Unsurprisingly, Dioubate won the hard hat award once again.
“I think Mo plays hard all the time,” Oats said. “You kind of know what you’re going to get out of him.”
First-half defensive performances. In each of the Crimson Tide’s past three games, the team has defended well in the first 20 minutes, averaging only 36 points given up. The effort has resulted in a halftime lead in all three contests.
The strong start defensively was especially pronounced against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, as the two teams combined to shoot only 34.2% against the Crimson Tide defense.
The bad
Second-half defense against Vanderbilt. At halftime of Tuesday’s game, the Crimson Tide was firmly in control with a 48-31 lead that was aided by forcing the Commodores to only shoot 33% and only hit one 3-pointer.
But in the second half, the Crimson Tide defense had no answers on how to stop the Vanderbilt offensive attack. The team gave up 56 points in the last 20 minutes and gave up 10 3-pointers on only 19 attempts. If it weren’t for the Alabama offense matching the production, the game result could have been vastly different.
“Some guys are gonna have to decide how good they want to be and how much effort they want to give on the defensive end,” Oats said. “Because the effort we got in the second half is not gonna win us any championships this year.
The ugly
Offensive collapse against Ole Miss. The biggest roadblock the Crimson Tide has faced this season was what transpired in the second half against the Rebels, as Alabama scored only 28 points.
One of the main factors behind the struggles was the inability to convert from downtown, with the team going only 1/9 from 3-point range. There also was a major problem of turning the ball over, as the team actually had more turnovers (10) than made shots (9).
“I told our guys in the locker room after the game, we have to deserve to win, and we didn’t deserve to win this game,” Oats said. “You have to deserve it with your preparation going into the game, and then you gotta deserve it with your effort once you’re in the game.”
Next up for the Crimson Tide will be a home matchup against LSU on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.