Alabama Basketball Looks to Fend Off 'Drop-off' After Another Ranked Win
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 19 Alabama men's basketball (10-3) has brought its best effort to knock off its highest ranked opponents so far this season.
In fact, the Crimson Tide is one of just three teams to have three or more ranked wins on the young season, with Gonzaga and Ohio State being the other two programs.
Alabama toppled the third ranked Zags in Seattle, the first of the Crimson Tide's ranked wins. Next, No. 14 Houston came to Coleman Coliseum where a last second possession came up short for the Cougars, giving Alabama its second consecutive top-15 victory.
Despite the back-to-back marquee wins, the most surprising outcomes were yet to come. Alabama proceeded to fall 92-78 to Memphis in FedExForum, as the Crimson Tide's defensive effort seemed lackadaisical at times.
Following the loss, Alabama head coach Nate Oats challenged his team in the postgame press conference, calling for more leadership from the players.
"We've got to get some leadership in the locker room to make sure that the team is ready to play," Oats said. "Coaches can say only so much, we're supposed to address stuff. It means a lot more when it's coming from players inside the locker room."
That message was a little delayed from the looks of Alabama's play in the next two games, as the Crimson Tide eked out a victory over Jacksonville State 65-59 at home and fell to Davidson 79-78 in the C.M. Newton Classic with another below average defensive performance.
So, following Alabama's most recent 73-68 win over No. 14 Tennessee at home, Oats and the players addressed the letdown games after the last ranked wins.
"Quinerly brought it up after the game, we've been asking guys to step as leaders and I thought it was a great point he made, last time we had a win like this, Gonzaga, Houston, we had a drop off after it," Oats said after beginning SEC play with a win. "We beat Houston in a tight game here, and the next three games, we didn't play well.
"Jacksonville State we didn't play well at all, happened to get a win. Davidson our defense was terrible, took a one-point loss."
Of course, Alabama had the opportunity for three top ranked wins because of the aggressive non-conference schedule that Oats and company set out to play.
"Coming off a loss to Davidson, if we had played an inferior team that a lot of teams at this level would have played going into Christmas to get a guaranteed win, your mistakes don't get exposed nearly like they do against a team like Davidson," Oats said. "I don't think you get your guys as locked in and focused as they need to be, and our guys were locked in tonight.
"I'm always going to be a proponent of playing tougher teams... I'd rather get exposed early, get your guys attention, figure out what you need to work on... every game you figure out what you need to work on to get better at, and I think our team is a lot better for playing the schedule we've played."
Jahvon Quinerly, who stepped up in a leadership role that Oats had been searching for following the SEC win, seconded his coach's opinion on the tough non-conference stretch.
"Playing Gonzaga, Memphis at Memphis, we knew what we had coming, and I feel like it did prepare us for this [SEC] season opener and this tough conference schedule against some tough opponents," Quinerly said. "I'm just glad coach scheduled some of those games in the non-conference, you know, I feel like this team is really just about maturity.
"As long as guys step up and keep growing towards the end of the season, we'll be fine."
Alabama has plenty of experience on its roster, but those experienced players did not necessarily hold vocal leadership roles at the Capstone last season.
Against Tennessee, Alabama saw forward Noah Gurley have a breakout double-double game, leading the all players in scoring with 20 points. Gurley, a grad-transfer from Furman, was mentioned by Oats as one of the players who had been working the hardest to improve over the short break.
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As Oats said it would happen, Gurley's work paid off as conference play began. That type of performance could be one that inspires Oats's squad as the Crimson Tide continues through the SEC, looking for its experienced players to take the reins and be vocal leading the way.
Alabama will continue the SEC gauntlet traveling to Gainesville to take on Florida on Wednesday, tipping off at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN 2 to start the new year.
