No. 11 Alabama Basketball Prides Itself on Defense: "It's the Only Thing You Can Control"

According to Nate Oats, this Crimson Tide team is the best defensive squad he has coached yet and that's what leads to the group's offensive success

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama coach Nate Oats has always preached blue-collar toughness and demanded hard-nosed physicality out of his teams. 

Well, this year's Crimson Tide squad, which currently owns a record of 16-5 and three more SEC wins away from winning at least a share of the conference crown, might embody those characteristics the most. 

As of Friday afternoon, Alabama is still ranked No. 1 in defensive efficiency, only allowing 86.5 points per 100 possessions per KenPom, which is college basketball's most prominent advanced analytics website. 

Led by Naismith Defensive Player of the Year candidate Herb Jones, who averages nearly two steals and one block a game, the Crimson Tide is finding a way to get it done on that side of the floor. 

"That's what we emphasize every single day," Alabama forward James Rojas told the media via Zoom on Friday. "Just blue collar and playing hard no matter what on defense. Diving on the floor, getting loose balls and every rebound. We pride ourselves on defense. That's how we work and get our offense going. We work on defense to get it going."

The offensive numbers have dipped over the last month or so, which is somewhat due to injury, but senior forward Alex Reese says tenacious defense is what can be the key to determining if they pull out a win each night on the hardwood. 

"Defense is the only thing that you can control," Reese said. "You can't really control if shots are going to fall or not that night. So, we just try to lock in. We tell ourselves, if we play our best defense every night it gives a chance to win, regardless if shots are going in or not. So that's why just lock in on defense."

In terms of where Alabama ranks defensively in the SEC, it's first in three-point defense (29.3) and defense rebounds (28.5), second in overall field-goal defense (40.2) and steals (8.7), and fifth in scoring defense (69.6).

Two of Alabama's better defenders, forwards Jordan Bruner (torn meniscus) and Juwan Gary (shoulder) will be unavailable for Saturday afternoon's contest with Georgia (2:30 p.m, SEC Network), but as a whole, Oats calls this the best defensive team he's coached at the college level. 

And what allows for the Crimson Tide to rank first in three-pointers made (10.6) and third in overall scoring offense (79.2) and three-point field goal percentage (35.5) in the SEC? 

According to Oats, great defense leads to efficient offense.

"The better you can play on defense, the fastest you can play on offense," Oats said. "Because now you are playing off stops more. So this is by far and away the best defensive team we've had. If you are the No. 1 defensive team in the country, you should be running off stops a lot more. 

"When we were 114th last year, you are taking the ball out of the net way too often. And even though we had Kira Lewis, who's arguably the fastest point guard in the country, when you are having to inbound the ball every possession then you can't get out in transition as much.  

"I just think when you are great on defense, you are able to play faster on offense. You are getting more rebounds, more steals, and getting off turnovers more."