The Extra Point: More Important to Alabama's NCAA Tournament Success: Defense or Offense?

The Crimson Tide have shown they can dominate on both sides of the ball but which will be more important if they want to make their first ever Final Four?

The Alabama men's basketball team has made it to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons and is headed to Louisville to take on the San Diego State Aztecs on Friday night. 

Unlike two years ago, however, the Crimson Tide hopes to continue their NCAA Tournament beyond the Sweet 16 and make it to the university's first ever Final Four in men's basketball.

Entering the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, Alabama looked as if they had an excellent chance to make it to Houston, and now with the highest seed in their bracket being the No. 5 Aztecs, the odds look even better.

By now, everyone knows that the Crimson Tide have an extremely talented roster that can play at a high level on both ends of the floor. That was certainly on display in their first two games in Birmingham, as Alabama opened March Madness by scoring 96 points in a dominant win over Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and then followed that by holding a tough Maryland team to just 51 points en route to the Sweet 16. 

The two games beg an important question: which side of the ball is more critical to Alabama's success if they want to continue in the NCAA Tournament- defense or offense?

As the old saying goes, "Offense wins games but defense wins championships."

It has long been a cliché that a Nate Oats squad lives and dies by the three-point shot but this team has proven that it can score in a variety of ways even when the outside shots aren't falling.

In the Maryland game, Brandon Miller and Jahvon Quinerly were the only players to make a shot from beyond the arc, and yet, the Crimson Tide still scored 73 points in a dominant win. 

But the more important takeaway from that game was that the Crimson Tide defense can carry them through tough stretches on offense and can be a consistent positive no matter who the opponent is. 

As the stakes get higher and higher, look for Alabama's defense to be one of the main factors in deciding whether or not the Crimson Tide is able to continue their run in the NCAA Tournament. 

Watch the video at the top of the page where BamaCentral's Clay Miller and Katie Windham discuss the importance of Alabama's defensive success.

See Also:

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