Alabama basketball gets every flaw exposed in blowout loss to Tennessee | Goodbread
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — If Alabama basketball needed any sort of a reference point for what it must improve on as it enters the teeth of its SEC schedule, Tennessee provided it Saturday. In a 91-71 thrashing of the Crimson Tide at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Volunteers revealed every possible Alabama flaw in the way that ultra-violet light exposes all that can't be seen in normal lighting.
And boy were the blemishes ugly.
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Turnovers. Poor defense. The allowance of offensive rebounds.
There were lazy passes and frustration fouls, lapses in effort and an absence of physicality. And when the final horn blew, Alabama had absorbed its worst conference loss of coach Nate Oats' four-plus seasons, the 20-point margin being one point worse than Auburn's 100-81 win over UA in the 2021-22 season.
Tennessee never trailed, taking early command with a stifling defense. Meanwhile the Alabama defense, especially in the first half, looked like five cardboard cut-outs. Oats put some of the blame on himself, too, acknowledging that his team didn't look properly prepared.
"They played hard and we didn't. Whenever the other team plays harder than you, effort's an issue. Now, even if you play really hard, if you turn the ball over 22 times you're not going to win the game. Not against a team like this," Oats said. "I thought effort was a little bit of an issue but not nearly as much as just being soft with the ball, making bad decisions, not having a good enough plan from the head coach. I've got to do a better job of getting these guys ready."
The UT student section, sensing a prime opportunity to pile on as student sections so effectively do, punctuated the blowout with chants of "Where's Nick Saban?" as the Crimson Tide fell apart in the second half. He certainly wasn't worried about basketball as an advisor to new UA football coach Kalen DeBoer, who is trying to recruit his own roster in the midst of a 30-day transfer window.
Oats is the coach with all the basketball worries, and he's certainly got no shortage of items for a practice checklist this week.
The coach pointed out that his team lost at Tennessee a year ago, and did so in much the same way, with the Vols doing a better job of playing through contact and establishing a more physical presence. He also noted the Crimson Tide rallied from that point and went on to win a conference championship. Oats is right about that, but whether a similar regrouping can come from Saturday's loss is an entirely different matter. This Alabama team (12-6, 4-1 SEC) doesn't have the raw talent and depth it had a year ago.
Does it have the moxie?
It had better, because that's a pre-requisite for any postseason success. But it won't have to wait long to put this dismal performance behind it, as rival Auburn, ranked No. 11 in the nation in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, visits Tuscaloosa on Wednesday. Auburn will challenge Alabama with physical play once again, and its response could be telling.
"We weren't ready for them," Oats added. "We didn't do a good job prepping them for (Tennessee's) aggressiveness."
Expect Alabama to play a more physical game on Wednesday, to be sure. But that's only part of what Oats will seek to fix over the next three days.
And he can thank Tennessee for identifying every conceivable weak spot.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama basketball gets every flaw exposed in ugly loss to Tennessee
