Nate Oats was very clearly upset with his team for most of the night during a 98-88 loss to Georgia. Alabama didn't come ready to play just three days after a win over Tennessee that Oats described as "emotionally taxing."
Alabama looked like a tired team, getting beaten up on the glass for the second straight game, with the Bulldogs dominating in second-chance points.
But it wasn't just the team that didn't bring its A-game. Neither did Nate Oats and his coaching staff.
And no, I'm not talking about an ill-timed technical foul on Oats in the first half that stemmed off some Crimson Tide momentum. I'm talking about a much bigger gaffe.
Coming out of a timeout by Georgia on the final possession of the first half, Alabama appeared to only put four players on the floor.
Really.
Look at this:
Alabama played an entire possession of defense with 4 players on the floor...
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 4, 2026
... and nearly forced a backcourt violation on Georgia while doing so 😂ðŸ˜pic.twitter.com/oT74gnSsPp
Alabama got fortunate on that initial possession when Georgia nearly threw the ball backcourt and had to call another timeout. The Crimson Tide brought five guys out of the huddle for the next possession, but the Bulldogs hit a three before the buzzer sounded anyway.
Alabama's entire operation was out of whack against Georgia
The players certainly deserve criticism for not playing as hard as they needed to. Those kinds of nights are going to happen, particularly coming off a physically and emotionally draining win in Knoxville.
What can never happen, though, with as many coaches and analysts as Alabama has on the bench, is a mistake that wouldn't get made by a high school staff.
It's totally unacceptable, and the blame has to fall at the feet of Oats.
He clearly didn't have his team, nor his staff, dialed in the way they needed to be in Athens on Tuesday night.
The loss in and of itself is not all that damaging. Alabama had won eight straight games and put itself in a really good spot with two regular-season games to go. A win over Auburn on Saturday clinches the Tide's spot as the 2-seed in the SEC Tournament next week.
But how the Crimson Tide arrived at the loss is incredibly frustrating, and it deserves a lot of criticism.