Alabama Basketball: After close Mercer win, Tide needs to elevate play

It was a nice, but close win over Mercer in Huntsville.  Steady isn’t going to cut it going forward. Alabama basketball must elevate play against elevated opponents.

Alabama basketball has looked extremely impressive beginning the season. There has been chatter of this team headed towards an NCAA bid. Alabama even clocked in the AP Top 25 for a while. With a high RPI, Alabama continues to look steady as it heads into conference play.

Season highlights include the 100 points scored on Alabama A&M, the close loss to Minnesota after most of the team was ejected and…well, Colin Sexton has been as advertised with his dynamic play.

But, at some point, Alabama basketball sort of lost the limelight. They haven’t had a win streak beyond one in just under a month. Granted, the losses haven’t been terrible but those losses matter on an NCAA resume.

Alabama has gotten comfortable with playing from behind. It’s worked for them occasionally, like in the game against Mercer. They were down at the half and surged around midway 2nd half and took the lead. They blew a lead towards the end but held on to win 80-79. Other times, it hasn’t worked.

What needs to happen immediately

Alabama basketball cannot play from behind going forward. Tough competition is the reason the RPI is 23 and the SOS is 21.

Texas is the last of Alabama’s non-conference schedule before they play in Coleman Coliseum against a mighty Texas A&M team that has exploded this season. The Aggies have also had a tough schedule, though not as tough as Alabama’s. They defeated Penn State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia and have a record of 10-1. Their one loss is actually a common opponent with the Crimson Tide, Arizona.

After that, The Tide schedule only gets tougher. The SEC has become much more competitive in basketball than in recent years. Eleven teams in the SEC have win percentages about .700, with half of the conference above .800. With future road games against Florida, Kentucky, Auburn and A&M, you can see why this is one of the toughest schedules in the country. This is why Alabama’s recent “play from behind” style of basketball won’t work. It will lead to too many losses.

Alabama has to continue to use Collin Sexton as their main ball driver, but there also has to be depth. Shooting from three-point land was abysmal against Mercer, so settling for in-the-paint scoring instead of empty possessions are going to work in their favor. Alabama has to do much better at boxing out. Rebounding is key.

On defense, a lot more work has to be done. The style of defense has to match the style of offense. If Alabama wants to play fast, that’s fine. That means, however, the Crimson Tide must play aggressively on defense as well.

This is not to say that Alabama isn’t an excellent team. It’s far and beyond what I expected from this team. However, as conference play is looming, Alabama basketball has to address concerns if they want to dance come March Madness time.

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There are no easy games for Tide basketball going forward. The next game is Texas in Birmingham, followed by the TAMU Aggies in Tuscaloosa.