Alabama Basketball: Tide needs to get over typical February hump
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Basketball: Nine games to close out the regular season; why the Tide should avoid another typical February stumble.
For the Alabama basketball team, this season’s SEC Tournament should be a segue and a prelude to more important games. It would take a major, late-season stumble for the SEC Tournament to have any significant impact on the Tide’s NCAA Tournament dreams. Even after the loss to Oklahoma, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Tide as an NCAA Tournament 2-seed. There is zero indication the 14-4 Alabama Crimson Tide will have a serious stumble in its last nine regular-season games.
Then again, it is February. For too long Februarys (along with early March games) have been unkind to the Crimson Tide. The best February, plus early March record in the Tide’s previous five seasons was in 2015-16. Avery Johnson’s team finished the regular season 6-4 but lost four of its last five regular-season games. Avery’s team lost two of its final three games, to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament and to Creighton in the NIT.
The 2016-17 team closed 4-6; lost to the Cats again in the SEC Tournament, followed by another NIT loss, to Richmond. The 2017-18 team made the NCAA Tournament and knocked off Virginia Tech before losing to Villanova. That group’s regular-season close was 3-6, including five straight losses going into the SEC Tournament.
Avery’s last team had a February to SEC Tournament run of 4-9, including a 2-6 finish, before a win and a loss (Kentucky) in the SEC Tournament. The season ended with an opening-round loss to Norfolk State in the NIT.
Last season, Nate Oats pumped new enthusiasm into the Alabama Basketball program. But, the February, early March results followed the pattern of the previous four seasons. The Crimson Tide closed the season with four wins and seven losses.
Alabama basketball fans worried about this February, are more realists than alarmists. Let’s consider the next nine games and project how much concern is, or is not warranted.