Alabama Basketball falls at Texas A&M to close regular season

Alabama Basketball could not overcome a sluggish start, falling to Texas A&M 67-61 on the road to end the regular season. While the game didn’t matter from a standings perspective, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of Bama nation to end the regular season on such a sour note.

Alabama will enter the SEC Tournament as the top seed, and will likely be a no. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as well. However, it limps into the postseason in the midst of one of its worst stretches of the season.

The Crimson Tide has hit just 25 three-pointers over the course of its last four games, shooting below 26 percent from downtown in each of those contests. This includes a woeful 13.4 percent clip against Arkansas, and a 19.4 percent mark at Texas A&M. Alabama must find a way to pull out of its shooting slump, or its season will end earlier than anyone expected.

The Tide has also reverted back to its early-season turnover-prone tendencies in recent weeks. It had 18 giveaways against the Aggies, 19 in a loss to Tennessee, and 17 in a narrow win over Arkansas. Bama’s sloppy play could have a multitude of different causes, but it won’t be conducive to a Final Four run if it continues.

On several occasions this season, Alabama Basketball has shown the capability to win despite not playing its best; at South Carolina, vs Arkansas, both games against Mississippi State, and both games against Auburn are some examples in conference play.

Against college basketball’s better teams, this subpar effort will not get the job done. When it does not play well, Bama has lost to the type of teams that it would typically see in the second weekend and beyond in the NCAA Tournament.

On the contrary, it has been nearly impossible to beat the Tide when it is clicking.

Alabama Basketball: Prepare for postseason award snubs

When the SEC chose not to give Brandon Miller SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 32.5 points in two games last week, it felt like an indication that college basketball institutions would no longer be considering Alabama for honors or awards.

This idea appears to be coming to fruition. The Alabama Basketball program’s offcourt controversy is scaring away voters who have nothing to gain from the negative publicity currently associated with Bama hoops.

Brandon Miller’s name was left off of the Wooden Award Finalist list, which supposedly names the top 15 college basketball players in the country. No one can argue that Miller’s on-court exploits should have him comfortably on the list, if not one of the favorites to win the award. His omission from the finalist list is something Alabama fans will have to accept, and maybe get used to.

Miller should be a shoe-in All-American, and a frontrunner for league honors such as SEC Player of the Year, All-SEC First Team, and SEC Freshman of the Year. Additionally, head coach Nate Oats should be in the National Coach of the Year conversation for what he has done on the court.

However, it is widely agreed upon that Oats and the Alabama PR teams have not handled the situation well to any degree.

Given the optics, it will be difficult to blame voters if individuals in the Alabama Basketball program are not considered for postseason awards.