After a record-shattering performance while dominating BYU, Alabama Basketball Head Coach Nate Oats said his team has to be better. More specifically, he said, "We gotta be better against Duke."
Some fans wonder if Oats was trying to jinx the Blue Devils in their later game against Arizona. That is unlikely. Nate knows how formidable Duke is.
As beautiful as the BYU game was for Alabama Crimson Tide fans, Oats saw flaws. They were defensive flaws and are the Tide's major obstacle to making a back-to-back Final Four.
In every other way, Alabama was stunningly good against the Cougars. For perspective, consider that BYU took six more shots than Alabama and made shots from the field at 45.8%, while making two fewer turnovers than Alabama and being outrebounded by just one board. Such a performance should make for a competitive game. Instead, the Cougars were blown out by 25 points. The BYU coaching staff, players, and fans must be stunned.
In preparation for the game, Oats saw BYU's tendency to go under screens. He told Mark Sears and Aden Holloway, "I hope they go under us because we’re going to rain them.” Alabama did more than rain; Oats unleashed an Alabama Crimson Tide deluge. Alabama's 25 made threes is the new record for an NCAA Tournament game.
Can the Crimson Tide do it again on Saturday? Against Duke's different defensive approach, the Crimson Tide will need more than threes. There will not be as many open looks against Duke. Alabama will be an underdog against Duke because the talent advantage the Crimson Tide had against BYU will not exist.
Best Alabama Basketball Line
The best line of the post-game came from Clifford Omoruyi. With the Crimson Tide's record-setting performance from outside the arc that included two threes from backup big Aiden Sherrell, Omoruti was asked if Nate Oats gives him a green light to bomb away. Cliff replied, "he gave me the green light to go rebound."
Against the Blue Devils, Alabama Basketball must play its best defensive game of the season. Like Alabama, Duke scorched the net from outside the arc on Thursday night. The Crimson Tide can challenge Duke, and as good as the Blue Devils are, Alabama has played against better defenses in some SEC games.