If you ignore tempo and look just at the raw stats, you may be alarmed by Alabama basketball's defensive numbers. The Crimson Tide ranks 316th out of 364 Division I teams in points allowed per game, giving up 78.4 points-per-game.
But tempo-free stats in today's college basketball are worthless. Alabama gives up more points-per-game than most because the Tide plays at the fastest tempo in the country, per KenPom. Alabama's average possession length in SEC play is 15.3 seconds, which is a full two seconds quicker than the average D-I team.
Alabama's defense hasn't been elite, but it has been good, and a big improvement from where the Tide was a year ago. Alabama ranks 39th in the country in KenPom's defensive efficiency metric, which takes into account tempo and doesn't penalize Alabama's defense because they have to defend, on average, about seven more possessions per game than the D-I average.
The numbers would be better for the Crimson Tide overall if you could throw out Dylan Harper's virtuoso performance against Alabama in Las Vegas and the Tide sleepwalking through the road game at North Dakota.
Alabama has turned its defense up a notch since SEC play began and improvement on that end of the floor has helped key the Crimson Tide's 9-1 start in conference.
In conference play, a few defensive metrics show an elite defense in Tuscaloosa. Alabama is No. 2 in the league in effective field goal percentage allowed, holding opponents to 46.5%. A large part of that is Nate Oats' defensive philosophy of funneling everything into the mid-range and forcing opponents to take inefficient two-point attempts. Opponents are shooting 48.1% from two against Alabama. To contrast, the Crimson Tide is shooting 58% from two in SEC play.
Alabama avoids the mid-range on offense and tries to force their opponents to take those shots. It's all about the averages for Oats. Every now and then an opponent is going to hit a high number from that spot on the floor and the Tide will struggle; more times than not, though, they'll shoot around 35% from the mid-range.
Alabama has been exceptional at running teams off the three-point line and contesting when they do give up a three. SEC opponents are shooting just 28.7% from three against Alabama. That's the No. 1 three-point defense in the conference. Alabama is doing well in defending without fouling, too, ranking 2nd in SEC play in free-throw rate allowed.
Alabama's length on defense is super impactful. They have a rim protecting center in Cliff Omoruyi who continues to get comfortable in his role. Grant Nelson has been much-improved on the defensive end of the floor and leads the team in blocked shots. Mo Dioubate, Jarin Stevenson, and when healthy, Derrion Reid, have been versatile weapons for Oats to deploy and they can all guard multiple positions.
One key stat is holding Alabama basketball back on defense
The numbers above point to an elite defensive team, but Alabama still ranks just 7th in the SEC in defensive efficiency, per KenPom. Why is that?
Simply put, Alabama is not forcing enough turnovers. Alabama is 15th out of 16 SEC teams in forcing turnovers on just 13.0% of defensive possessions. Alabama is getting a steal on just 7.7% of possessions, also ranking 15th in the league. Alabama's non-steal TO% is just 5.2%, 14th in the league.
Along with that, Alabama is giving up a few too many offensive rebounds. Opponents are rebounding 31.1% of their misses, which ranks Alabama 6th in the league. Not bad, but if you aren't forcing turnovers, then you can't afford to give up many second-chance opportunities.
Dioubate is in the top 10% nationally in steal %; Labaron Philon and Chris Youngblood have been solid in that department. Everyone else is struggling to force turnovers. Alabama is playing good on-ball defense, but they aren't poking the ball free enough.
Dioubate has been elite at it, but he's only playing 14.4 minutes-per-game so he simply isn't in the game enough to make a big enough impact. He probably should be playing more, but there's an argument to be made that he may not be able to hold up with many extra minutes due to him playing 100 MPH for every second he's out there. A few extra minutes every night and he might have to dial back the effort a little bit to hold up, and then that defeats the purpose of having him out there.
A slight uptick in forcing turnovers and cleaning up the glass could be all it takes for Alabama to move into the company of the truly elite defensive teams in college basketball. That'll be important because as noted before, no team in the KenPom era (since 1997) has ever won a national title with a defensive efficiency rating that ranked outside the Top 25.
Alabama showed it could flip the switch defensively in the NCAA Tournament last season and it helped them to get to the Final Four for the first time in program history. If they want to get back there, and have a realistic shot at the program's first National Championship, forcing more turnovers could be the key to unlocking that door.