Florida fans are still celebrating Wednesday night's win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Hail Florida Hail fairly described what happened in the second half, "The game started to resemble NBA Jam—Florida kept winning 50-50 balls, kept outmuscling Alabama for rebounds, and kept beating the Tide down the court. The end result was often a posterizing dunk."
More troubling for the Alabama Crimson Tide than the loss; was how Alabama lost. The Crimson Tide got out blue-collared in defeat. Alabama is supposed to be college basketball's king of pace, but the Tide's poor transition defense gave the Gators a 12-point advantage in fast break points. Another Alabama advantage was absent in the game with the Gators being plus-15 in rebounds.
The loss to Florida was exponentially worse than the loss to Tennessee. Alabama Crimson Tide fans are struggling to believe a March turnaround can replicate the one Alabama accomplished in last season's NCAA Tournament. David Cobb did a good job articulating why Alabama finding an 'on' switch is beginning to look doubtful. "Alabama still has the firepower to keep up when playing poor defense... The problem is when defense and rebounding become an inconvenience on the path to another offensive possession. if the Crimson Tide truly aspire to cut down the nets on April 7 in San Antonio, they must begin guarding better. They are good — even great offensively much of the time — but not otherworldly elite enough to overcome average defensive effort against elite opposition."
Cobb is not wrong. He even claimed some February improvements in Alabama's defensive play "may have been a mirage." The Crimson Tide must prove Cobb wrong or this March will not resemble last March. Alabama remains No. 35 in Adjusted Defense per Bart Torvik, but as Cobb pointed out since the Auburn game; that stat rating has been No. 75.
Alabama Crimson Tide - Concern and Optimism
Nate Oats is optimistic that his team will play better against Auburn. An upset is not impossible, but it is improbable. Some disenchanted Alabama fans think sitting Grant Nelson until he is fully healthy might be necessary. Oats has vaguely talked about Nelson's injury issues. He was listed as questionable on an early availability report for the Florida game. Grant is the Tide's leading rebounder, but in four of Alabama's last five games, he has averaged only 4.25 rebounds. The problem is unless Derrion Reid makes an unexpected return, sitting Nelson would leave the Tide with only eight available scholarship players.
There are reasons for optimism. The Crimson Tide may not need even one SEC Tournament win to cement a 2-seed in the Big Dance. If Jerry Palms's most recent Bracket projection, Alabama as a 2-seed would face only one opponent ranked in the top 20 of the current NCAA NET Rankings, on a path to a spot in the Elite Eight. Alabama will finish the regular season with six games against five teams ranked in the top 16 of the NET. A reprieve from college basketball's toughest schedule could rekindle a championship flame for the Crimson Tide.