Alabama Crimson Tide news and notes from the weekend.
Nate Oats and Alabama basketball earn an impressive road win over St. John's
Led by elite play from arguably the best trio of guards in the country - Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, and Latrell Wrightsell - Alabama went on the road and knocked off St. John's 103-96 at Madison Square Garden. It was a win that resonated across the country, and it's a win that will carry a lot of weight in March.
The trio of Philon, Holloway, and Wrightsell combined for 63 points and 10 assists with only one turnover. It was an incredibly impressive performance on the road in the second game of the season against a team that many have on the shortlist of National Championship contenders.
It might be time to add Alabama to that list.
Nate Oats said Alabama is embracing an underdog role
In retrospect, ranking Alabama preseason No. 15 might have been a little disrespectful, if not understandable. Nate Oats had a lot of production to replace on last year's team, including perhaps a Mt. Rushmore player in program history in Mark Sears.
But Oats has earned the benefit of the doubt. Alabama is the only program in the country to play in three consecutive Sweet 16s. Alabama is also the only program in the country to make it to the Elite Eight or better in back-to-back seasons.
It's clear that Oats and company have been motivated by flying under the radar in the preseason.
“We’re a little overlooked right now, which that’s fine," Oats said. ..."We’re probably better off being an underdog. We’ll probably be an underdog at home against Purdue. I mean, the way they handled us last year up there. We were an underdog here. We may be an underdog at home. Probably be an underdog in Chicago against Illinois. Great. We put together a tough schedule. We’re going to test ourselves early. We’re going to see what we’re made about."
Rick Pitino offered a lot of praise for Alabama
Rick Pitino knows a good basketball team when he sees one. He was less angry with the performance of his team in Saturday's loss than he was just overly impressed by the Crimson Tide, specifically their guard play.
Pitino raved about Alabama and said the Crimson Tide was simply the better team.
"When it comes down to it, they were the better basketball team tonight," Pitino said of Alabama. "We played hard, we fought, it was exciting basketball, but they were better. ...They were the more locked-in team offensively. They do it against everybody, and the only time they lose is when you turn them over more."
Alabama became the first team to score 100+ against a Pitino-coached St. John's team.
A sloppy win, but a win nonetheless for Alabama football over LSU
Alabama football capped off an elite Saturday of sports watching for Tide fans by knocking off LSU 20-9. Of course, most fans weren't all that pleased with the team's performance with an impossible standard to live up to, but Alabama did enough to earn the win.
It was far from pretty - and this team certainly has plenty of question marks that could serve to keep them from reaching their ultimate goal - but every win counts, and it's another step closer to the College Football Playoff.
Alabama's offense sputtered most of the evening, but Kane Wommack's defense answered the bell over and over again to keep LSU out of the endzone for the full 60 minutes. It was a tremendous effort on that side of the ball, especially with a struggling offense.
Ty Simpson called Alabama's performance 'not up to our standard'
Of course, no Alabama fan would disagree with Ty Simpson's critique of the team's performance. He praised the defense, but was critical of the offense, calling it "not up to our standard."
"I'm gonna be brutally honest, that's not up to our standard," Simpson said. "Everybody knows that. Everybody on offense knows that. But that's why we have a good defense. We've got to come out next week, playing a good Oklahoma team off a bye week ... we just hold on to the little things and details."
Simpson also had an interesting answer to why the run game continues to struggle. Simpson said the issues are "all mental."