Nate Oats had plenty of excuses he could have latched onto to explain Alabama's six-point road loss to unbeaten Vanderbilt.
Alabama was without starting center Aiden Sherrell, who, in his sophomore season, has emerged as one of the nation's top shot blockers. His absence was felt, with Vanderbilt's guards never being deterred from getting to and finishing at the rim.
Star guard Labaron Philon exited the game with 16:06 remaining and never returned. Oats said after the game that Philon experienced full-body cramps, and despite an I.V. being used to pump him full of fluids, he couldn't shake them enough to get back on the court.
Playing a top-five team in KenPom on the road within six points without two of your best players is nothing to hang your head over. But Oats knows Alabama let one get away anyway, and he had no interest in talking about injuries being a factor.
Instead, Oats pointed the finger at his team for selfish play on the offensive end of the court as the main impetus for Alabama coming up short in Nashville.
"I thought we got a little selfish," Oats said. "We didn’t move the ball. We had guys that had teammates open on a one more and decided not to move it. So, that’s why our assist total was so low tonight. So, a lot of credit to Vandy, and then we got to do a better job finding the right shots.
"We didn’t score well enough because I didn’t think we got as good a shot as we needed to get, because we didn’t move the ball like we needed to. We had nine assists on the game. The ball didn’t move."
Nate Oats laments Alabama's lack of ball movement in Vanderbilt loss
When Alabama's offense is running the way it should, it's a beautiful thing. The ball is constantly in motion, popping from player to player. The dribble drives and kick-outs lead to a scrambling defense struggling to recover on elite shooters.
Part of why Alabama's assist total was so low, outside of the selfish play that Oats referenced, is that the Crimson Tide couldn't buy a three. Alabama hit just 9-of-40 (22%) from beyond the arc. A lot of guys missed open shots.
A lot of guys also took bad shots.
The best example to elucidate Oats' point happened late in the game when Alabama was fighting down the stretch to try and steal the win.
With under 90-seconds to play, Aden Holloway hit a mid-range shot that cut the deficit to seven. Vanderbilt threw the ball away on the inbounds, and Alabama had a chance to cut further into the lead. Holloway stepped behind the line and took a contested three-pointer that he missed. To his left was a wide-open Latrell Wrightsell.
To make matters worse, Wrightsell splashed an open three on the following possession after Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner sank a pair of free throws. That could have cut the lead to three if Holloway's three had gone down or he had passed to an open Wrightsell.
That one extra pass that makes this offense so tough to deal with just didn't happen enough on Wednesday night in Nashville. Holloway and others were trying to play hero ball down the stretch, overcompensating for the absence of Philon.
In close games this year, Philon has been the guy to carry the team home. He's the team's best off the bounce; there aren't many guards in the country who have successfully stayed in front of him this season.
That was sorely missed late in the game against Vanderbilt.