Nate Oats believes Alabama basketball is being overlooked right now. After making the Elite Eight last season and the Final Four the year before it, the Crimson Tide came into this season with moderate expectations and few in the national media pegging them as a National Championship contender.
Perhaps the prognosticators would like a mulligan after seeing Alabama go to Madison Square Garden and take down St. John's 103-96 on Saturday afternoon. Because the Crimson Tide looked every bit like a Final Four contender against the Johnnies, and while Oats spoke in the postgame about the team being overlooked and being an underdog, they probably won't be for much longer.
That's what happens when you beat a top five team on the road.
“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."
Oats always challenges his team in the non-conference. Nobody puts together more difficult schedules than Oats. He wants to test his team, and he wants them to get exposed. He wants to find out what they are made of right away.
He found out this team has some toughness against St. John's. He knew the backcourt of Labaron Philon, Aden Holloway, and Latrell Wrightsell could be elite. They are. But what he didn't know was how this team would respond to adversity, and if they could be tough enough to beat an elite team like St. John's.
He found out that this team is tough as nails. In the second game of the season, with massive roster turnover, Alabama took down St. John's.
Alabama basketball won't be overlooked moving forward
Performances like that will ensure you aren't an underdog much going forward.
Oats has brought consistent success with him to Tuscaloosa. Alabama has become one of the top basketball programs in the nation, but it was fair to wonder how quickly he could bring this team together after flipping the roster almost entirely.
The answer was fast. Alabama looked like a group that has played together forever.
They showed a ton of fight. They were first to the floor, outhustling and out-toughing one of the roughest, toughest rosters in the nation.
Alabama being an elite offensive team is not a surprise. Dropping 100 points on the road against what should be one of the top defensive teams in the country is impressive nonetheless. It's the first time the Red Storm has given up 100+ points in a game since Rick Pitino took over as head coach.
The offense can take them a long way, but the willingness to fight, scrape, and claw every single possession is the type of stuff that can lead to a championship.