Alabama Basketball: Another Frustrating Loss in the Desert

There is a lot for this Alabama basketball team to figure out as we get close to the start of the SEC season. The most important thing is for this team to figure out how to close out games. This team seems to go cold late in games and is missing an every night closer when the game is on the line. Also, the Alabama big men have to learn how to stay out of foul trouble. Wague and Pringle and too important to the succcess of this team to continually be on the bench in crunch time. There has never been a time when Alabama misses Charles Bediako more than now.

This team doesn't seem to have the shooters to live and die by the three point shot. This team can't continue to jack up three point shots if they aren't falling. I know Nate Oat's style is friendly for three point shooting but when you are going 8-40 in a game something has to change. This team is full of athletes who need to focus on penetrating the lane and getting easy layups or getting points at the foul line. This should help open up the three-point shooting and allow the percentage from beyond the arc to get better. There is more than enough talent with Sears, Estrada, and Nelson leading the way for this Alabama team to right the ship and be a strong contender come tournament time. It will be interesting to see how this team builds off the experience of the tough out of conference schedule and turns that into success during SEC play and March.

Wednesday night in the desert for this Alabama basketball team ended in a similar fashion to several other games during the non-conference schedule and that is with a frustrating loss. I don't think anybody thought things would be perfect as this Crimson Tide team continues to gel, but this team is better than the 6-5 record shows.