Alabama Basketball tough to beat at home
Alabama Basketball returns to Tuscaloosa this weekend hoping to become the first SEC team to reach 10 league wins. Texas A&M is a formidable opponent, but must face the Crimson Tide in Coleman Coliseum, where the Tide has not lost often as of late.
Alabama is 11-1 at home this season, and that loss came at the hands of Clemson back in November. This means that Bama has gone two and a half months without losing in its own building, and is undefeated at home in conference play.
The Tide went 15-0 in Coleman in 2022-23, giving it a 26-1 overall record over the last two seasons. This is incredibly impressive given that Coach Nate Oats has sustained this level of success with very little continuity. Due to the difficulty of player retention in the modern era, Oats essentially had brand-new rosters in both seasons.
Will Bama continue to have success at home?
Alabama has looked really good at home this season, with its most impressive wins being a blowout over a surprisingly good South Carolina team and a rivalry win over Auburn. However, Alabama has yet to play some of its most difficult home games. Will the Coleman effect continue against some of the SEC’s best?
It all starts Saturday against Texas A&M, who hasn’t consistently played well this year but has a lot of talent and a winning culture under Buzz Williams. A&M also has Wade Taylor IV, one of the college basketball’s most dynamic players who can get hot at any time.
Bama will also host Florida and Tennessee over the next two weeks, neither of which will be easy, before getting Arkansas in the regular season finale.
Going into this weekend’s bout with Texas A&M, Bama Hoops should be well-rested after a week-long hiatus from playing games. The last time the Crimson Tide took the court, it put up 109 points in a win at LSU last Saturday. Coach Nate Oats has continually emphasized the importance of his team improving on the defensive end of the floor, and reiterated that message coming out of the off-week.
While the Tide has shown flashes in certain areas defensively, it is far from an imposing bunch. The tempo at which Bama prefers to play offensively makes it very difficult to limit the scoring of the opposition to what we would generally consider to be a low number. Much like a high-scoring offense in football, Alabama just needs to be effective enough defensively to complement its record-setting offensive pace.
Coach Oats is one of the best in the sport, and his constant emphasis on defensive improvement has to eventually elicit some results. I expect the Tide to put forth one of its best defensive performances of the season in a home win over Texas A&M.