How Alabama changed its identity, rotation since its early loss to Clemson
By: Jake Knowlton - Tide IllustratedAlabama executed its defensive game plan against North Carolina in its Sweet 16 victory. The Crimson Tide locked down UNC’s two best stars Armando Bacot and R.J. Davis with the benefit of having played against the pair just one season ago.
The Tide showed a gritty edge defensively that was absent for large portions of the regular season, including its first matchup against the team it now faces in the Elite Eight, No. 6 seed Clemson. The Tigers took down the Tide 85-77 inside Coleman Coliseum on Nov. 28.
As Alabama looks to flip that result to earn its first Final Four berth in school history, its players feel like Alabama is a completely different team than the one Clemson faced early in the season.
“We found our identity,” Alabama guard Mark Sears said. “We feel like we’re a different team from November — way better from November. We’re a new team.”
The main area of improvement is obvious.
Alabama has embraced its game on the defensive end in the NCAA Tournament. Its identity on that end of the floor was still a work in progress when it allowed Clemson to shoot 51% from 3 in the regular season clash. Six of those 3s game in the final 10 minutes of the game.
“Those 3s came in late game situations, late clock situations,” Sears said. “We just gotta do a better job of getting to the ball and running them off the 3-point line.”
Beginning with Clemson, Alabama took its licks against good teams early. It was smoked by Arizona, but lost by narrow margins to both Creighton and Purdue. Come tournament time, The Crimson Tide was able to draw on those experiences to close out a game against a strong UNC team.
“We were still learning how to play against each other,” Rylan Griffen said of the Clemson game. “That was like two weeks into the season. We were still learning our defense. We were still learning our offense. You had a bunch of new people, only three returners. We had to learn the system, the culture, all of that stuff. But when that settled in, I knew we we’re going to be great.”
On-court adjustments
In addition to Alabama’s self discovery, Oats has also cleaned up Alabama’s rotation. Against the Tigers, Alabama trotted out a starting lineup feating Mohamed Wague, who has been relegated to a minor bench role due to a nagging foot injury.Alabama’s frontcourt will also be boosted by a fully in-form Grant Nelson, who’s coming off his best game of the season against UNC and will be expected to lock down another talents forward in Clemson’s P.J. Hall. Hall dominated in the first matchup, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
“He’s probably one of the best bigs in the nation,” Nelson said. “So we gotta do our best scouting report-wise, and me and Nick and the rest of the bigs just really locking in and trying to stop early, cut his water off. But it’s gonna be tough. It was a tough matchup the first time. I feel we didn’t do a great job guarding him. I feel like we didn’t follow the scouting report as we should’ve. But I think we’ve grown a lot.”
Alabama’s bench will also have a different look to it in the high-stakes rematch. Both Latrell Wrightsell Jr. and Nick Pringle came off the bench, while Mouhamed Dioubate did not play in the game. With Wrightsell’s status up in the air, Pringle will likely slot into the starting five, while Dioubate and Wague will provide frontcourt support off the bench. The pair combined for 12 points and 10 rebounds against Charleston, part of a 37-point performance by Alabama’s reserves.
While Alabama’s bench likely won’t hit that mark Saturday, the Tide will benefit from having a set rotation with moments of adversity to turn to, two things it did not have during its home loss to Clemson. The Tigers will get a new look Tide team with a chip on its shoulder and defensive momentum. If Alabama can sustain that momentum, it could very well find itself crowned champions of the West region with a chance at a national title.
