CLEVELAND — Alabama will face a clash of styles in its second-round game of the NCAA Tournament. The No. 2 seed Crimson Tide will face No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s, a team that plays slow and runs a methodical offensive system.
The Gaels rank No. 360 out of 364 Division I teams in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.com. Saint Mary’s averages 61.6 possessions per 40 minutes. Comparatively, Alabama averages 75, which makes it the fastest-running team in the country.
“We can’t get frustrated with their slow pace,” Alabama coach Nate Oats told reporters Saturday. “We may be lucky to get over 70 possessions. We’ve had multiple games this year where it’s been 80 possession games in 40 minutes. They’re probably comfortable playing closer to 60 possessions in a game sometimes. They’re a low-possession team. They’re very methodical, they’re very deliberate, and they’re very good at what they do. What they do, they do really well.”
Oats isn’t planning on making any major defensive adjustments to try and speed the Gaels up in Sunday’s matchup. Saint Mary’s doesn’t run an overly complex offensive style but is disciplined in creating the looks it wants. Oats don’t want to gamble by pressing or running traps just to set the tempo, only to give up easy layups and high-percentage shots.
The key instead for Alabama is not getting frustrated by the Gaels’ style and imposing its own on offense by forcing difficult shots and limiting Saint Mary’s to one look at the basket per possession. Alabama nearly lost to a much smaller Robert Morris team after it allowed 16 offensive rebounds. Oats has driven the point home to his players that that cannot be the case again if the Tide wants to have success Sunday.
“If we want to win, that’s like the biggest factor,” forward Mouhamed Dioubate said. “Finishing the possessions out strong, limiting their offensive rebounds. Us also getting offensive rebounds ourselves. A lot of second-chance opportunities. I think that’s going to be the biggest factor tomorrow.”
Discipline has been another major point of emphasis during the shorthanded scout of Saint Mary’s. The Gaels can frustrate their opponents with their methodical offense and elite rebounding, making defensive communication key for Alabama to avoid the lapses it had late in possessions against Robert Morris.
“You’ve got to do a lot of talking because they’re going to get down to late shot clock situations sometimes and you’ve just got to — when their guards are getting back, we’ve got to send our guards to go in and help their bigs,” guard Labaron Philon said. “That’s something Coach Oats has been preaching all day today and last night. Just doing a lot of film and just watching it, rebounding tactics, and see what they like to because they’re a really good offensive rebounding team.”
Alabama’s depth in both the front and backcourt will also be key in establishing the presence it needs in the paint to get rebounds to set the tempo by running in transition. The Tide’s bevy of frontcourt weapons played well on the offensive end against Robert Morris. Grant Nelson being available for all 40 minutes will also be a huge boost to help elevate Alabama’s play on the glass.
“We can get into our depth, and we may need it because they’ve got some frontcourt depth,” Oats said. “They kind of start with… [Paulius] Murauskas, No.23, they start with him, very skilled forward, but they then go big with — their starting center moves to the 4 and they bring in a 7-foot-1 guy. So our frontcourt is going to have to be good, deep because we’re going to have to stay fresh on those guys to be able to rebound with them.”
Oats doesn’t plan to adjust its defensive style to try and scramble Saint Mary’s on Sunday. Alabama has shown it can play its syle against elite slow-paced teams — namely Houston, which ranks No. 359 in adjusted tempo and lost to Alabama in November — and aims to do the same Sunday. The Gaels are going to stick to their game and Alabama’s best counter punch is getting out in transition on offense by being strong on the glass, staying disciplined defensively and scoring efficiently on offense in a game that may not end in the usual high-possession count that Alabama prefers.
“If we can limit them to one tough shot as much as possible and then off the defensive rebound, get out, and we will run,” Oats said. “Everybody in the country knows we run. But we’ve got to make sure that when we run, we get quality shots, too, because this isn’t going to be an 80-possession game. That’s just not how a game with Saint Mary’s is going to work. They’re good. They’re tough. But, shoot, we’re down to the round of 32, and most of the teams left, all the teams left are good.”
