March is here. Alabama basketball needs to wake up fast

Two things can be true at once.

First truth: the Alabama basketball schedule of late hasn’t been easy; No. 4 Tennessee at home before No. 25 Florida on the road in a four-day span is nothing at which to scoff. Plus, Alabama has played three of its last four games on the road.

Second truth: The Crimson Tide isn’t playing its best basketball right now. It doesn’t matter the opponent, and it doesn’t matter the circumstance. Alabama is capable of better.

The combination of the two truths resulted in back-to-back SEC losses for the first time in two years. The latest was a 105-87 loss to the Gators on Tuesday in Gainesville.

It’s concerning to say the least. Is it time to panic, though? Maybe, maybe not. However, it is certainly time for Alabama to shake off these losses and right the ship. It’s not sinking, but it’s starting to take on some water, ultimately slowing it down.

A vessel that’s not full steam ahead in March isn’t going to stay afloat too long in the postseason.

“We have to bounce back and be ready to go on Saturday and see what seed we can get going into Nashville,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said.

The Crimson Tide can’t seem to get everything to line up lately. Just when the defense started playing better against Tennessee, the offense disappeared. That trend continued in the first half against Florida. With Alabama shooting 10% from beyond the arc, the defense kept the Crimson Tide in the game.

Until it didn’t.

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“We let some offensive frustrations lead to some defensive letdowns that led to them opening it up,” Oats said.

In the final five minutes of the first half, Florida scored 18 points to take a nine-point halftime lead. That continued in the second half with the Gators’ lead ballooning to 23 at one point. The Gators’ points per possession grew to 1.452 in the second half.

“You can play great defense for 4-5 minutes, offense isn’t going well, you have a couple turnovers, you miss some open shots, that can’t frustrate you if you’re really a defensive-minded team,” Oats said. “Right now, we’ve got too many guys getting frustrated and then having too many letdowns.”

Alabama gave up 27 fast-break points and only scored eight. Florida had 13 assists to Alabama’s six. The Crimson Tide only blocked one shot compared to four for the Gators. Alabama also had only half as many steals as Florida.

Turnovers were once again an issue for the Crimson Tide for a second consecutive game. In six of the past nine games, Alabama has reached double-digit turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide’s shooting from deep has slowed. Alabama has made 14 of 60 (23%) of its 3-point attempts the past two games. The Crimson Tide doesn’t have to hit triples at a constant high clip to win, but it needs to be better than that.

Some of this can be fixed, some of it might not be. But either way, rest would be a good first step.

“It looked like we were tired tonight to be honest with you,” Oats said. “We’ve got to do a better job. We’re off (Wednesday). Need to get rested, get in with the trainer, get a bunch of treatment, make sure we’re not going too hard Thursday, Friday, get their bodies and minds fresh ready to play Saturday, and then get ready to try to make a run in Nashville.”

All is not lost. Sure, the SEC regular-season title continues to slip away, but a good seed in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament are still attainable. Alabama just needs to find a way to stop slipping down this path and halt the losing before it becomes a losing streak.

Simply put, it’s time for the Crimson Tide to wake up. Otherwise, any dreams of a tournament run will most certainly disappear.

Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men’s basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.