Nate Oats addresses Alabama's effort in Tennessee loss

Alabama head coach Nate Oats did not think there was a lack of effort in the Crimson Tide’s loss to Tennessee Saturday.

Despite the 91-71 final score, it was more about the mistakes on the court, according to Oats. In his mind, Alabama played hard but just didn’t convert.

But right off the bat, Alabama was in a 50-37 hole at halftime and could not recover.

“They played harder than we did,” Oats said postgame. “Whenever the team plays harder than you, effort is an issue. Now, even if you play really hard, if you’re going to turn the ball over 22 times – you can play super hard, turn it over 22 times, you’re not winning the game. Not against a team like this. So I thought effort was a little bit issue, but not nearly as just being soft with the ball, making bad decisions, not having a good enough plan from the head coach.”

Oats doubled down that the blame should go towards him to put his players in a better position.

“I’ve got to do a better job getting these guys ready to go against their pressure and what we thought our plan was,” Oats said. “Well, it wasn’t very good. Effort was a little bit of the issue, but a bigger issue was just, to me, some toughness, learning how to handle physicality, decision-making with the ball in our hands. It wasn’t where it needed to be tonight.”

Mark Sears was the leading scorer for the Crimson Tide, but he was the only member of the team in double figures. He finished with 22 points, one rebound and two assists.

“They got up into him,” Oats said of Tennessee’s defense of Sears. “They pressured him. They took us out. They blew up screens. When he’s off ball, we couldn’t get them open off the ball very well. Their physicality bothered him, and then it’s like they’re up into him and they’re denying passing lanes and other guys aren’t getting open off screens and he just struggled a little bit. We’ve got to help him have a better plan, but we’ve just got to get tougher, to be honest with you.”

Alabama is back in action Wednesday against rival Auburn. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 13 overall in the country and will come into Tuscaloosa as a favorite.

If Oats’ squad can limit the turnovers in that one, perhaps the Crimson Tide will pull off the home upset. It’s certainly not a lack of effort.