Nate Oats: Alabama has to reset mindset ahead of NCAA Tournament

Alabama’s run in the SEC Tournament was shorter than expected. The Crimson Tide lost in the second round on Thursday, falling 82-76 to Vanderbilt. Now, Alabama head coach Nate Oats is shifting all of his attention towards the NCAA Tournament.

Oats had an interesting comment following Alabama’s loss in the SEC Tournament to Vanderbilt, saying that Alabama can beat anybody, while also acknowledging that the Crimson Tide can also lose to just about anybody.

“We’ve proven we can play with anybody in the country. We’ve also proven we can lose to anybody on our schedule,” Oats said after Alabama’s loss in the SEC Tournament. “So we got to get guys’ mindsets in a good spot. We’re going to play a week from today or a week from tomorrow, whichever we end up at. And we’ve got to have a great week of preparation going into it, and see if we can’t — you know, we were close tonight. We make some free-throws, you know, we win the game. We take care of the ball.”

Oats wasn’t happy with Alabama’s turnovers in the second round of the SEC Tournament

As the remaining teams in the SEC fight for the tournament crown, Alabama is going home to prepare for the NCAA Tournament. One of the most frustrating parts to Oats from the loss to Vanderbilt was his team’s turnovers.

“I mean, some of the turnovers are just mind-blowing,” Oats said. “Just kind of handing the ball to the other team. Just mis-dribbled by some pretty skilled players. Definitely stuff we can fix. We have to fix it and see if we can’t get on a similar run to what some other teams have done in the past.”

Alabama entered the final week of the regular season on a hot streak, having won three out of their last five games, with the only loss coming against Kentucky. But the Crimson Tide dropped their final two regular season contests, losing to Texas A&M and LSU. Now, Alabama will have to re-gain some form of confidence and momentum, as the Crimson Tide are on a three-game losing streak entering Selection Sunday.

Entering Friday, On3 projected Alabama as a six seed in the NCAA Tournament. Now, all the Crimson Tide can do is wait and see when and where they will be playing next week.