Nate Oats on Alabama's offense, defense before UNC game: 'You can put both together'

In a Round of 32 game against Grand Canyon, Alabama was held to just 72 points, well below the team’s season average and the fewest points the Crimson Tide had scored since mid-January.

Alabama coach Nate Oats is a little worried his team got overly focused on defense at the expense of the offense.

“I told them we don’t have to forget about offense when we play great defense. You can put both together,” Oats said. “The Grand Canyon game, I’ve had people compare it to a rugby contest, football contest. It got a little rough, physical.

“I like the fact that our guys matched their physicality and stayed in it and didn’t quit and showed a lot of character. But, yeah, it would be nice if our offense — take care of the ball, make shots like we’ve been.”

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Oats sees no reason why his team can’t play its scintillating brand of offense while also still being a quality defensive team.

“We’re going to need both,” he said. “I honestly in the past have felt like, when we’ve played our best defensive games with other teams, even this team, you can get out in transition more when you’re getting stops. So a great defense should help your offense in theory.”

That said, there were extenuating circumstances in the Grand Canyon game. Oats, for one, felt like the officiating allowed a ton of contact to go uncalled.

It made for a physical slugfest, one that might have impacted his team’s traditional style of play.

“Now, again, when it was as physical as it was and guys had to get used to the officiating and what was going to be called, what wasn’t going to be called, that might have had some affect on the offense,” Oats said.

“I think North Carolina is a pretty physical team, though too, which they’ve got a pretty good defense. We’ve got to get our offense back, we know that. We’re not going to be able to hold Carolina to 60 points. That’s not really who we are, and that’s definitely not who they are. We’re going to have to get an offense that’s clicking like the No. 1 offense in the country in order to have a chance to win this game. So we’ve made that point. We’re putting a little more time in on our offensive side, trying to figure out how to attack them.”

Taking on 1-seed North Carolina won’t be easy. But Alabama has beaten some quality teams before. The real question is just how balanced the Crimson Tide can be.

Oats knows there won’t be much room for leeway.

“Now, they’re not easy to figure out how to attack,” he said. “They’ve got really good rim protection. They’ve got good guards. They’ve got smart players. They’re good. But we are putting some time in on the offensive side of the ball too.”