Nate Oats sends message on where Alabama must improve vs. Charleston in NCAA Tournament

It’s a war early in Alabama’s matchup against No. 13 seed Charleston in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. During a break in the action, Alabama head coach Nate Oats weighed in on his team’s slow start.

“Our defense hasn’t been bad after the first few possessions,” Oats said. “We’re not rebounding well enough we can’t [defend] the turnovers we just had. We got to take care of the ball on the offensive end and we got to rebound better on the defensive end.”

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Halfway through the first half, Alabama has four turnovers. Worse, the team is failing to lock down the defensive glass. Charleston has tallied three offensive rebounds compared to Alabama’s zero. As of this report, Alabama leads Charleston 25-21.

Alabama picking up steam after ugly finish to regular season

This isn’t the first time this month Alabama has struggled to find its footing. The team has lost three of their last four games, most recently falling to Florida by double digits in the SEC Tournament. Ahead of the NCAA Tournament, Paul Finebaum revealed his lack of faith for Alabama’s postseason.

“It’s hard to come up with a reasonable explanation of why they should make a run,” Finebaum said. “Yeah, they can get get out of Friday, but I think their odds of getting deep are pretty slim now. I thought they were gonna win it all last year.

“I really don’t like the way they’re playing. You can have a bad game in the SEC tournament and still make a serious run and maybe get to the Final Four, but you can’t be trending this badly and expect to get much out of it.”

Oats and Co. aren’t allowing outside noise to dampen their spirits. Ahead of Alabama’s game against Charleston, Oats revealed his hopes for his team this postseason.

“At the end of the day, there’s a lot of distractions around the NCAA Tournament, which makes it great. It’s the best sporting event on the planet,” Oats said. “Over a three-week stretch, it’s all eyes in the world in sports are all on this. It’s an unbelievable sporting event that these guys will remember for the rest of their lives.

“But, there’s 40 minutes where the best team is going to come out on top, and there’s another 40 minutes where the best team comes out on top. The best thing we can do is eliminate all those distractions as much as possible, enjoy the environment and the moment without letting it be a big distraction.”