NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nate Oats sounded like a broken record following No. 19 Alabama basketball’s disappointing 102-88 loss to Florida in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

Aside from one question about his newly signed contract extension — to which Oats said that the timing of the announcement now felt less ideal given the result of Friday’s game — Alabama’s inability to respond to adversity with good defense once again dominated a Crimson Tide postgame press conference.

“These guys are gonna have to decide how bad they want to win in the NCAA Tournament, how much we want to continue to play defense for 40 minutes,” Oats said. “If we play defense for 40 minutes we can play with anybody in the country. If we decide to take 24 minutes off from the defensive end it's gonna be hard to beat anybody in the NCAA Tournament.”

Oats’ words are a simple summary of Alabama’s capabilities and current situation with only one guaranteed game remaining. It’s also the assessment Crimson Tide fans have made for weeks leading up to the postseason. Alabama simply hasn’t shown it can create stops when it loses momentum offensively, no matter how much Oats continues to preach it.

“You play really hard on defense, you get stops, you push in transition. We score really well in transition,” Oats said. “You don't play hard on defense, you’re taking it out of the net a lot of the time, you can't get out in transition as much, we're not as good. The snowball went on and on and on for at least 24 minutes today.”

Oats again mentioned the same cyclical pattern of poor defense to poor offense and vice versa, but his tone after Friday's game was different. The Tide’s latest performance against Florida seemed to leave Oats fully questioning whether his side could muster enough defensive effort when its win-or-go-home.

He tried to find answers Friday. He mentioned needing to improve his decision-making, opting to call another timeout to let his team collect itself, or leaving certain players in for longer stretches after they have a positive stint defensively. He also thought his team was in the right frame of mind coming into the tournament, which made it all the more frustrating when Alabama seemed to roll over so quickly after the Gators fought back.

In a postseason game where Alabama knew what was at stake, it floundered. When shots didn’t fall, players dropped all of the encouraging energy and body language that they had during the Crimson Tide’s 8-0 start.

“I told them again tonight, ‘it really doesn't matter whether you miss three wide open shots. Your teammate missed you. The ref blew a call. It doesn't matter,’” Oats said. “Your effort on defense shouldn't be affected by what happens on offense and we've got too many guys where I feel like it does.”

Alabama’s tendency to fold when its offense isn’t clicking has the Tide playing some of its worst basketball in March, culminating in a total collapse Friday night. Alabama's 3-point shooting is in a slump, having not shot over 30% from three in its last four games. During that stretch, Oats has repeatedly said his side responded from losses with good, defense-focused practices. But that effort simply hasn’t translated to games, as the Crimson Tide still seems to lack any sort of defensive identity.

Now Alabama needs a get-right game in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It’s a dangerous place to be and even Oats is skeptical of his team’s potential to make the necessary adjustments at this point of the season. That isn’t for lack of trying on his part either.

Oats even tried shaming his defense into improvement following a dismal defensive performance during a 117-95 loss at Kentucky last month, stating “Everybody knows that we don't really guard at this point.”

Alabama responded with a win 103-88 win at Ole Miss but still allowed the Rebels to shoot 51.9% from the floor. Things looked better defensively during an 81-74 home loss to Tennessee, but quickly fell apart again the next week when it surrendered 105 points in a loss at Florida the next week.

Friday’s SEC tournament quarterfinal was supposed to be a start of a “get-back tour” for Alabama as it proved once and for all that it could provide the defense necessary to contend on the big stage. Instead, it could have turned out to be a get-real moment for the Crimson Tide, who may have to accept what it is as a team.

Maybe Alabama will snap out of its defensive woes and answer the bell with its backs against the wall in the NCAA tournament. However, if recent performances are any indication, Oats’ familiar track will continue to skip on next week, with the Tide's season in the books.