Nate Oats defends system after cold-shooting night in Sweet 16

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A loss opens the door to inevitable questions — it's just the nature of sports.

But outside of the "what ifs" and "what nows," Alabama head coach Nate Oats once again had to defend his up-tempo, 3-point barrage and if it can deliver a national championship.

While the answer in 2023 is once again a no, Oats didn't back down when his system was called into question after Friday night's loss to San Diego State.

"(There are) a lot of really good programs in the country that have lost,” Oats said. "I mean, we could go down the list of them. That’s what makes the NCAA tournament the NCAA tournament. They’re all good teams."

Alabama was the first of two No. 1 seeds to fall in the Sweet 16 as Houston tripped in a 14-point loss to No. 5-seed Miami. The loss gives Oats a 6-5 record in NCAA Tournament games with his latest loss following a similar narrative to most of his other downfalls with the Crimson Tide when the shooting isn't there, Alabama struggles severely.

A cold-shooting night usually spells doom for most teams in college basketball, however, Alabama's reliance on 3-point shots amplifies it even more. On Friday, Alabama shot 12.5% from deep, its lowest shooting performance since the team's 86-83 win over Arkansas on Feb. 25.

While most of the time critics can just point to poor shooting from deep and make their argument, Alabama couldn't convert at the free-throw line, missing four in the final two minutes and went a poor 17-for-33 on layups and dunks.

Oats remarked that Alabama "was going to lose to a lower seed" unless it won the national championship this season, he tried to dispel any concerns about three consecutive upset losses.

"Last year we had an injury that nobody expected when (Jahvon Quinerly) blew his knee out," Oats said. "Not that that’s an excuse. Notre Dame played well. Before that (against UCLA in 2021), we went 12 of 25 at the free-throw line. Goes into overtime. Shoot 60% instead of less than 50, probably win that game."

Unfortunately for Oats, 2023's March Madness run will once again be left with multiple "What ifs," especially if Brandon Miller, who is expected to be a top-five pick in the NBA Draft, opts to leave early.

Regardless, Oats believes his way of basketball works and is optimistic about the years to come.

"I know we take a lot of threes, but the system worked for the entire year," Oats said. “It’s one of those deals where I’m going to go back to the drawing board and see what I can get better at. We’re going to try to recruit really good players.

"A lot of programs would love to be in the NCAA tournament three straight years. A lot of them would have loved to have won the SEC regular season tournament twice in the last three years. We’re doing pretty good things at Alabama, and we’re going to continue to get better."