Answering 3 Alabama basketball postseason questions ahead of Sweet 16 (2024)

Alabama men’s basketball is two games away from the Final Four. A team sliding going into the NCAA Tournament made the most of its seeding luck, beating up on No. 13 Charleston and outlasting No. 12 Grand Canyon to extend its trip out West. Now, Crimson Tide fans are wondering how long this journey can last.

Before four-seeded Alabama (23-10) plays in its third Sweet 16 under Nate Oats, let’s look back at the postseason questions UA had to answer ahead of the SEC Tournament. If some answers stay consistent, Alabama could knock off No. 1 North Carolina for one of the biggest wins in program history.

Alabama’s injury outlook is similar, can it handle Wrightsell’s potential absence?

Heading into the Big Dance, Oats was able to tout his team’s health as a difference maker. Wrightsell (concussion) and Rylan Griffen (calf) were fully cleared. A week later, Griffen’s calf is healed but freshman guard Davin Cosby is out for the year with a broken foot and Wrightsell’s status is uncertain.

“Latrell is being re-evaluated by the medical staff every day, and he’s basically on a day-to-day basis now. I’m not sure if he’ll be available or not. They’ll let us know tomorrow,” Oats told reporters in Crypto.com Arena Wednesday.

Wrightsell wasn’t in the portion of practice media observed, but he was spotted on photos released by UA via social media. He reaggravated his head injury on Sunday and has missed our games in 2023-24. His 3-point shooting has been a key piece of the Tide’s offense while allowing Oats to spread defenses out with his four-guard lineup. Should Wrightsell be unavailable, Alabama will likely insert Jarin Stevenson and have the forward attempt to create space.

Alabama will need its bigs to be ready when facing UNC’s Armando Bacot. The 6-foot-11 grad student is averaging 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game and has scored 38 points across 42 minutes in the NCAA Tournament.

How does Alabama continue to improve defensively?

Multiple UA players said they “proved” the team could play defense in Spokane, Washington. Statistically, they were right. The 61 points it held Grand Canyon to was Alabama’s best defensive showing since it held South Carolina to 47 points. Alabama managed foul trouble well, even with Wrightsell leaving due to injury midway through the first half and contained Tyon Grant-Foster. He finished with 29 points but many of his 22 shot attempts were contested and like most of the Lopes, Grant-Foster got a chunk of his points from the free-throw line.

UNC is a far tougher matchup than Charleston and Grand Canyon, but another defensive showing can start in the same place: Mark Sears. After being called out by Oats for his need to improve, Sears strung together two awesome displays last weekend. He anticipated decisions, jumped passing lanes and kept teammates focused after fouls or tough shots were allowed.

“Focus on making the tough blue-collar, defensive-minded, (offensive) boards, great screen assists. Focus on that. The offense will come,” Oats said after Sunday.

Will other UA players have a March moment?

In the huddle, Oats and players kept stressing the word ‘next.’ Whether it be the next shot or the next rebound, Alabama needed to sustain momentum and not “play the scoreboard,” like it’s done in the past. Part of that mindset has come from having multiple bench pieces step up in the Tournament.

Mouhamed Dioubate scored eight straight in the Round of 32. Alabama will need his toughness to stop UNG guard RJ Davis if Griffen slips into foul trouble. Nick Pringle went from not flying with the team to being the Tide’s strongest rebounder and, at times, a defensive anchor.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good mix of a lot of new guys in to keep this program up to where, you know, we’re not the No. 1 overall seed like last year, but you don’t get Brandon Miller every year either. I thought we got some pretty good replacements in to keep us at a pretty high level to where we’re in the Sweet 16 and we’ve got a shot to make the second (in school history).”

Who can Alabama get more from against tougher competition and potentially without Wrightsell? Grant Nelson is averaging three points and 16 minutes per game. Freshman sharpshooter Sam Walters has yet to find a rhythm from 3-point range.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter@nick_a_alvarezor email him atNAlvarez@al.com.