Nate Oats was not thrilled with effort in latest loss to Kentucky

After the 90-81 loss to Kentucky, Alabama fell to 17-10 (7-7) in year three under Nate Oats. The defending SEC champion has had a good year as the Crimson Tide has knocked off Gonzaga, Baylor, Houston, and Tennessee, but the consistency has just not been there.

Alabama has reached double-digit losses with four games remaining until the postseason begins. Also on the resume is awful losses to Georgia and Missouri combined with an 0-4 combined record against both Auburn and Kentucky.

The Tide is heading to another NCAA Tournament, but the head coach is clearly frustrated. That was shown when Oats met with reporters following the loss to Kentucky.

“Everybody is responsible for their own personal effort,” Oats told reporters. “For whatever reason this year, we haven’t been able to get them to give us the effort they need to win big games.”

“It’s very frustrating to watch. It’s not a recipe to win on a consistent basis. And that’s why I think we’ve seen the ups and downs we’ve had this year.”

That effort the head coach was alluding to likely showed up beginning after the final media timeout in the first half. Alabama got outscored 13-2 before halftime and saw a double-digit lead turn into a deficit in the blink of an eye. Once out of the locker room, Kentucky went on a 24-12 blitz to essentially end the game at 71-58 with just under 12 minutes remaining.

For the season, Alabama has seen its defense take a serious step back. After fielding a top-five unit last year, the Crimson Tide sits at No. 79 overall in defensive efficiency. In conference play, Nate Oats has seen his team drop to 11th in SEC games.

As the losses start to mount, the head coach with a funky style of basketball is growing extremely disappointed with his group. Alabama has taken a step back, and the frustrations of a season are starting to boil over.

“They played the whole game without a point guard, and we only turned them over seven times,” said a frustrated Nate Oats.