re: Alabama's style of offense can be elite but it has some horrible lows

To add to that, there are some coaches that seem to get guys to play even better than their “capable” by getting them to believe they are Michael Jordan. If you’re at a mid major, that’s what you want…a coach constantly getting the team to believe they are better than their collective talent. We’ve all seen teams play way over their head, sometimes even in a sustained stretch (see TCU in football, George Mason basketball, etc.).

Our coaches generally focus on teaching, accountability, player responsibility, etc., and spend a lot of time “warning” the team of what can happen if they’re not performing to the standard. It’s not the cheerleading style of we’re awesome, we’re going to win because we’re better and out working them, let’s have fun and just play. There’s positives and negatives to both styles, but the 2nd style tends to bring more confidence and relaxation as the players seem less focused on avoiding a disappointment and truly feel the coach believes in them.

I’m glad we have intense coaches that are very hard workers and very well prepared. I wish it didn’t come at the cost of having more fear of failure when they step on the court/field, but there’s always trade offs. Hopefully Oats can figure out the late shooting woes and learn to have the guys relaxed for big tourney games.