For a team that likes a fast pace, the sound of a whistle is not exactly suited to Alabama style.
The 81-66 loss in Arkansas spoke of this.
Alabama (18-6, 13-2 SEC) was charged with 32 fouls – the biggest in more than three years – in a night that frustration overflowed. Senior John Petty was sent off at 1:01 am, after being called for his second technical foul arguing a call.
Arkansas ended with 43 free-throw attempts against eight from Alabama.
Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats answered some questions about the impact of the fouls on Alabama’s post-game defeat. He said Alabama players are sometimes too concerned about refereeing.
“Well, we have no control over arbitration,” said Oats. “So, if you’re going to worry about things you have no control over, you’re not very good at things you have control over and we weren’t very good at that tonight. We have to stop worrying about arbitration. They will referee the game the way they referee it and we have to worry about what we can control and we have to do a better job. “
Oats pointed the 3-point shot below the Tide average as a factor, as the visitors scored 4 to 16 from a long distance after the break.
The disparity in false shots, however, was unusually high.
What did Oats think of that?
“I’m not trying to return money to anyone, but I’m not going to talk about it much,” said Oats, referring to the potential fines he could receive from the SEC for criticizing employees. “But part of it is, I mean, we were getting some dirty. We need to move our feet and get into position. We have to try not to miss the 3-point pitchers.
“We shot a lot more 3s than they did, but I thought a lot of our 3s came out of drives and kicks and I thought maybe on some drives, we… we have to do a better job of trying to get dirty on our drives as if they being dirty on your drives, I think. “
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said his team’s 27-3 advantage in free kicks was clearly big in the game.
“We felt that attacking the rim was something we really wanted to do,” said Mussleman. “We didn’t want to settle. We didn’t want to increase three. We didn’t want quick pictures. I thought we did a good job of understanding the shooting clock for the most part. As far as I know, we took maybe two pictures that I was not happy with. We also had great days of preparation. I am proud of the execution on both sides of the ball. “
Beginners Herbert Jones and Jaden Shackelford suffered a foul while Petty was sent to the shower earlier with the technique. Oats was asked what happened to Petty’s final T.
“They trapped him. John didn’t think he blamed him. Me neither, ”said Oats. “I have to see the replay, I haven’t seen it for sure. I think when the referee called the foul on him, he was a little frustrated. I think he felt like he bumped into something before he wasn’t called. It is a difficult game. There is a lot of contact and we were called for many fouls and he said something he shouldn’t have said to the referees. I don’t know what it was, but obviously he shouldn’t have said that. “
Before being charged with 32 fouls on Wednesday, the previous season’s record was 27 in December’s victory over Ole Miss. Alabama had been called for more than 20 fouls in just seven of the 23 previous games this season.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or in the Facebook.