Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!
Alabama returns to the hardwood tonight to take on the Yale Bulldogs in a final tune-up before SEC play begins in earnest this weekend. Well, tune-up might
be doing a bit of a disservice to the Ivy League juggernaut, but it’s the last opportunity for Nate Oats to get his squad as ready as possible as the calendar flips to 2026 and the meat of the season tips off. And boy does it get tough quick – Alabama opens up SEC play with Kentucky at home and then the undefeated, sudden-athletics powerhouse that is Vanderbilt at dreaded Memorial Gymnasium.
Alabama – for its part – has not looked very good, to be quite blunt about it, since the second half of the Arizona game tipped off. The defense has been pretty atrocious. I know it’s hard to get amped up about playing South Florida and Kennesaw State, especially when you’ve got a substantial lead early, but the lack of intensity and focus on the defensive end has been pretty disheartening. The defensive rebounding is about as bad as it’s been since I’ve been watching Tide Hoops – 15 offensive boards given up to Kennesaw and 25(!) to USF. That just simply isn’t going to cut it if Alabama hopes to contend for an SEC title or a Final Four appearance.
Tonight is a good opportunity to find out who on this team is serious about attaining either one of those goals.
How to Watch
What: Yale (11-1) vs #14 Alabama (9-3)
Where: The Hangar, Tuscaloosa, AL
When: 7:00 pm CT
TV: SEC Network+
Line: Tide -16.5
At this point in James “Earl” Jones tenure at Yale – Year 27 for those keeping track at home – you kind of know what you are going to get from the Bulldogs. They are a veteran group of upperclassmen who run a lot of motion offense like 4- and 5-Out to take advantage of spacing and get open looks at the basket by running flex, setting screens, cutting, etc. They are always incredibly efficient on the offensive end, and this year’s team is no different, checking in at 17th in eFG%, 2nd in 3P%, 4th in FT%, and 20th in Overall Offensive Adjusted Efficiency.
Defensively, the limitations of an Ivy League roster definitely stand out. They aren’t very athletic or exceptionally big, and usually it’s this end of the court that determines whether or not they are capable of beating teams like 2024 Auburn in the NCAA Tournament or if they end up getting run out of the gym like they did a few years prior against Purdue – who is no stranger to the early round upset themselves. Fortunately, for the Tide this go-around, Yale is really bad on defense – 218th in Defensive Efficiency.
Three Keys to Victory
- Transition Offense. The main reason Yale has been so bad on defense is that they really struggle to stop more athletic teams in transition, which should go over just swimmingly for them tonight against Labaron Philon and company. If Alabama can run the Bulldogs all night in Coleman, this game shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
- Focus & Patience on Defense. That being said, Yale is a great team to stress test Alabama’s defenders. They are patient with the offense, hoping to lull you to sleep as another backdoor cutter gets a free look at the basket. Communication is critical, but so is effort. Calling out screens, switching, knowing where to be – it’s all absolutely necessary to defend a team like the Bulldogs. They are 2nd in the country in three-point shooting for a reason – they get a lot of open looks, particularly in the corners.
- Defensive Rebounding. This area of the game simply has to improve for Alabama to be a legitimate contender. Yale’s not as good on the offensive glass as they are in other areas (57th in OREB%), but they know how to position themselves for rebounds. The Tide could learn a thing or two watching them on film, because Alabama isn’t particularly good at offensive rebounding either. But that’s for another day. Tonight, we need to see improvement on the defensive glass. Bol Bowen in particular needs to improve here. His rebounding numbers won’t cut it for a team that needs to be able to play him in the post at times with no true back-up to Aiden Sherrill. We really can’t keep running Noah Williamson out there.
Great test tonight for the Tide. 16 points seems like a lot to cover, in my opinion. However, the athletic discrepancy is a significant one, so Alabama can definitely get there. On the flip side, the Tide can also lose this game. If the defensive rebounding continues like it has the majority of the last three games, Yale has the offensive prowess to upset the Tide right before conference play gets going. Which would be a terrible way to close out the calendar year 2025.
