TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dazon Ingram considers himself a fighter. The recipient of two flagrant 1 fouls against Arkansas over the weekend, he twice got back on his feet and dusted himself off after being hacked to the floor.
Ingram played 30 gritty minutes against Arkansas scoring 13 points, including a key 3-pointer as Alabama mounted an early comeback in the second half. Despite the Crimson Tide ultimately losing 76-73 to the Razorbacks, he believes he and his teammates ultimately left everything out on the court.
“I feel like we come to fight every game,” Ingram said. “I mean it’s a tough league so we respect every team, and every team is good.”
That statement comes after Alabama head coach Avery Johnson challenged his team to take on his fighting mentality following Saturday’s loss. Johnson elaborated Monday on his comments, paraphrasing a popular saying made famous by former president John F. Kennedy:
“‘Victory has many fathers, but defeat is like an orphan,’ or something to that point,” Johnson said of the quote. “I just think it’s easy to fight when you’re on a winning streak, but it’s harder when you’re in a little bit of adversity.
“I’ve told you guys a million times, when we win a game it’s 100 text messages. When we’re defeated, it’s probably one.”
Johnson then stated that his team needs to “fight for a longer period of time,” stating his team had those spurts of desperation at times this year but hasn’t been able to put it together for a whole game very often.
At first glance, it appears the head coach and his players are under two different understandings. Obviously, Ingram feels he and his teammates are giving it their best, while Johnson looks to be calling for more. However, the real issue comes in Johnson’s definition of what fighting actually is.
By no means is the head coach questioning Ingram or any other player on his team’s want or desire to win. He knows his team is working hard and giving it their best.
For Johnson, it’s a matter of working smarter, not harder.
“If you have 18 turnovers, are you fighting?” Johnson questioned. “It’s all about not just running the court faster. You can run up and down the court and get in transition, that’s great. But fighting is also about winning the rebounding battle, what about taking care of the ball, what about making our free throws. Fighting has a lot of different layers, it’s not just whether you come ready to play.”
The loss to Arkansas was Alabama’s third straight defeat, its longest losing streak this season. In each of the three games, Alabama has lost the battle on boards as the Crimson Tide has been out-rebounded a combined 121-88 over that span. All three of those games have been particularly painful as Alabama has conceded double-digit offensive rebounds each time.
“We can’t do that,” Johnson said. “That’s not fighting to me.”
Alabama’s lack of rebounding has also hindered its offense as opponents have been able to slow the Crimson Tide down by running zone defenses. After holding opponents to under 70 points in five straight games, Alabama has allowed 70 or more points in each of its three losses. The inability to get stops means that Alabama has to inbound the basketball, slowing down its high-paced offense even further.
“If we get the rebound on defense, then we are off to the races,” Ingram said. “That’s what it’s going to take for us to be able to start scoring like we were in January.”
Tied for seventh in the SEC standings, there is a sense of urgency sweeping over Alabama (17-12, 8-8 in the SEC) heading into Tuesday night’s game against Florida (18-11, 9-7) at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN. With two games remaining in the regular season, Alabama can theoretically jump to as high as No. 4 or fall to as low as No. 11 in the conference before the start of the SEC Tournament. Alabama beat Florida 68-50 in Gainesville, Fla. earlier this month.
“Right now our backs against the wall,” Ingram said. “so we just have to come out and fight.”
