Nate Oats reached the podium in the Naylor Stone Media Suite and cracked a pretty good joke after arriving 10 minutes late to his scheduled press conference. Wearing a black jumpsuit, Oats apologized to reporters and stated the obvious.

“Sorry I’m a little late, practice went a little long, trying to get the defense figured out,” Oats quipped. ” … I think everyone’s seen our offense is good enough to win every game. If our defense was where it’s supposed to be, until we get our defense to where it needs to be, it’s gonna be the main point of emphasis moving forward.”

No. 23 Alabama (5-1) suffered its first loss of the season last weekend, giving up 92 points to Ohio State. It then allowed 91 to Oregon, but UA’s high-octane offense prevailed. But Oats knows that model isn’t sustainable and that half of his blue-collar basketball is pressuring teams on both sides of the floor. This weekend, following the 1-1 stretch in Florida, Alabama coaches broke out drills they ran in the preseason — providing extra help on dribble drives, closing out on shooters, keeping the ball out of the paint — to reestablish the “basic fundamentals” of “taking some pride” in a 1-on-1 matchup.

The Tide has a new coaching staff and roster this winter and while Oats said the freshmen are still acclimating, he once again questioned the effort of veterans. He’ll see if the extra work paid off on Tuesday night when Alabama hosts Clemson (5-0) at 8:30 p.m. for the ACC/SEC Challenge.

Not only does UA get the friendly confines of Coleman Coliseum, but it also returns to Tuscaloosa for the biggest non-conference home game of the season. Ahead of December matchups against No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Arizona and No. 15 Creighton, two of which are true road contests an Alabama defensive turnaround can be key to building its NCAA Tournament resume.

“Sometimes guys gotta determine they’re gonna take the defensive end seriously. That it’s a big deal with them, that it’s important for us to win,” Oats said. ” … I’m gonna keep saying it and we’re gonna try to keep coaching it.”

According to data Oats referenced, Alabama has one of the better pace of play rats in the country, meaning it scores fast and on the other end, it forces teams to operate late in the shot clock. The mistakes have added to the frustrations, however, as Oats said the final “10 seconds” of possessions have too often featured either a breakdown in protection or an offensive board.

Alabama’s KenPom page is a mismatch of highly-rated stats proving Alabama’s offensive acumen — its top 10 in 2- and 3-point field goal percentage, the best in adjusted offensive efficiency — and issues like being 206th in defensive turnover rate and conceding a 49.7% effective field-goal rate, 177th in Division-I (Alabama led the country in the latter stat a year ago).

Part of Alabama’s search for consistency is to identify its lad rim protector now that Charles Bediako and Noah Clowney have departed. North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson has struggled to establish himself on the glass early, Oats said. Returner Nick Pringle is still struggling to find a rhythm and West Virginia transfer Mohamed Wague is coming along after undergoing foot surgery in the offseason.

They’ll be tasked with containing Tigers forward PJ Hall who’s averaging 21.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 54.8% from the field and 8-for-22 from deep. The game will be aired on ESPN.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].