Take the Saban approach for QB/RB/WR's, if you do not take care of the ball you do not play. That is not a hard decision to me. It may be hard to live with the consequences of that decision but you do not compromise the basics.
It would be a tougher decision than you think. What do you suggest Oats do when he only has two point guards/ball handlers? Your decision means benching JQ and then playing JD 40 minutes? Or, vice versa?
I know this has been a frustrating season but benching your best players isn't going to work. This deep in the season you can't just start changing lineups and rotations: it won't work. A tweak here and there? Yeah, maybe. Wholesale change? No. Definitely not. Using the bench as a motivation tactic? Far, far too late for that move. The team is in the post-season.
(It's easy to see how the loss of Burnett and Gary's injury turned the page back a bit.)
Since you've brought Saban into the conversation do you really think he wanted to play Billingsley as much as he ended up on the field? No. But what choice did he have with the TE position? Honestly, do you think that was Saban's plan going into the season? Being that reliant on Latu and Billingsley as your options?
I'm betting we can find common ground here. Let me use football as an example.
When Gus arrived in the SEC his offense gave teams fits. After a season or two he was still having success but his style wasn't a secret. SEC opponents knew what they were bringing to the field.
How's that different than basketball? Last season Bama took the SEC by surprise with the up-tempo style Bama played. This season these same SEC teams are familiar with what they bring and they have a better understanding on how to defend: how to throw Bama out of their game plan.
We're in a new season now, post-season play. When they get to the dance we'll see teams who aren't as up-to-date as their SEC opponents. We've seen some great OOC play this year and I content it's because they lack the familiarity other SEC teams have with the Tide.
One and done? Maybe. A decent run? I believe that's more likely than the former.