A NO WIN SITUATION FOR THE TIDE?

Auburn is 0-6 the league...

An old fan's view...

     Tomorrow’s Auburn game is a kind of no win situation for Coach Grant. I think most people get that. After all, Alabama is supposed to always beat Auburn in basketball. Grant, for his part, has done that 5 out of the 6 times his team played the Tigers. I’d take that percentage against anyone we play. The bottom line for Grant is that his players generally win against Auburn, when they should.So if  they lose when they shoud win, it is just further proof (according to many), that it is time to fire him.  Like most arguments in life the truth lies somewhere in between. Winning any SEC road game is still a big deal. Losing to a team that has not won any SEC games is never good. That is particularly true when the team you play is your arch rival. The bottom of the bottom line for Anthony Grant is you get paid to win games like the Auburn game. You don’t get paid to beat Kentucky. If you coach at Alabama and beat Kentucky it’s icing on the cake. It’s nice but not necessary. Beating Auburn is expected and it is necessary.  To Grant’s credit he has done that so far. But a second loss to the worst basketball program in the SEC will far outweigh the actual importance of the game. 

     What do officials at Alabama really expect from a head coach.  I don’t think it is expected that the coach win a national championship. First and foremost you are expected to beat Auburn. Second, you are expected to win your home games to keep the revenue stream intact. The main thing is to be competitive against everyone. Has Grant done that?  It would be easy just to say no. But that isn’t exactly correct. He’s won 20 or more games for the last three years. Only Kentucky and Florida have won more in the SEC. Grant’s teams rarely get beaten like a red headed step child. They rarely blow anyone out. They aren’t thrilling to watch, but almost every game is one to keep you on the edge of your seat. LSU beat Kentucky last night. We beat LSU. Therefore, according to most fans that means we should beat Kentucky. We all know that’s folly. We beat LSU because Alabama played well at the right time, and Johnny O’Bryant, III sat on the bench most of the first half. That doesn’t mean that Alabama might not have beaten LSU with III on the floor, but I’d much rather have him watching from a nice court side seat. Luck matters. We got some in that game.  So was Alabama the first half team or the second half team against LSU? They are both. 

    To win in the SEC you have to have the horses. We just don’t have enough. The ones Grant has been able to coach haven’t always turned out that way.  Pollard was a bust before he was busted for kidnaping. Lacey, for all his hype, never was the player most expected. He was good, but a five star? I don’t think so. I kept saying that Moussa Gueye was better than most believed. I still believe our record would be much better this season with him. Jacobs came in a four star player?  I don’t think he’s live up to that, but it would be unfair to say he hasn’t improved. That’s one of the slams against Grant that I believe is untrue. His players do get better. I’m not sure how good they were when he got them. Some have had a few too many pounds on them. Lacey looked like a punch bowl at times, but he was wearing under padding. Releford lost some weight and his game improved. I was really excited when we signed Hale. I saw him play a couple of times in high school. He has gotten better much faster than I believed he might. Playing time does that. Necessity does that. 

    At the age of 67 you have one advantage in watching Alabama games. That is the advantage of perspective. Our younger fans are very passionate today. If they think that this years team isn’t as good as some teams of that past they are correct. This years team is so far behind teams under CM and Wimp there is no way that teams under Grant could come close to beating earlier teams at that Capstone. Frankly, I don’t think they are better than Gottfrieds’ or Hobbs’ teams either. The league is so weak. I haven’t seen a great team in the entire NCAA this season.. I can’t speak for other teams and why they are having so many problems. But, at Alabama it is a lack of talent. It isn’t a lack of heart. It certainly doesn’t mean our teams don’t play hard. Grant’s teams play harder than most Alabama teams I can remember. It isn’t the x’s and o’s. It is the lack of Johnnys and Joes. I don’t remember who said that, but it is true. Releford is a great player. Name one other great player Grant has signed since coming here that falls in the great column. He didn’t recruit Green or Mitchell. Having a great point game is the starting place to have a great team. But a great point guard won’t make a team great. Is this year’s Alabama team a bad team? I don’t think so. They’ve lost a lot of close games that had they won, Bama would be a top 20 team. I understand the message behind the Biblical story of David and Goliath. In the long run I believe the Goliath’s of the world wear down and beat the Davids. At least on a level playing field. In David’s case he had an ultimate coach. 

     I know that Grant is getting one more season and earlier this season I was all for that. But we aren’t getting anywhere in my opinion. I can live with Grant staying one more year if I have too do so. I don’t want Grant to go. I want him to recruit better. I don’t really think that getting transfers is exactly like recruiting. I might be wrong about that though. We got a very decent class next season and two really good transfers. So what would a loss to a crummy Auburn team mean to me?  It means we are aren’t even treading water. It means we are sinking. I’m wishing and hoping that the Tide wins tomorrrow night. We could win. I just don’t feel good about the game. For an old Alabama fan that’s a new feeling. Going to Auburn in the past was a a fun two hours with your closest friends and enemies. Then we all went out for Pizza. Auburn fans didn’t really care whether we beat them or not because it wasn’t football. Our road fan base was a couple of thousand who did care. I admire our posters who say they are going to Gainesville for the game. So how can I put this?  In the old days we hoped we wouldn’t loss but we didn’t have to hope we could win because we could and did. 

   People ask me who I would want if Grant goes?  I have a few names in mind. We’d need a big name coach in my opinion. I’d love to see someone like Izzo come to Bama if Grant leaves. Here’s a name I really like - Larry Brown at SMU.  He’s a winner. His ego is large enough not to be intimidated by the football mystique in the SEC. He coached at some big time places. He’s still young enough to get some great seasons in the future. So here is my current thought. I hope Grant can get things fixed.  If not, let’s not waste time hoping for a miracle. At Alabama we have enough money to buy a miracle. 

      I love Cecil Hurt. He wrote that the Auburn game may not be enough to cost Grant his job. It isn’t like the AD is going to take Anthony out behind the gym and shoot him. Cecil said it would be a line on his resume. Hmm... true but try finding a great job when you couldn’t beat your arch rival at a time when their progam was lower than dirt. Losing to your arch rival twice on the road when they are as bad as a team can be is a lot like finding out your wife cheated on you. You might take her back but you’ll never feel the same.