Where do we go from here?

Wishing and hoping, thinking and praying...

  I know that seems like a strange question prior to  the first game is even being played. There is a good possibility that Alabama is going to have a pretty good year. I don't think it is going to a be a 25 win team though They might win close to twenty.  The Pre-SEC schedule is pretty hard. Can you project the year to be really good when you've lost the best point guard in the SEC? It's a pretty tough to believe that two transfer are going to take you to the promised land. How much do you think Jimmie Taylor has improved on the offensive end? Is Shannon Hale going to continue to step up his game and become the team leader?  Will Levi Randolph become a force after disappearing half of last season? Will Cooper ever become a consistent player and approach his talent level, or will he remain an enigma.I've always been taught that the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. For 'Bama that brings the good, the bad, and the ugly. The biggest question has nothing to do with the players. Question number one is can Grant really get the job done. I hope so but I'm not holding my breath.Whether the team wins or not it is all about Anthony Grant.

Great defensive player

     I also wonder how much three highly rated recruits can help the team that couldn't shoot straight. Truthfully, Alabama's offense was pretty bad last year, but the defense was worse. Had 'Bama played defense the way Grant's teams of the past had played, we might have won 20 games last year. Truthfully, Grant lost his team last team. To his credit, he came very close to making them a pretty good team down the home stretch. Very close in basketball means you are losing. Very close is just another couple words that mean you still aren't winning. None of this means that Anthony Grant isn't a fine human being. After five years he's proved his point. If any Alabama fan says they are satisfied they are one of two things. They are lying or don't think any sport but football matters. He needs to be ready to hire a great coach, and the conversation needs to start something like this - "hello, my name is Bill Battle and I have four million dollars to convince you we are serious about basketball in Tuscaloosa." I thought Grant was the man. Maybe's he's the man who comes before the  man.

What do I want from 'Bama this season?

Make or Break year for Grant?

Fans want a lot more from Grant

           The sabbatical  is over. It's time to start posting again. What do I want from 'Bama this season? I'd like to see us become relevant like we were before Grant's tenure. There are only two ways I see that happening. First, we beat a few teams in the season that we weren't picked to win. Second, make it to the NCAA field, and win a game or two at the dance. 
 

      It's been a shaky five years...        Season six for Anthony Grant appears to be a make or break deal for him. I think that's fair. He's had five years to rebuild a program. Trying to be fair and objective, I'd say we've gone backwards in a pretty severe manner. The failure of Grant to flourish at 'Bama is a real stunner to me. When we hired him it seemed for all the world that it was a big time hire. There have been a couple of nice years. I'll grant him that no pun intended. He finished at 12-4 in the SEC West one season and didn't get selected for the NCAA Tournament.  I thought was unfair. I don't think a Big Ten or Big East team would have suffered the same fate. But overall, Coach Grant has been a lightning rod for criticism.  I also think that had Mal been at the helm for the end of last season Grant would have been given a pat on the back, a thank you, and a nice severance package. 

 The Pearl Problem...   On top of all of 'Bama's problem also includes AU's hiring of Bruce Pearl. Pearl. The Auburn head coach is everything that Anthony isn't. He's fired up, his enthusiasm is contagious, his marketing is marvelous, and he's a cheat. He is also a great coach. Auburn decided to take a chance and turn their program upside down. Hiring a cheater was no bar. I think any man should be given a second chance and Pearl deserves one. I don't like the fact that Tide fans will get to watch it up close and personal. I talk with a lot of recruits. They all basically say the same thing - Grant is a nice man, a rules first man, and my mama likes him. The also don't want to play for the man. How obvious is that observation? If you are a big inside player and want some immediate minutes - then go to Bama. It just hasn't worked out that way for Grant. He's like the man who has the second best hand at the weekly poker game. 

 Where do the fans stand?  Now as this season approaches the fans seem to fall into three classes. 1. He should have been fired already. 2. He will be fired at the end of this season. Or finally, 3. He's our coach and I'll support him. There is actually another group. That group consists of any serious or casual Alabama basketball fan. Everyone is upset at where we are, and very uncertain about where we are going. The expectations for this season are pretty high. It appears that the Tide might actually have an inside  game and some real shooters. Basketball gurus said the Tide recruited a top three shooting class. The Tide also has two pretty good transfers. We will see how much is wishful thinking. 

  

Battle is under some heat

  There's something we all need to keep in mind. Alabama also lost it's best player in Releford,  and perhaps their best inside player in Jacobs. Alabama might be okay with the loss of Jacobs. Alabama will find someone to start at the point but he isn't going to be nearly as  good as Releford. Tarrant and Coleman will give it their best shot. Coleman  has a tremendous future. Tarrant was a star at Tulane and Bama should have signed him at the end of a great career at Pleasant Grove. The days of assuming that an Alabama head coach getting the better in state players is gone. If Bama doesn't get a certain kid from Bibb County then Grant can't recruit well enough to win. It's pretty apparent.  The kid is a $20 dollar cab fare from campus. It would mean a lot to Alabama fan to see him come to Alabama.  Recruiting is everything in a sport where you only have five men playing. I continue to think Grant is a good coach. He might be a better assistant than head man in the final analysis. What I don't want is that our program wins just enough games to keep Grant. We are historically better than that. Grant better produce a little positive history himself. My biggest concern is that ten years from now we see that Bama's keeping Grant and AU hiring Pearl  was a watershed moment. If you can't recruit the rest doesn't matter.

Update: Purifoy committed to Pearl without every having met the man.