not ready for prime time...
John Wooden, the Hall of Fame Coach (as well HOF Purdue player) once laid out the steps to know when you have become a successful program. They were as follows:
1. Win as many home games as possible. Any games won on the road are a bonus.
2. Win as many home games as possible and try to steal a game or two on the road
3. Win all your home games and win half of your road games.
4. Win all your home games and win all your road games.
That was the game plan for the Wizard of Westwood and he pulled it off. To hit the lofty level four is a tremendous accomplishment. Bama is still stuck in level two. We are certainly winning a lot of home games, not all, and the road is killing the Tide. 'Bama has won one SEC Game this season and that is not acceptable for the progress of your program. The Tide has some nice wins. Wins over Rhode Island and Auburn were nice wins. When your league road record starts with the number one you are not yet a bonafide NCAA Tournament team. Losing to the two worst teams in the SEC is not very spiffy on a resume.
Bama has road games at Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Auburn remaining. That sounds pretty much like 0-4 to this writer. If Alabama won all their remaining home games including Oklahoma the Tide might get a bid. It would help to get a couple of SEC Tournament wins as well. After last night, I am not holding my breath for that two happen. Why? I honestly don't know. Youth hurts. But there seems to be a lot of inconsistency on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
Let's go back in time to January 4, 1955. George Linn, a wonderful forward, who starred for Bama, unleashed an 84 foot, 1l-inch shot that found the nylon in Foster Auditorium. I was seven years old, and though it was not my first Alabama game. It was the first game I actually remember. That shot was the longest in NCAA history for quite a while. If you attended the Capstone you know where x marks the spot. I still don't understand how he made that shot. Foster was not high-shot friendly. The reason I bring this up is that up is to give you the idea this isn't my first rodeo regarding Tide hoops.
I've seen the Rocket Eight and the players who made Alabama an SEC Power. Johnny Dee must have been a hell of coach, not that my conscious stream would have understood that at the time. It is a shame those teams were denied the opportunity to play in the NCAA or NIT. Racial hatred was alive and well in those days, and I'm being to believe it still is. We went through tough times with Coach Riley. Basketball coaching his time was a secondary job. Finally, Paul Bryant decided to make hoops important. I am not going to go into long detail about what happened after that. I will say that Alabama was the best team in the nation in 1976. The 1987 team could have won the national championship as well. This all ended the day that Hootie Ingram fired Wimp Sanderson. Alabama basketball has never been the same. It was in place to win big with Sanderson. Alabama's AD made a statement that the University would support football only. There has been some moderate success after that. One Elite appearance was the highlight of Gottfried. Grant inherited a mess. He cleaned up the program but could not win big.
Next comes Johnson. It seems like things are better. Hope abounds. Does his record sustain that hope? You be the judge. I have seen a lot of games between 1955 and today. I really can't tell you what is wrong with this team. 13-7 is average at best. We have played a lot of good teams. Arizona, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Auburn come to mind. Next is Oklahoma. Losses to teams of that caliber are understandable. When you lose to a dog Ole Miss team, and a horrible Vandy team something is amiss. There are enough games left to turn the ship around. I hope we don't look back and see our lackluster play against a team like UCF killed us. Something is missing. The frequent lineup changes tells me that Johnson is puzzled as well. A win this weekend could springboard us. A loss might kill us.
I am not trying to wax poetic with this trip down memory lane. I am trying to be realistic. Will Alabama ever be a major force in SEC basketball. I don't know. I think the remainder of this season will have huge impact on the future of our program.
John Wooden, the Hall of Fame Coach (as well HOF Purdue player) once laid out the steps to know when you have become a successful program. They were as follows:
1. Win as many home games as possible. Any games won on the road are a bonus.
2. Win as many home games as possible and try to steal a game or two on the road
3. Win all your home games and win half of your road games.
4. Win all your home games and win all your road games.
That was the game plan for the Wizard of Westwood and he pulled it off. To hit the lofty level four is a tremendous accomplishment. Bama is still stuck in level two. We are certainly winning a lot of home games, not all, and the road is killing the Tide. 'Bama has won one SEC Game this season and that is not acceptable for the progress of your program. The Tide has some nice wins. Wins over Rhode Island and Auburn were nice wins. When your league road record starts with the number one you are not yet a bonafide NCAA Tournament team. Losing to the two worst teams in the SEC is not very spiffy on a resume.
Bama has road games at Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Auburn remaining. That sounds pretty much like 0-4 to this writer. If Alabama won all their remaining home games including Oklahoma the Tide might get a bid. It would help to get a couple of SEC Tournament wins as well. After last night, I am not holding my breath for that two happen. Why? I honestly don't know. Youth hurts. But there seems to be a lot of inconsistency on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
Let's go back in time to January 4, 1955. George Linn, a wonderful forward, who starred for Bama, unleashed an 84 foot, 1l-inch shot that found the nylon in Foster Auditorium. I was seven years old, and though it was not my first Alabama game. It was the first game I actually remember. That shot was the longest in NCAA history for quite a while. If you attended the Capstone you know where x marks the spot. I still don't understand how he made that shot. Foster was not high-shot friendly. The reason I bring this up is that up is to give you the idea this isn't my first rodeo regarding Tide hoops.
I've seen the Rocket Eight and the players who made Alabama an SEC Power. Johnny Dee must have been a hell of coach, not that my conscious stream would have understood that at the time. It is a shame those teams were denied the opportunity to play in the NCAA or NIT. Racial hatred was alive and well in those days, and I'm being to believe it still is. We went through tough times with Coach Riley. Basketball coaching his time was a secondary job. Finally, Paul Bryant decided to make hoops important. I am not going to go into long detail about what happened after that. I will say that Alabama was the best team in the nation in 1976. The 1987 team could have won the national championship as well. This all ended the day that Hootie Ingram fired Wimp Sanderson. Alabama basketball has never been the same. It was in place to win big with Sanderson. Alabama's AD made a statement that the University would support football only. There has been some moderate success after that. One Elite appearance was the highlight of Gottfried. Grant inherited a mess. He cleaned up the program but could not win big.
Next comes Johnson. It seems like things are better. Hope abounds. Does his record sustain that hope? You be the judge. I have seen a lot of games between 1955 and today. I really can't tell you what is wrong with this team. 13-7 is average at best. We have played a lot of good teams. Arizona, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Auburn come to mind. Next is Oklahoma. Losses to teams of that caliber are understandable. When you lose to a dog Ole Miss team, and a horrible Vandy team something is amiss. There are enough games left to turn the ship around. I hope we don't look back and see our lackluster play against a team like UCF killed us. Something is missing. The frequent lineup changes tells me that Johnson is puzzled as well. A win this weekend could springboard us. A loss might kill us.
I am not trying to wax poetic with this trip down memory lane. I am trying to be realistic. Will Alabama ever be a major force in SEC basketball. I don't know. I think the remainder of this season will have huge impact on the future of our program.
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