NEW ERA OF TIDE BASKETBALL BEGINS WITH HIRING OF AVERY JOHNSON

Battle hits a home run on this one....
This could be the beginning of something special

    

Battle and the Tide make a national statement

 From all reports it seems that the University has hired Avery Johnson as the new Alabama Men’s Head basketball coach. How good is that?  Bill Battle wanted to make a home run hire.  I think he just hit a grand slam home-run deep over the center field fence.  In baseball terms, Battle just hit one over the railroad tracks.  Johnson, who is only 50 years old, replaces Anthony Grant as coach.  Johnson has not coached at the college level but was coach in the NBA. He took one of his teams, the Mavs,  to the Championship series in 2006.

    

Johnson will be at press conference
tomorrow in Tuscaloosa

It is astounding how much the fans have embraced his hire. Less than a week ago countless reasons were expressed why Johnson would not be good fit for ‘Bama. Most detractors sighted his NCAA experience and a lack of recruiting as the main problems. This man has coached in the NBA, and had to deal with egos much stronger than high school players. I disagreed with those assessments. Rather than problems a lot of his supporters saw experience and a real opportunity to get the Tide back in the hunt for national prominence.  I guarantee you that a collective gasp could heard throughout the campuses of SEC schools. On one campus you heard the sounds of joy and jubilation, and despite earlier skepticism by some; it appears that the fan base has now embraced the exuberant Johnson as the new coach. I suspect the support will be rewarded. One poll that I saw showed that over 96% of fans voted their agreement. As we all know, finding that many Alabama fans harmonious on anything is remarkable.

    I think that Avery Johnson’s personality is just what the is needed. Imagine a high school recruit sitting down with Johnson and talking about all the stars he coached. He is pipeline for new ‘Bama recruits and current players into the NBA. Johnson has shown he’s not afraid to crack the whip with pampered NBA players. He’ll have no trouble getting his players on the same page immediately. Johnson’s first job will be to talk with Dazon Ingram, Alabama’s Mr. Basketball, to honor his pledge to the Tide. I bet he does.  That conversation will be between two guards. They talk the same language. Ingram could not find a better coach for his position. Johnson played for 16 years a point guard in the NBA. I can’t speak for Ingram, but it were me I’d be jumping up and down in joy right now. No details of the deal were revealed in any of the reports online. 

    

   

What will Mr. Basketball do?

     Bill Battle wanted to make a statement with this hire. Heo wanted to let the nation know that Alabama was on its way back to run with the big dogs. He also wanted to let fans understand that he is restructuring ‘Bama’s game plan with this hire. He also let a school in Southeast Alabama understand the facts of life as it relates to basketball. I think Battle pulled a Mal Moore on this one. I know one sportswriter in Birmingham, Alabama who is probably chuckling about now. Roll Tide Roll.