Tide gets ready show they belong in NCAA Tournament tonight

Iowa State is big league...

Tide seeks to reverse last year's poor start

Tonight’s game with Iowa State is going to tell Alabama fans a lot. Tonight won’t be about offense I bet. If Alabama is going to beat Iowa State it will a team defensive effort. The Cyclones have scoring from all of their position players. Coach Grant has stated he thinks Alabama could be a very good team. It will take a good team to beat the #14 team in the AP Poll. First thing that sticks out about ISU is the balanced scoring. All five starters are in double figures, and the sixth man is scoring at 9.1.  Iowa State is one of the top twenty programs in the NCAA. They are coached by Fred Hoiberg. Hoiberg has brought an exciting brand of basketball to the State of Iowa.

The game is listed as a neutral location. It’s about as neutral as if the Tide were playing in Birmingham. Kansas City has been very good to the Cyclones over the years. Expect several thousand Cyclone fans to make the trip for tonight’s game. The Cyclones opened the season with 93 and 81 points. The dropped Oakland 93-82 and then followed that up by a complete shellacking of Georgia State 81-58. Both Oakland and Georgia State are the type programs that cans sneak up and beat good teams.

Iowa State likes to move the ball on offense. They had 18 assist to only 8 turnovers in their first game. That will win a lot of games. The turned around and dropped 23 against Georgia State. They had only 12 turnovers. That’s almost a 2-1 ratio. The Tide has won their first three, including a hard fought game against Western Carolina which went down to the wire.

This year’s addition of Tide Hoops is a lot different from last season. First, the team can score. Ex-Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon has made the Tide a pretty good offensive team. The team has been a collection of veterans, transfers, and new players. Witherspoon is melding the players into a much more explosive team. Like a lot of new teams, the Tide is just about even on assists to turnovers. That ratio is offset by a lot of steals and blocked shots. Jimmy Taylor already has 8 in the first three games. Levi Randolph has stepped up his game and turned into the leader of the team. He was unanimously elected the team captain. That was a first for a Grant coached team. No doubt that Ricky Tarrant has been a very strong addition to the roster. Michael Kessens seems to have the skills to contribute in the paint. He can play with his back to basket or can face up on the exterior. Tarrant has the potential to be an All-SEC type player. It’s a little too early to say the same about Kessens but he’s got skills. Once again, Rodney Cooper is an enigma in my eyes. He should be scoring far more that has in the past. His rebound is very solid, and he is a good defensive player. When the season is over we may look back and say that we are only as good as Cooper became his senior year.

Jimmy Taylor hit a nice little running fade away. It was a kind of Buck Johnson shot. Taylor has also bulked up and is much stronger. He has great timing on blocking shots, and can finish off interior passes with a stuff. He looks much improved. A real star in the making is Sophomore Shannon Hale. He is aggressive, much stronger, has a nice shooting shot, and has some real court awareness.

What can you say negative about Justin Coleman? He is generously listed at 5-10 and 160lbs. He is quicker than a hiccup. He can drive and dish, and drop in some outside bombs. His upside is tremendous. He and Tarrant will make a tough backcourt when they play together. That’s some that Grant hasn’t done much but as the SEC season approaches they will. Jeff Garrett has been unable play because of oral surgery but is expected in the lineup tonight. Riley Norris, who narrowed his choices of college to ‘Bama, ‘Vandy, and the Gators is going to be very good player. Same for Devon Mitchell. All of Bama’s new recruits can contribute in a lot of ways. They are all keepers, and will set a strong foundation for the future.

Grant is going to get one more season after this year regardless of what happens. If this year’s team is any indication to what he can do he seems to be off to a good start. Alabama has a really tough pre-season. The conference is going to be somewhat easier than most of the teams we play early on. Bama needs to win three or four in early period to catch the attention of the selection committee. If the Tide stumbles out of the gate it will diminish what happens in the SEC. If Alabama is able to knock off UCLA, Wichita State, and Iowa State the Crimson is going to look a lot better in the Committee room. Prior to season I didn’t think this team would be competitive. They just might be. If players continue to improve, the outside shooting holds up, and the Tide rebounds well, they might surprise. The defense has looked all that good in the first three games. Isn’t that ironic. The Tide has been trying to play a lot of zone to protect Taylor. The game tonight is a big step to determine whether we belong or not. I think that ISU should win the game. But should win is not the same as will win. This team seems tight with each other. That is a good sign. We’ll know more later tonight. Roll Tide

Where do we stand as a basketball school today?

Tide hosts Southern Miss tonight...

Tide thumped Towson and struggled against Western Carolina..

 

Emails asking the same questions...

     I get emails from fans wanting to know my opinion about our basketball program. A little background first. I’ve been watching Alabama since the Rocket 8 lifted off from the hardwood. Those were gaudy times. Then came the Eugene Lambert era which was pretty bad, but not terrible. If you view that time against the time he coached, Alabama was about average for an SEC team. No one really gave a flip about hoops in those days. Foster Auditorium was an absolute joke even for its time. It was all Alabama needed though.

Fans wanted some changes in the 60's

     Their came a day when a group of basketball fans, me included, started to write letters to Coach Bryant about the need to upgrade our program. He gave it his best shot. And like all the shots that the Bear took it was dead solid perfect. We explained to him that his legacy as an AD hinged on the improvement of basketball and other non-revenue sports. My father and Coach Bryant a lifted a drink or two together in their times, so the Bear was not a complete stranger to me. It would not be true to say we were friends. How I met the Bear was more to do with bourbon, Old Golds and Chesterfields. But he knew who I was due to my father. Those fan conversations took place with Coach through individual efforts, but finally a “group” asked to meet with him. I think it was a preview for looking at God on judgment day. He was polite and generous with his time. We had 15 minutes or so. He listened. You could tell he was really listening about what we thought as fans and alums.

Enter C.M. Newton and the program exploded... 

      Bryant hired C.M. Newton as our next head coach. Who the heck was C.M. Newton? Where the heck was Transylvania College? I was young and cocky and thought I knew it all about hoops. That hire was a puzzle to me. I remember thinking ‘why didn’t we try to sign someone like Adolph Rupp’. That’s how young and naïve I was back then. It was a total lack of respect for people who actually knew basketball. It’s the same lack of respect I see that our younger fans give our older fans today. The young think that older fans don’t know a darn thing about Hoops, and that selling us season tickets is hilarious. Many of the younger fans think that older Alabama fans sit on their hands in expensive seats, and that is a total waste of time. Nothing could be further from the truth on all counts. I’m 67 years old now. I know so much more than a college student, as it relates to basketball, because of the extra 45 years I’ve attended games. I’ve got so much information about the game of basketball and Alabama basketball in my brain than most could imagine. Reading the forums it is clear that having a mouthful to say is not the same as having a brain to back it up. I don’t always agree with the opinion of others regarding our program. But if an Alabama has an opinion I’m open to what they have to say. We have polarized our fan base, and forums just fuel the fire. I think that loving Alabama should be unifying. I’m clearly aware that criticizing our coach is perfectly acceptable. I don’t think it is acceptable to make untrue comments about our players. Like the other day someone say Devonta Pollard is "as dumb as a rock". He isn't. He is a smart young man who was carrying more trouble than most of us could endure. Let's cut that crap out.

   Unity through winning is what C.M. Newton brought to Alabama basketball.  We have had two truly great basketball teams in my opinion. Either could have won a national championship. The ’76 team was one. The ’87 team was another.  Truthfully, if you get on a roll and make it to the Sweet Sixteen you might make it to Finals. Gottfried got to the Elite Eight on the backs of great shooting in the post season. C.M. Newton came at a time that was absolutely perfect. He started to recruit black American players. The State of Alabama had a ton of them. Wendell signed to come on board and the world started to change. All of sudden, the Crimson Tide became a force. Those guys didn’t win every game, but they weren’t chump change. You had to beat Alabama because they were well coached and had superior players. Wimp inherited a great situation and made it better.  C.M. may have kicked started Alabama but in Wimp Sanderson, Alabama basketball found it’s identify. I think C.M. was a very good coach. He assembled so much talent after those first few years that Alabama simply overwhelmed the competition. Wimp was something special. He was also something else to behold. He was one of us, a man of the people, a populist. He was what we imagined what we might be ourselves if we coached. He was also a genius. I'm not talking figuratively, but making a literal statement.

Sanderson set the standard for measuring future Alabama coaches at the Capstone...

  Wimp is the best basketball coach I’ve ever known. If fact, he’s the best coach I’ve ever known. He got more out of great players than any man I’ve seen. He got more out of less talent than any coach I’ve ever seen. The persona of Wimp Sanderson was not unlike the Bear. Think Houndstooth and think Plaid. Wimp has us so close to being a top five program. He was as close as the razor’s edge. He packed the Plaid Palace with great teams and great fans. I’m telling you that we were so close you could smell it cooking. 

    Then he was gone. I am not going into the why of his leaving, but I will say it was the most overblown situation ever imagined. Wimp made the mistake of trusting a gonzo radio commentator off the record. The record now reflects it ruined Alabama basketball to the extent it has never recovered. Sure, we’ve had good teams since. No doubt, we were ranked #1 for the time it takes to drink a coke. We were #1, and a lot of schools will never be able to make that claim. That was cool. It wasn’t unimaginable then. It is now. Things changed after Wimp, Something was missing. The consistency was gone. The talent level didn’t play up to its potential, and players started going pro early. I think David Hobbs was a step away from being a really good coach until Antonio McDyess went pro. After that departure things started to go downhill fast.  Things got better with Mark for a while, and then they got really bad despite good talent.

Grant is a good coach, but...

  Contrary to most “experts” on the forum believe,  I think Grant is a great x and o guy. The problem is you have to recruit some great players. Slowly, the talent wasn’t being replaced. Some players were highly ranked and didn’t pan out. Devonta Pollard is an example.  Trevor Lacey was a good player but he was never great. Tell me any great players that Grant has recruited who turned into a great college player. We had one. His name was Releford. Even the little engine couldn't play in the NBA.  As great as the little man was, he wasn’t great as Leon Douglas, Mule King, or TR Dunn from the Newton era. He wasn’t great like the multiple stars who played under Wimp. You know who they are. The kid was like a Rolls-Royce in a used car lot. He had no help. What is Grant doing or not doing that CM or Wimp were able to do?

 CM and Wimp locked up the borders. Precious few got away. Those who did were an exception to Alabama’s general rule that no great player was leaving Alabama. By the way, UAB was considered to be an out of State school.  One night while Herb Winches and I was doing a talk radio show. Wimp was our guest. The Wimpster let his true feelings escape regarding UAB and Bartow. The radio station was aghast. The rating jumped for the first time ever in college basketball season. Some may not have liked what he said, or the way he said it, but by God he was a man who loved Alabama and we loved him back. The man lived and died Alabama. Anthony Grant is so reserved it is hard to know exactly how he feels about the school and the fans.

Our first two games make one thing very clear...

      I have watched our first two games. We play hard. We have better players than last season. They are, despite some contrary opinions, well coached. They are not shooting well right now, but they’ll get better as they learn to play with each other. Kessens and Tarrant are good players. There is a lot of new blood to mix into a unit. They may get there or they may not. Here’s the problem with our program today. Any program, including Alabama, will rise and fall on one simple fact. A team has to have some great players. We have pretty good players. Pretty good players will pull of an occasional upset and get beat on occasions when they should win. It’s just the nature of the talent level.  All Grant can do is play who he has recruited. That’s his problem. His recruiting hasn’t been up to par with CM, Wimp, and Mark. I have no doubt if he had the players he be successful. Here's a simple fact of life. He won't cheat to get them.

So where are we going into game three?

   Were do we stand?  Keep in mind that a game or two is a mere snap shot of something, and is not definitive. Anybody can take a selfie. A video of a season is a better indicator, but a career of a coach is like a full length movie. That is where you go to determine what’s happening in a program. We will never win a national championship with Grant. We may never win an SEC championship with Grant, we will never win a SEC Tournament under Grant unless, and I stress the unless Grant can start recruiting great players, and he has shown only minimal evidence of an ability to do that. He really is a good coach. He is surely a decent man. That isn’t enough. It isn't his fault we are not Kentucky. You have to acknowledge that. The one and done rule is the biggest hypocrisy ever approved by the NCAA and NBA.  We need to fix that. One day it will be corrected. Today, it hurts us. We are, however, the second best program from a historical basis in the SEC and we could try to live up to that standard. We aren't. We are not even close.

What keeps us from being great...

There are two other things that keep us from being a great program. I’m not convinced the AD has a real vested interest in helping us move forward. I have no proof he isn’t, it is just a feeling. And when you read on a forum, “do we play Kentucky in basketball this year?” shows you the state of people who think they are fans. Seriously, do we play Auburn in football? Wimp Sanderson was a coach who would change is offense for each opponent. Our coach doesn’t have enough talent to change a light bulb. That doesn’t mean I don’t love my school, my coach, or our players. I do. I hope this season is a roaring success. I want to hear Dick Vitale ask 'where did these guys come from'? I’m not holding my breath and neither should you. I think our program has reached a state of what Arlo Guthrie once said,  "Stop hoping for bad luck and knocking on wood.” That’s where our program really is. We really do expect the worse and then knock on wood that it won’t happen. Does anyone think that works?

   If you can't support the coach or the AD, then support the kids. If you don't like the coaching then support the effort of the players. If you think the whole thing is like buying a ticket on the Titanic, then look on those jerseys and see the word ALABAMA on the front.  That, we can all support.

I think our program has reached a state of what Arlo Guthrie once said, “Stop hoping for bad luck and knocking on wood.” That’s where our program really is. We really do expect the worse and then knock on wood that it won’t happen. Trust me that does not work…

    In the meantime if you can’t support the AD and the coach, support effort, if you can support the coaches support the players, and if you think the whole thing is like a ticket on the Titanic, look on the jerseys and see the word – ALABAMA. That, you can support. Let’s quit taking low shots at our players. It only hurts our recruiting. That is something I know first hand.

 Oh yeah,  how much would the 76 or 87 beat today's Tide? I'd say about 30.

'BAMA has nothing to lose this season...

'Bama has no down side to the upcoming season...

     

    

Can Randolph turn into a real leader?

The upcoming season is going to be one wild ride. It's going to be a year to remember. Let me say right off the bat that the Tide has no downside. If the Crimson and White make it to the NCAA the fans will be jubilant. Should the year turn out to be less than successful then it might mean that Coach Grant is finished. Either way a lot of people are going to be very happy. That's a win-win situation to a lot of folks. Is there some middle ground? The rumor going around basketball circles is that Battle has promised Grant the upcoming season and the next. I'm serious and the people who told me this are absolutely positive this is true. I don't know. I will say one thing - Grant has been pretty relaxed for a man on the hot seat. Of course, finding a pulse in the man isn't easy.

   Jacobs is trying to take AU hoops to another level... 

       

Now that Auburn has made a real commitment to a basketball program, the higher ups at Alabama need to understand just how unhappy basketball fans are with Alabama hoops. In the past, regardless of how poorly the team performed, the Tide was always going to beat AU. That is no longer a given. Auburn's new arena and the AU AD has changed the round ball dynamics in this state. Ironically, the hiring of Bruce Pearl may help save Alabama basketball. My good friend, David Wilson, is the only AU basketball fan I know. I've run into a lot of AU fans who like the Tigers to win in basketball. Wilson is the only AU follower I know who is a dire hard fan. The drive to from Oneonta to Lee County isn't short, and there haven't been a lot of good memories for David. This season could be different. He's grinning like the Cheshire Cat down the rabbit hole. If your coach can recruit 4 of the top 150 players in the nation without even speaking to them, what can he do next season when he can? How can he do that? Hmm... Rumors of Pearl and his staff cheating abound. Only time will tell. My best guess is he is telling his recruits that they can become instant starters.

Not worth the price of admission ...

   

       Someone in the ticket office told me that "many" season tickets holders have said adios to the Tide Pride program. I personally pay 3K for my donation and another few hundred for the tickets. The product just isn't worth that amount any longer. One more year for me, and then after watching over a thousand Bama games I'm going on an ala carte basis. When you look at the history of Alabama basketball things haven't fully recovered since Wimp Sanderson was removed by Hootie Ingram. I thought Grant might have been Moses. I was wrong. Only a miracle turn around will change the way his era ends at Alabama. I personally believe that Anthony Grant has reached his personal melt down point. It will take a 20 plus win season, and a good finish in the SEC, plus, and this is an important plus, a trip to the NCAA. A single win in the tournament might or might not be enough. I can never pull against the Tide. Let me put it this way - I like Mike Shula. We all love Nick Saban. I'd welcome a "Saban" of hoops around the Capstone. Can we get such a man? Sure, pay him five million or so a year. I'm not sure the Tide would pay that to get a top coach. I'm not sure they can afford not to try though...

   

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. 

I'll take Kentucky in a close one...

Calipari turns the 'Cats around...

 

    Let me say that my personal regard for John Calipari is just less than I have for convicted sex offenders. He exemplifies the words slick and sleeze. About the only thing kind thing I can say good about the man is that Jim Calhoun hated him. Those two are a pair alright. Cheat and re-cheat as far as I'm concerned. Still, you have to give Calipari a tip of the hat for what he did in the last two weeks for so the Wildcats is pretty impressive. When they beat the Tide 55-48 in Lexington they looked pretty average. They grew from MildCats to Wildcats in a matter of weeks. What UCONN coach, Kevin Ollie has done with his team may be more impressive. He beat Florida twice. He was in a tough bracket and behind t strong guard play made it to the championship game. His team's inside game leaves a lot to be desired.  Good coaching makes a difference. The fact that he had to replace Calhoun and then took the Huskies to the big game is amazing. How hard was it to replace Calhoun? How hard will it be to replace Nick Saban? It's that sort of thing. In the AW era (after Wooden) his Huskies have a chance to win their forth national championship which is as good as anyone. People might think that Cinderalla wears Big Blue, but in reality it is the dark Huskie blue that the princess chose to wear. I'm an SEC guy. But it is going to hard to pull for a team that I think was bought and paid for. My proof? The history of Calipari. His Wildcats might be young, but if you think they came into the season unexperience you need to think again. His five starters played in over 300 AAU games before turning pro and signing with SEC bad boy Kentucky. 

     

The same holds true for almost all incoming freshmen these days. AAU ball has it own unique set of problems, but giving the players a chance to play against the other great players isn't one of them. I personally think that Florida pulled off the great robbery this season playing with a bunch who probably won't find their names called on NBA draft day. I think that Kentucky will because they are so strong inside. I think that UCONN has the edge in the guard department despite the Harrison twins heroic efforts in the Big Dance. One thing is for sure to me - it's not nearly as much fun watching the NCAA when your team is a fading ping in the world of basketball. But what a great tournament. It just proves that the NCAA Tournament is the biggest event in the NCAA bad of tricks. Kentucky by 6. 

Tide's woes continue...

Two more players leave...

        Woe is we so to speak. Two more players leave the program. I don't think it was much of a surprised that Carl Engstrom decided to go back to Europe. His playing time was going down next season with the addition of Michal Kessens. The departure of Algie Key was a surprise. I'm not sure why he has chosen to leave the program, but Coach Grant cited a limited number of minutes next season. He was a two time JUCO All-American who couldn't make an outside shot.

 We need some inside size...

 

NYC big man Delarosa down to four schools

    I'm sorry to say that none of this looks good for Grant's master plan. I call it the second five year plan per the old Soviet model. The Soviets would call the first five year plan successful even it was a miserable failure.  Grant maintains he thinks good is right around the corner, and his plan has been laid out.  I wish he'd actually condescend to talk with his fan base and at least give us a hint of what is going on in Tuscaloosa.  The coach continues to maintain that Bama is close. I hate that word. Close is a synonym for failure. The only time that close counts is in horseshoes, hand grenades, and atomic bombs. Charlie Brown, that gifted American wit, used to say that potential is the worst thing a person could have. In sports, when a coach tells you his team is "close" it means they are losers, or at least they are losing. That doesn't mean he doesn't sincerely believe what he is saying for public consumption. After all, he can't very well say we are so far from going to the NCAA that Auburn is going to get there first. I hope that's not true. Bruce Pearl is dynamic and exciting. He isn't John Wooden or Adolph Rupp. He is going to cause Bama some problems in the future but Grant can cause more for himself by poor recruiting and public  relations. Grant isn't Bruce Pearl in the personality department. Frankly, he just needs to be himself but try to ramp up his game a little. 

 

Bama needs some bodies...

 

Jeff Garrett still has 'Bama in his list...

   Pearl is going to make an impact at Auburn but that doesn't mean Grant can't make a bigger splash in his second chance at Alabama. Don't joke yourself - Grant has one year to make some substantial improvement in all areas of his program. He can start to gain a little bit of fan capital by signing a couple of good players this spring. You know the names we are after. One lists UAB as his top choice. The other is being pursued by Louisville. Louisville is a tough opponent.  The third, is a huge inside banger, and he is going to choose from South Carolina, Pitt, Bama, and maybe Rutgers. Those are four good programs. He is a Frank Martin type guy. Pitt and Rutgers are close to NYC. Bama has made it clear that playing time early is going to happen in Tuscaloosa. If the other goes to UAB it is a very serious problem for Grant and his program. Pearl is going to hit the JUCO ranks like a demon on speed. He'll get a couple of players.  The real question in my mind is whether Grant's tenuous future at Bama is going to cause him problems. My belief is that Pearl's arrival and this extra year is going to cause Grant work harder than ever. He is a hard worker already. Why he had success at VCU in finding players and has struggled some at Alabama is hard to understand. Logic would tell you that Alabama would be an easier place to recruit. The truth is that VCU is a better program right now. My personal opinion is that Grant believes VCU type players are better suited for his style of play. I'm not sure they are, but VCU has had a lot more success than Bama lately. 

 This is a big spring for Grant and the Tide...

     This spring is very important to Grant and his future at Alabama. Fans need something to give them some hope and confidence for the future. Battles understands that he clearly misjudged fan reaction for keeping Grant, and I think it caught him flatfooted. There is some serious love for the basketball program from long time and new Bama hoop fans. If Grant and Bama falls on his face next season and he's finished. If he has tremendous success (NCAA bid) he'll get an extension. It's that in between. It's that being close or closer that will put Battle in a bind.