re: Why are bama fans freaking out about bball?

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but I dont see how anyone thought we'd be worth a shite

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So.... you just don't pay attention do you? Anthony Grant was as home run a hire as could be made in 2009. We thought we were getting the defensive architect of the Gators 00s run and his staff which had created a crazy offense at VCU (the predecessor to Shaka's 'havoc'). Honestly most of us thought by 2013 we'd be back in at least the top 25 if not already a dark horse for the Final Four.

His recruiting and first 3 years results did nothing to cause any speculation as we climbed as high as 12th in the nation, undefeated at home and would have already had a division title if divisions still existed. We were elite in defense and kids like Hillman, JaMychal and Mitchell were creating a high flying act that was a delight to behold. As of 2012 I would have said Grant is our man to the promised land....

And even I can admit it's all gone to hell and does not look recoverable.

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You are either 16 or a Bama fan poser. Bama is the second winningest basketball program in the SEC and was in the Elite 8 as recently as 2004

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With 10 years hindsight, was that appearance a result of Gottfried's hard work and effort.... or a Cinderella run?

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When was the last time we had an energy guy?

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Hines?

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You are either 16 or a Bama fan poser. Bama is the second winningest basketball program in the SEC and was in the Elite 8 as recently as 2004

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That was 11 years ago dude

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I hate when folks judge a hire as its made and before anything ever happens. Or look back at six years ago and say, "well, we couldn't have made a better hire than what we did!".

Of course we could have. Now I dont know who would have been the right one, but Grant has been abysmal.

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Grant hasn't been abysmal he's just been consistently slightly above average. The actual coaching, if you look around the quality of most cb teams, is actually better than most but his recruiting is what has kept us middle of the pack and there's really nothing to suggest that's taking an upswing.


I've posted this before but his teams have consistently only missed one player: a tough rebounding power forward who also offers a threat on the offensive end. I'm not even talking about a one-and-done prodigy but simply a Chuck Davis or Erwin Dudley type. That's been the difference between being an NIT team and a decent seed in the NCAA field with a pretty good chance to win at least a couple of games most seasons.

Summer of George also makes a good point about Grant's demure persona in terms of creating excitement around the program. I'm not sure this would matter quite as much if he was making the tourney 3/4 seasons but that, along with him probably being a bit too "ethical", may be a problem with recruiting, as sad as that is to admit.

None of this is to say that I don't think Alabama needs to do much better but also needs to realize what the goal needs to be in replacing Grant and not "he's so bad anyone would be better" because it's much easier to do worse.

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None of this is to say that I don't think Alabama needs to do much better but also needs to realize what the goal needs to be in replacing Grant and not "he's so bad anyone would be better" because it's much easier to do worse. 

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You pretty much nailed it, but this is specifically what bothers me. Grant isn't worth what we're paying him, but acting like we couldn't do any worse is an overreaction. Anyone that has followed this team and recruiting knows that some very unfortunate shite has occurred under his direction. He came to Alabama when the instate talent went from feast to famine. If Tony Mitchell (arguably our best player on our best team) doesn't lose his shite, we could have very well made a run in the tournament, which could have sparked interest in recruiting. With Frank Martin leaving K-State, Willie Cauley would have been as good as ours if Cal doesn't strike out on his targets and throw a last minute offer to Cauley. He didn't even see him play. Anthony Barber was another top talent we sat pretty well with before he was caught by Louisville stealing something from one of their players, and getting most of his notable offers revoked (except NC State, go figure.) That resulted into missing on other targets as well. We always seemed so close to landing studs, but something always happened or we'd land in 2nd place...which is a swift kick in the nuts.

I say all of this not in defense of keeping Grant, because his offense is putrid and he might be one of the worst coaches I've ever seen at timeout management. I just think he was a whole lot closer to building a solid program than most believe. At a certain point though, close just doesn't cut it. When you're consistently mediocre, fans and more importantly recruits lose interest. Firing and hiring is the only cure. I'll harbor no ill-will toward the guy, like I have with a certain former coach though. Wouldn't surprise me if he found success elsewhere.

Thanks for the excellent post. I didn't realize some of the recruiting near misses you mention.

Sadly, that kind of rhymes with the on-court near misses and NCAA bubble near misses that have characterized Grant's tenure.

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I just think he was a whole lot closer to building a solid program than most believe.

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Yeah, that's what kind of prompted my post. It's not that Grant's been as bad as you would think just reading many (understandably, I should add) frustrated posts. It's just been a never-ending near miss.

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When you're consistently mediocre, fans and more importantly recruits lose interest. Firing and hiring is the only cure. I'll harbor no ill-will toward the guy, like I have with a certain former coach though. Wouldn't surprise me if he found success elsewhere.

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I've not been so much on the Grant has to go train as most simply because the program has had a solid base of at least "complimentary" talent and depth. I guess that I've held out some hope that one big recruit or an NCAA bid/run this year may initiate some momentum and we wouldn't have to roll the dice on another coach.

However, as you point it, it's just more of the same and the longer it continues the less chance there is to break out of it.

Since you seem to know a lot more about recruiting, I assume that things probably look "slightly above average but not that great" on that front as well.

It seems there's such a fine line between success and mediocrity for a good but not elite program like Alabama's and I agree with you that "momentum" probably plays a much, much larger role than anything else, Xs and Os coaching included.

not to mention his Tourney drought is about to surpass Gottfried's before we fired him (3 years.... three years of not being able to be at least a top 30ish team).

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You have to wonder what things would be like if we didn't get screwed in 2011. Would a tourney trip that year be enough to create momentum for Grant? People were pretty pumped for Alabama Basketball by the end of that season.

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The momentum would have certainly helped recruiting and with Grant's teams always just being one more top recruit/ or top transfer even away, I think it could have potentially had a big impact.

But it's just one more "near miss" in an era defined by them.



I agree with what you say too about realistic expectations. I suppose there has to be some recognition of how many good area recruits are coming through in given years, but I think 2/3 seasons in the NCAA tourney and then a legitimate top 10 - 15ish team every 4-5 yr cycle isn't too much to ask.

However, it seems like such a crap shoot in hiring a mid major coach that will be able to do that.

Just seemed like this year would've been a good year for us. Wish we could've had Varidel for at least 15 min a game.