re: 2017-18 Alabama Basketball Season Thread: 20-16 (10-11)

I would too. Guys a great HC.

Completely understand why you think the hire was a failure, but there's a couple things I'd like to point out.

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There was a faction that wanted Howland, one that wanted Smart, one that wanted Barnes, one that wanted Pearl, one that wanted White.

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I don't know how I forgot about Barnes. I don't remember too many people want him, and I'll admit that his success this season is probably the most surprising IMO.

Pearl was already at AU for a year when we hired Avery. I knew Pearl could coach. I was vocal about wanting him if we could get him (a thought that many Alabama fans found repulsive).

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But all of them have one thing in common: they are all successful college coaches. All of them appear to be on an upward trajectory at their schools.

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Shaka Smart and Mike White were successful in a similar way that Grant was successful before coming here.

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I guess you could argue about Smart but they haven’t had the best of luck either. Smart could still turn it around. 

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I don't really see how Shaka Smart can be considered on an upward trajectory. Both coaches had high expectations placed on them this year and both disappointed in similar fashion. Texas has had back-to-back 6th ranked recruiting classes and is on the edge of the bubble this year. I don't see how you could see Shaka turning things around and not Avery. As far as luck goes, I think Avery has had worst luck this year than Smart has, and it's not close in my mind. We lost one of our only spot up shooters and only senior presence early in the season. We got our best returning player back from injury late in non-conference and he clearly didn't look the same upon returning and was completely out of sync from the start. Sexton has missed just as many games as Bamba has. We lost a game that is killing our RPI because we finished the game 3v5 and Minnesota lost their far and away most important player a little later in the season (they were at the very least a top 35-50 team with him). This isn't an excuse for Avery, but if Avery doesn't have an excuse, Smart most certainly doesn't.

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He brought in an impressive class this year. But they are freshmen. They need to be coached and taught to up their game. Avery apparently doesn’t know how to do that. He’s used to coaching the finished product.

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This is where I think Avery has to improve, but it's something I think can improve. Going from coaching NBA players to college players is a tough transition, but magnified when you're coaching the 3rd youngest team in the country. I think this off-season is what will make or break Avery. If we don't see any improvement from the young players next year, I'd can him in a heartbeat, regardless of what class he could potentially bring in for 2019.

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I still feel so fricking dejected from these past few week of Bama basketball.

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Tore my Achilles the morning before the UK game, like an hour before tip off. I've been stuck on the couch watching the last 5 loses.

If Im an Auburn fan I dont care if it all gets vacated. I saw it happen on the court and it Still wouldnt take away all of the memories from this season.

I agreed with Barkley that yall should have played Wiley and Purifoye anyways.

BYU plays in the semis tomorrow night.

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agreed with Barkley that yall should have played Wiley and Purifoye anyways

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I think AU actually believed we'd get them back this year.

Holding them out though probably will help Bruce/AU escape trouble though. We "played by the rules" while everyone else is double fingering the NCAA. It's the smart move IYAM

Just our luck...Lipscomb is in the middle of blowing a 32pt lead.

Lipscomb and Memphis won. UCF is also winning

Unfortunately Alabama is not winning and that's what mattered the last three weeks.