Anthony Grant vs Bruce Pearl

[Jamos]

Auburn has made nice run in the Tournament. No one expected them to win three games. Too bad that they stunk up the season so bad that there is no way of getting a bid to the CBI or NIT. Their only hope is to win two more games and they play Kentucky today.

Before you start talking about how great the barn program has improved this year you need to look at the regular season. They are 14-19. They finished the regular season 11-19. They were 4-14 in SEC play. They started SEC play 2-2. They lost their last 6, 7 of their last 8 and 12 of their last 14. They appeared to be getting worse as the season went on. The attendance at Auburn Arena also faded as the season went on. Keep in mind 6000 looked pretty full in a 9000 seat arena. 6000 looks empty at Coleman.

Pearl may do well at Auburn but even he expected to have an overall record of .500 this year. If we are comparing our program to theirs we have set the bar far too low. I am not writing this post to say we had a good year but I will say we are still the best program in this state. We finished ahead of them in league play and beat them in both head-to-head games.

Tomorrow, after the barn loses to UK today, both teams will be at home. Auburn's season will be over. They will have a 14-20 final record. Alabama will have a winning record and hope for a NIT bid. We are not happy with where we are at. Auburn has a long way to go just to get to mediocre.

I do not know what Bill Battle will do. I think it is 50/50 chance we make a coaching change. I am on the fence. I can make arguments to keep CAG as well as arguments to let him go. I will support the coach and program next year regardless of who the coach is.

I haven't seen anyone claim Auburn had a great season, but they are having a good run in the SEC Tourney. Pearl has brought a real energy & enthusiasm to the program and has worked with a team that has 3 real players. He has been playing walk-ons in the Tourney & one scored 16 points. Pearl can recruit, develop talent, & knows how coach. Pearl has recruited the 11th best class of 2015. It includes 2 players rated in the Top 150 by Rivals (#61 & #80), two other 4 star recruits, & a Juco. Grant has signed three recruits, all 3 star rated. Texas A&M has the #3 class, Florida #13, LSU #24, & USC #30. Meanwhile, Coach Tuberville Grant has recruited 3 in-state guys & probably never went more than 200 miles to recruit. I guess Grant is going to coach them up & they have high character. I wonder if Grant goes turkey hunting?


 

We have our own problems. There is no doubt about that. But to compare our program to the train wreck in Auburn is ridiculous. Nice run in the tournament does not erase a 14-20 record, RPI of 128 and 13th place finish in a 14 team league.

Pearl has been there less than a full year & was left with a train wreck, so I don't understand why you're breaking on Auburn & Pearl so hard. Again, who is comparing the Tide to Auburn BB? Auburn has a bright future with Pearl, how good have Grant's 6 years been?


 

The opening post and title of this thread is comparing the job Pearl did with his Auburn to that of the job Grant did with our program. I am defending our program. We are not a good team but we are not one of the worst teams in the SEC.

My comparison of the the two programs is from what they started the season with and what they ended the season with. I am by no means bragging on Pearl and Auburn but just stating that another promising Bama team did their usual annual tailspin from mid-season on to the end of the season. Auburn and Pearl on the other hand started with nothing for a team and went through injuries and suspensions and still made it to the semi finals of the SEC tournament. In comparing those results I have to give Pearl's coaching job being the better of the two coaches.  I sat there night after night and watched the Bama team do a meltdown as the season progressed, something that seems to happen every year with the team. I'm not beating on Bama, I'm beating on the coaches who are responsible for the teams preparation for the games.

[Catch Prothro]

Kentucky stomped Auburn, 91-67.   So Bama lost by 2 fewer points.  Not a big deal really, but with Bama's two wins over Auburn, and better record against tougher competition, it does suggest that Bama is a better team.

But like others said, these programs didn't start from the same place. 

I don't think any decision made will have anything to do with what the Barn is doing.  That is how Auburn operates.  That isn't how Bama operates. 

It is pretty clear that Bama's offense lacks clear focus, inside game, and the capacity to take over a game.  Grant is more of a defensive coach.  It seems that if Gottfried and Grant were co-head coaches, one coaching offense and one defense, that team would be awesome.  But not going to happen.  And Grant has failed to address the offensive failures.

I don't think he deserves another year.  The teams have improved, despite adversity, but after so many years one would expect results, and we haven't seen it.  Grant has been learning on the job.  He can't recruit/develop/plan/implement an effective offense. 

[Catch Prothro]

Wow, just looked at ESPN.  Pretty enlightening:

Season overall national rankings for Bama:

Points per game:  194th nationally

Rebounds:  223rd

Assists: 317th

FG Percentage:  160th

Those are some completely inept numbers. 

[pmull]

Auburn has made nice run in the Tournament. No one expected them to win three games. Too bad that they stunk up the season so bad that there is no way of getting a bid to the CBI or NIT. Their only hope is to win two more games and they play Kentucky today.

Before you start talking about how great the barn program has improved this year you need to look at the regular season. They are 14-19. They finished the regular season 11-19. They were 4-14 in SEC play. They started SEC play 2-2. They lost their last 6, 7 of their last 8 and 12 of their last 14. They appeared to be getting worse as the season went on. The attendance at Auburn Arena also faded as the season went on. Keep in mind 6000 looked pretty full in a 9000 seat arena. 6000 looks empty at Coleman.

Pearl may do well at Auburn but even he expected to have an overall record of .500 this year. If we are comparing our program to theirs we have set the bar far too low. I am not writing this post to say we had a good year but I will say we are still the best program in this state. We finished ahead of them in league play and beat them in both head-to-head games.

Tomorrow, after the barn loses to UK today, both teams will be at home. Auburn's season will be over. They will have a 14-20 final record. Alabama will have a winning record and hope for a NIT bid. We are not happy with where we are at. Auburn has a long way to go just to get to mediocre.

I do not know what Bill Battle will do. I think it is 50/50 chance we make a coaching change. I am on the fence. I can make arguments to keep CAG as well as arguments to let him go. I will support the coach and program next year regardless of who the coach is.

I haven't seen anyone claim Auburn had a great season, but they are having a good run in the SEC Tourney. Pearl has brought a real energy & enthusiasm to the program and has worked with a team that has 3 real players. He has been playing walk-ons in the Tourney & one scored 16 points. Pearl can recruit, develop talent, & knows how coach. Pearl has recruited the 11th best class of 2015. It includes 2 players rated in the Top 150 by Rivals (#61 & #80), two other 4 star recruits, & a Juco. Grant has signed three recruits, all 3 star rated. Texas A&M has the #3 class, Florida #13, LSU #24, & USC #30. Meanwhile, Coach Tuberville Grant has recruited 3 in-state guys & probably never went more than 200 miles to recruit. I guess Grant is going to coach them up & they have high character. I wonder if Grant goes turkey hunting?


 

We have our own problems. There is no doubt about that. But to compare our program to the train wreck in Auburn is ridiculous. Nice run in the tournament does not erase a 14-20 record, RPI of 128 and 13th place finish in a 14 team league.

Pearl has been there less than a full year & was left with a train wreck, so I don't understand why you're breaking on Auburn & Pearl so hard. Again, who is comparing the Tide to Auburn BB? Auburn has a bright future with Pearl, how good have Grant's 6 years been?


 

The opening post and title of this thread is comparing the job Pearl did with his Auburn to that of the job Grant did with our program. I am defending our program. We are not a good team but we are not one of the worst teams in the SEC.

My comparison of the the two programs is from what they started the season with and what they ended the season with. I am by no means bragging on Pearl and Auburn but just stating that another promising Bama team did their usual annual tailspin from mid-season on to the end of the season. Auburn and Pearl on the other hand started with nothing for a team and went through injuries and suspensions and still made it to the semi finals of the SEC tournament. In comparing those results I have to give Pearl's coaching job being the better of the two coaches.  I sat there night after night and watched the Bama team do a meltdown as the season progressed, something that seems to happen every year with the team. I'm not beating on Bama, I'm beating on the coaches who are responsible for the teams preparation for the games.

I respect your opinion I just do not agree with it. Auburn beat a bad MSU team in the first round. You have to be bad to even play in Wednesday's Round one game. They beat A&M in round 2. A&M is reeling. They had a good season going but they did not finish it. Remember we beat them twice. Auburn caught a huge break in the LSU game. LSU missed 19 free throws. They missed easy layups and played a terrible game. It reminded me of our loss to Georgia. A game we should have won. It was a nice tournament run but it does not erase the 2-12 finish to the regular season or the overall 14-20 record.  

Auburn still has a long way to go just to be mediocre. We are mediocre and have a long way to go to be a good team. Can CAG get it done. I don't know. Will he be our coach next year. I don't know. We were just a few breaks away from a NCAA bid this year. Who ever is the coach next year has a lot to work with. I don't think we need a major overhaul. We just need to get over the hump that is keeping us from being one of the better teams in the league. We also need to beat Florida.

[ricky023]

  , I have to give you all some e-creds for all the posts and the replies. These were neither hateful or overly embarrassment or something. I really enjoyed reading all the opinions on this one. My compliments everybody. RTR!

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