Coach Grant to return - "The Battle Plan"

[Hannibal Lecter, MD]

"Over the last year I have spent a fair amount of time with Coach Anthony Grant. I have watched our team practice. I have watched them play. We have had several philosophical discussions. In every meeting we have had, I came away impressed with his character, with his knowledge and belief in his approach to the game, with his commitment to win championships at Alabama, and with his ability to recruit and develop players, both on and off the court.
 
At this level of collegiate athletics there is a very fine line that separates winning and losing. The 2013-14 men's basketball season has been a disappointing one. Many factors shape a season. We made some strategic decisions going into the year, both with scheduling and with players, that didn't work out like we planned.
 
Our mission is to recruit and develop student athletes to compete at the highest levels in their sport; to educate and prepare those student athletes to compete at the highest levels in life after graduation; and to do both with honor and integrity. Our men's basketball program is doing all of those things, but this season that did not translate into the level of success we all desire on the court.
 
According to the latest ESPN.com RPI rankings (as of March 11), Alabama's 2013-14 schedule ranks second on the list of the nation's difficult overall schedules. Sometimes a tough non-conference schedule toughens you up and prepares you for conference play; other times it shakes your confidence. Some years it seems you win most of the close games. Other years you can't find a way to get over the hump. After three 20+ win seasons, this year we found ourselves in the latter category.
 
College basketball is in an interesting place in 2014. The power of the NCAA Tournament appears to have diminished interest in the regular season. The "one and done" rule has had a greater impact on the game than just those players that come and go after one year. The mindset of many players (and their parents and friends) is, "I'll go pro after a year!" When that doesn't happen, the mindset is often, "It can't be my fault. It must be the system." As a result there were some 500 players that transferred last year. These factors make recruiting and coaching college basketball players even more challenging, as it is difficult to build the senior-laden teams that were more prevalent in times past.
 
Without solid leadership, this year's team could have folded at several points in the season. Coach Grant and his staff stayed the course and did not panic when things were going bad. The team continued to play with effort and competed hard, even after many of the preseason goals were out of reach. I am very proud of our strong finish, with our younger players stepping up their game. I am impressed with the development of our freshmen, Jimmie Taylor and Shannon Hale, encouraged about the leadership potential of our returning veterans, and looking forward to seeing a highly-rated group of signees join our team.
 
Off the court, Coach Grant's teams have been very successful in the classroom, consistently averaging high NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. Alabama leads all SEC men's basketball programs in APR percentage and its APR ranks in the top 10 percent of all Division I men's programs. We led all SEC men's basketball programs in 2013 with six players named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. In addition, every senior that has played for Coach Grant at Alabama has earned his degree.
 
When considering the overall health and direction of a program, all of the aforementioned factors need to be considered. Simply put, this is a program that is not adrift, and is not devoid of leadership and talent. I believe this is a program that has better days ahead.
 
The expectations of competing for championships and a high postseason finish remain. There is much that is right about our men's basketball program at this time. Coach Grant has earned the chance to continue building this program into the winner that we all know it should be. He's done it before. He can do it again.
 
We need your support in making that happen. I encourage you to rally around our team next season, to become a part of our success, and to help our team reach its potential."
 
Bill Battle

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[McBaman]

Sooo.... at all those practices CBB attended, how many times did he see the team practicing freethrows?  Just one little point (among many) where a different coaching approach could have made a difference.

If CAG does not clean house totally with new ass't coaches, other than some better talent next year, hard to see how some of the critical points will be different.

Just MHO.

[bama57]

I often wonder What would Mal have done?

[Marshal Dillon]

Sooo.... at all those practices CBB attended, how many times did he see the team practicing freethrows?  Just one little point (among many) where a different coaching approach could have made a difference.

If CAG does not clean house totally with new ass't coaches, other than some better talent next year, hard to see how some of the critical points will be different.

Just MHO.

I guess he observed a lot of practice of shooting from the perimeter, teaching rebounding techniques, and many other basic elements of the game. What a pile of manure and excuse-making.


 

[pmull]

I am glad CAG is coming back. I look forward to seeing what I think will be our best roster since CAG has been on campus.

No more excuses. CAG needs to coach them up, win some big OOC games, finish high in the SEC and be an NCAA lock rather than bubble team.

[Marshal Dillon]

I am glad CAG is coming back. I look forward to seeing what I think will be our best roster since CAG has been on campus.

No more excuses. CAG needs to coach them up, win some big OOC games, finish high in the SEC and be an NCAA lock rather than bubble team.

BINGO!!!


 

[Hannibal Lecter, MD]

I think everyone agrees next year should be his last if he doesn't show improvement.

Is making the tournament enough?  Or does he need to make the round of 32, 16?

[pmull]

I think everyone agrees next year should be his last if he doesn't show improvement.

Is making the tournament enough?  Or does he need to make the round of 32, 16?

IMO it depends on how the season goes. If we do well with what is shaping up to be another top OOC schedule and finish well above .500 in SEC play will mean a lot. If we are a bubble team with a mediocre resume a win or two will be needed.

Another thing I will be looking at is fan interest. We need to do well early in the OOC schedule to create a buzz that will get the fans to go to games. No reason we do not sell out Saturday SEC home games and get 12,000 or more to weekday SEC home games.

Alabama needs to get back to being one of the top echelon SEC programs.

[Marshal Dillon]

I think everyone agrees next year should be his last if he doesn't show improvement.

Is making the tournament enough?  Or does he need to make the round of 32, 16?

He definitely has to make the NCAA Tourney but we can't stumble & bumble into it. We need a team that can play most of the facets (ie.,rebounding, passing, defense, FT shooting) of the game in a solid dominating way. Plus, we can't go back to a cream puff schedule. We need to play a SOS of at least a 30-35 range. We must win at least one game in the NCAA Tourney and see consistent good play during the entire season. No herky-jerky play good, then play bad, then play good, then play bad, etc. We then build on the success the following year with even more improvement and accomplishment if we meet the above criteria.  


 

[roll tide roll]

This citing of SOS as #2 is ridiculous.

I do not care what the "experts" say.  The fact that UNC has a lower rated SOS than BAMA proves that the rating system is flawed.

good luck to Coach Grant with his upcoming season.  He has the ability to start an entirely new team.  He surely cannot do any worse.

[pmull]

This citing of SOS as #2 is ridiculous.

I do not care what the "experts" say.  The fact that UNC has a lower rated SOS than BAMA proves that the rating system is flawed.

good luck to Coach Grant with his upcoming season.  He has the ability to start an entirely new team.  He surely cannot do any worse.

Whether you like Grant or not you have to give him credit for playing one of the most difficult schedules in the country.

I don't understand your argument with UNC schedule being more difficult than ours. It is a good schedule. Most SOS rankings have it at #17.

UNC played 10 teams ranked 1-50. We played 10 teams ranked 1-50. We played #1 Florida twice, # 2 Wichita State and # 7 Duke.

UNC played 15 teams rated 100 or higher, 7 of those were 150 or higher and 5 of those were 244 or higher. Two teams were over 300.

We played 12 teams 100 or higher, 6 of those were 150 or higher with 3 teams over 200. Our highest was 270.

[Catch Prothro]

I think everyone agrees next year should be his last if he doesn't show improvement.

Is making the tournament enough?  Or does he need to make the round of 32, 16?

He definitely has to make the NCAA Tourney but we can't stumble & bumble into it. We need a team that can play most of the facets (ie.,rebounding, passing, defense, FT shooting) of the game in a solid dominating way. Plus, we can't go back to a cream puff schedule. We need to play a SOS of at least a 30-35 range. We must win at least one game in the NCAA Tourney and see consistent good play during the entire season. No herky-jerky play good, then play bad, then play good, then play bad, etc. We then build on the success the following year with even more improvement and accomplishment if we meet the above criteria.  

You're sounding downright optimistic.   

[roll tide roll]

This citing of SOS as #2 is ridiculous.

I do not care what the "experts" say.  The fact that UNC has a lower rated SOS than BAMA proves that the rating system is flawed.

good luck to Coach Grant with his upcoming season.  He has the ability to start an entirely new team.  He surely cannot do any worse.

Whether you like Grant or not you have to give him credit for playing one of the most difficult schedules in the country.

I don't understand your argument with UNC schedule being more difficult than ours. It is a good schedule. Most SOS rankings have it at #17.

UNC played 10 teams ranked 1-50. We played 10 teams ranked 1-50. We played #1 Florida twice, # 2 Wichita State and # 7 Duke.

UNC played 15 teams rated 100 or higher, 7 of those were 150 or higher and 5 of those were 244 or higher. Two teams were over 300.

We played 12 teams 100 or higher, 6 of those were 150 or higher with 3 teams over 200. Our highest was 270.

I think the entire SOS is flawed.

I only use UNC as an example b/c the flaws of the SOS are glaring.

UNC played Louisville, MichSt, and UK before starting regular season play.

In regular season play UNC played Syracuse, duke(x2), and UVA plus the other ACC teams.  The ACC will get 5 teams in the tournament and the SEC will get 2.

If SEC deserves bonus points for football, then teams in the ACC surely deserve the same in basketball.

I want Grant to do well, but any argument predicated on an obviously flawed system is invalid.

[Marshal Dillon]

I think everyone agrees next year should be his last if he doesn't show improvement.

Is making the tournament enough?  Or does he need to make the round of 32, 16?

He definitely has to make the NCAA Tourney but we can't stumble & bumble into it. We need a team that can play most of the facets (ie.,rebounding, passing, defense, FT shooting) of the game in a solid dominating way. Plus, we can't go back to a cream puff schedule. We need to play a SOS of at least a 30-35 range. We must win at least one game in the NCAA Tourney and see consistent good play during the entire season. No herky-jerky play good, then play bad, then play good, then play bad, etc. We then build on the success the following year with even more improvement and accomplishment if we meet the above criteria.  

You're sounding downright optimistic.   

It's not optimism, I'm saying what has to happen for Grant to keep his job, which I am not optimistic will happen.


 

[pmull]

This citing of SOS as #2 is ridiculous.

I do not care what the "experts" say.  The fact that UNC has a lower rated SOS than BAMA proves that the rating system is flawed.

good luck to Coach Grant with his upcoming season.  He has the ability to start an entirely new team.  He surely cannot do any worse.

Whether you like Grant or not you have to give him credit for playing one of the most difficult schedules in the country.

I don't understand your argument with UNC schedule being more difficult than ours. It is a good schedule. Most SOS rankings have it at #17.

UNC played 10 teams ranked 1-50. We played 10 teams ranked 1-50. We played #1 Florida twice, # 2 Wichita State and # 7 Duke.

UNC played 15 teams rated 100 or higher, 7 of those were 150 or higher and 5 of those were 244 or higher. Two teams were over 300.

We played 12 teams 100 or higher, 6 of those were 150 or higher with 3 teams over 200. Our highest was 270.

I think the entire SOS is flawed.

I only use UNC as an example b/c the flaws of the SOS are glaring.

UNC played Louisville, MichSt, and UK before starting regular season play.

In regular season play UNC played Syracuse, duke(x2), and UVA plus the other ACC teams.  The ACC will get 5 teams in the tournament and the SEC will get 2.

If SEC deserves bonus points for football, then teams in the ACC surely deserve the same in basketball.

I want Grant to do well, but any argument predicated on an obviously flawed system is invalid.

The RPI is a numbers game. Numbers go into a computer and the RPI is what it is. The BPI is better suited to make your point but UNC is a bad choice of teams to use. Alabama's BPI SOS is 9th while UNC is 23rd. Any way you look at it Alabama played a good schedule.

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