Next 5 games...could get ugly!

[RTR91]

That was my original point though, what does it matter if you schedule tougher games but lose them all? Yea we can say that we played a harder schedule, but we still are not gonna make the tournament for the 4th time in 5 years. That is the reason most people I have talked to want CAG gone. And the fact that we haven't seen much player or team development in 5 years. At some point, at possibly five years in, our record can't continually be blamed on officials and injuries. I realize he will probably get another year because I think I read somewhere that we would owe him around 6-7 million if we fired him and that Alabama was not willing to pay him that buyout.

So you're happy with thinking we have a good team by beating much weaker competition?

 

[CrimsonForce]

So you're happy with thinking we have a good team by beating much weaker competition?

No. I was vocal about wanting Grant on the hot seat or gone 2 years ago. What you quoted above was my response to you saying that Bama's strength of schedule proved we are better than Mississippi State. My point was it doesn't matter if you play a hard schedule and lose all the hard games unless your goal is to better than Mississippi State, which you said that proved. I would rather play a hard schedule and win a few of the games against quality teams. I've supported Grant and watched just about every game the entire time he has been here, but since about year 3 I knew he wasn't the solution. And no I don't have a better coach in mind that we could hire, maybe Battle does. Maybe Battle doesn't think there is anyone out there better. Maybe we don't want to pay CAG his 6-7 million buyout. Who knows.

 

[RTR91]

No. I was vocal about wanting Grant on the hot seat or gone 2 years ago. What you quoted above was my response to you saying that Bama's strength of schedule proved we are better than Mississippi State. My point was it doesn't matter if you play a hard schedule and lose all the hard games unless your goal is to better than Mississippi State, which you said that proved. I would rather play a hard schedule and win a few of the games against quality teams. I've supported Grant and watched just about every game the entire time he has been here, but since about year 3 I knew he wasn't the solution. And no I don't have a better coach in mind that we could hire, maybe Battle does. Maybe Battle doesn't think there is anyone out there better. Maybe we don't want to pay CAG his 6-7 million buyout. Who knows.

I used MSU as an example of records saying how good a team is. Alabama could play weaker teams, too and have a better record. Instead, Alabama is 9-10 because it's played quality opponents, and it now ranks #87 in the NCAA's RPI rankings.

I wasn't trying to say Alabama is better than MSU based on SOS. I was showing that MSU's record comes from cupcakes while Alabama has played a tougher schedule. Now, the Alabama-MSU game indicates the two teams' records don't reflect the quality of either team.

Look back at my original post. You'll notice something else I mentioned - Alabama has lost by more than 10 in only one game and that was on the road at Mizzou. Bama has been in every single game. Various things led to the losses. The anti-Grant crowd will point to him as the reason, and his supporters will point to other issues.

 

[CrimsonForce]

I used MSU as an example of records saying how good a team is. Alabama could play weaker teams, too and have a better record. Instead, Alabama is 9-10 because it's played quality opponents, and it now ranks #87 in the NCAA's RPI rankings.

I wasn't trying to say Alabama is better than MSU based on SOS. I was showing that MSU's record comes from cupcakes while Alabama has played a tougher schedule. Now, the Alabama-MSU game indicates the two teams' records don't reflect the quality of either team.

Look back at my original post. You'll notice something else I mentioned - Alabama has lost by more than 10 in only one game and that was on the road at Mizzou. Bama has been in every single game. Various things led to the losses. The anti-Grant crowd will point to him as the reason, and his supporters will point to other issues.

Yea but my issue is we are in almost every game for 5 years and have only made the tourney once. Is it all CAG fault. Probably not. But as the head coach who makes a multi million dollar salary he can't really pass the blame on someone else. I don't think he is a bad coach, I just think for whatever reason Bama is not a good fit for him.

 

[wsims74]

Yea but my issue is we are in almost every game for 5 years and have only made the tourney once. Is it all CAG fault. Probably not. But as the head coach who makes a multi million dollar salary he can't really pass the blame on someone else. I don't think he is a bad coach, I just think for whatever reason Bama is not a good fit for him.

I think this may be accurate, but this season is not lost yet. IF this season ends as it started, I will 100% agree. He hasn't lost the players yet, they play hard for him, so let's let the season play out.

 

[BAMA1979]

I used MSU as an example of records saying how good a team is. Alabama could play weaker teams, too and have a better record. Instead, Alabama is 9-10 because it's played quality opponents, and it now ranks #87 in the NCAA's RPI rankings.

I wasn't trying to say Alabama is better than MSU based on SOS. I was showing that MSU's record comes from cupcakes while Alabama has played a tougher schedule. Now, the Alabama-MSU game indicates the two teams' records don't reflect the quality of either team.

Look back at my original post. You'll notice something else I mentioned - Alabama has lost by more than 10 in only one game and that was on the road at Mizzou. Bama has been in every single game. Various things led to the losses. The anti-Grant crowd will point to him as the reason, and his supporters will point to other issues.

I agree, but the same could be said for Mike Shula's teams. Almost all of those games were close too, but did you ever really get the feeling that we were going to make the necessary plays late and win any of them? I know I didn't and that's exactly how I feel watching this basketball program for the past few seasons. Our style of play contributes a lot to the scores of the games being somewhat close.

 

[day-day]

I agree, but the same could be said for Mike Shula's teams. Almost all of those games were close too, but did you ever really get the feeling that we were going to make the necessary plays late and win any of them? I know I didn't and that's exactly how I feel watching this basketball program for the past few seasons. Our style of play contributes a lot to the scores of the games being somewhat close.

Before every game I think the team is going to work the ball well on offense and start making shots and continue to shoot decent for the rest of the season. Everytime they have a good offensive possession I think they learn from it and that it will be their new baseline. I always have this feeling even though I should probably know better by now.

 

[bamadp]

The LSU game was what we've seen at Bama for several years...some good athletes but fundamentally poor basketball players, playing fundamentally poor basketball, running an offense that requires better skills, with no on-court leadership. We don't shoot, pass, catch, or box out particularly well. That's why few teams fight through those high post screens to guard us closely. They're not scared we'll pull up for a three, we can't make 'em. They're not afraid we'll drive and pull up for that 12-15 foot jumper...we don't do that. They're not scared of a 6 foot guard driving all the way to the hoop and shooting a "circus" shot amongst the trees, even though every now and then one goes in, you're not gonna win many games like that. They're not worried about the screener "rolling" to the rim, we can seldom make the pass, and even if we did we could seldom catch it and finish. So we pass it around the perimeter until the shot clock forces us into a bad shot or we take one of our own accord. Our shot selection is questionable at times. Against LSU Hale took some questionable shots...but he's a freshman. Hopefully by the time he's a senior, that aggression is channeled into better shots. TR took several questionable shots also, but he's a senior, he should know better. Our on-court leadership is almost nonexistant. A coach can talk till he's blue in the face on the sidelines, but you need at least one player on the court to see that your plan is carried out. You need someone that will calm the team down when they need it (like during the press Sat.) or get a good shot when we need one in a close game. We don't have that now. That's what happens when you ramp up the schedule as CAG did, you're seldom gonna have better athletes, so you better have better basketball players, and right now we don't. That's why we're a .500 team at best. Our two best chances for road wins are tonight @AU and @USCe. Our other road games will be tough...not impossible, but tougher. I hope we beat the crap out of the tigers tonight. RTR

 

[37bamagreats55]

The LSU game was what we've seen at Bama for several years...some good athletes but fundamentally poor basketball players, playing fundamentally poor basketball, running an offense that requires better skills, with no on-court leadership. We don't shoot, pass, catch, or box out particularly well. That's why few teams fight through those high post screens to guard us closely. They're not scared we'll pull up for a three, we can't make 'em. They're not afraid we'll drive and pull up for that 12-15 foot jumper...we don't do that. They're not scared of a 6 foot guard driving all the way to the hoop and shooting a "circus" shot amongst the trees, even though every now and then one goes in, you're not gonna win many games like that. They're not worried about the screener "rolling" to the rim, we can seldom make the pass, and even if we did we could seldom catch it and finish. So we pass it around the perimeter until the shot clock forces us into a bad shot or we take one of our own accord. Our shot selection is questionable at times. Against LSU Hale took some questionable shots...but he's a freshman. Hopefully by the time he's a senior, that aggression is channeled into better shots. TR took several questionable shots also, but he's a senior, he should know better. Our on-court leadership is almost nonexistant. A coach can talk till he's blue in the face on the sidelines, but you need at least one player on the court to see that your plan is carried out. You need someone that will calm the team down when they need it (like during the press Sat.) or get a good shot when we need one in a close game. We don't have that now. That's what happens when you ramp up the schedule as CAG did, you're seldom gonna have better athletes, so you better have better basketball players, and right now we don't. That's why we're a .500 team at best. Our two best chances for road wins are tonight @AU and @USCe. Our other road games will be tough...not impossible, but tougher. I hope we beat the crap out of the tigers tonight. RTR

I agree with 98% of what you posted. Unfortunately, it's mostly negative. But, I think for this basketball program to turn a corner, we need a dose of reality. We're mediocre at best and everybody keeps saying "Wait til next year". With that mentality, we'll be waiting forever.

The schedule doesn't set up nicely for us to have much more success this year, unless our team improves dramatically over its first-half.

Getting back to your post, the part I don't agree with you on is Shannon Hale. I like the fact he's not scared to take a shot. I think that's part of our problem (and you hit on it in your post) - we pass it around the perimeter until the shot clock forces our hand -- part of that problem (besides the fact we don't have a consistent shooter) - is that our players look scared to shoot the ball.

It's almost like they have ZERO confidence and feel as though they've missed the shot before they even take it. Shooting is about mentality and confidence. "I can shoot the ball, I will shoot the ball and it will go in".

Hale might takes some ill-advised shots, but most players do - especially scorers.

We need a few Alvin Lee, James "Hollywood" Robinson or Earnest Shelton-type shooters. Those cats took a bunch of ill-advised shots (especially Hollywood), but they could also flat-out fill it up from the 3-point line and string a couple of shots together and change the course of a game.

 

[WylieTexasTider]

With the loss to AU tonight this can get really ugly fast if we lose to UT Saturday. After that we are at Arky and UF, home to Ole Miss and then on the road at SC, aTm, home to MIZ and at Ole Miss. A real possibility the loss tonight is the start of a 0-9 or 1-8 stretch. We are going to be lucky to win 6 SEC games.

 

[37bamagreats55]

With the loss to AU tonight this can get really ugly fast if we lose to UT Saturday. After that we are at Arky and UF, home to Ole Miss and then on the road at SC, aTm, home to MIZ and at Ole Miss. A real possibility the loss tonight is the start of a 0-9 or 1-8 stretch. We are going to be lucky to win 6 SEC games.

I see 1 or 2 wins the rest of the year. Maybe. At home against the Barn and at home against Arky. Outside of those two, we'll be hard pressed to get any more "W"s.

So, assuming we win five SEC games, will everybody still be on board with giving Coach Grant "one more year"?

 

[Blindside13]

Not going to be pretty the rest of the way, this team has alot of issues. At least our ladies are showing signs of life and have been playing well lately.

 

[WylieTexasTider]

I see 1 or 2 wins the rest of the year. Maybe. At home against the Barn and at home against Arky. Outside of those two, we'll be hard pressed to get any more "W"s.

So, assuming we win five SEC games, will everybody still be on board with giving Coach Grant "one more year"?

If we were to go 0-9 heading into our home game with Auburn, we might see an interim coach on the sideline for that game...

 

[CoachJeff]

If we were to go 0-9 heading into our home game with Auburn, we might see an interim coach on the sideline for that game...

Its bad now, but not that bad.