SADLY OR MADLY JOHNSON WILL BE BACK...
Sadly or madly, my bet is Avery Johnson will return next season if he wants to do so. Here is one of those self-evident truths we understand. Alabama isn't going to pay anyone enough money to convince a named coach to be the basketball coach at a football dominated school. Alabama is first and foremost about football, and 'Bama fans love Alabama football. I am always surprised when someone tells me they are a 'Bama fan but not an Alabama basketball fan. That's another truth we all need to remember. Don't expect any mad rush to do anything that is essentially basketball in nature to be done at the Capstone. If you love football you should love basketball as well. People just don't feel that way and never will. Basketball fans are a small but spirited group. At least small compared to football. But that doesn't mean they should be unheard.
Here's another truth that should be self-evident. A successful AD at Alabama as little if nothing to do with basketball. If the basketball program drowns into continued catastrophy it makes no difference. As long as Alabama has a great football program, basketball can go to hell in the proverbial handbasket. If you understand that you better understand why Alabama basketball will fail. Here's an example - Wimp Sanderson was not fired for personal reasons but rather he was developing a cult following. You can't do that to the Alabama football program, and it doesn't matter whether basketball success would affect the football program or not. I think the hiring of Avery Johnson was a great idea. Clearly, Greg Marshall used Alabama's attempt to hire him to better his offer at Wichita State. Marshall would never coach at football oriented Alabama. His ego was too large. If you notice, he has fallen on some hard times as well.
Perhaps Alabama could take a real gamble on some up and coming coach who wants to lead a Power Five team. That's about as good as Alabama is going to do and I doubt that happens next year unless Johnson decides to leave. He has burned all his goodwill with most Tide fans. But the expectation for success at Alabama is so low he might regain trust if next year was a success. The truth of the to this writer is that Johnson did a fair job at Alabama until the end of this season. His coaching was highly suspect, and now his recruiting is being questioned. It should be. After four years of recruiting, we still have no real inside game, and our best guard was a high school senior who was such a great student he reclassified this season. I shudder to think how bad the Tide could have been if Kira Lewis decided to go to his senior prom instead.
Alabama basketball fans are loyal. If Johnson comes back we will whine and complain (and rightfully so) about his return, but most will still support the players. I suspect a slow start will kill attendance, and support from situational fans. I got an email from someone who said I should quit writing negative stories about Tide basketball and I respect that opinion. I replied by asking him or her if the Tide football program went 7-5 and went to Weed Eater Bowl how would you act?
I think it is proper for fans to display their concerns. Fans are important. There desires to have better basketball should be taken seriously. That is only fair. The AD needs to do his due diligence and address these concerns publically. I urge him to do so.
Sadly or madly, my bet is Avery Johnson will return next season if he wants to do so. Here is one of those self-evident truths we understand. Alabama isn't going to pay anyone enough money to convince a named coach to be the basketball coach at a football dominated school. Alabama is first and foremost about football, and 'Bama fans love Alabama football. I am always surprised when someone tells me they are a 'Bama fan but not an Alabama basketball fan. That's another truth we all need to remember. Don't expect any mad rush to do anything that is essentially basketball in nature to be done at the Capstone. If you love football you should love basketball as well. People just don't feel that way and never will. Basketball fans are a small but spirited group. At least small compared to football. But that doesn't mean they should be unheard.
Here's another truth that should be self-evident. A successful AD at Alabama as little if nothing to do with basketball. If the basketball program drowns into continued catastrophy it makes no difference. As long as Alabama has a great football program, basketball can go to hell in the proverbial handbasket. If you understand that you better understand why Alabama basketball will fail. Here's an example - Wimp Sanderson was not fired for personal reasons but rather he was developing a cult following. You can't do that to the Alabama football program, and it doesn't matter whether basketball success would affect the football program or not. I think the hiring of Avery Johnson was a great idea. Clearly, Greg Marshall used Alabama's attempt to hire him to better his offer at Wichita State. Marshall would never coach at football oriented Alabama. His ego was too large. If you notice, he has fallen on some hard times as well.
Perhaps Alabama could take a real gamble on some up and coming coach who wants to lead a Power Five team. That's about as good as Alabama is going to do and I doubt that happens next year unless Johnson decides to leave. He has burned all his goodwill with most Tide fans. But the expectation for success at Alabama is so low he might regain trust if next year was a success. The truth of the to this writer is that Johnson did a fair job at Alabama until the end of this season. His coaching was highly suspect, and now his recruiting is being questioned. It should be. After four years of recruiting, we still have no real inside game, and our best guard was a high school senior who was such a great student he reclassified this season. I shudder to think how bad the Tide could have been if Kira Lewis decided to go to his senior prom instead.
Alabama basketball fans are loyal. If Johnson comes back we will whine and complain (and rightfully so) about his return, but most will still support the players. I suspect a slow start will kill attendance, and support from situational fans. I got an email from someone who said I should quit writing negative stories about Tide basketball and I respect that opinion. I replied by asking him or her if the Tide football program went 7-5 and went to Weed Eater Bowl how would you act?
I think it is proper for fans to display their concerns. Fans are important. There desires to have better basketball should be taken seriously. That is only fair. The AD needs to do his due diligence and address these concerns publically. I urge him to do so.
Bill how should we raise the money for the buyout. You know that the problem. Why no mention in your article?
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