Final Season Thoughts

[mme25]

It was the best of time, and it was the worst of times. That’s a great way to describe that season for Alabama. I’m going to post this thread, then I’m taking a break from Rivals for a while. I’ll pop back in when they get transfer guys I’m sure, but my wife and I are doing a social media cleanse starting tomorrow.

When it was apparent JQ injured his knee badly in the first three minutes yesterday, you knew it was going to be a tough hill to climb. The players held it together for most of the first half, but it came unglued the second half. ND couldn’t miss and Alabama couldn’t hit. Theme of the final two months of the season.

Putting this year behind us, Alabama will reload and be right back where they were in terms of expectations. I expect a lot of attrition this off-season and only 3-4 guys return, and that is much needed. The blame goes all around, but these players just didn’t have it. They didn’t have a leader on the court. The depth wasn’t there. Based on Oats’ comments on nobody wanting to go to shoot around but JQ speaks volumes on where their head was. NIL deals left and right taking the drive out of a lot of players. They know they’re making a lot of money, why go to voluntary things? Not saying that’s all our problems, but it adds to them. Whether these guys felt the pressure or they were just satisfied with last year, who knows, but they did not play up to the standard they set.

Now let’s talk Nate Oats. Nate has been a HC in college for only 7 years. He’s won his conference tournament 4 times and regular season 3 times. After the end to a Covid season, he took a bunch of underachieving guys from the previous regime and turned them into champions in just 2 years. He lost a lot of leadership that didn’t have to buy in to him or come back to school for him, but loved him enough to give it one last shot and it paid off. 2 years into his tenure he had one of the best seasons in Alabama history. This year, he had similar faces back, and a decent recruiting class come in. Lost his best transfer to injury and one of his best recruits never came back around after tearing his achilles. That left him short handed on the bench and pair that with a couple recruits that didn’t live up to the hype, and that’ll end up being a disappointing season. With that being said, they showed that even in disappointing seasons, the ceiling as high as anyone in the country. I don’t think you will see the same lows moving forward. It’s growing pains. It’s only year THREE. Our program forgot we could reach the top like they did last year and beat teams like Gonzaga and Baylor, but now the bar was set. I love it. If a 6 seed in the tournament is a disappointment, sign me up! I’m disappointed, but excited for the future and everyone should be as well. There will be people who point fingers at Oats and whoever, but football will be back soon. No biggie. Like I said, everyone deserves blame but not one person deserves all of it.

As I sign off here for a while, I just wanted to say how disappointed I am in this site not putting out any articles of our NCAA game on the site. I used to enjoy doing it, but I guess basketball just isn’t as important anymore. I get it. I’ve tried keeping the coverage up for close to 10 years now, but I’m going to start scaling back. Need to spend more time with my family of 4 now and finish out coaching my first year as head baseball coach. I love the board and everyone on it even if we disagree. Sorry for the long post but I just wanted my thoughts out there. Till next time!

I think you do a really good job, we obviously differed on your opinion as to how good we were. The question I have is how you didn’t know about the apathy on the team and the lack of leadership. My question is did the players quit on Oates? Do
the players dislike him or each other?

 

[pwestbro61]

Auburn has to worse history of any school in the SEC; Alabama has one of the best. Historically Auburn doesn't come close to Alabama so you have to grade on a curb.

Alabama has not been relevant in basketball in 30 years. 3 NCAA tourney wins in 17 years.

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

I can’t tell if you’re a troll or just a clown. One of the two. Never seen someone cherry pick and spin zone shit the way you do.

I'm neither, what I am is honest and I would take Scott Drew over Nate Oats every fücking day of the week and its really close at all...

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

Alabama has not been relevant in basketball in 30 years. 3 NCAA tourney wins in 17 years.

I will say this again, Auburn was by far a worse off program than Alabama. And nothing I posted was wrong, Grant was able to have several 20 win seasons and Avery won a tourney game just one year prior to Oats taking over.

He also left him with the key players helped Bama to having the season they had last year. The cupboard at Alabama was FAR from bare; some of you act like Bama was barely winning 10 games a year for decades...

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

It's not even close. Anthony Grant had like three or four 20 win seasons. Avery won the first NCAA Tournament game in forever just one year prior to Oats getting here and he recruited well. You guys are overplaying how bad Bama was before Oats.

So 20 win seasons is now your criteria for success? Grant had three 20 win seasons in a row… only one tournament appearance and lost in the first round. Pancake scheduling will do that for you. Avery had one good recruiting class because he was able to market and build excitement around the program. His recruiting fell off big time. Why? Because you can only recruit well for so long when you say you want to “score in 7 seconds,” but then completely abandon your system and play the slowest brand of basketball in the country. Recruits don’t believe you. I think you see where I’m going here. Good to know that for other coaches you seem to value “20 win seasons.” Maybe we should hang some banners in Coleman

 

[BBALLSTAN]

We all appreciate you stepping up to the plate for basketball. Its a shame that we are coming off a SEC basketball sweep and this site has nobody to cover basketball. They made us a forum and we bring discussions ourself. They added Trey who is honestly hard to listen to cuz it seems like maybe he hasnt played the game how he talks sometimes. But they had to hire somebody so I get it. I get theirs not enough staff but we really need a little more coverage on basketball and softball for that matter. Or any athletics ranked top in the country. Or maybe just change the name to Bama football insider. Sort of false advertising when you throw a 100 bucks at the site and think that your getting a site that covers alabama athletics. Not a shot at Bone or Kyle i know they can only do so much.

You are exactly right. Just like the rest of the states media. Only football that really matters
despite a great basketball fan base.

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

So 20 win seasons is now your criteria for success? Grant had three 20 win seasons in a row… only one tournament appearance and lost in the first round. Pancake scheduling will do that for you. Avery had one good recruiting class because he was able to market and build excitement around the program. His recruiting fell off big time. Why? Because you can only recruit well for so long when you say you want to “score in 7 seconds,” but then completely abandon your system and play the slowest brand of basketball in the country. Recruits don’t believe you. I think you see where I’m going here. Good to know that for other coaches you seem to value “20 win seasons.” Maybe we should hang some banners in Coleman

I don't understand why this is so hard for some of you to comprehend. You're trying your damnest to make Alabama look like it was close to being as bad as a program like Auburn when it's not remotely close. 20 wins is nothing to sneeze at but here you are trying to downplay Alabama’s accomplishments to make Oats look like he walks on water.

Grant’s team were always among the biggest snubs for the tourney, not so much because of the nonconference but because the SEC was not viewed as a league that deserved more than a 3-4 teams.

Avery's last three recruiting classes ranked 8th, 24th, and 21st. And it was Nate who brought in two 3 star players that dropped that last class to 21. He recruited well enough to bring in 3 players in the NBA now in those classes.

Nate Oats did not take over a shit program and only a moron would think this...

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

I don't understand why this is so hard for some of you to comprehend. You're trying your damnest to make Alabama look like it was close to being as bad as a program like Auburn when it's not remotely close. 20 wins is nothing to sneeze at but here you are trying to downplay Alabama’s accomplishments to make Oats look like he walks on water.

Grant’s team were always among the biggest snubs for the tourney, not so much because of the nonconference but because the SEC was not viewed as a league that deserved more than a 3-4 teams.

Avery's last three recruiting classes ranked 8th, 24th, and 21st. And it was Nate who brought in two 3 star players that dropped that last class to 21. He recruited well enough to bring in 3 players in the NBA now in those classes.

Nate Oats did not take over a shit program and only a moron would think this...

I’ve never really thought this about you even though others have brought the accusation, but you’re placing yourself firmly in trollville. In one breath you criticize me for not expecting enough from our basketball program and saying you expect the tournament 4/5 years (an expectation that would only be satisfied by a handful of blue bloods). In the next breath you laud 20 win seasons as if something incredible was accomplished. By your own expectations that you have clearly and consistently laid out on the table what could you possibly call Alabama basketball for 30 years other than a shit program?

Ill break this down one more time in a way you can understand: Nate Oats won the Sec Reg season and tournament for the first time at Bama since 1991… 30 years. Nate Oats took Bama to back to back NCAA tournaments for the first time since 2006. It’s that simple. There’s nothing else to add. Anyone who b****s about him is either a troll or a FOG.

 

[pwestbro61]

I don't understand why this is so hard for some of you to comprehend. You're trying your damnest to make Alabama look like it was close to being as bad as a program like Auburn when it's not remotely close. 20 wins is nothing to sneeze at but here you are trying to downplay Alabama’s accomplishments to make Oats look like he walks on water.

Grant’s team were always among the biggest snubs for the tourney, not so much because of the nonconference but because the SEC was not viewed as a league that deserved more than a 3-4 teams.

Avery's last three recruiting classes ranked 8th, 24th, and 21st. And it was Nate who brought in two 3 star players that dropped that last class to 21. He recruited well enough to bring in 3 players in the NBA now in those classes.

Nate Oats did not take over a shit program and only a moron would think this...

In a combined 10 years of tenure Grant and Avery won exactly ONE NCAA tourney game. Program was not as good as you are portraying.

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

In a combined 10 years of tenure Grant and Avery won exactly ONE NCAA tourney game. Program was not as good as you are portraying.

And this is coming from the dude demanding excellence from our basketball program… clear vendetta against oats and it makes no sense.

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

I’ve never really thought this about you even though others have brought the accusation, but you’re placing yourself firmly in trollville. In one breath you criticize me for not expecting enough from our basketball program and saying you expect the tournament 4/5 years (an expectation that would only be satisfied by a handful of blue bloods). In the next breath you laud 20 win seasons as if something incredible was accomplished. By your own expectations that you have clearly and consistently laid out on the table what could you possibly call Alabama basketball for 30 years other than a shit program?

Ill break this down one more time in a way you can understand: Nate Oats won the Sec Reg season and tournament for the first time at Bama since 1991… 30 years. Nate Oats took Bama to back to back NCAA tournaments for the first time since 2006. It’s that simple. There’s nothing else to add. Anyone who b****s about him is either a troll or a FOG.

There is a BIG difference between saying the program isn't where I expect it to be and trying to suggest the program was in the dumpster like say Auburn's. You guys are literally trying to make it look like Oats took over one of the worse programs in CBB and had them in the Sweet 16 two years later; that could not be further from the truth. Alabama was in the tournament and won a game just one year prior to him being hired. Alabama was recruiting at a top 20 level before he got there. That shouldn't be so hard to comprehend yet here we are...

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

In a combined 10 years of tenure Grant and Avery won exactly ONE NCAA tourney game. Program was not as good as you are portraying.

There were two, learn your history. Also, that has nothing to do with my point that Oats didn't take over a shitty program, read my post above. It's insane that anyone would be this moronic to try and claim Alabama basketball has ever been as low as Auburn's is historically, all to try and make Oats look like the next coming of Coach K...

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

There were two, learn your history. Also, that has nothing to do with my point that Oats didn't take over a shitty program, read my post above. It's insane that anyone would be this moronic to try and claim Alabama basketball has ever been as low as Auburn's is historically, all to try and make Oats look like the next coming of Coach K...

What was the second other than Avery’s win over Va Tech? Unless I’m mistaken, I’m thinking you’ve got the history to learn big guy

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

There is a BIG difference between saying the program isn't where I expect it to be and trying to suggest the program was in the dumpster like say Auburn's. You guys are literally trying to make it look like Oats took over one of the worse programs in CBB and had them in the Sweet 16 two years later; that could not be further from the truth. Alabama was in the tournament and won a game just one year prior to him being hired. Alabama was recruiting at a top 20 level before he got there. That shouldn't be so hard to comprehend yet here we are...

From 2006-2020 yep… pretty much a dumpster fire. Literally the best thing to happen in that 15 year stretch was winning one 8 v 9 game in one ncaa tournament. Doesn’t get much more irrelevant than that.

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

What was the second other than Avery’s win over Va Tech? Unless I’m mistaken, I’m thinking you’ve got the history to learn big guy

So Anthony Grant didn't go to the NCAA Tournament? Google is your friend if you have a short memory...

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

So Anthony Grant didn't go to the NCAA Tournament? Google is your friend if you have a short memory...

He said in their tenure they WON ONE NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME… not went to the tournament. Reading comprehension is…. Not your friend

 

[pwestbro61]

There were two, learn your history. Also, that has nothing to do with my point that Oats didn't take over a shitty program, read my post above. It's insane that anyone would be this moronic to try and claim Alabama basketball has ever been as low as Auburn's is historically, all to try and make Oats look like the next coming of Coach K...

Anthony Grant coached in one tourney game while at Alabama- and lost to Creighton. Avery had the one win against Virginia Tech. Don’t preach to me about history. I know more Alabama basketball history than you ever dreamed about.
My point has nothing to do with Auburn. Stop acting like Avery and Grant had this program in such great shape.
They clearly did not.

 

[pwestbro61]

So Anthony Grant didn't go to the NCAA Tournament? Google is your friend if you have a short memory...

Did not win a game. Now who is the moron here?

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

So Anthony Grant didn't go to the NCAA Tournament? Google is your friend if you have a short memory...

Debating semantics pretty much. The program was stuck in mediocrity, I agree Avery did some positive things that allowed oats to hit the ground running. Regardless, the program has been elevated under oats from what it was the previous 12+ years…. And you and Aggie atleast talk like you’re ready to start the clock on oats… Its obvious you don’t like the guy, which is fine. He’s definitely cocky and a little northern rudeness to him, but it’s hard to understand someone that so disappointed with the direction of the program currently that simultaneously didn’t think it was in bad shape before. I really can’t comprehend that

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

Anthony Grant coached in one tourney game while at Alabama- and lost to Creighton. Avery had the one win against Virginia Tech. Don’t preach to me about history. I know more Alabama basketball history than you ever dreamed about.
My point has nothing to do with Auburn. Stop acting like Avery and Grant had this program in such great shape.
They clearly did not.

Debating semantics pretty much. The program was stuck in mediocrity, I agree Avery did some positive things that allowed oats to hit the ground running. Regardless, the program has been elevated under oats from what it was the previous 12+ years…. And you and Aggie atleast talk like you’re ready to start the clock on oats… Its obvious you don’t like the guy, which is fine. He’s definitely cocky and a little northern rudeness to him, but it’s hard to understand someone that so disappointed with the direction of the program currently that simultaneously didn’t think it was in bad shape before. I really can’t comprehend that

Not really semantics. The claim was that Grant and Avery only managed one tournament win between the two of them. Goat claimed there were two. He’s wrong. Not semantics

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Not really semantics. The claim was that Grant and Avery only managed one tournament win between the two of them. Goat claimed there were two. He’s wrong. Not semantics

I’m more talking about were we a shit program or were we a solid program or whatever.

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

He said in their tenure they WON ONE NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME… not went to the tournament. Reading comprehension is…. Not your friend

Anthony Grant coached in one tourney game while at Alabama- and lost to Creighton. Avery had the one win against Virginia Tech. Don’t preach to me about history. I know more Alabama basketball history than you ever dreamed about.
My point has nothing to do with Auburn. Stop acting like Avery and Grant had this program in such great shape.
They clearly did not.

You're right; he did say won and I glossed over it.

Still doesn't change the fact that you two are morons for trying suggest that Oats took over some kind of dumpster fire and magically changed the trajectory of the program.

Oats has done a good job but this is far from some miraculous turnaround. Stop acting like Grant and Johnson had this program even close to being as bad as these morons are trying to suggest.

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

You're right; he did say won and I glossed over it.

Still doesn't change the fact that you two are morons for trying suggest that Oats took over some kind of dumpster fire and magically changed the trajectory of the program.

Oats has done a good job but this is far from some miraculous turnaround. Stop acting like Grant and Johnson had this program even close to being as bad as these morons are trying to suggest.

I’m done… you’re clearly a troll and you’ve won because you’ve had me hooked in. Hats off to you brother

 

[pwestbro61]

I’m done… you’re clearly a troll and you’ve won because you’ve had me hooked in. Hats off to you brother

There is more to this if you look closely at his posts. He defends Avery and Grant and always defends the players.
But Oats is in his crosshairs non stop. Not hard to figure out.

 

[pwestbro61]

You're right; he did say won and I glossed over it.

Still doesn't change the fact that you two are morons for trying suggest that Oats took over some kind of dumpster fire and magically changed the trajectory of the program.

Oats has done a good job but this is far from some miraculous turnaround. Stop acting like Grant and Johnson had this program even close to being as bad as these morons are trying to suggest.

Well, he went 16-2 and won the SEC regular season and tourney title. With basically the same players plus Primo and Bruner.
Something Grant and Avery could only dream about accomplishing.
Let me know if this “ moron” needs to really give you a history lesson on Alabama basketball.

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

Well, he went 16-2 and won the SEC regular season and tourney title. With basically the same players plus Primo and Bruner.
Something Grant and Avery could only dream about accomplishing.
Let me know if this “ moron” needs to really give you a history lesson on Alabama basketball.

So what you're saying is Avery set him up nicely with his recruiting and Oats benefited greatly from being able to coach them as seasoned seniors as opposed to young freshmen and sophomores.

So like I said, the cupboards were far from bare...

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

So what you're saying is Avery set him up nicely with his recruiting and Oats benefited greatly from being able to coach them as seasoned seniors as opposed to young freshmen and sophomores.

So like I said, the cupboards were far from bare...

Do you think Avery would have won the sec had we given him 2 more seasons?

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

Do you think Avery would have won the sec had we given him 2 more seasons?

I don't know, and neither does anyone here. As evident by their absence this season, that team was lead by a special group that wanted to accomplish something.

 

[jtr4dad]

Do you think Avery would have won the sec had we given him 2 more seasons?

We’ll never know the answer to that question, but he did recruit the guys that were the heart and soul of that team. The SEC was also pretty weak last year overall. I believe we only received 5 NCAA tournament bids.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

We’ll never know the answer to that question, but he did recruit the guys that were the heart and soul of that team. The SEC was also pretty weak last year overall. I believe we only received 5 NCAA tournament bids.

It was a great season last year. We don’t have to discredit that

 

[OatsMeal]

It was a great season last year. We don’t have to discredit that

Of course we do. That’s the whole schtick here.

 

[jmillerbama]

There's always room for great basketball coverage on this site! I too am super disappointed in this season and the lack of coverage! Harp take a long break, regroup, reload, and lets get after it next season! Roll Tide Roll!💪🏽💪🏿💪🤙🤙🏽🤙🏿

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

There's always room for great basketball coverage on this site! I too am super disappointed in this season and the lack of coverage! Harp take a long break, regroup, reload, and lets get after it next season! Roll Tide Roll!💪🏽💪🏿💪🤙🤙🏽🤙🏿

According to Kyle, there actually isn’t room for basketball coverage on this site

 

[Bama Swoosh]

According to Kyle, there actually isn’t room for basketball coverage on this site

Good to know - I've been on this site since around it's beginning but I'm as much b-ball as football so I guess it's time to shop around and see what's out there.

 

[D Isaiah T Billings-Clyde7]

Good to know - I've been on this site since around it's beginning but I'm as much b-ball as football so I guess it's time to shop around and see what's out there.

Agree. That post was pretty shocking to me lol. If you haven’t seen it check the “basketball coverage” thread. He responded a few posts in

 

[BeastofBourbon]

I don't understand why this is so hard for some of you to comprehend. You're trying your damnest to make Alabama look like it was close to being as bad as a program like Auburn when it's not remotely close. 20 wins is nothing to sneeze at but here you are trying to downplay Alabama’s accomplishments to make Oats look like he walks on water.

Grant’s team were always among the biggest snubs for the tourney, not so much because of the nonconference but because the SEC was not viewed as a league that deserved more than a 3-4 teams.

Avery's last three recruiting classes ranked 8th, 24th, and 21st. And it was Nate who brought in two 3 star players that dropped that last class to 21. He recruited well enough to bring in 3 players in the NBA now in those classes.

Nate Oats did not take over a shit program and only a moron would think this...

You're comparing apples to oranges. Grant's 20 win teams were when the conference was at it's weakest in basketball, and he played a cupcake non-conference schedule compared to what we've seen under Oats. Pick any one of Grant's teams and they would have struggled to win 13 games with this year's schedule and level of competition in the SEC.

 

[BigET84]

Did anyone else find it strange when the Strength Coach left in February? That didn’t get a lot of coverage , but I bet it is more to it than what was published.

 

[G.O.A.T-23]

You're comparing apples to oranges. Grant's 20 win teams were when the conference was at it's weakest in basketball, and he played a cupcake non-conference schedule compared to what we've seen under Oats. Pick any one of Grant's teams and they would have struggled to win 13 games with this year's schedule and level of competition in the SEC.

It's all basketball and many of you undervalue a team's ability to just win games. It's easy to make a statement like you did when there is no way to prove it.

That 25-12 team beat several NCAA Tournament teams, including Kentucky. I could say that team wouldn't have lost to UGA, Missouri, Vandy, and an A&M team that was struggling at the time they beat Bama.

Alabama nonconference wasn't good but it hasn't been until recently that the SEC made it a point of emphasis to schedule harder as a whole.

 

[BamaNavyCPO]

Did anyone else find it strange when the Strength Coach left in February? That didn’t get a lot of coverage , but I bet it is more to it than what was published.

He had to be let go. He had the audacity to ask players to actually lift weights!

 

[jmillerbama]

Agree. That post was pretty shocking to me lol. If you haven’t seen it check the “basketball coverage” thread. He responded a few posts in

Mr. Cecil would highly disagree with Kyle! We all know football pays the bills and i love Bama Football and grew up in BDS, but im a Bama sports fan and basketball is my personal first love as a player, then baseball, then golf! There's definitely room and love for Bama Bball on this site!