Posts tagged Alabama

This time last year, the Georgia Bulldogs, led by Damon Evans, were searching for a basketball coach. Georgia was not alone, Alabama and their AD, Mal Moore, were also in the market for a new basketball coach. The two schools could not have been more different in their methodology towards the hire.

Anthony Grant was the young, up-and-comer, in the coaching ranks. He had been a part of building Florida’s basketball program into a back-to-back title winner. On his own he was very accomplished at Virginia Commonwealth. Everybody wanted him, myself included.

Mal Moore was the first to interview Anthony Grant. Mr. Moore did not allow any other schools an opportunity. $2 million and a stare down from Nick Saban was all it took. Alabama had its man.

Meanwhile, there was a lot off hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing going on in the Bulldog Nation. Damn Evans was being questioned publicly, most notably by the AJC’s muckrakers. Dawg blogs and message boards were ablaze with rumors and complaints. Alabama had Grant, Evans appeared to be suffering from paralysis from analysis.

While Damon Evans was being methodical and deliberate, many of us fans were ready to settle for Oliver Purnell, Leonard Hamilton, or Mike Davis. Mike Anderson had rebuffed us according to the media. I was speculating on Sam Mitchell. This was getting embarrassing.

Finally word came, Damon Evans had found his man and he was Mark Fox. Mark Fox? Who the hell is that?

It turns out Mark Fox is one helluva a basketball coach. Mark Fox is a man that paid his dues, believes in fundamentals, and actually teaches the game of basketball. He took a moribund basketball team and began the process of rebuilding.

Rebuilding began with the basics, hard work and fundamentals. An assist should also be credited to Pitt’s Jamie Dixon, who coached Trey Thompkins on the USA Under-19 summer team. But make no mistake, Coach Fox re-made this team physically and mentally.

On the floor results, in terms of wins and losses, may not fully support my claim that Georgia has a men’s basketball program once more, but work ethic and knowledge of the game is often hard to quantify.

Mark Fox and Georgia would go on to beat Anthony Grant and his Alabama squad. Who knows what would have happened if the game would have been played in Tuscaloosa? Setting aside that game and both teams win-loss records, which coach provided their program the bigger boost?

I will refer to the most un-scientific of barometers, the muckrakers. The AJC’s talented duo of Mark Bradley and Jeff Schultz have yet to find/create anything negative to print about Coach Mark Fox. Anthony Grant…. meet Mr. Paul Finebaum.

However, the Tide (17-15) was snubbed by the NIT, although many area fans late to the party were still impressed with the $2 million-a-year man. Count me among those who were underwhelmed.
The excuse heard by some Tide fans about the lackluster season concerned depth and lack of top-flight players. That always happens in a transition year when the previous coach is fired. However, what bugged me most was the lack of buzz around the program and the lack of effort by Grant to create any.

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Unlike football, basketball is a personalized sport. You can reach out and touch the coach. In Grant’s case, he seemed to be going through the motions, immune to the faceless crowd cheering him on.

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Perhaps that’s the rub with Grant. Perhaps he looks miserable all the time because he realizes he took the wrong job. Perhaps he doesn’t care about interacting with the public because he realizes this place is even more football crazy than he was led to believe. And he was warned. However, $2 mil a year and low expectations were tough to turn down.

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My concern about Grant is that he appears to be biding time, hoping to get the Tide on an uptick before immediately fleeing for a better job in a more desirable locale.

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I just wish that once in awhile, Anthony Grant would act like he really wants to be here.

Obviously, Finebaum’s job is to stir crap up. Normally, however, Finebaum directs his fire away from Tuscaloosa, preferring to pick on Auburn or attack those deemed to be a challenge to the all-mighty Tide.

For what it is worth, I think Coach Mark Fox is very happy to be in Athens!