This article on Coach Johnson is interesting.

Coach wasn't the fanbase ' s first choice, but to say he was completely underwhelming is a stretch. I think most people were intrigued if not totally enthused by his energy, personality and experience even if not in college.

Tides_of_Change said:

... to say he was completely underwhelming is a stretch. I think most people were intrigued if not totally enthused by his energy, personality and experience even if not in college.

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"Underwhelming" sigh-perbole aside, a bull's-eye if rather obvious take that somehow has eluded SEC-beat media. Never too much press for getting 'Bama into the heads of tournament selection committee, and this is also first article I've seen that says an NCAA bid is 'Bama's to lose at this juncture rather than "bubbling up."

Tides_of_Change said:

Coach wasn't the fanbase ' s first choice, but to say he was completely underwhelming is a stretch. I think most people were intrigued if not totally enthused by his energy, personality and experience even if not in college.

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He wasn't the first choice but he wasn't on the radar either. I wouldn't say underwhelming either, while I was behind getting Gregg there was no clear #2 that excited me left. Avery was a good enough hire I was very pleased and had he been seen as a viable option from day one I might have had a tougher choice between Gregg and Avery. I certainly was always pleased Alabama didn't hire another assistant or done nothing coach.

I can say this, at this moment in time I think this looks like the best possible hire Alabama could have made. I did mention Barnes and Howland, and I wanted Alabama to get Gregg, but it seems like Avery might very well have a higher trajectory.

Good points above. "Outside the box" was the only way we could conceivably build momentum after swinging and missing so huge at Marshall whom I wanted as well. If you look at the most realistic option at the time behind Johnson in Prohm, he's doing quite well with a considerably more talented roster at ISU , but it's unlikely he (or possibly Marshall even) could make 20 total wins a possibility with our current group.

I guess the media was more "underwhelmed" than the fans. It's good to keep in mind what Chris said in his article earlier. This team is so thin that it can lose at home against our remaining opponents the same way it has gotten some of its latest wins. The 1-2 point wins we've gotten have us very close to being the 13 win team most currently thought it would be. But the bottom line is we have those wins, and Coach is the one pulling the paper-thin threads to get us there. Everyone should be very whelmed at this point.

If you had told me day 1 CAJ was an option, he would have been my #1 choice.

His NBA experience alone gives him a leg up with recruits, and he's always had a huge personality. He just fits better here than Marshall would have, imo.

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I agree with everyone on here concerning the article. I was pleasantly surprised when we hired Johnson, as a matter of fact I even thought then that we got the best of the bunch.

I admit I wanted Howland; didn't even think about Johnson, but he seems like gold right now, so long as he keeps it up

Avery Johnson was the starting point guard for the San Antonio Spurs when they won the NBA title.
Then he was named NBA Coach of the Year at Dallas.
From a pure knowledge of basketball strategy perspective, he probably knows more than 99% of college head coaches in America. He is way more qualified than most.
Now, imagine how well he will do in recruiting once he establishes a program that's obviously on the rise and that starts challenging for conference titles. NBA prospects will start to love him and Alabama.
At that point I think he'll blow every other coach in the conference away including Calliparri.
The big thing fans need to consider and need to appreciate and understand, is that when he gets all this rolling at 100mph, every major school in America will be coming after him. So we might as well go ahead and get the checkbook ready.
I think he's the best coach we've ever had at Bama and I was here for both Newton and Wimp.
They both were very good recruiters and had awesome talent, but they couldn't coach like Avery.
If Avery had coached in 76 when we had Douglas, Rickey Brown, T.R. Dunn, Mule King, and Amp, nobody could have beaten us.
If Avery had coached Horry, Spreewell, Askins, Hollywood Robinson, Caffeee, etc in 198-? when we played Loyola Maramount, unlike Wimp, I don't think we'd have run a stall thinking, in the words of Wimp, "I didn't think we had the talent to run with them". Uh Wimp, Say what?
Who knows. I just think we was that needle in the haystack that rarely comes along. In my opinion, we are very lucky to have him as our coach.
In retrospect, when I first heard the announcement I was like, "Huh"? But now, not just after this year, but looking with objectivity at his career resume, was it a no brainer or what? Bill Battles a smart man. He did great!
Sip

My only reservation was he was following a micro-manager (CAG), and that his hands-on approach might be a bit much, for our returning players.

Turns out he made have just been what the doctor ordered. Our guys seem to like playing for him, and he seems to like coaching them. An ideal situation.

Some coaches do not work out, on the pro level, as pro players are generally open to hearing about every single flaw, in their game. (I can say that, as a close friend was a MLB manager, and that was his biggest frustration. More so than a meddling owner.)

I can not see CAJ going back to the NBA, anymore than CNS leaving for the NFL. They truly seem to enjoy the college game, and care about the young men that play for them.

Alasippi said:

Avery Johnson was the starting point guard for the San Antonio Spurs when they won the NBA title.
Then he was named NBA Coach of the Year at Dallas.
From a pure knowledge of basketball strategy perspective, he probably knows more than 99% of college head coaches in America. He is way more qualified than most.
Now, imagine how well he will do in recruiting once he establishes a program that's obviously on the rise and that starts challenging for conference titles. NBA prospects will start to love him and Alabama.
At that point I think he'll blow every other coach in the conference away including Calliparri.
The big thing fans need to consider and need to appreciate and understand, is that when he gets all this rolling at 100mph, every major school in America will be coming after him. So we might as well go ahead and get the checkbook ready.
I think he's the best coach we've ever had at Bama and I was here for both Newton and Wimp.
They both were very good recruiters and had awesome talent, but they couldn't coach like Avery.
If Avery had coached in 76 when we had Douglas, Rickey Brown, T.R. Dunn, Mule King, and Amp, nobody could have beaten us.
If Avery had coached Horry, Spreewell, Askins, Hollywood Robinson, Caffeee, etc in 198-? when we played Loyola Maramount, unlike Wimp, I don't think we'd have run a stall thinking, in the words of Wimp, "I didn't think we had the talent to run with them". Uh Wimp, Say what?
Who knows. I just think we was that needle in the haystack that rarely comes along. In my opinion, we are very lucky to have him as our coach.
In retrospect, when I first heard the announcement I was like, "Huh"? But now, not just after this year, but looking with objectivity at his career resume, was it a no brainer or what? Bill Battles a smart man. He did great!
Sip

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You and I have always disagreed on this and that is ok. I still say Wimp's plan was the best strategy because run-n-gun at breakneck speed for 40 minutes was their game but it wasn't ours. Yes we probably did have more talent than they did but we were not designed to run up and down the court with them. it was their plan to wear teams out and then run them out of the gym when they were tired and I don't think we could have kept up with them for 40 minutes. Perhaps we could have mixed it up a bit more than we did but overall I think Wimp's strategy was perfect and we should have won but choked at the end. It was always interesting to think about the next game against UNLV because I believe Tark was genuinely more concerned about playing us then he was with LMU. I'm not sure we could have beaten them that year but I do think we could have given them a good game.

Agree 100% on CAJ. Once he gets the talent level up to where it needs to be then watch out. I really do think we are going to be a top 10 program very soon and that is very exciting to me. I've following Bama basketball since the early 80's and I really do think we are on the brink of something great.

imauafan said:

You and I have always disagreed on this and that is ok. I still say Wimp's plan was the best strategy because run-n-gun at breakneck speed for 40 minutes was their game but it wasn't ours. Yes we probably did have more talent than they did but we were not designed to run up and down the court with them. it was their plan to wear teams out and then run them out of the gym when they were tired and I don't think we could have kept up with them for 40 minutes. Perhaps we could have mixed it up a bit more than we did but overall I think Wimp's strategy was perfect and we should have won but choked at the end. It was always interesting to think about the next game against UNLV because I believe Tark was genuinely more concerned about playing us then he was with LMU. I'm not sure we could have beaten them that year but I do think we could have given them a good game.

Agree 100% on CAJ. Once he gets the talent level up to where it needs to be then watch out. I really do think we are going to be a top 10 program very soon and that is very exciting to me. I've following Bama basketball since the early 80's and I really do think we are on the brink of something great.

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It's ok to have a gentlemanly disagreement every once in awhile. It prevents a thing called boredom
We both agree on CAJ and that's my main point anyway.