Commentary: UA basketball faces tough decisions

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Commentary: UA basketball faces tough decisions
By Jess Nicholas
TideFans.com Editor-in-Chief
March 2, 2008

When Alabama’s basketball season finally comes to a close – whether it’s at the end of the SEC tournament or sometime later on – it will be time for university Athletic Department officials to sit down together somewhere and decide what exactly the long-term goals are for the school’s basketball program.

Perhaps because Alabama is considered a “football school” by virtually everyone – not even a “sports school,” but specifically, a “football school” – the basketball program is often given short shrift, not just in terms of interest or importance, but also in terms of belief.

It is not widely believed anywhere that Alabama could ever compete for a national championship in basketball. That kind of talk is reserved, in the SEC, for Kentucky and Florida. Even Tennessee, Arkansas and LSU, each of which has fielded top-level teams at times over the past decade, are not considered legitimate powers in the sport.

But 10 years ago, it wasn’t considered possible at Florida, either. Then the Gators hired Billy Donovan, committed resources to the program and won national championships in 2006 and 2007. Now the Gators are considered almost the equal of a Kentucky program that has much more history but has struggled at times over the last 10 years.

For Alabama fans (and sometimes, its coach) it is easy to overlook the fact that, prior to Florida’s ascendancy, Alabama was considered to be the conference’s traditional No. 2 power. Florida has since clearly and forcefully snatched away that honor.

Additionally, Alabama has not been able to stay even remotely on the pace. The Crimson Tide is currently 4-10 in SEC play, 11th in the conference, tied in that regard with an Auburn team that shouldn’t even be in the same discussion with Alabama at the moment.

When trying to figure out what has made Alabama into an also-ran, the discussion always seems to start with guard Ronald Steele. Steele is redshirting while recovering from injuries that slowed him throughout the 2006-2007 season.

Unfortunately, Steele isn’t only recuperating, he’s also being turned into an excuse by many in and around the program. If Alabama only had Steele, the reasoning goes, the Crimson Tide wouldn’t be 4-10 and having to hope for a miracle in the SEC Tournament in order to have a meaningful postseason.

In a sense, that’s correct. Alabama wouldn’t be 4-10. Alabama would most likely be around 7-7, because while Steele is important, he is only one man and there are four other players on the floor with him at any given time.

Those four other players, as well as the ones that provide minutes off the bench, have either regressed in regards to their own skill sets, or were overhyped in recruiting to begin with. Alabama doesn’t shoot foul shots well, doesn’t make good decisions with the basketball and doesn’t keep its composure.

And, they’re getting little help from the sidelines. Head coach Mark Gottfried’s offense, built around the high post philosophy, has always been suspect, and Gottfried has too often been slow to adjust and quite frankly, not very intuitive in terms of strategy.

Perhaps the saddest part of it all is that the SEC was thoroughly winnable for Alabama in 2007-08. Kentucky, the league’s No. 3 team at the moment, is 10-3 in the conference but only 16-10 overall. Second-place Mississippi State, at 11-3 in the SEC, is 20-8 overall. This is a conference of mediocrity in 2007-08, yet Alabama found a way to hit a target well below mediocre.

The question for Alabama is, exactly what does it want to be? Does it want to be a player for the national title in basketball, or does it just want to be something for the students to do in between the end of the football season and A-Day?

If Alabama truly aspires to be a basketball school in addition to being a football school, it can take heart in that the school has the support, money and facilities to make it possible. But it needs to take a long look at the program from the top down, and decide whether the program is currently going in a direction that will get Alabama to where it wants to go.

This means taking a direct look at head coach Mark Gottfried and making a decision as to his future with the school. If Alabama was so dependent on the health of Robert Steele that losing Steele meant Alabama might finish with a losing record, then Gottfried has failed as either a recruiter or a teacher, or both.

Alabama fans hoping for an end to the Gottfried era this season might be disappointed. Alabama still owes Gottfried $3 million on his contract, and with the economy tight and Alabama’s Athletic Department having other projects on its plate at the moment (further expansion of Bryant-Denny Stadium and the rebuilding of the football program as a whole jump readily to mind), a change at the top might not come quickly.

But Alabama can no longer trust that a turnaround is imminent. If Alabama decides to give Gottfried more time, that time should only come with the strictest guidelines of what will be acceptable progress. But since those guidelines might require more improvement than Gottfried is capable of delivering, it will make Alabama’s offseason decisions that much more difficult.