I think the nearly thirty years of mediocrity has gotten the better of me. I still have my doubts about Avery's ability to get us to the next level. I hope Byrne will take the time to really assess the program at the end of the season. If he questions Avery's ability at all and has a chance to get an upgrade, I hope he takes it. We waited at least two years too long to make moves the last two times we had to make changes and that was during a time when the SEC was down. The SEC is nearly as tough now as it was twenty years ago. We cannot afford to be passive. I sincerely hope Avery gets it going this year. The UT game was promising in many regards, but frustrating nonetheless. We showed we "can" compete with anyone, but in the end a loss is a loss. I also think we cannot count on Petty to drop 25-30 too often going forward. The effort was there, but our old nemesis free throw shooting reared its ugly head again. Free throw shooting requires repetition and consistency. While every player has a ceiling, that ceiling is usually pretty high if the player is committed to working on it. Today's players just simply do not work on their games in the offseason the way they did a generation ago. I blame the AAU circuit. Instead of practicing free throws, dribbling drills, shooting form, etc, they just play games in the offseason. The use of the backboard and the mid-range jumpshot have practically disappeared from the game. This situation isn't unique to Alabama, but the issue is compounded at programs like Alabama that typically recruit athletes that have to be developed. I did some research over the weekend. During Wimp's tenure, our team only shot worse than 70% from the FT line one time from 82-83 thru 91-92. We had a team high of around 78% one season. The main differences between then and now are at the 1-3 positions. The traditional ball-handling positions typically shot north of 75% or higher, where today we see upper 60s to low 70s. That can really rear its ugly head at crunch time. Ironically enough, our 17 year old is right where you would want a point guard to be - around 85% or better. The others are really lacking - 69%, 58%, 71%, 45%, 67%. Players can improve. I believe Danta Hall has improved 25-30% since his freshman year. You just have to wonder if the others spend enough time working on this.