BOL Round Table

VCU was not a losing program CAG left that program in very good shape. You really don't no basketball because the example you put up here are so not right .

I am not defending grant and I have no idea what that point means in regards to this discussion.

What point are you making? The reason it was a bad road loss is because Barbee has done a terrible job.

Grant took over a winning program here and hasnt done anything. Also grant took over a winning program at VCU and only managed to win one NCAA tourney game there ever. Shaka took over a winning program at VCU and has won 6 NCAA games. People think Grant was this amazing coach before he got here, turns out he was average to decent for VCU, but by no means Great! Also I know more basketball than most on here. Shaka was on there to show that any coach can take over any program and do amazing things in 3 years. VCU wasn't an NCAA world beater before he arrived there.

Also last fact Grant only won an NCAA tournament game once, and that was in his first year at VCU with Capel's players. Capel recruited VCU's star PG Maynor, not Grant. VCU was 19-10 the year before Grant. I guess people forgot that.

Now you include qualifiers in your analysis but earlier tried to make the 4 year point comparing Hobbs to grant. Ha!

What do you consider a winning program? We won 5 conference games in marks last full season at bama and were terrible in the transition season before grant. We had 3 straight seasons with a losing record in conference play before grant took over Alabama.

Also no one gave grant credit for vcu. You on the other hand included Shakka on a list of teams that a coach turned around in 3 years.

So you act now like having a winning conference record is indicative of being a good coach. Yeah Gottfried had some bad years at the end against better competition. He also deserved to get fired.I would still bet that most of those teams would have 10-12 wins in this conference this year. Heck most of those teams rosters would stomp ours now. You guys act like winning 20 games or having a winning record in a horrible conference is an amazing thing that no one else could accomplish.

Answer this? how many top 25 teams has Grant beat? One in 4 years, and I am talking about about teams that finished the season that way. Hell even Gottfried at his worst could do better than that.

You are the only person who would call what happened at vcu a "turn around". I'd say he improved the program. He's a great coach it appears. He's had great success. However he didnt turn them around. They were headed in a bad direction when he took over.

Revisionist history isn't going to make your point.

Also, Shakka is a good coach but thas no bearing on Anthony grant needing a 5th year.

He turned around a winning team with no history of NCAA success to a scary NCAA team that everyone fears, and with massive NCAA success. He turned them from being a good team in a small league to being a top 25 team nationally. Once again the only thing people can point to with Grant is winning 20 games in a bad league. Andy kennedy has done that a ton, is he suddenly an amazing coach? We have lost 3 of our last 4. We can't beat a good team on the road, we can't beat a top 25 team unless its once every 4 years.

Honestly is asking that a coach have a program one time inside the Top 50 teams at the end of year to much to ask in 4 years of coaching for 7.6 million?

Sometimes I think there are only 4 of us on BOL who watch a lot of college hoops.

Larenega is a good coach. Built a solid program in George Mason. He was handed the keys to a solid program in Miami. Yes, he's turned heads this season but the dude is now 0-2 in March with Miami.

Shaka Smart is a good coach. He's smart to keep the defensive philosophy Grant had at VCU(although Smart has VCU playing more aggressive and they're a prime example of what's wrong college hoops right now with their constant grabbing and slapping of the offensive player). He's energetic and lets his team play more freely than you'll see Grant do at Alabama. That's a good strategy considering the caliber of player VCU can get.

Tony Bennett coaches the most boring brand of basketball outside of Evanston and the IVy Leagues. Scoring in the 40's and 50's is a regular thing with UVA.

Frank Martin is a great coach. No debate there as he built that KSU program with NBA talent while being little brother to KU. I don't like how much of an ***hole he is, but he gets results.

Gottfried...seriously? Still fawning over him? NCSU was stacked when he got there. He's in a state that is loaded with top 100 talent and lucky for him Duke and UNC recruit nationally 90% of the time. His teams still play well below potential and lose road games left and right. Should be interesting to see them next season when he loses Richard Howell and 1 NBA guy(which is a classic Gottfried downfall).

Bruce Pearl, I like him as a coach. I've said this multiple times on BOL. Once his show clause ends, some team is hitting the lottery.

Mike Anderson...don't get the hype here. He's in possession of a talented roster and Arkansas that simply refuses to win a road game. I think we all rememer those loaded Gottfried teams that would slam top 25 teams in Coleman but then lose 7 SEC road games. This is a trait of a good, but not great coach. Say what you will about Grant, but he wins road games a lot more frequently than Gottfried ever did at Bama.

I will say that building a basketball program isn't an exact science. Some coaches can reach high success levels early on, while others it takes a few years before the train starts moving at a high speed.

For an example in favor of Grant, look at Gregg Marshall. First 2 seasons at Wichita his teams were terrible. 3rd team was bounced in round 1 of the NIT. 4th team is the one who beat us for the NIT title. Next team was a one and done in the NCAA's. Year 6, he's got Wichita looking like a strong Sweet Sixteen contender.

Year 5 should be the make or break year for Grant. If we make the round of 32 and have a solid replacement for Releford after next season, can we really complain? We're all hoping the program is eventually to the point of making the Sweet Sixteen regularly with the occasional deeper run. All I want from Grant is progression towards that. As long as I see that progression, he needs to stay. This year, it's hard to see the progression and maybe it is due to losing a post player making us thin at that key spot. Then again, maybe it isn't.

At the end of the day, he needs one more season to prove one of 2 things. Either this year was simply an unfortunate misstep or it is a sign that he can't build and sustain a top 25 program. This time next season, barring injuries, we'll know 100% one way or the other.

Please STFU!!!

I wish your freaking computer would blow-up