A Mid-Season Evaluation of Avery Johnson's Crimson Tide

In light of the Crimson Tide's national championship loss that was disappointing beyond a need for explanation, it shouldn't be all frowns and rapidly plummeting student action cards on the first week of the semester.

After the Alabama victory over the perennial powerhouse and then 13th ranked Kentucky Wildcats, the initial pessimism towards the Colin Sexton-less Tide may be easing off a bit despite a loss to equally matched LSU in Baton Rouge on Tuesday.

No Bama basketball debate can exist nowadays without the questioning of whether Avery Johnson is a capable college basketball head coach. And I know that he is no master of X's and O's or even the recruiter that a Calipari is, but Johnson is at least the tier of coach that a program like Alabama deserves up until this point with the roster he inherited versus the pieces he has added. While he is underperforming comparatively against the campus nemesis, veteran Bruce pearl and his 11th ranked Auburn Tigers, we must give the team not necessarily more credit, but a little more attention. I mean, Who could argue that their record isn't in direct correlation to their roster talent at this point in the season? That same question would have raised controversy with last year's hyped and ultimately mixed bag of a season.

I know that is not the most impressive thing to say and anyone's bare minimum requirement should be to coach a team to their potential, but this year's Crimson Tide is off to a 10-4 start. That is compared to the 9-5 start last year - a final 32 team that managed bad losses to Coastal Carolina and Valparaiso.

When a program like Alabama basketball successfully draws attention, they do it by having stars that stand out in the one-and-done climate, where a Collin Sexton or Ben Simmons can choose a B-tier SEC team. Despite four-star freshman and youngest D-1 player Kira Lewis' strong season, the Crimson Tide's more modest lineup has had overlooked wins against Arizona and Kentucky. That is not to say they have not had some slip-ups as they have against Northeastern and Georgia State, but Avery Johnson shows he genuinely can coach an offense high energy enough to get quality wins.

Really, this team is playing similar to last year's without a little less talent and a little more cohesion because of the lack of hero-ball. Bama is up seven in points per game and three in rebounds per game. Fortunately, the scoring is a little more collective this time around as the Crimson Tide have 7 players keeping their scoring average at eight points per game. Their 70 percent shooting from the line is not something to be in awe over but is an improvement over last season's abysmal 65 percent and is good for 9th out of 14th in the SEC. So that is good I guess.

I don't want to praise mediocrity as there are still plenty of questions about Avery Johnson's ability to coach consistently, coach smart, and to coach up his recruits to their potential. Famed high school shooter John Petty is still nothing but a streaky spot-up shooter at 32 percent from beyond the arc and despite Lewis' 15 points a game, Johnson has not recruited a takeover scorer for this season such as Sexton or even Anthony Grant's Trevor Releford and Retin Obasohan. Donta Hall continues to be a player that impresses as well as Tevin Mack and the same gang that rounds out the team.

Many claimed that Sexton helped in the long run of the 2017-2018 season, but hurt on a game-to-game basis and just as Johnson was unable to coach a consistently dominant Sexton, the team has lost just enough games for fans to lose the notion that Johnson is the man for the job.

His typical 55 winning percentage is not going to cut it long term and although this year's team is sitting at 71 in the dub column, there are a lot of games left to show this team's true chances to compete in the SEC tournament and possibly the "big dance".

Sadly for Johnson, unlikely wins against SEC powerhouses Tennessee or Auburn would mean a lot less if the team loses games that they have no business losing to, further prolonging the worries of the Crimson Tide's consistencies. Rather, I would be impressed if Alabama can win all out of conference favored games, finish above .500 in SEC competition, and have tight games against Auburn and Tennessee. The team has only played two SEC games, letting LSU score 88 points in an 11 point loss along with the Kentucky win. If that very small two-game sample is of any sign, the team should be striving for more consistency.

Essentially, if Bama plays at this sneakily pleasant tone they have thus far, Avery Johnson will prolong his purgatory period as coach slightly longer. No matter how much we appreciate the recruits and the big wins, the program must continue making the tournament and finish with seasons scratching the 65 to 70 percent winning totals.

The Tide has not been able to show full potential partly due to their two SEC games, but this first half of the season has been a solid one. Not earth shattering but solid. Now that football season is over, Bama hoops is in the spotlight at the perfect time as they get in gear for an interesting second-half ride.