When Anthony Grant took over as Alabama’s head coach, he took over a team in need of a defensive makeover.

Upon his hiring, the Crimson Tide had missed the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive years. It was time for a change. Out went longtime Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried, and in came Grant, fresh off his success at Virginia Commonwealth.

‘We’ve defended well, and that’s been the same for our team, really all year,’ Grant said in a teleconference. ‘I think in the games that we’ve been fortunate to win, I think the one thing that’s been consistent for us has been the way we’ve defended.’

Grant, who has a strong history of effective defensive coaching, is now in his second season at the helm. And his influence is showing.

Alabama is currently first in the SEC West with a conference record of 7-1. Although unranked, the team recently upset No. 12 Kentucky. With two ranked teams left on the docket, including No. 23 Vanderbilt on Thursday, the Tide (15-7) will rely on the defensive intensity inspired by its coach to get a leg up.

Grant’s defensive style was not easy to learn, as evidenced by the team’s mediocre record of 17-15 and a fourth-place finish in the SEC West in his first season. But this year has shown much more consistency on defense, as well as better results.

Sophomore guard Ben Eblen said playing a defensive style allows for more consistency as a team than an offensive focus would.

‘Everyone is going to have an off night offensively, where shots aren’t falling,’ Eblen said. ‘But defensively you can always be consistent. You can have a bad night shooting the basketball, but I don’t think you can have a bad night defensively.’

The key to turning that defensive proficiency into wins is preparation, Eblen said. Allen Edwards, who served as an assistant coach under Grant at VCU, said preparation has always been a big deal to Grant.

It has been a large part of Grant’s coaching philosophy since his days coaching high school in Miami.

‘The biggest thing to me in terms of his success is just his preparation, just how he goes about day-to-day practice plan and the game plan,’ Edwards said. ‘He’s always prepared himself for the ‘just in case.”

Edwards said in his time at VCU, Grant settled into many of the philosophies he still uses. Grant told his team that though it’s important to be aggressive and disruptive on defense, it is also important to have discipline.

This last component has been integral to keeping an organized full-court press, a trademark of Grant’s defenses.

For Grant, pressing beyond the half-court line is a matter of controlling the pace of the game. The added pressure forces opponents to make plays instead of running them and ultimately turns defense into offense, Eblen said.

‘With Coach Grant, we wanted to press to create tempo, but at the same time there was a function behind our pressing situations,’ Edwards said. ‘There wasn’t a situation where we were out there running around with our heads cut off.’

A defensive team lacks the drama exciting baskets can provide. Grant measures his team’s success by keeping opposing team’s field-goal percentage below 40 percent and allowing less than 30 percent of 3-pointers. It’s Grant’s way to gauge his team’s progress.

In the Tide’s big win against Kentucky, it held the Wildcats to 37 percent from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range. Pretty close to Grant’s goals. In the past five games, the highest field-goal percentage allowed was 41 percent to Mississippi State. And Alabama won anyway.

Vanderbilt (16-6) provides an unusual matchup for Alabama on Thursday. The Tide has to travel to a ranked team’s home court.

And for the Commodores, a team atop the conference is coming to town. Even if it’s a team not gaining respect in the national rankings.

‘We have a very difficult week this week with the first place team coming in on Thursday,’ Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings said in a teleconference.

Grant said Vanderbilt is a strong team offensively, led by John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor. Yet given the Commodores’ ability to control both ends of the court, Grant has not discounted Vanderbilt’s defense either.

Beyond Thursday’s game, Alabama will need a strong finish to the season to make the NCAA Tournament. Currently on the bubble, the team’s weak nonconference record will be a factor the Crimson Tide needs to make up for.

Grant will continue to do what he does to win: prepare his team, press effectively and have the defense set the tempo. The players also have to keep on their steady defensive path, Eblen said.

‘Right now we’re focusing on Vanderbilt and getting that win.’ Eblen said. ‘We’ve got to keep consistent on the defensive end, and everything else will take care of itself.’

The city of blinding lights: Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona has set the city of Tucson ablaze — and not because of its success in the Pac-10. The Wildcats’ new locker room has just been unveiled, revealing a lighting system unseen in college basketball.

The room has one switch to control six different lighting ‘scenes,’ according to the Arizona Daily Star. These include a game-day scene to inspire the team with bright lights and a recruiting scene, which plays up the grandeur of the locker room by having lights coming up through the floor.

The focal point is the enormous Arizona ‘A’ on the ceiling. The block letter emanates a glowing red from its recessed position in the middle of the room, directly above the cherry wood trophy case.

 

alguggen@syr.edu