Some of our fans really turned FSU's length and athleticism into a boogeyman. No matter what we tried to tell them, it seems that narrative would not go away. I hope they finally learned... basketball is not simply a contest of physical attributes.
Gone are the days of 4 year players and maybe this season helps us put to rest the myth that transfers are "ruining the college game." Digging these gators. Castleton was a man with 16 boards, Duruji was great and the guards blocked and boarded hard. Watch!!
They sure looked that way. I got a different take from that. The whole game, UF was pretty steady, and FSU had this series of emotional haymakers where they would try and break the game open, and the Gators would bend but not break. When that run came along, they were already at a loss... during the last few seasons it would have been enough. Chomp Chomp.
Good job blocking out by a bunch of guys, and aggressively going after the ball in traffic. Some will look at some of CC's rebounds and say, "Well that one was an easy grab." True, but what made it easy was the block-out. He was also grabbing the rebound and covering up to protect the ball from steals, which he hasn't always been great at.
It's early sure, but UF gives one the impression you better kick them hard when they are down because I don't think this team will bend, break or quit, at least not from what I saw. FSU was unable to break the Gators will, and they were in a position to do so had the Gators let up, but there was no quit. Then once some shots started to fall the Gators amped up the pressure and blew them out. That's what we want to see, a team that can win "pretty" and "ugly". I saw a team built for the rigors of an SEC schedule.
Love ya Hall but.............good bit?? As usual playing the Redwood Forrest against FSU ....BUT.....this time we had Paul Bunions AXE!!
MH - Well IT HAS BEEN a boogeyman the last several years, our offense was always adjusting to that length. But we cut em down at the knees this time! Ha!! Congrats to you because you have been unflinching in your support of CMW. But honestly, when was the last time you saw a CMW team come out that hard and physical? ............. never perhaps? We have traditionally started so raw, green and "poor" offensively. Still early, but this group looks like the type that will be happy to win a brawl or a rock throwing contest, or a shoot out, something we just have not seen for several years. Pretty excited for so many reasons. First, awful nice to slow down the Hamilton train. FSU has steadily improved and I think that team will finish in the upper echelons of the ACC this year. Second, it would be sweet to see UF come out of the blocks fast this year.
We had many new offensive and defensive schemes this year. Was pleased to see Coach White make adjustments. Old playbook was becoming too predictable. Agree with many above that this team is fun to watch. Worry that they will get to obsessed with 3 pointer in future, but otherwise looking good
Fortunately, we have a viable inside game now and don't need to rely on 3s. Get CC touches inside and the outside will open up.
Yep and even when we were down, I felt like Florida was the better team. I mean you can just tell the effort was there. They really wanted to win this game for not only their coach but for what happened to Key last year vs FSU
I have to disagree a bit on this. We were down (but not by much) at half time because we were terrible from the arc in the first half. In the second half we started hitting threes and won going away. FSU was 30 points in the first half and 25 points in the second half. Close to the same thing. We were 28 points and 43 points. Huge difference. Some of this was getting CC the ball down low, but not many open 3's resulted from that directly. Mostly it was hitting the open looks at a higher rate compared to the first half. We shot a lot of open looks from 3 in the first half and mostly missed them badly. We started hitting them in the second half.
Still so pumped about the win. Really sets the tone for the season. Going to have to expand our rotation but had to win last night so shortening the bench made sense. Didn't feel safe with the lead until Appleby's 3 to make it a 17 point game. Just a great win!
I'm glad that Mike didn't take the air out of the ball at the 5:05 mark. Instead, we kept attacking, attacking, attacking.
