Disappointing loss, all the way around. We got pushed around a bit, on both ends, the bench rotation was too short , and we didn't seem.....smart.....either end. All that and we were still in a game that maybe should have been a blow- out. Lotta season left....lots left to learn & play for. Go Gators!!!
I wholly agree aka. Personally, I think every scholarship player needs to play every game unless they are injured. Esp early in the season they need significant minutes when the game has not been decided. It will help them stay focused in practice when they know they are getting in every game, and the light will turn on for them sooner rather than later. If we are going to lose games (and we will) let's be aggressive about it and keep our players fresh and know we are going to substitute liberally, so they must always keep their head in the game because they are all going to sub in multiple times. I want players to know if they sign to play with Florida they are going to play from day 1. We don't need Myreon Jones or anyone else playing 40 minutes.
It comes from getting minutes and gaining confidence from any success he has. Reeves, Kennedy and Jitiboh have to get minutes as we have seen the team plays better when ten players get in each game. Better to keep team cohesiveness and to keep all players from getting worn out. It is a long season. I knew the game would be close and I was trying to be optimistic when picking a winning score. Not surprising with all the hype and jump in the rankings. CMW needs to learn that you can’t wear out just the starters and a few key reserves, trust your team for the long haul and allow all the players to grow. Cold shooting nights will happen, but you can’t give up playing all the players to get a fresher, stronger team. Trust and you will find over a long season that your team got better. Also we will have a stronger team next year with more experienced players. Come on coaches and players let us go! GooooooooooooGators!
Totally agree about handicapping ourselves with a short bench. If shots aren't falling, this team has to find another option to give them a spark against a good defense. There will be a lot of tough SEC road games where are starters go cold from 3. This is a great opportunity to plan a strategy for that scenario.
I thought you were going to say our two point guards going 3-16 from 3 or our 15 turnovers weren't sustainable, but agree a 7-player rotation can't continue
Kind of reminds me of the "tired legs" we all complained about when BD was coaching. It was a regular discussion here.
All teams have weaknesses of some kind. Under White we have always shot lots of 3's if we hit a good % we are a tough out. If not we are in trouble. In the past this is a 20 point loss but D is better. Kennedy has look good he needs 15min a game. Reaves just needs time. By SEC time he has to give us 10-15mins a game.The BC transfer has to play the 4-5 for us. Think those 8 will. Be enough but we have to use them. Think about it as bad as we shot we had a chance to win. We will lose more but this team can be a Elite 8 team I do believe that.
Yea Kennedy can stroke it and should've gotten at least 10-15 minutes last night to hit a few shots. He seems to be ourost consistent shooter right now. Maybe because he has fresh legs when he gets in, I'm not sure but he is. The other players are streaker imo
The Oklahoma coaches severely out-coached us last night. They could break down our defense easily and we made no adjustments to counter it. It seems that we have one defense under White and if it works, great, but if not we are in trouble. I hope this is a matter of not working together with these guys for very long but it is troubling.
I love this team. We will be very good down the road. Even Duke lost to Ohio State. But I thought the biggest problem we had last night is tired legs from the get go. It just seemed like we played slower on defense than we normally do, and we started the game that way. We played with more energy against Ohio State. Maybe it was jet lag. Maybe our guys have been eating too many meals with Diabate. With a short bench , that makes things worse. We still had a chance to win this game despite shooting badly and being slower than usual. That's good sign when things ain't right and you can still steal a win on a very away court against a very good team. I wish someone would take some time to teach Appleby how to shoot lay ups. Is it just me or has he missed about 80% of his lay ups the last three games? He is better at free throws than lay ups. I agree that if it is there, MW should consider using more of the talent he has on the bench.
Kennedy has shown he should be seeing the floor (may even be our best shooter?), certainly he should be getting a good 5 minute run each half to help give the other guys a break. Not sure if he can run the point in a high pressure situation (maybe this is what White was worried about on the road!?), but the other guys are sloppy with the ball, so it’s not like there’s huge downside. Especially in a game like that where White should have had Appleby’s ear a few times. The lack of defensive adjustments was also mind boggling. You could see the play OK were running a mile away. It’s tough when an opposing big can spread the floor and knock down 3’s, but you’ve got to adjust. Maybe try a zone to keep Castleton in the paint? Whatever you do, can’t just let them run a layup drill. It seemed like they got about 10 back cuts leading to layups or dunks off of basically the exact same action. Anyway, not time to panic over a road loss. But there were some familiar themes in how we lost. Stagnant offense and no adjust in game.
You know what's unsustainable @akaGatorhoops? Appleby shooting 96% from the ft line! Is that stat correct?!
We should be going 10-12 deep. Kennedy, JJ, Reeves and Lane can all provide meaningful minutes. Kennedy might be our best shooter. JJ needs to be prepared for next year. Lane has a great body and can defend. Put these guys in!
Some folks have unrealistic expectations for the current youthful crop of Gators. There is no indicator that Reeves is ready for SEC play and this game was obviously on that level. Maybe that will change with some opportunities to gain confidence. I agree with the main point of this thread, but not that some of these players should get 10+ min. They ain't ready.
Lane is no factor on offense, and Reeves still looks a bit lost. So I can understand them not getting in tight games as of now. Kennedy has passed the “eyeball test” big time, so he’s the one I didn’t understand - esp with Appleby playing sloppy.
You have to play these guys to have long-term success. Reeves should be coming in at least twice in the first half and once in the second half. Give him 10-15 minutes per game of playing time. He doesn’t have to be on the floor at crunch time if he is not ready for it. I can tell you with certainly that Ruzhnetsev is a very good player. He should have been in a similar rotation. By the end of the season, he might have become a very valuable player. Instead, he likely never felt a real part of the team, and he left. It’s very unfortunate.
If you're going to play high pressure defense...you've got to play more than 7 guys. I'm normally a Coach White supporter but shoot, guys gotta have rest.
Lots of posters here that think they know more that White and we could hire them at a fraction of his salary. This was going to be a coin flip game playing a solid team on the road and we shot poorly.
This trust the coach crap starts to get old when the same issues resurface season after season. The same things were said about Mullen and look where he is now. Not adjusting is on the coaching staff, as well as how playing time is allotted. We will see if the team and the coaching staff learned anything from this game.
